How to make a tennis racket at home. How to make a table tennis racket

Table tennis is olympic look sports and very popular, interesting game which has not lost its relevance to this day. Table tennis is played by both professionals - masters of sports, candidates for MS, and just amateurs! It is no secret that a tennis racket is of great importance and your game will depend on its choice: ball control, rebound speed, spin, etc. Some players, after playing ping-pong for say a month, understand that the main tool in the game of table tennis is a tennis racket - it has, if not a primary, then undoubtedly an important role! The comfort of the racket handle and the characteristics of the racket itself have an impact on the speed and quality of the table tennis game. And this, in turn, is the key to a successful game and victory!

In online stores and specialized stores of inventory and workwear for table tennis you can see a huge selection of all kinds of table tennis bases and overlays. All this variety is just dizzying.
So how do you choose tennis racket from a wide variety, so that the racket matches your style of play and is comfortable? After all, outwardly all rackets are the same and practically do not differ from each other! Is that a different configuration of the handle, the color of the tree and that's it. But in fact, each racket is individual, each base of the racket has its own unique ball rebound speed, its own ball control.
The most important thing is that the racket allows you to play comfortably at high speed, and allows you to perfectly control the spinning ball during the ball rally! The racket must be good both defensively and defensively. A solid racket should be a powerful tool in the hands of a tennis player. Only such a racket can lead a tennis player to victory over an opponent!
Components of a table tennis racket!

A table tennis racket consists of the following main parts:
1. The base (plywood) is the most basic part of the racket. It is made from all kinds of wood, even aluminum and titanium alloys are used. To make the overall weight of the racket heavier, a carbon insert is built into the base. The professional base is made of several layers, which are glued together with a special glue. As a rule, there are 5 and 7 such layers. It is of great importance that the total weight is not more than 100 grams! As a rule, their weight ranges from 74 to 100 grams.
2. The racket handle is an integral part of the base of the racket. The handle is responsible for the comfort of the game. The convenience of location in the hand will depend on its shape. The handle should not strain the hand too much. It should provide convenience when it is rotated with the help of the wrist! To date, 5 types of handles are known. All of them have different thicknesses, they are flared and straight, etc.
3. Overlays - the upper component of the racket. They are studded and smooth. They are responsible for the speed and force of the rotation of the ball. Rubbers allow you to make all sorts of complex serves from sliced ​​and lightning fast, to short and slow! The sticky pads allow you to spin the ball with a bottom spin, top spin, right side spin, left side spin, or a combination of these spins. The rubbers are the part of the racquet that needs to be replaced, either due to wear or a change in playing style. Let's say you prefer an attacking style of play, and you have rubbers as a defender. According to the requirements of the Table Tennis Federation, the linings must have different colors (red and black). This allows the opponent to follow the change of the side of the racket and makes it possible to determine the type of blow: with or without rotation, defensive or attacking! Between the base and the rubber pad, as a rule, there is a sponge - a special spongy layer created for the catapulting rebound of the ball from the racket.
Immediately it should be noted that there are ready-made rackets, and there are not ready-made, but prefabricated ones.

With a professional approach to table tennis, you have the opportunity to carry out your own unique order for the manufacture of a combination racket on your own request with the characteristics you need!
Many beginners buy inexpensive products from popular tennis brands, hoping that for the best price they will get good quality. For a beginner it is right choice, because at first you need to learn how to control the ball when playing the ball, be able to throw the ball to the opposite side of the table. And the rule, the higher the cost - the proportionally higher the quality, it does not work here! Since, a beginner, having bought an expensive professional racket, will not be able to appreciate all its unsurpassed characteristics. Moreover, such a racket can even harm a beginner, since such a racket has high speed and spin characteristics. But you should not buy a cheap Chinese fake either. Tip: Do not buy a racket for growth. Play first with simple rackets (more suitable for your style of play), then move on to more complex ones that require more complex elements in table tennis: top spin, undercut (washed down), etc.
It is better to consult with a trainer before buying a racket. If you do not have a coach, then the sales assistant of the store where you will buy. He will tell you the characteristics of all kinds of models and advise the racket model for you! Before buying a racket, hold it in your hands, feel the convenience of the handle by turning the brush in different directions. Buy a special cover for your racket that protects it from dirt and damage!

