Desk tennis rackets are made up of three foremost parts: The blade, the forehand rubber, and the backhand rubber.
Most desk tennis rackets have a purple aspect and a black aspect, although, in 2021, a rule change enabled coloured rubbers aside from purple to make their comeback to the game.
Is there a distinction between black and purple rubbers? Do you have to use black rubbers on the forehand aspect? Why does a desk tennis racket have to be purple and black?
Why do desk tennis rackets have two colours?
Desk tennis rackets have to have completely different colours on both aspect as a result of there are various different types of table tennis rubbers.
The most typical kind of desk tennis rubbers are inverted rubbers, however there are additionally brief pips, lengthy pips, and antispin rubbers.
Up till 1986, gamers might have rubbers of the identical shade on each side of their rackets.
This made it in order that gamers might flip their racket round and their opponents had no manner of figuring out which aspect they hit the ball with since each side have been the identical shade.
A lot of these gamers had an inverted rubber on the forehand aspect and lengthy pips or antispin on the backhand aspect, so they’d flip their racket round and create a number of unpredictable results.
Each rubbers appeared the identical so it was not possible to know which aspect they hit the ball with except you have been listening to what your opponent was doing, which might require you to focus in your opponent reasonably than the ball.
The ITTF thought this phenomenon wasn’t wholesome for the game so that they launched the two-color rule in 1986, and for 35 years, the one two authorized rubber colours have been purple and black.
The introduction of coloured rubbers
Since 2021, desk tennis rackets don’t have to be purple and black anymore.
Desk tennis rackets now have to have a black rubber on one aspect and a coloured rubber on the opposite.
This shade is normally purple, however in 2021, 4 new colours have been added: blue, pink, violet, and inexperienced.
After in depth lighting testing, the ITTF concluded that these 4 colours could possibly be added to the game.
The reasoning for the choice was that each side are nonetheless simply recognizable if black rubbers are stored on one aspect. These new colours make desk tennis extra enjoyable since now we have extra choices to customise our rackets.
I’ve to say I actually like this modification since I really feel it provides a number of shade to the game.
Nigerian legend Quadri Aruna has been utilizing inexperienced rubbers since this new rule is in impact they usually match him completely.
When he represents his nation, Nigeria, I believe it’s fairly cool that he will get to make use of rubbers the colour of his flag.
His blade can also be inexperienced so his backhand rubber matches the colour of the deal with. This impact makes his racket look an entire lot higher.
One other participant who has been loving the brand new coloured rubbers is Koki Niwa.
Koki has been utilizing blue rubbers on his forehand aspect and we are able to see this shade completely matches his Japan shirt and his footwear.
Lastly, one other participant who has been having fun with the brand new colours is Bernadette Szocs.
Bernadette has been profitable in fashion along with her pink rubber on her backhand aspect.
As you’ll be able to see, these new guidelines enable us to categorical our character on the desk and have enjoyable customizing our rackets with our favourite colours.
Nearly all of gamers nonetheless use purple and black rubbers since they’re accustomed to these colours or they wish to preserve it easy.
For these of us who wish to have a singular racket, we now have extra choices to select from, so everybody’s comfortable.
One other issue contributing to the low proportion of coloured rubbers is that the majority rubber fashions aren’t but obtainable within the new colours.
I’m certain we’ll be seeing completely different colours extra usually sooner or later as extra producers begin to incorporate them of their catalogs.
Is there a distinction between purple and black desk tennis rubbers?
One other query that’s requested very often is whether or not there’s a distinction between coloured rubbers and black rubbers.
There’s a distinction within the manufacturing strategy of coloured and black rubbers.
Rubber, in its pure state, is black. To show rubbers purple, or another shade, sure dyes, and pigments have for use.
There’s a idea that states that purple rubbers are sooner, whereas black rubbers are spinnier and tackier, and that that is very true with Chinese language rubbers.
Proponents of this idea preserve that it’s preferable to make use of black rubbers on the forehand aspect and purple rubbers on the backhand since black forehand rubbers could be tackier and spinnier.
It’s also true that every one Chinese language skilled gamers make the most of black rubbers on the forehand aspect. Ma Lengthy, Fan Zhendong, Lin Gaoyuan, Wang Chuqin, the checklist goes on.
Not certainly one of them makes use of purple rubbers on the forehand aspect.
To additional add credibility to this idea, most high-end Chinese language rubbers aren’t supplied in purple, they’re solely offered in black.
The DHS Hurricane 3 NEO nationwide version isn’t obtainable in purple, for instance.
The overwhelming majority of non-Chinese language skilled gamers additionally use black rubbers on their forehand aspect, although some use coloured rubbers on the forehand.
If some top-tier non-Chinese language skilled gamers make the most of coloured rubbers on their forehand aspect, then there most likely isn’t a distinction between coloured rubbers and black rubbers with regard to European/Japanese rubbers.
There most likely is a distinction between black and purple Chinese language rubbers however there isn’t a giant distinction between black and purple (or coloured) European and Japanese rubbers.
If you happen to plan on utilizing Chinese language rubbers, then I’d use black rubbers on the forehand. Even then, you won’t discover a distinction.
If you happen to plan on utilizing European or Japanese rubbers, then it doesn’t actually matter what shade you select for both aspect.
Alvaro’s been taking part in Desk Tennis since he was 15 and is now ranked throughout the high 100 in his native Argentina. He likes to compete in provincial tournaments and is all the time in search of methods to enhance. Alvaro made his favorite reminiscences with a racket in hand, and he joined the RacketInsight workforce to share his ardour with different gamers!
Blade: Butterfly Fan Zhendong ALC | Forehand: Butterfly Dignics 05 | Backhand: Butterfly Rozena
Playstyle: The Controller
