Comparison Donic CarboTec 900 vs Donic Waldner 900

The class of a racket describes the general purpose of the product and its ability to perform various table tennis techniques. The general purpose is clear from the name of the class: for example, for those who have not yet held rackets in their hands, 1* models are best suited, players with some experience who play regularly can pay attention to 2*, etc. As for techniques, the more stars, the wider the available range: for example, on “one-star” models only simulations of cutting and top spin are available, while “two-star” models allow you to perform these techniques with average strength, and powerful cutting and top spins are available starting from 3*.

It is worth noting that the term “professional” in this case is somewhat conditional: the class is indicated for the racket (see “Product type”), while professional athletes prefer to assemble equipment, choosing the base and pads themselves. Therefore, the 5* marking corresponds to the most advanced class among ready-made rackets. However, this class is more often designed for experienced amateurs than for representatives of “big sports”.

— Straight. The simplest form, assumes a flat surface of the handle, without extensions/contractions. For some players, this shape may well be optimal, but in general, straight handles are considered less comfortable than flared or anatomical ones. Therefore, although quite a lot of such rackets are produced, they are noticeably smaller than models with other types of handles, and they mainly belong to the initial class (1 *, 2 *), although there are rare exceptions.

— Flared. The handle of this shape expands noticeably towards the end. This makes the grip more comfortable and secure than the straight shape, while flared handles are easier and cheaper to manufacture than anatomical ones. Due to this, this option is very popular today, it is used in most rackets of all classes.

— Anatomical. This category includes handles, the shape of which is optimized for the shape of the human hand. Usually, they have characteristic notches, where the fingers of the athlete fall when held; this can improve the comfort of use and reduce fatigue. On the other hand, such handles are somewhat more complicated, and as a result, they are more expensive than straight or flared ones. In addition, they require increased attention when choosing: even a very small discrepancy between the profile of the handle and the size of the hand can cause inconvenience and reduce all the...advantages of such a racket to zero. As a result, anatomical handles are somewhat less common than conical ones.

Note that the main selection criterion for the shape of the handle is solely the personal preferences of the athlete. There are no general rules about which option is “better” or “worse”: for different people, the optimal form often turns out to be different. Therefore, before buying, it is highly advisable to try the racket in your hand and evaluate the suitability of its handle for your own preferences.

Note that the same racket model can be produced in several modifications that differ in the shape of the handle; in such cases, the characteristics indicate all available options. And the bases (see "Product type") are, by definition, produced with different shapes of handles; therefore, for this type of product, this moment is not indicated at all.

Table tennis rackets have 3 main practical characteristics: speed, spin and control. The general class of the product, the style of play (see above), available techniques, requirements for player skills, etc. depend on their values and ratio. One of the most popular designation options is on a hundred-point scale; This scale is also used in our catalogue.

Control describes the overall handling of a racket. Roughly speaking, this is a parameter of how easily it can be used to give the tennis ball exactly the speed, direction of flight and rotation that the athlete wants to provide. High values on the control scale will be comfortable regardless of the level of the player and the style of play; however, increasing the speed/rotation hurts control, as a “faster” or “spinning” racket is usually more demanding on the accuracy of movements. Therefore, many models for professionals and experienced amateurs, usually, are distinguished by a low degree of controllability, and “beginner” rackets, on the contrary, have high control parameters and low speed/spin.

— Wood. A traditional material that has long been used in table tennis rackets, but has not lost its popularity to this day. This is due to the combination of low cost with practicality and ease of production. In addition, many different types of wood and many specific processing technologies are used in sports equipment, due to which this material can have different properties. As a result, the tree is very popular, it is widely used in all classes of rackets — from beginner to professional base blanks (see "Product type").

— Polymer. This option is also known as "plastic". Actually, both of these names cover not one material, but a whole class, including substances with different characteristics and with different costs. As a result, the overall quality of a model with a polymer base can vary, usually depending on the price category. At the same time, for a number of reasons, plastic is not allowed by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) as the main material for the base of rackets used in competitions; therefore, this option is not found in professional models, and it has not received distribution in non-professional models.

— Carbon. This material, also known as carbon fibre, combines carbon fibre filaments and a polymer filler. Thanks to this, carbon is characterized by extremely high specs of strength and rigidity at a very low weight. On the other hand, it is sensiti...ve to strong impacts and drops, the cost of carbon fibre products is quite high, and, like plastic, it is not allowed by the ITTF for officially certified rackets. As a result of all this, bases made entirely of carbon are extremely rare — in most cases this material is used in the form of inserts (see below).

— Wood + carbon insert. Bases made of wood and completed with one or more layers of carbon. The features of both of these materials are described above. Also note here that the use of carbon in a wooden base reduces weight and has a positive effect on rigidity, while the tree protects the insert from impacts, and such a construction costs much less than an all-carbon one. On the other hand, the price of such bases still turns out to be quite high, and the mentioned advantages are really noticeable only to professional athletes and experienced amateurs. Therefore, this combination is found mainly in class 5* models.

— Polymer + carbon. Bases combining a polymer base with carbon inserts. See above for more on each of these materials, and the main advantages of this combination are that rackets are lighter and stiffer than full polymer rackets, while being less expensive and less susceptible to falls than full carbon rackets. At the same time, this combination is not as common as the other combination described above — wood + carbon; this is due to the low popularity of polymers as a base material.

– Wood + basalt insert. Bases made of wood combined with one or more layers of basalt fibre. This material has been compared to carbon (see related paragraph) in the sense that basalt is also considered a premium material and is used in rackets of the appropriate level. As for the practical properties, it is believed that such inserts improve the feeling of the ball and feedback, allowing you to achieve good controllability even on "high-speed" rackets.

The number of layers that make up the base of the racket. The number of layers affects the degree of rigidity and elasticity of the base and, accordingly, the characteristics of the rebound of the ball. However, this moment is irrelevant for the simple reason that the materials used (see above), the presence of inserts, build quality, sponge thickness (see below), etc. also affect the mentioned characteristics. And given that modern table tennis rackets are very diverse (for example, wooden models can use different types of wood), the number of layers is today a reference parameter, which in itself does not affect the practical characteristics of a particular model.

The sponge is the bottom layer of the coating, located under the outer coating (rubber is most often used for such a coating). The thickness of the sponge determines the characteristics of the impulse that the racket transmits to the ball, and, accordingly, the characteristics of the flight of the ball after the impact; in other words, this parameter affects all three practical characteristics of the racket - speed, rotation, control. Accordingly, models for different playing styles (see above) also differ in sponge thickness.

So, a small thickness - up to 1.5 mm - is typical for protective style products, which are distinguished by low speed and good control. All-purpose rackets use sponges of the thickness of 1.5 – 1.8 mm, which provides a balance between speed and control. And thick sponges - from 2 mm - are installed in rackets for an attacking game, and the greater the thickness, the higher the speed and rotation, and the worse the control.

The ability to change the overall balance of the racket by moving the balance point (centre of gravity) closer to or further from the end of the handle. In this way, you can adjust the product to your own preferences and playing style, and even quickly reconfigure the racket depending on the situation — many models allow you to change settings within a couple of minutes. Adjustment, usually, is carried out by rearranging the ballast placed in the handle. There is also an adjustment of the gravity centre of high-class rackets 4 * and 5 * (see "Class").