So, choosing the right racket is very important. important point during training and education. This is essential for achieving high sports results! This issue must be approached seriously with maximum responsibility!

If someone is thinking of making a homemade table tennis blade, perhaps two ready-made templates will come in handy. Not so, as it turned out, brands have complex patterns. In fact, the base can be drawn with arcs of circles. My first experience was with the TSP Balsa/GlassFiber 6.5 mm base template (5.5 mm has the same template). I just circled the base with a pencil, putting it on a sheet of paper, and then picked up pieces of circles with a compass. After that, it remains just to document everything neatly. The second template is the base from Butterfly Timo Boll ALC.


You can open it in a new tab and see the full size

Unfortunately, I was not able to make a pdf that would preserve the dimensions of the drawing when printed. But, all the same, the next step should be to transfer the drawing to the template itself, which can be made from some kind of thin, durable plastic. I used foil fiberglass with a thickness of 1 mm.

Making a table tennis blade at home is not at all difficult. It would be something to make. Of the tools at a minimum, only a hacksaw is needed (it is possible for metal), a sharp knife and all sorts of skins. You can glue the layers without a press by placing them between two even pieces of chipboard (you need to put a thin piece of foam rubber or polyethylene foam packaging for uniform pressure) and pressing down the whole cake with a bucket of water. It turns out very well. Glue Titebond (II) for wood, there are several types, any will do. To make the end of the racket strictly perpendicular, it is advisable to build a "perpendicular file" - fix a metal corner on a piece of plexiglass and clamp sandpaper under the same corner. Further use by pressing the plane of the blade to the plexiglass

Balsa for the central layers and birch air plywood I bought two years ago in the Thermic store. Now you can order the desired "pie" in Aerobalsa, and from abacha, balsa, both together, and even from poplar. I suppose that if you contact the owner of the company, then walnut or mahogany veneer on the cake can be glued on an individual order. Carbon fabric is also available in the catalog. The difficulty lies in the fact that you need to determine the thickness and weight in advance. Here, it may take several iterations, troublesome. And so, offhand, five-layer plywood made of abachi 6 mm thick is the finished base of Donic Baum SawTec :-) without cheeks.

Results:

Balsa comes in different hardness and density. The hardest and densest balsa covers the lower limit of abacha density (ayous). Therefore, in the presence of a dense balsa, you can make a racket from the balsa entirely. It will be light and slow. Below is a sample. In the Thermal store, in addition to birch air plywood, a balsa three-layer and rather dense plywood (Graupner) was bought. It turned out to be a fully functional light (75g.) base, with a thickness of 9.5 mm - completely inflexible, with a very soft rebound. By speed - ALL, but by meaning - DEF.



Another sample is a 15-layer base. The inner layers (9 pcs = 3x3) are three-layer balsa plywood, already mentioned above, and the outer layer is three-layer thin aviation birch plywood. When reading some site about tree species, I think I saw the phrase that birch is not much different from limba. The base turned out to be heavy (110 g), but the speed is OFF +. Faster than TSP Balsa 6.5, but slower than TSP Balsa 8.5. The thickness of the blade is 9.5 mm, so there is zero flexibility, but the rebound is soft, the base is not glass.

And a couple more reasons to complete the picture. UM-5 - the speed is somewhere on ALL++ / OFF-, the rest is written on the photo.

UM-6, handle wrapped in leather. OFF-/OFF.

UM-6 9-layer base, this is not a mistake. It uses 2mm 4 ply birch plywood. According to the rules (or GOSTs), if the plywood has an even number of layers, the inner layers are glued with fibers in one direction (and not at 90 degrees).

Here I must honestly admit that in fact I did not really study the properties of my homemade balsa bases. There was always something that needed to be tried more urgently, so I almost never played these bases. The exception is the last UM-6 base, which has a handle with a winding. With LKT PRO XT rubbers on the left and PRO XP it turned out to be something so controllable (with good OFF-/OFF speed) that I played for a couple of months and then came back to compare with other (proprietary) blades. The impression is as if short spikes were glued on the racket - the ball can be sent to any point. However, the base turned out to be heavy, therefore, in the handle, the cavity and the template are smaller than the standard one - it made it as easy as it could. All these bases - according to their structure - are absolutely not for rotation. They are for blocks and flat shots. Or under a short spike.

