Basement Bats vs Custom Table Tennis Rackets - What's the Difference?

In earlier parts of this Guide to Basement Ping-Pong, I've often mentioned the need to decide between using a cheaper basement bat and a more expensive custom table tennis racket. But how do you tell the difference between the two? Is there a simple way to tell them apart?

While an experienced table tennis player can pick up an unfamiliar paddle, play a few rallies, and have a very good idea whether the racket is suited for basement play or advanced play, it does take a while to develop this knack. For that reason I would strongly recommend asking your coach or an experienced player that you trust for advice when choosing a racket - they'll help guide you in the right direction. But if you don't have access to either, and you are looking for a new paddle, here's a set of guidelines that you can use to help determine whether a racket is a basement bat or a custom racket.

• Spin - more than anything else, what sets apart a cheaper racket from a custom table tennis bat is the amount of spin the racket can produce, and to a certain extent, how long the racket will continue to produce a decent amount of spin (better rackets should stay spinny longer). Rackets for advanced players use rubbers that can produce a lot of spin, from one or both of two methods:
  1. Having a tacky or sticky topsheet, that grips the ball (often called topsheet spin)
  2. Having a flexible topsheet that allows the ball to sink into the sponge under the topsheet, which means that more of the topsheet can contact the ball surface (often called mechanical spin)
  While there are certain exceptions to this rule (such as antispin and short or long pimpled rubbers, which are specialist rubbers used by certain advanced players for their unique qualities), the rule of thumb is that custom rackets will produce more spin than cheaper rackets, and stay spinny for longer.

  The easiest way to test whether a rubber is spinny or not is to hold a table tennis ball firmly in your fingers, and rub it across the surface of the rubber while using a little pressure to push the ball into the rubber a bit. A rubber with reasonable grip will provide frictional resistance, while rubbers with little spin will allow the ball to slide fairly easily over the rubber surface.

• Speed - the next indication of whether a racket is suited for advanced or basement play is the amount of speed it can produce. Rackets for advanced play will tend to be faster and bouncier than cheaper rackets. The easiest way to test this is to put the head of the racket flat on a table, with the handle hanging over the side. Then drop a table tennis ball on the bat, and note the number of bounces. A slow racket without much spring will bounce only a few times, while a faster racket will continue to bounce for significantly longer.

I've included a video comparing the bounce from a custom table tennis racket to that of a cheap $10 paddle - you can clearly see the difference in the amount of rebound. I've also included a indication of the lack of grip from the cheaper racket, where the ball can be heard to slide easily over the surface of the racket. Video - cheap vs custom racket - 856x480 pixels, 1.5MB.

While spin and speed are the two most important considerations in telling the difference between a basement and advanced racket, there are also other points you can use to help tell them apart, although these points aren't infallible.

• Brand Names and Price - if you buy a racket that has the brand of an established table tennis manufacturer on the rubbers and handle (such as Butterfly, Stiga, Donic, Joola, DHS, Killerspin, Double Happiness, Friendship, or TSP - there are many more), you are more likely to be getting an advanced racket, especially if you are paying more than $50 US for the racket (although the Chinese brands do tend to be a little cheaper than European or Japanese brands). However, many of these manufacturers also produce cheap beginner bats, so it's possible that you might be buying a basement bat at a high markup!
• Purchase Location - while I'm not wanting to put down sports stores, most advanced players will buy their blades and rubbers from specialist table tennis dealers, either locally or over the Internet. If you are buying your racket from a local sports store, the chances are pretty good that the racket is either a basement paddle, although from time to time I have seen a fairly decent paddle in a sports store when I've been browsing around. But on the whole I'd say to stick to sports stores for basement bats.

One final point I'd like to mention is the subject of blades. It can be a great deal more difficult to tell the difference between a cheaper basement blade and an expensive custom blade, since the blades are covered with rubbers when playing with the racket, and the rubbers will mask the playing characteristics of the blade to a certain extent. Simple tests such as dropping a ball onto the blade won't give you as much information about the power or spin a blade will help produce.

The easiest way I know to test a blade is to use it with rubbers that you are used to playing with, and compare the feel against your normal racket. Of course, this doesn't really help new players, and it's not practical unless you can get hold of a sample blade to test, so the best advice I can give here is to look at the websites of the various table tennis manufacturers - which will normally give a speed, spin, and control rating for each blade, and often an indication of whether the blade is for beginning or advanced play. If you can't find the blade listed at all, it's best to assume that it's a basement blade, regardless of the price.