The case begins 20 years ago, at a tournament in Europe, where table
tennis is very big, much bigger than in America, though not as big as
in Asia ....
Before a particularly crucial match, a Yugoslavian player set about
changing the rubber surface of his racket, and panicked when he found
he had run out of glue. So he ran over to a nearby bicycle shop and
bought a jar of the glue used to patch tire punctures. He slathered it
on the bare wooden racket, affixed the new sponge and rubber and went
out to play the match.
And what a match he played. The ball jumped off the racket with
unimagined speed and spin. The player himself was astonished. His
opponent was baffled
For the glue, it turns out, contained particular solvents that, when
absorbed and diffused by the thin layer of sponge, had the effect of
making the rubber more elastic. Thus, when struck by a ball, the
rubber acts like a slingshot and sends the ball forward with more
speed and spin. That's the short explanation.
// It wasn't long before all the other envious players went out and
got their own "speed glue," as it became known, and the top-level
international game advanced far beyond the version played in basements
and backyards around the world
//
In addition to the random drug testing all Olympians face, the table
tennis players are subjected to random racket testing, too.
After selected matches, the players must surrender their rackets to
referees, who seal the rackets in plastic bags. Most test clean: The
last time anyone can remember a player being disqualified for
glue-doping was in a tournament in 1995.
Of the 25 rackets tested during the practice sessions before the
Olympic competition began, four failed, but not because of bad glues.
Federation officials believe the results stemmed from rubber coverings
that weren't properly cleaned by the manufacturers. These toxins
usually evaporate after the rubber is taken out of its wrapping. So,
the federation rushed a special advisory to the players: "We ask you
to air your new rubbers for at least 48 hours."
///
The table tennis paddle without any rubber covering or paint sheet.
Can be any shape or size, but must be made of mostly wood for
sanctioned tournaments. A tournament-approved paddle comes in many
sizes and shapes. It must be mostly wood, covered by legal rubber
sheets on any side that will be used to contact the ball (or by a
paint sheet on a nonhitting side) with black on one side and cherry
red on the other
There are two main types of paddles:
Recreational Paddles
A recreational level table tennis paddle is bought with the rubber
sheets and wood (blade) already preassembled. This type of table
tennis paddle is of a good to moderate performance level, but will not
be close in performance to a high performance custom competition table
tennis paddle. This group of table tennis paddles is of a quality that
you will find in sporting goods stores, only less expensive. The
performance level is significantly below that of our high performance
table tennis paddles.
High Performance Custom Paddles
This category of table tennis paddles is made of specialized, high
performance table tennis rubber and table tennis blades (wood). This
style of table tennis paddle will produce much more speed and spin
than recreational ping pong paddles. High performance custom table
tennis paddles can be bought by selecting particular specialized wood
(or wood/graphite) along with high performance table tennis rubber.
You may also select a high performance paddle based on your playing
style by visiting our appropriate playing style selection. Users of
this type of table tennis paddle hold a decided advantage against
opponents playing with recreational ping pong paddles.
Have a nice ,,, game :)
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