If you are not a professional athlete and you have no one to consult with, then making your own racket can be quite difficult. With our instructions, you can easily assemble yourself.

Two racket assembly methods.

There are two most popular assembly methods. There are no particular differences between them. The only difference is that in the first case, all the overlays on the base are first cut off, after which the glue is applied. In the second case, the overlays are first glued to the base, and then the edges are cut off. Both methods of assembly have their pluses and minuses. So, let's take a closer look at all the details. Method one. Prepare the base, two pads, one tube of quick glue, a utility knife, and tape. For the second method, you will also need a base, two pads, a tube of quick glue, a sponge, a knife and end tape. Place the pad on the base. Press it firmly with your hand, and then cut off the unnecessary edges. You can make a racket alone, or you can enlist the help of a partner. Behind

then apply glue to the sponge. Spread the adhesive over the entire surface area. Make sure it lays down evenly. Because Since the glue dries fairly quickly, it is better to do this procedure as quickly as possible. Don't apply too much glue. It is better to apply a thin but even layer. Wait until the glue is absorbed. To do this, you will need to wait a couple of minutes. The sponge should look dry. After that, let's move on to the base. We also apply glue to the base, and then let it soak in. After the adhesive has been absorbed, the substrate should look completely dry. Stick the overlay on the base, only very carefully. Press the sticker firmly over the base. Everything, the overlay is ready.

The same procedure must be carried out with the second overlay. Apply the glue in a thin layer, let it soak in and glue the second overlay. The tennis racket is almost ready. Glue the end tape around the entire perimeter.

That's it, she's ready. It turns out the question of how to make a table tennis racket on your own is not so difficult. It is only important to know in what order to do everything.

If someone is thinking of making a homemade table tennis blade, perhaps two ready-made templates will come in handy. Not so, as it turned out, brands have complex patterns. In fact, the base can be drawn with arcs of circles. My first experience was with the TSP Balsa/GlassFiber 6.5 mm base template (5.5 mm has the same template). I just circled the base with a pencil, putting it on a sheet of paper, and then picked up pieces of circles with a compass. After that, it remains just to document everything neatly. The second template is the base from Butterfly Timo Boll ALC.


You can open it in a new tab and see the full size

Unfortunately, I was not able to make a pdf that would preserve the dimensions of the drawing when printed. But, all the same, the next step should be to transfer the drawing to the template itself, which can be made from some kind of thin, durable plastic. I used foil fiberglass with a thickness of 1 mm.

Making a table tennis blade at home is not at all difficult. It would be something to make. Of the tools at a minimum, only a hacksaw is needed (it is possible for metal), a sharp knife and all sorts of skins. You can glue the layers without a press by placing them between two even pieces of chipboard (you need to put a thin piece of foam rubber or polyethylene foam packaging for uniform pressure) and pressing down the whole cake with a bucket of water. It turns out very well. Glue Titebond (II) for wood, there are several types, any will do. To make the end of the racket strictly perpendicular, it is advisable to build a "perpendicular file" - fix a metal corner on a piece of plexiglass and clamp sandpaper under the same corner. Further use by pressing the plane of the blade to the plexiglass

Balsa for the central layers and birch air plywood I bought two years ago in the Thermic store. Now you can order the desired "pie" in Aerobalsa, and from abacha, balsa, both together, and even from poplar. I suppose that if you contact the owner of the company, then walnut or mahogany veneer on the cake can be glued on an individual order. Carbon fabric is also available in the catalog. The difficulty lies in the fact that you need to determine the thickness and weight in advance. Here, it may take several iterations, troublesome. And so, offhand, five-layer plywood made of abachi 6 mm thick is the finished base of Donic Baum SawTec :-) without cheeks.

Results:

Balsa comes in different hardness and density. The hardest and densest balsa covers the lower limit of abacha density (ayous). Therefore, in the presence of a dense balsa, you can make a racket from the balsa entirely. It will be light and slow. Below is a sample. In the Thermal store, in addition to birch air plywood, a balsa three-layer and rather dense plywood (Graupner) was bought. It turned out to be a fully functional light (75g.) base, with a thickness of 9.5 mm - completely inflexible, with a very soft rebound. By speed - ALL, but by meaning - DEF.



