In table tennis, having the right equipment can make all the difference. Every successful player has a high-quality blade that compliments their skills and playstyle. Choosing the best table tennis racket for your needs can be frustrating, even for equipment-savvy experts. With newer, more advanced products storming the market, many different brands with their product lines, and difficult-to-understand rating systems the shopping experience is not simple.

There is no need to fear! We are here to provide all the essential information you need to know about how to choose a good table tennis racket for beginners so you start improving your skills as soon as possible.

Table tennis, also known as ping pong is an equipment-sensitive sport. It is all about precision. A couple of centimeters makes the difference between a point and a ball hitting the net. Every shot you make is a precise combination of spin, speed, and placement.

The pace of the game is high. On average you would need to make a shot every 5 seconds until either you or your opponent makes a mistake. This amount of precision and the pace required means the equipment you use to make those shots land on the table is extremely important.

Adaptation is another skill that is crucial in this sport. Going against a defensive player may require you to place more powerful shots while facing an aggressive player that keeps hitting powerful loops can make you focus on placing your blocks effectively.

The changes you make to your playstyle as you develop as a player means you would need a racket that compliments your playstyle. The blade you used to play in your friend’s garage with its non-grippy rubber and cheap wood construction will not match the speed and spin you are training to achieve.

Improving your skills requires matching equipment. From a high-quality all-rounder to start with to the spinniest, fastest rackets that an experienced player might choose for their play style the options are endless.

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We recommend beginners who are just getting into ping pong to choose a quality all-rounder blade that they can start playing with. This type of blade will be sufficient for any playstyle the player wants to try while also not hindering the development of their techniques. Unlike a more offensive blade that may cause unforced mistakes and incorrect strokes in an attempt to control the faster racket. To see our recommendations for the best table tennis racket for beginners go to the Recommendations section.

If you already took the first couple of steps and spent enough time to learn the basic techniques, some habits should’ve started forming in your play style. If you are not sure about your playstyle, here are a couple of simple questions you can ask yourself to figure out which playstyle you have and what sort of equipment suits those styles.

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Let’s get the basics out of the way so we can start choosing the perfect table tennis racket for you.

A table tennis racket has 2 main parts to it. The wooden part that we call “the blade” and a pair of “table tennis rubbers” that sandwich the blade. The combination of which rubber and blade are chosen will be crucial to the characteristics of the blade, and your play style.

The blades, unless premade, will last a long time. It is common to see people using the same blade for more than 10 years if it hasn’t been damaged.

The rubbers on the other hand, because of their elastic structure, will start to lose their ability to grip with time. Each rubber ages differently, and how often they get used will also affect the rate they lose grip. Someone who trains 2 times a week should think about replacing their rubbers after a year. If you wanna learn more about rubbers and how to make them last longer, read our article about Racket Maintenance Tips.

Experienced players and professionals usually use a custom combination. The ability to choose any combination of blade and rubber means they end up with a blade that is tailored to their needs. Premade blades on the other hand are popular amongst beginners or people who play casually.

To decide which one is right for you, let’s look closer at what these types of rackets are and the advantages or disadvantages they have.

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If you do not have a racket and wanna start playing right away premade rackets are here to help.

Premade rackets are complete rackets, with the blade and rubbers glued together from the factory. They are ideal for hobbyists and beginners but we do recommend beginners to go for a custom racket if they are serious about improving their skills.

All in one package, ready to use out of the box.

The blade and rubber combination has already been decided for you.

Beginner friendly pricing

Cheaper quality than similarly priced custom rackets

They might not have ITTF certification, resulting in you not being able to join some tournaments.

The blades are subpar to its custom brothers.

Hard to replace the rubbers because of factory glue.

They are usually all-round models, meaning if you want a specific racket for your playstyle you may not find it premade.

If you have decided that a premade racket is for you, here we have our top premade rackets for beginners.

(model name, pic, short description, and advantage-disadvantages)

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This is the optimal choice for players who want to improve as it gives us better quality, longer lasting products and more customization options.

