Some met her in a college gymnasium, during a vacation afternoon when others won with Olympic medals. Whether it is pimpled, made of carbon wood or even in the shape of a violin, the table tennis racket is full of specific features.
Probably one of the first things you notice? Its covering, with its colored rubber part on which the ball will bounce.
Is it smooth in appearance with nubs facing inwards? We will talk about « backside »Who “Hangs the ball a lot” et “allows you to add a lot of effect”used more by attacking players, explains Christophe Legoût, former world No.14 and sports director of the French federation.
Its opposite? The covering with pins, more or less long – and which can also be more or less wide or spaced apart – allowing “to reverse the effects” and hinder the opponent.
“When the pimples are long, it is generally for players in defense, therefore who are far from the table and who return”continues Chritophe Legoût. “It feels a bit like we’re playing against a wall, the ball keeps coming back”.
Decisive round
The covering, also composed of foam, will be glued to the « bois »which gives its shape to the racket. The international federation requires that it be made of 85% natural wood, supplemented as necessary by synthetic fibers such as carbon, which offers speed.
Frenchman Félix Lebrun against Taiwanese Yun-Ju Lin during the men’s singles quarter-finals at the 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris on August 1, 2024 / WANG Zhao / AFP/Archives
More or less heavy, rather dry or soft in nature, the wood will also be chosen according to its handle in order to be suitable for handling. French star Félix Lebrun plays with a wood “penholder”the same name of its famous grip very widespread in China and which consists of holding your racket like a pen.
The handle is “much smaller, almost halved in length”explains Christophe Legoût. According to him, young players will rather focus on a so-called form “anatomical”possessing a “bump in the middle with which they have the impression that the racket does not escape them”.
Also exists wood « concave »flared on the lower part of the handle, while many high-level table tennis players favor a wood ” right “in order to “move the racket in the palm of your hand depending on whether you are playing forehand or backhand, to make small adjustments”.
7 sides game
The upper part of the wood, the pallet, is more often rounded in shape.
But here again, it is enough to observe the Swede Truls Moregard (world No. 10), double silver medalist at the Olympics, and his racket in the shape of a heptagon, with seven sides, to see some exceptions.
Frenchman Damien Eloi during a men’s singles table tennis preliminary round match at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, August 20, 2008 / ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP/Archives
If Christophe Legoût first thought of “a brilliant marketing move” of the brand that develops it, STIGA Sport, “digging a little deeper, the fact that the racket is not round and ultimately chiseled on one side, allows you to be a little closer to the ball when playing short balls and therefore a little more precise”continues the Frenchman who takes as another example his compatriot Damien Eloi and his wood “violin”as if hollowed out on the sides.
“Studies showed that we almost never touched the ball in the place that completed the violin, so it made it possible to lighten the racket and surely to have other sensations”.
Wood and covering chosen, it is still necessary to take into account the external elements. Since rubber is sensitive to cold, some players “warm up with their racket against them, to soften the foam”. The altitude, or even especially the “room air volume”which impacts the speed of the ball, can also change everything.
“We play in our garage, we go at 4,000 an hour and then we play at Bercy, we feel like we’re useless”summarizes the former player. The TipsArena in Linz, a 4,000m2 enclosure where table tennis players compete in the European Championships, is in any case nothing like a garage.
