Ford Wilson asked 3 years ago
I have been using a second paddle for my hitting with my robot. I have noticed that my rubber isn’t very grippy and I am hesitant to spend the money for new rubber. Do you recommend using your “match” paddle for training? I have taken a ball and tried to scoot it across the rubber to determine the condition (how sticky) of the rubber and determine when to replace the rubber.
Tom Lodziak Staff answered 3 years ago
I use the same table tennis bat when both training and playing matches. I want to have confidence in how my rubbers will react when doing topspins or pushes or blocks or flicks or serves. This does means that I have to replace my rubbers more frequently, as they get used more.
However, I don’t think it is essential to use the same table tennis bat for both training and matches. If you have two bats which are similar, then you could probably use one for training and the other for matches, and it won’t impact your performance that much.
What you should avoid is using two very different table tennis bats. If the rubbers on your training bat aren’t very grippy, you will most likely start adjusting your strokes to account for the lack of spin.Then when you use your match bat, it will feel very different and will take time to adjust. So if I were you, I would get some new rubbers for your training bat which perform similar to your match bat. Or simply use your match bat for training with the robot too.