OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hello guys. I wanted to buy a ping pong table, so I searched about it and I saw that the thickness matters a lot. So I decided to buy the sponeta S1-13e model because I saw it has 25mm thickness at a good price. I received the table today and when I tried it, I saw that the ball doesn't bounce very well and I saw that the melamine thickness is only 4mm! 25mm is at the edges.

http://www.sponeta.com/tabletennis/arti ... 10%20L.htm

table top/frame profile
melamine resin board 4 mm

Undercarriage
tubular-profile 25 mm, powder-coated

My question is: What thickness is my table? The thickness everybody is talking is for indoor or for outdoor? I feel that I cannot play on that table. Did I make a bad move buying this specific table?

The table you have is with a 4 mm thickness melamine top. Outdoor tables usually have melamine on the table top, 3-5 mm, with some sort of support to make the ball bounce higher and more evenly. On cheap tables a couple of steel rails will be the only support. OK for toys, but not for serious playing. The best "proper" outdoor table I have tried is Kettler table, something like this. The support under the top is elaborate, and the bounce is fairly even. Playing-wise it is still noticeably inferior to the cheapest 15 mm fibreboard tables for indoor use, but passable. The net posts on those Kettler tables are also flimsy, but you can attach a proper net and tighten it to some degree (so you can't flatten it by just hitting hard enough).

The thicknesses you will see most of the time are 16-25 mm and pertain to indoor tables, made with fiberboard or plywood tops. This gives a much better bounce. (You'd think that the problem could then be solved by thicker melamine tops, but that is not practical.)

So if I could return this table and I bought the kettler outdoor axos 1, the bounce is good on this? On this sponeta table I made the test and dropped a 3 star ball from 30 centimetres and it returned at only 19-20!

The best outdoor tables are in China. 8" of concrete! Metal nets! Clip the net and the ball might go 20 feet up and land on the table. Lots of fun.

There were a couple of those in the courtyard at the Free University in Amsterdam, where I did my sabbatical a few years ago.. problem is, there is a reason why there are so many windmills in Holland.. Might have been usable if you used squash balls instead.

Iskandar
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On some of the elementary schools around here they have built really good wooden outdoor tables of similar spec. 2x4" beams for legs and support frame. 7/8" (22 mm) marine grade plywood top and "net". Anchored by 3/4" reinforcement bars driven into the ground. Easily better than any outdoor table money can buy. Not exactly 8" concrete slabs, but still a hefty load. Didn't mention those, because they are not something you can buy, and they are also practically impossible to move when you need that space for something else. That is why I limited my response to "proper" outdoor tables, ("proper" in this context meaning what I believe the regular guy would want, i.e. ready made and easily moveable).

The one Kettler table I tried, and probably other "premium" outdoor tables, have somewhat higher bounce than cheaper outdoor tables. Still not on par with good indoor tables or the aforementioned earthquake-safe constructions. The main advantage of the more expensive outdoor tables is that the bounce is even on the entire surface.

Thank you keme.

If you want a table with a good bounce, don't bother with an outdoor table as I doubt you'll find anything at a reasonable price.
I think the logic is that any serious player that cares about the bounce, would not play outside as even the slightest bit of wind will move the ball.

Outdoor table mainly target the recreational players that just want to have a bit of fun, where an uneven bounce is just another variable to make it fun.

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I bought the table to put it outside my house. I was playing ping pong many years ago that's why I understood the difference at bounce but I didn't know that the indoor/outdoor table has so big bounce factor. I think I have to compromise. I don't have room inside for a table.