Comparative study on the performance of different table tennis rubbers

This paper aims to analyze the characteristics and differences in the properties of four different table tennis racket rubbers (pips-out rubber, raw rubber, long rubber, and inverted rubber) in terms of velocity, spin, and control performances on non-spinning and spinning balls. The study captures a complete video image of the non-spinning ball at five different velocities, as well as topspin and backspin at five different rotation velocities, using a high-speed camera (1500 fps). The video recordings of the table tennis balls' impact and reflex are analyzed using SIMI-Motion (Germany), extracting parameters such as incident and reflexed velocities, as well as incident and reflexed angles. The fitting equation between incident velocity and coefficient of restitution reveals a linear correlation (R-2>0.84) between incident velocity and coefficient of restitution for the four rubbers when a non-spinning ball impacts at different angles. This research provides quantification of the four commonly used types of rubbers internationally, which can serve as a valuable reference for players and coaches with different playing styles.