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I have an old paddle from my college days from over 10 years ago. It's starting to show some wear and tear most noticeably on the rubber (scratches, scuffs, etc.) due to poor maintenance and storage over the years.

I'm considering buying a new paddle, but I am not sure what I should look for. When I bought my original paddle, I only considered the rubber with the pips facing inwards which I learned affects spin. What else should I consider in terms of material, assembly, and level of skill when buying a new paddle?

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    Here's a starting point for you to potentially consider...
    – user527
    Commented Feb 26, 2013 at 14:25

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It depends on how serious of a player you are and how much you plan to be playing - but you could either buy the rubber by itself and resurface your existing paddle (which requires some amount of knowing what you're doing) or you could go down to your nearest sporting goods store and spend somewhere between $40-60 and get a pretty nice paddle with high enough quality rubber that should last you a good while. The better care you take of the rubber (cleaning it) the longer it should last you.

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I know from experience that it really depends on what kind of table tennis player you are. If you are always defending you should buy a paddle with almost no padding and no grip. But if you are an aggressive player, you need a paddle with lots of grip and as much padding as possible.

If you don't know what kind of player you are then ask at the sports shop for an all-round table tennis racket. They should give you something with lots of grip but not much padding.

Make sure when cleaning it you don't get any water inside on the padding. Just use a damp cloth and don't clean the sides.

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