How to choose table tennis paddle for beginners

If I just make my own judgment, that is a subjective opinion. Therefore, I have compiled the most upvote comments on quora on the topic "How to choose table tennis paddle for beginners"

Madan Mohan, recreational hack 

For a beginner, it doesn’t matter much what racquet you play with as long as it is a really, really light one (280g or lower strung weight) to help you get used to the idea of swinging it fast. I know there are old schoolers who will disagree and suggest you start off right away with player racquets (at least 320g or above-strung weight) to develop correct technique but this is not how I did it and me, therefore, cannot recommend it. For what it’s worth, I played with a Wilson Advantage for the first three-four months. It’s quite plush for its weight and for being a beginner racquet and a good one for a rank beginner. I moved on to Head Ti5 for the next few months (currently play with a Yonex Dual G Alpha - have been for about a year now - which isn’t necessarily heavy either but feels different because of the construction, much better for absorbing lots of incoming paces than either of the aforementioned racquets). If you are coming back to tennis after a long gap and feeling out of touch, the Head Ti5 is a good one because its head is heavy and will create a lot of power for you and also oversized which means more string in which to find the ball!

Donovan Lee  

Oversized rackets (with net area >95 sq. in) are recommended for beginners due to a larger sweet spot, which can help players who have a hard time judging ball trajectory. A lighter racket will help you react quickly and make fine adjustments when learning --- at the expense of possibly introducing bad habits. The most helpful tidbit of information is that many tennis shops (even online ones) offer a "demo" program. What this means is that you can pay some money to rent a group of rackets at the same time, and try them simultaneously on a tennis court. The ability to compare a few rackets at a time will help you understand what you like and dislike about certain tennis rackets and speed up your selection process.

Keith Wilcox, PTR Teaching Pro, Racquet technician

Tough question. Most beginners prefer oversized, stiff, head-heavy frames. But, what they prefer and what is best for them are different answers. In my opinion, the best beginner racquets, that will work for most people until they narrow down their preferences, are something like 100sq inch, open pattern, even balanced, 9.5-11 oz racquets. The thing about being a beginner is that you might not even know what you like so it's best to try to make an educated guess and work from there. My first racquet when I was 4 years old was a 13 oz wooden beast. Then I got prince graphite and then a Pro Kennex Copper Ace. Back then kids just played with whatever they were handed. I tend to think there are too many choices these days! haha

Tran Q Bao, ping pong player from Vietnam 

You could consider a few criteria below:

• Weight: not too light which has higher injury risk, not too heavy that you can't wield it. A 300-310g unstrung racket should serve as a good starting point for most persons.
• Arm friendly: With improper technique and for sure a lot of frame shots, you will need this attribute. Avoid rackets that are too light (which will absorb little vibration and transfer it to your arm) or too stiff (look for RA rating, >65 means it's quite stiff )
• Good feel: This is a bit vague but you could do research to find rackets with good "feel", which will help you develop muscle memory for shots, rather than rackets with muted feel.

With those in consideration, I normally recommend the Head Radical, Wilson Tour, or Dunlop 300 series for beginners. You can get 2nd hand or older models which will perform just as well as the new models.

Ankush Malik 

I would recommend an all-round setup for better results rather than ready to use racquet as it cant be used after the rubber worn off. So ideally you can start off by an Allround blade(speed of this type of blades are not fast) with a controlled rubber on it, Stiga Allround Classic, Butterfly Primorac, Butterfly Timo Boll All, Donic Waldner Allplay(I own it), Friendship Allround (cheap one) with Yasaka Mark v both sides is good for learning the sports till you develop your skill for an upgrade.

All the best.

Ed Ardzinski, Been playing tennis off and on for 35 years. 

Hard to say, but I advise avoiding lighter, head-heavy rackets. I'd also advise avoiding extreme head sizes-110 sq in is plenty.

In some ways, starting with an old woody sounds like a good idea, but that's the effect of playing for a long time.

About 11 1/2 oz or so, 4 to 8 pts headlight should be a great starter stick. String it with the basic house nylon gut at about the midpoint of the recommended range.

The beam is a question, I fear folks getting too in love with their wide-body rackets and may be missing a chance to find they like something a little thinner.

Utsav Sinha, Electrical Engineer at Anglo-Eastern Univan Group (2015-present) 

A “stag” bat costing around one thousand rupees would be best for you to start. They will give you the control and feel of the ball, hence keeping you glued to the game. If you buy something around 200–300 rupees, you may not enjoy the strokes and eventually lose interest in the game.

So it’s imperative to buy moderate equipment from the beginning.

Happy playing!

Deepak Reddy, Engineer, Tennis Enthusiast 

For anyone, the most important spec of a racket is the feel of it. www.tenniswarehouse.com allows you to DEMO up to 5 rackets for $20, for up to a week. You can order some beginner rackets and start hitting before you narrow down on a specific racket.

If you want to know my opinion on how to choose the best table tennis racket for beginners, check out the article: https://pingpongstart.com/product-reviews/best-ping-pong-paddle-reviews.html

p/s: I have suggested some products being sold on Amazon.