You can get the blades and rubbers separately and glue them yourself, or contact your store and ask if they glue it for you. Most stores these days will glue it together for free if you buy all the products from the same store, taking away the hassle of gluing them yourself.

Endless combinations mean you can find the right one for you.

Higher quality products compared to premade ones.

They are usually ITTF-approved, making them tournament-ready.

Gluing the rubbers to the blade can be challenging.

Endless combinations mean you can feel overwhelmed and confused.

Decided on getting a custom racket? Let’s understand the role of each part and what to look for when choosing one.

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The blade is the wooden part of the racket. It decides the main characteristics and feel of the racket.

They are made of different types of wood layers, the most commonly found type is the 5-ply wood blades. Other types include 7 or 9-ply wood and carbon composite blades.

The thickness of the wood plies, the types of wood used in each ply, and the usage of carbon composites are the main factors in shaping the characteristics of a blade. If you would like to learn more about blades and how certain wood types affect the characteristics check our advanced table tennis racket guide.

5-ply wooden blades are the safest choice for beginners as they strike the balance between speed and control while providing good feedback on contacting the ball which is crucial for beginners developing feel and technique.

Having a comfortable grip on the blade handle is another important topic. There is no single right handle type for everyone because of the different ways we grip the blade and the unique shapes of our hands. To decide which handle type to choose first we need to decide if you are using the shake-hand grip or the pen-hold grip.

After deciding on your grip, you should try different handle types to see what feels comfortable for you. Here are the most commonly used handle types :

We recommend choosing the flared handle if you don’t have an opportunity to try different types of handles yourself as most people (≈%90) use this type.

Now that you know everything essential about blades, here are our recommendations for a beginner looking to make their first blade purchase:

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Rubbers are responsible for gripping the ball and helping it bounce back with its grippy top sheet and sponge. It will also be the interface on which the ball will interact with the blade so the combination of the two is really important.

There are three main types of rubber, inverted(pimples in),pimps-out, and long pimples.

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Inverted rubbers are the most commonly used rubbers. They are best suited for putting spin on the ball as this type of rubber provides the most contact surface with the ball.

Short pimps-out rubbers have the unique characteristics of not getting affected by the opponent’s spins much and not putting much spin to the ball they hit. Ideal for close-to-table smashing attacks and blocking.

Long pimples-out rubbers are commonly used by defensive players who would like to chop the ball and give it a reverse spin, making it hard for the opponent to attack the ball.

Beginners should start with an inverted rubber until they develop fundamental skills and playstyle.

Here are our top pics of rubbers for beginners to choose from :

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how different combinations affect playstyle

4 combinations (soft rubber+ hard blade, hard rubber+ soft blade, etc.)

what is a good combination for a beginner?

Special glues need to be used to glue the rubbers to the blade, as stated by regulations. You might not need one if you are planning to buy from a retailer who does the gluing for you but if you would like to glue on your own, read our guide on how to glue table tennis rubber to avoid common mistakes and choose one of the glues from our recommendations.

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Now that you have a table tennis racket suited for you, time to get some balls to start practicing.

Table Tennis balls are mainly separated into two groups, 3-star and training. 3 star balls are mainly used in official matches as they have higher quality control and better construction while training balls or 1-star balls are mainly used for training as they are cheaper.

We recommend getting a 40-pack of training balls as they are cheaper per ball and having more balls means you can continue training for longer instead of running after the ball that you accidentally hit too hard.

Here are some highly-rated balls we recommend :

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It is not fun when the racket you chose specifically for yourself gets damaged, and mostly this damage happens when the racket is not in your hands. Whether its your friend sitting on top of it by accident, getting wet under rain or just simply being exposed to air can damage your precious racket. To avoid these damages and ensure you will happily use your racket for longer, you should add a racket case to your shopping cart before checking out! Here are some of the best ones on the market :

(model name, pic, short description, and advantage-disadvantages)

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(model name, pic, short description, and advantage-disadvantages)

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