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So how do you choose? If you
want something of decent quality and that will help your game (I assume
you do since you're reading this guide), look at the rubber to see if
they have the ITTF approval logo on them. ITTF approval for a rubber
does not only mean it can be legally used in competition or tournaments,
but it also indicates a level of quality. Sometimes the range of bats
with ITTF approved rubbers is indicated by calling them "competition
level" bats, which usually means the same thing. You'll probably find
that these bats are a bit more expensive, as the rubbers on the bats are
a lot more expensive. The bats without ITTF rubbers are commonly
referred to as 'recreational' and 'entry' level bats. It's worth
checking out whether the rubbers are ITTF approved or not, as this is
one of the few indicators that is useful.
Butterfly table tennis bats You'll find that
the top brand name bats with ITTF approved rubbers are quite a lot more
expensive. This is because these same rubber is commonly sold at much
high prices. Lets look for example at the Butterfly range of bats at
Megaspin, a major US online store. First
look at their range of
Butterfly table tennis rackets You'll
see they have 'entry level' and 'recreational level' bats, with quite a
wide price range. These bats do seem to have ITTF approved rubbers on
them, although they are real base-grade rubbers (presumably Chinese
made) such as "Pan Asia" and "Wakaba", mainly for control not so much
for speed. Although this is an indication of quality, it's not up to the
same standard as their higher range bats used by many competition
players. When you look at their Pro-line
rackets, you'll see blade and rubbers in the pictures instead of the
complete bat. This indicated it's no longer a pre-assembled bat, but the
retailer assembles it for you. The rubbers are much higher quality, and
the prices have risen accordingly as well. If
you look at Megaspin's
Butterfly rubbers, sorted by price, you'll see why the prices
are so much higher... the prices of a single sheet (and you need 2 of
these for a complete bat) range from about US$30 to US$90! Similarly if
you look at Megaspin's
Butterfly blades, sorted by price, the price range from about
$30 to $170. This gives you some indication of the value you get with a
Pre-made bat. Chinese brand table tennis bats
Now lets look at some of the less well known
table tennis bats on our own store here. Virtually all bats
there have ITTF approved rubbers, and these are the same rubbers as
those sold separately for much more, and are also the same ones used by
higher level players on the custom blade. So not only are these bats
generally cheaper, but the quality is similar and the rubbers are the
same ones used for custom bats, not the more basic ones designed
specifically made for pre-made bats. Note that DHS brand bats tend to be
a little more expensive as well, since DHS is the top Chinese brand, and
their products used by many of the world top players.
So which ones are the better choice? Well for the cheapest ones, the
Chinese ones tend to offer much more for the same price and similar
quality, so they are usually the better choice. The more you're willing
to spend, the closer the two types become. If brand or reputation is
important to you, than you need to consider that as well...
One further point to consider is that when the price of the Pre-made
gets to around the $40 to $50 mark, you can buy a basic custom made bat
for the same price, which usually offer a far better quality bat
overall... so this is another important considerations...
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