Table Tennis Rubber Selection Guide

1 · Who is it for?

A starting point, not a rule: each choice sets the type, sponge hardness and thickness that usually suit that player, and you can change any of them afterwards. A rubber with no published hardness is left out of a choice that sets one.

2 · Or pick the type of rubber

3 · Narrow it down

BrandSurfaceTacky grabs the ball and suits slower, spin-heavy strokes. Grippy relies on the sponge for speed and spin.

Sponge thickness :

Thicker is faster, thinner gives more control. MAX is the thickest the rules allow; OX is no sponge.

Ships inIn stock ships in 1-2 days. Special order is ordered in for you and takes longer.

Budget :

Choosing a table tennis rubber? This guide places every rubber we carry, 217 rubbers from Victas, Butterfly, Donic, Andro, Joola, Tibhar and Palio, by the sponge hardness its own manufacturer gives it, from very soft to hard. Start with the type of rubber, narrow by brand, surface, thickness and budget, then open the rubbers that are left. Further down, each brand’s own speed and spin figures are charted on that brand’s own scale.

4 · The chart: sponge hardness, brand by brand

Shape: rubber typeInvertedShort pipsLong pipsAnti-spin

Colour: surfaceTackyGrippyHybrid / semi-tackyAntiSurface not recorded

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Done choosing your rubbers? Now choose your blade Would rather not assemble a racket? See our racket selection guide

Speed and spin, on each brand’s own scale

Every manufacturer rates speed and spin its own way, so a 9 from one brand is not a 9 from another and the charts below are never combined. Each one compares a brand’s rubbers with each other, in that brand’s own numbers.

Donic: speed and spin (33 rubbers)

Donic rates these rubbers in words, not numbers. Each box holds the rubbers given that speed and that spin.

Butterfly: speed and spin (32 rubbers)

Butterfly’s own scale. Not comparable with another brand’s numbers.

Victas: speed and spin (23 rubbers)

Victas’s own scale. Not comparable with another brand’s numbers.

Tibhar: speed and spin (16 rubbers)

Tibhar’s own scale. Not comparable with another brand’s numbers.

Joola: speed and spin (6 rubbers)

Joola’s own scale. Not comparable with another brand’s numbers.

Donic: speed and spin (5 rubbers)

Donic’s own scale. Not comparable with another brand’s numbers.

No chart for Andro: too few rubbers carry both a speed and a spin figure.

No chart for Palio: too few rubbers carry both a speed and a spin figure.

How to choose a table tennis rubber

Start with the type. An inverted rubber has a smooth surface, makes the most spin and is what most players use on both sides. Short pips face outwards and hit flat and direct, with less spin of their own and less reaction to the opponent’s. Long pips disrupt: they return the incoming spin reversed, which suits defenders and blockers. Anti-spin looks smooth but is slick, and takes the spin off the ball.

Then the sponge hardness. A softer sponge holds the ball longer, which gives more control and feel and makes spin easier to produce at a moderate swing speed. A harder sponge gives more back to a fast, full stroke: more speed and power, and less forgiveness. Brands measure hardness in degrees on different scales, so the chart uses the band, from very soft to hard, and each rubber’s card shows the brand’s own figure. A rubber sold with no sponge is listed as OX.

Surface and thickness. A tacky topsheet grabs the ball and suits slower, spin-heavy strokes close to the table; a grippy one relies on the sponge for speed and spin; a hybrid sits between the two. A thicker sponge is faster, a thinner one gives more control. MAX is the thickest the rules allow.

Why there is no single speed number. Each manufacturer rates speed and spin on its own scale, so a 9 from one brand is not a 9 from another. This guide compares rubbers across brands only on what they have in common, and charts each brand’s own speed and spin figures separately. A racket needs a blade as well: see our blade selection guide, or shop all rubbers.

Every rubber, by sponge hardness

Very soft (6)

Soft (38)

Medium soft (30)

Medium (63)

Medium hard (24)

Hard (45)

No sponge (OX) (3)

Hardness not published (8)