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It is worth investigating which are the most
popular table...in general the most popular table tend to be among the
best, although marketing and availability can make a huge difference as
well. A survey was done to judge
which were the most popular competition level tables. This was done via
polls in the major online table tennis forums, and also by asking a
range of players. Although I only got about 100 votes, which is not
really enough to draw conclusions, many of those voted were very
experiences players who had experience on a wide variety of tables, so
their opinion carries a lot more weight. The results were as follows:
- Butterfly 30%
- Stiga 25%
- Joola 15%
- DHS 12%
- Donic 6%
- Others 12%
A few were made which are definitely
worth nothing:
1. Most players seem to agree that all
the ITTF approved tables are of good quality, and their opinion or vote
often came down to personal preference of a particular feature that they
liked about a table.
2. Not all tables of a particular brand
are made in the same country, so the difference of opinion often comes
down to which version of the table they experienced. The tables made in
Germany seemed to have the best reputation.
3. Availability is a big factor... some
clubs only had one or two brands readily available to them, so their
votes would be restricted to those brands.
4. Although Butterfly got the most votes,
there were a few people who did not like the bounce on the table as much
as the other main brands.
5. A few other brands were mentioned,
like Killerspin, Tibhar, Andro, Double Fish, but since they did not get
many other votes, I included them in the 'other' catagory. Killerspin
seemed to be quite popular in the USA, and Tibhar in Europe, so these
are likely to be good choices too.
In conclusion, most people would be happy
with any of the ITTF approved tables, or would at least be able to
adjust to them. The Butterfly, Stiga and Joola tables really do seem to
be the most popular, so if you have nothing else to go by, these are
likely to be a good choice. It IS worth asking the retailer where the
tables are made, the German made ones are likely to be the highest
quality. |
