Why do table tennis players inspect each other's rackets?

Question

I was reading up on some table tennis rules, and there seems to be a lot of regulations regarding the racket/paddle/bat. One of the regulations is that the players inspect each other's rackets before a match. Another is that players can only change rackets if their current racket is accidentally damaged to the point it can't be used.

For reference, I play tennis (the older cousin of table tennis), in which both of the above rules are not present. I was just wondering if the technology of table tennis rackets was so different from tennis in such a way that they required stricter regulations? Sorry for my ignorance on the matter.

Answer 1

To know what the opponent plays with is the most common reason. It happens that a player will never use one of their rubbers during warmup and hope that the other player doesn't notice it until the first points. Can be surprising if the rubber is "unusual": pips, antispin, etc. It also allows you to get to know the different brands and types of rubbers if you are interested in that.

The same applies to the blade: if you see an All- or an Off+ the difference is huge.

Regulations do come into play but should be enforced by the umpire and referees when you have some. Since players don't usually go around with the List of Authorized Racket Coverings, they will mostly look for missing parts of rubbers or more blatant misbehaves (I've seen a player trying to play with 2 red rubbers once).

The list of authorized blades doesn't exist, hence you can play with virtually anything made out of wood, as long as your rubbers are authorized and cover all the blade, which means that theoretically you can have a racket as big as the table, whereas in tennis and badminton the racket size is limited, so it really depends of what you call "stricter". Also worth noting: you can play with only one rubber if you want, and win the Olympic Games this way if you are Ryu Seung-min.

Answer 2

The main reason is because there are strict rules on the racket's composition, mostly on the rubber sheets themselves. While I have never seen this particular rule used as a player or an umpire, I believe it needs to exist to give each player the right to inspect the other player's racket and present any suspicious equipment to the umpire for further examination, and possibly disqualification.

Not only are the rubber sheets and rackets themselves subject to limitations of various sorts, even the glue which holds the rubber on the racket can be declared illegal. While a certain method called "speed glue" was used during the years after I was active gave the users an unfair advantage of some kind, and/or possibly a danger (fumes/flammability, etc.) it was outlawed fairly quickly after its introduction.

While it is generally the umpire's responsibility to inspect the equipment before matches, players still have the right to know what their opponent is using.