Players are equipped with a table tennis bat means a laminated wooden racket covered with rubber on one or two sides depending on the players’ grip. The ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) uses the term “racket”. In other terms “bat” is common in Britain, and “paddle” in the U.S.
Table tennis bat regulations
The wooden part of the racket, often referred to as the “blade”, commonly features anywhere between one and seven plies of laminated wood, though cork, glass fiber, carbon fiber, aluminum fiber, and Kevlar are sometimes used.
According to the ITTF rules, at least 85 percent of the blade by thickness shall be made of natural wood. Common wood types include
- Samba
- Limba
- Koto
- Cypress or “hinoki,” which is popular in Japan.
We mainly use the classic material for a table tennis bat.
The average size of the blade head is about 16 cm long and 15 cm wide. Although the official restrictions only focus on the flatness and rigidness of the blade itself, these dimensions are optimal for most play styles.
Table tennis regulations allow different surfaces on each side of the racket. Different types of surfaces provide various amount of spin or speed, and in some cases they neutralize spin. A player may have a rubber that provides much spin on one side of his racket, and one that provides no spin on the other. By flipping the racket in play, different types of returns are possible. For these players we offer asymmetric blade – the Immune OX or Immune OX Classic. To help a player distinguish between the rubber used by his opposing player, international rules specify that one side must be red while the other side must be black.
The player has the right to inspect his opponent’s racket before a match to see the type of rubber used and what colour it is. Despite high speed play and rapid exchanges, a player can see clearly what side of the racket was used to hit the ball. Current rules state that, unless damaged in play, the racket cannot be exchanged for another racket at any time during a match.