I am thinking of buying something, but probably won't. Would some of you mugs mind doing the research into it and letting me know the result?

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Fastpedaller

Über Member
A frying pan is cheaper and will probably endow you with more skill.
 

Sharky

Legendary Member
Location
Kent
I've been playing with stiga blades for over 50 years and are good. But ready made bats are usually for beginners. Once you have been playing for a while, you develop a style, attack, defensive or all round. Rubbers vary so much and usually you don't have the same on both sides.
Sponge thicknesses vary from none through to about 2.2 mm. The greater the thickness, the greater the speed, but control is less.

I buy the rubber sheets separately and usually Yasaka or Tibar.

Are you a casual or a league player .

Good websites are bribar or table tennis direct.
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
Got through to a holiday camp final once, and the pro TT player, did indeed play a few rallies with a frying pan. I of course lost

A top poker player (maybe Doyle Brunson), also famous for "proposition bets" wagered he could beat a champion ping pong player ... providing he could choose the bats to be used. They both played with coke bottle for bats. Brunson won having practiced with a coke bottle for months. He was quite sporty and was already pretty good.
 

Bonefish Blues

Banging donk
Location
52 Festive Road
That's like taking a knife to a gunfight, I'd say.

Here's the Stiga model you should be buying:

https://www.stiga.com/uk/271432101-st1-pr-100e-kit.html
 

Webbo2

Über Member
I've been playing with stiga blades for over 50 years and are good. But ready made bats are usually for beginners. Once you have been playing for a while, you develop a style, attack, defensive or all round. Rubbers vary so much and usually you don't have the same on both sides.
Sponge thicknesses vary from none through to about 2.2 mm. The greater the thickness, the greater the speed, but control is less.

I buy the rubber sheets separately and usually Yasaka or Tibar.

Are you a casual or a league player .

Good websites are bribar or table tennis direct.

I’m sure that one of cycling mates Barbara who is a serious player told me you have declare what rubber and foam thickness you are using to the opposing player before the match?
 
OP
OP
Brandane

Brandane

The Costa Clyde rain magnet.
I've been playing with stiga blades for over 50 years and are good. But ready made bats are usually for beginners. Once you have been playing for a while, you develop a style, attack, defensive or all round. Rubbers vary so much and usually you don't have the same on both sides.
Sponge thicknesses vary from none through to about 2.2 mm. The greater the thickness, the greater the speed, but control is less.

I buy the rubber sheets separately and usually Yasaka or Tibar.

Are you a casual or a league player .

Good websites are bribar or table tennis direct.

Thanks for taking the time to compile a serious reply to what was meant to be a humourous thread, and a bit of a dig at our Accy and his car buying habits!
I picked a fairly random item in the table tennis bat, but having said that I used to play quite a lot when younger (i.e. nearly half a century ago) and now semi retired I am thinking of taking it up again with a local group of other retirees. Being slightly put off by having a dodgy left hip as a result of a cycling accident a few years back, which restricts side to side movement a bit.
If I do start playing again it will be beginner level, and I will be using some of my existing collection of 4 bats which are not very old and are hardly used, sadly. One of them has no sponge or rubber at all, just wood with a fine sandpaper playing surface. Good for playing against an opponent who puts strong spin on the ball, but I'm not even sure if such a bat is allowed in competitive play?
 

Sharky

Legendary Member
Location
Kent
I’m sure that one of cycling mates Barbara who is a serious player told me you have declare what rubber and foam thickness you are using to the opposing player before the match?

Doesn't much happen at local League level, but occasionally players ask to see my bat. Probably more at national or tournament level.

Btw, did you know that you need bigger balls to play table tennis nowadays?
 
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