OOAK Table Tennis Forum

doesnt it mean that if you have max sponge you lose some control?question for both of us

LOL this sounds as "I finally got rid of you" ahhaha.
thanks man!

I think 1.8 is too thin as you reach potential for speed and spin too soon. It might feel easier to use and give you a sense of control at first, but that depends on how you define control.
I use more spin as a function of safety and control.

I’ve heard of people going thinner to get confidence back before switch back to thicker sponge.

Stick to 2.0 for a while and see how you adjust. If you lack confidence after those rubbers are through, you should consider change.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Depends on what sort of control. What people worry about when it comes to sponge thickness is control over the table - mainly pushes and blocks. If it were 1995, yes, it would be a concern. Back then the ball was 2mm smaller, and lighter. No one (including top players) used more than 2.0mm sponge. These days the ball is bigger and heavier, and much easier to control, especially over the table. Thicker sponge also INCREASES control when doing topspin drives - it adds spin, and the more spin you have, the faster you can hit the ball before you miss the table.

In the past they told beginners to start with 1.5mm sponge, and never use more than 2.0mm. This was sound advice - back in 1995. These days you can't even get sponge thinner than max with a lot of rubbers - and most of these are cheap "beginner" rubbers. As long as you don't get one of those overly fast carbon blades, you should have plenty of control with thick sponge.

Iskandar