Table tennis bat
A small wooden blade covered with rubber used to hit the ball in table tennis.
Overview
A table tennis bat, also called a paddle or racket, has a wooden blade covered on one or both sides with a rubber surface. The rubber lets players grip and spin the lightweight ball, which is central to how the game is played.
The two sides of the bat can have different rubber surfaces, giving players varied options for speed and spin depending on how they hold and swing it.
Good to know
- The rubber surface is what allows players to impart spin.
- Sides may use different rubbers for different effects.
- Also referred to as a paddle or racket.
Where it’s used
Sports that use table tennis bat:
Related equipment
The table tennis net assembly
The net, its posts and its suspension — the one height that governs both the net and the posts, and why that number appears twice in the Laws.
The table tennis ball
The 40 mm plastic ball the modern game is played with — its exact diameter, weight and colour, and the two separate rule changes that people routinely merge into one.
The racket, blade and rubber
What the Laws actually regulate about a table tennis bat — the 85% wood rule, the exact thickness limits for pimpled and sandwich rubber, and the pimple density range.
How it connects
The meaning-bearing relationships that place Table tennis bat in the wider knowledge graph — each one with the reason it exists.
Frequently learned together
Taught side by side in the same stage of a learning path.
- The table tennis net assemblyBoth are taught in the “What you’ll need” stage of the Table Tennis learning path.
- The table tennis ballBoth are taught in the “What you’ll need” stage of the Table Tennis learning path.
- The racket, blade and rubberBoth are taught in the “What you’ll need” stage of the Table Tennis learning path.
- The table tennis tableBoth are taught in the “What you’ll need” stage of the Table Tennis learning path.
Explore across the knowledge base
Follow the threads that connect Table tennis bat to the rest of SocialSportHub.
Techniques
- Table Tennis Forehand DriveA controlled attacking stroke in table tennis, played on the forehand side with a compact swing and light topspin.
- Spin in table tennisWhy table tennis is a spin sport before it is a speed sport — how topspin, backspin and sidespin change a ball's flight and its bounce off an opponent's bat.
Knowledge Atlas
Rules
- How a point is won in table tennisThe full list of ways a player scores — the returns that fail, the ball through the net, the double hit, the free-hand touch, and the moving-table rule most players never meet.
- The legal table tennis serveThe most-broken rule in table tennis, set out exactly — the open palm, the 16 cm toss, the no-hiding requirement, and what happens the first time an umpire is unsure.
- LetA call that stops a point and has it replayed without penalty, used across several racket sports.
Scoring systems
- Table tennis scoringTable tennis is scored on every rally to 11 points per game, won by two clear points, over a best-of odd number of games.
- Tiebreak scoringA tiebreak is a short deciding game used in racket sports to settle a set that has reached an even number of games, scored in simple numbers to a fixed target.
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How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Equipment
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
- 0
- Content updated
- 2026-09-12
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