Last Friday I played a league game over in the Chalfont league, and we played against a side that fielded two players using regular rubbers on the forehand and some kind of long pimpled wobbly stuff on the backhand.
This brought up an interesting debate regarding the skill level of those attempting to use these 'funny' rubbers, i.e. Were they being used in a destructive way to 'spoil' anothers game rather than improve their own, cause frustration in the opponent and kind of win by technology rather than by ability. There is no doubt that players that would otherwise not be in the top flight with conventional bats have indeed found themselves able to win against so called better players (much to their annoyance) using these kind of bats.
For me personally I find these 'funny bats' a challenge, each player using these bats develops a style suited to their game and provides a uniquely different set of problems to overcome. Of course they are able to pick up points in a way that they would never have been able to before, but by the same token these bats limit the variation and options available to them.
Table Tennis is a fast game of chess, in my opinion these bats are part of our game, a player who uses these funny bats well, twiddles and controls the ball and placement has to be very skilled indeed. Equally the player who is able to exploit the weaknesses and work the limitations of their opponents bat's to his or her advantage is just as skilled.
In conclusion... these bats are interesting talking points but they do tend to create an atmosphere on match nights... with the 'funny bat merchant' taking great pleasure in causing misery for the baffled opponent and the conventional player raging that without the 'funny bat' the opponent would not even be good enough for this division!
One final point however... most of us play table tennis because we enjoy the sport and love playing the game... if these bats are designed to wreak havoc and reduce the game to dining table ping pong levels, is it really good for the game? or do you think like me that they represent an opportunity to think about what we are doing out there and become more tactfully aware?
Post submitted by : Chris Ogle
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