Another sample is a 15-layer base. The inner layers (9 pcs = 3x3) are three-layer balsa plywood, already mentioned above, and the outer layer is three-layer thin aviation birch plywood. When reading some site about tree species, I think I saw the phrase that birch is not much different from limba. The base turned out to be heavy (110 g), but the speed is OFF +. Faster than TSP Balsa 6.5, but slower than TSP Balsa 8.5. The thickness of the blade is 9.5 mm, so there is zero flexibility, but the rebound is soft, the base is not glass.

And a couple more reasons to complete the picture. UM-5 - the speed is somewhere on ALL++ / OFF-, the rest is written on the photo.

UM-6, handle wrapped in leather. OFF-/OFF.

UM-6 9-layer base, this is not a mistake. It uses 2mm 4 ply birch plywood. According to the rules (or GOSTs), if the plywood has an even number of layers, the inner layers are glued with fibers in one direction (and not at 90 degrees).

Here I must honestly admit that in fact I did not really study the properties of my homemade balsa bases. There was always something that needed to be tried more urgently, so I almost never played these bases. The exception is the last UM-6 base, which has a handle with a winding. With LKT PRO XT rubbers on the left and PRO XP it turned out to be something so controllable (with good OFF-/OFF speed) that I played for a couple of months and then came back to compare with other (proprietary) blades. The impression is as if short spikes were glued on the racket - the ball can be sent to any point. However, the base turned out to be heavy, therefore, in the handle, the cavity and the template are smaller than the standard one - it made it as easy as it could. All these bases - according to their structure - are absolutely not for rotation. They are for blocks and flat shots. Or under a short spike.

Instruction

When choosing a racket, you need to consider the following characteristics: weight, material, balance, head size, handle size and rim thickness. Children's rackets by weight weigh from 200 grams, and rackets suitable for a professional - from 400 grams. The materials from which rackets are made: aluminum and its alloys, graphite, composite materials based on graphite and other materials. Carbon and titanium are also used. The main tennis manufacturers are Head, Babolat, Prince, Yonex, Wilson and Dunlop, which compete with each other in the manufacturability of their products. Purpose: to make rackets lighter, more comfortable and "obedient", more maneuverable. And yet, in order to make the tennis racket as "for yourself" as possible, it would be useful to consult a specialist.

You need to start choosing a tennis racket with a handle. In this case, it is necessary to take into account its size; how it lies in the hand, how comfortable its grip is, whether the racket does not slip out of the hand. In other words, you should be comfortable holding it in your hand. The racquet is then chosen based on the player's height, experience and playing style.
Beginning tennis players usually use club-style rackets with a large head and a weight of 250-290 g in the game. Such rackets allow you not to overstrain your hand and comfortably hit the ball, due to the so-called "big game spot". Rackets for women tend to be somewhat lighter than those for men. As the technique of the game develops, you will be able to change the racket to a more "advanced" one, which requires a more serious technique from the player.

For starters, two racquets with the same tension will be enough for you. One of them is a spare. As for professional players, they come to training and tournaments with the prudent presence of 5-6 spare rackets, as there is a fairly high probability that the strings will break unexpectedly.

Now about how to care for a tennis racket. With careful care, the racket will serve you for a long time. To do this, you need to keep the racket in a dry and warm place; carefully inspect the strings; from time to time (1 time in 10-15 workouts) change the winding on the handle. By the way, today's manufacturers supply rackets with special devices, thanks to which rackets prolong their service life. This, for example, protective tapes on the rim, which protect it from chips and scratches, "vibration dampers" that reduce the vibration of the strings, etc.

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note

When choosing a tennis racket, you must decide what you are buying it for, play several times a month with friends or dream of conquering the "tennis Olympus" by practicing with professional trainer. Amateur rackets are suitable for beginners and for those who play tennis according to their mood, from time to time. Children's - rackets for children from 3 years old. Such rackets are selected according to the height of the child. This category also includes junior rackets.