Junior table tennis bats for budding young players

Posted by Press Editor on 1 August 2012

With over 40 years’ experience in table tennis, both as a player and in coaching children, I have seen far too often how an unsuitable table tennis bat can really ruin a young player’s game. So I have produced this guide about table tennis bats, for parents of young table tennis players starting out in the sport.

Parents beware!

Almost every week at junior tournaments and leagues I see children trying to play and compete with an inferior, toy bat. I call them ‘junk bats’. They are often sourced from high-street sports stores and while sold as supposedly suitable for young players, they usually fall a long way short of the standard required.

The wooden core (blade) and surface rubber coverings (rubbers) used in these junk, toy bats are unsuitable for young players, yet they often cost the same as or even more than a proper table tennis bat. Crucially, these inferior junk bats prevent young players from developing their table tennis skills properly during the critical initial period when youngsters are learning the basics shots, they encourage poor strokes and they don’t allow spins to be played.

The glues used in these inferior bats often doesn’t meet the safety standards specified by the sport’s national governing body and usually adversely affect the bat’s playing properties. Inferior glue also makes it nearly impossible to remove the rubber coverings when the time comes to renew them.

Junk bats are mass-produced with no thought for after-care or long term use, rather just turning a quick profit. The opponent that your child will come up against is unlikely to be handicapped by a junk bat, which will make playing hard and disadvantaged and can often lead to the child becoming disenchanted with table tennis.

So, my advice is do not be deceived by trendy looks, glitzy flashy packaging or gimmicks: if in doubt get advice from a registered ETTA coach, avoid the big sports stores and source bats from a specialist table tennis supplier.

Real junior table tennis bats

Firstly, a junior table tennis bat is a scaled-down and slightly smaller bat with slimmer handle, designed to fit a child’s hand and a little less in overall weight, which makes it possible to swing freely and to play shots. Growing children have not yet developed the required strength in their wrists to use an adult-sized bat. Real junior table tennis bats are no more expensive than the junk bats previously described. These points are what distinguish junk bats from real junior table tennis bats.

Look for:

1.     Smaller in overall size and slimmer handle to fit into a child’s hand

2.     A good all-round wooden core blade – typically 5-ply

3.     Most popular are flared shape handles

4.     Good quality sponge rubber coverings

5.     ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) mark

6.     One side red and the other side black in colour

7.     Rubber secured to the blade with water-based, non-VOC (volatile organic compound) glue

The ITTF mark on its own is not always an indication of suitability or quality: all seven points above are important with special emphasis on point 4.

Sponge rubber covering

The covering on a table tennis bat is called the ‘rubber’: a layer of pimple rubber bonded to a layer of thin sponge. Orthodox players play with the pimple side turned in and the smooth side facing out, so that spins and hits can be produced. The sponge layer under the rubber can vary in thickness to give higher or lower speed/spin. Many different types of rubber compound are available, each with different playing properties. It’s very important to match the wooden core blade and the rubbers to the playing style and abilities of the player and once good all-round skills are developed the players can then progress to more advanced rubbers, of which there are many, many types, to suit their particular game.

I’ve listed three table tennis rubbers below which are suitable for both beginner boys and girls. They are not too fast and will allow good shot-making to be coached and practiced by youngsters. The rubbers are available with different thicknesses of sponge:

a)  1.5mm entry level beginner

b)  1.8mm beginner +

c)   2.0mm beginner ++

d)   2.2mm more advanced

Globe 999T Table Tennis Rubber, Globe Gold Whirlwind III Table Tennis Rubber & Globe 999 Super Table Tennis Rubber.

Globe 999T Table Tennis Rubber stta

Globe Gold Whirlwind III Table Tennis Rubber

Globe Super Table Tennis Rubber

Each of the rubbers above is readily available, sensibly priced, long-lasting and recommended by top table tennis coaches.

There are many different kinds of rubbers on the market with vastly differing playing properties, covering speed, spin and control. There are specialised rubbers for players that want to deal with particular kinds of shots or opponents’ playing styles in specific ways, such as anti-spin and anti-loop rubbers and rubbers suited more to defensive play. In most cases, we don’t recommend that junior beginners use these kinds of rubbers initially, to allow them to learn the purer basics of spin, speed and control.

Wooden core blade

Having avoided a low-quality junk bat, it’s also important to start off with an ‘all-round’ junior blade that is not too fast, as the faster blades prevent young players from gaining the control skills required during their initial development.

There are many blades on the market. To comply with regulations they must have a wooden core, usually laminated ply layers, 5-ply wooden blades are suitable for most junior players. Some blades have carbon fibre layers or other materials but these are too high-powered and unnecessarily expensive for beginners.

The Globe Salvo 584 Minor Blade below is one of several wooden core blades suitable for young beginners:

Globe Salvo 584 Junoior Table Tennis Bat

                           Globe Salvo 584 Junior Table Tennis Blade

Table tennis bat protection and maintenance

There are some essential accessories to help young players to maintain and look after their table tennis bat, to keep it in peak playing condition:

  • A good bat wallet case - for protection when not playing. We often see children leaving their bat lying around in sports centres, where it can easily be damaged, etc. Even the smallest crack in a blade renders it useless – a case is a must have!
  • Self-adhering plastic sheets - to protect rubber coverings when not in use. While not essential (if the bat is frequently kept in a case when not playing), in our experience, protective sheets do extend the life of the rubbers and eliminate further the build-up of dust and dirt on the rubbers.
  • Spray cleaner - for cleaning rubber surface
  • Cleaning pad - for use with spray cleaner
  • After each training session the rubber surfaces will need cleaning, as they pick up dust and dirt from the ball and from the player’s hands, which if not removed acts as an abrasion on the rubbers, reducing their life-span. It’s essential not to use a cleaner or cleaning pad that can damage the rubbers and many household cleaning products could do so. Best to use a specialist table tennis rubber cleaner.
  • Edging tape - for edge protection
  • Escutcheon pin/tacks - to keep edge tape in place
  • Blades and rubbers can easily become damaged on the edges – should the bat catch the table during play, etc., which can quickly reduce the life span of a bat. Edging tape, firmly attached with escutcheon pins helps to reduce this kind of damage.
  • Water-based blade sealer - to protect the wooden core. Wooden blades do not come ready sealed. When removing damaged or old rubbers from blades, unless the blade has been sealed initially, removing the rubber can cause a splintered blade surface, rendering the blade unusable. Sealing the blade before attaching the rubbers prevents this.
  • Water based, non-VOC glue – to fix the rubbers to the blade
  • Glues must meet both safety requirements and ITTF approval

Friendly help, advice and guidance for parents are always available.

Contact: Global Table Tennis      email: info at globaltabletennis.com

 

 

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