Table Tennis

[ikthius]

does anyone here play table tennis?
in a big way?

I want to get back into it, but I am looking for a good bat (not too expensive) that has good tacky rubber, like butterfly shriver rubber.

I have been out the game for so long, I no longer know what is good and what is not.

any hints on buying a bat?
links would be great

ik

[Osem]

I always use double sided tape to maximise spin!

Don't tell my lad that tho ;)

[Alien]

does anyone here play table tennis?
in a big way?
Not for tournaments or whatever, but I used to play it a fair bit, though that was quite a few years ago.

I want to get back into it, but I am looking for a good bat (not too expensive) that has good tacky rubber, like butterfly shriver rubber.

I have been out the game for so long, I no longer know what is good and what is not.

any hints on buying a bat?
links would be great
I can't remember what make mine was, just that it had a German-sounding name that began with an "S". It had quite smooth rubber on both sides, as opposed to the fairly knobbly/pimpled surfaced bats I saw some people play with, but I wouldn't have traded it for 10 of them.

Ah, apparently it was Schildkrot (http://froogle.google.co.uk/froogle?as_q=schildkrot+bat&num=100&scoring=p&btnG=Search+Froogle&as_epq=table+tennis&as_oq=&as_eq=&price1=&price2=&as_occt=any&cat=0&show=dd&safe=off). This 1 (http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10001&catalogId=10651&langId=-1&searchTerms=0727314&go.x=9&go.y=18) looks rather similar to the 1 I had, except my handle was straight instead of flared.

I'd also recommend actually going into somewhere to buy 1 rather than buying online, so you can actually see what they feel like in your hand. It can really put you off your game if you try playing with 1 that doesn't feel right for you, i.e. shape of handle, or the weight of the bat.