Table Tennis Rules & Regulations
The Racket

How well do you know your table tennis rules?

Your table tennis racket is the most important piece of equipment you'll use, so it's important to know what the rules of table tennis say about it.

So let's take a look at some of the table tennis rules and regulations relating to your racket including ... which colours are allowed ... when you can change your racket ... and whether your opponent is allowed to examine your racket.

But first, let's start with the most basic question...

Rule 2.04.01 states...

"The racket may be of any size, shape or weight but the blade shall be flat and rigid"

This means what it says!

But of course, even though your racket can be any size you want, the larger it is, the more difficult it will be to use.

Therefore you'll find that the majority of rackets are all a similar size ... about 15cm (6 inches) across and 25cm (10 inches) long including the handle.

Rule 2.04.03 states that...

"A side of the blade used for striking the ball shall be covered with
either,
ordinary pimpled rubber, with pimples outwards having a total thickness including adhesive of not more than 2mm,
or
sandwich rubber, with pimples inwards or outwards, having a total thickness including adhesive of not more than 4mm"

This means that the umpire should check the thickness of your racket coverings to make sure that they're not greater than the 2mm or 4mm allowed.

Although all rubbers that you buy should be the correct thickness, a player could deliberately alter the rubber on his racket.

Also, repeated re-gluing of rubbers can cause the sponge layer to swell, so the umpire should always check the thickness.

In 2008, new rules were introduced to check the thickness of rubbers.
You can read about them here.

Rule 2.04.04 states that...

"The covering material shall extend up to, but not beyond the limits of, the blade except that the part nearest the handle and gripped by the fingers may be left uncovered or covered with any material"

This means that your table tennis rubbers should not overhang the edges of your blade, although the umpire may allow some tolerance.

As a guide, ± 2mm would be an acceptable margin to most umpires. If you have a larger overhang, the umpire will make you trim off any excess rubber with a pair of scissors or knife.

Rule 2.04.06 states that...

"The surface of the covering material on a side of the blade, or of a side of the blade if it is left uncovered, shall be matt, bright red on one side and black on the other"

This means that if you have rubber on both sides of your blade, one rubber must be red and the other rubber must be black.

However, if you play with a penhold grip and you only use rubber on one side of your blade, you can leave the other side of your blade uncovered, but it must still be red or black (depending on what colour your rubber is).

But a side of your blade which does not have an authorised covering on it cannot be used to hit the ball.

Only table tennis rubbers authorised by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) can be used in authorised table tennis events, so you must ensure that the ITTF logo and the maker's logo or trademark appears on your rubbers.

You must also ensure that you attach them to your blade so that the logo and the maker's logo or trademark are clearly visible near the edge of the blade (so that they can be checked by the umpire) ... and they must only be attached to your blade by using quick glue sheets or water-based glue.

In 2008, new rules were introduced to check whether illegal adhesives have been used to affix the rubbers. You can read about them here.

Here's an example of what you'll see on the lower portion of Butterfly Bryce rubbers.

Rule 2.04.08 states that...

"At the start of a match and whenever he changes his racket during a match a player shall show his opponent and the umpire the racket he is about to use and shall allow them to examine it"

Because of the vast number of different rubbers available, the above rule was introduced so that your opponent could see what rubbers you had on your racket.

This was a particularly significant part of the table tennis rules and regulations in the early 1980s.

At that time, you were allowed to have rubbers which were the same colour on both sides of your racket. However, their playing characteristics may have been completely different, for example, you could have offensive rubber on one side and anti-spin rubber on the other side.

But in 1986 the "two colour" rule was introduced which meant that one side of your racket had to be red and the other side had to be black.

However, even though the rubbers must now be different colours, it's still important to know, before the match starts, which rubbers your opponent is actually using.

You're no longer allowed to change your racket during a match unless it's been accidentally damaged so badly that you can't use it.

If the umpire does allow you to change your racket, you must show your new racket to your opponent and to the umpire.

Therefore you can no longer use a different racket without your opponent (and the umpire) examining it first, which means that you can't bamboozle your opponent by using a racket which he hasn't been allowed to examine.

Also, to prevent you from secretly changing your racket between games, you must leave it on the table during the intervals between games and you must not remove it without the specific agreement of the umpire.

If, with the agreement of the umpire, you do remove your racket during an interval for any reason, the umpire and your opponent must be given the opportunity to inspect your racket before the next game starts.

Rule 2.04.07 states that...

"Slight deviations from continuity of surface or uniformity of colour due to accidental damage or wear may be allowed provided that they do not significantly change the characteristics of the surface"

This means that a small amount of wear and tear is allowed, but if your rubbers are damaged so much that the ball is likely to rebound unpredictably and cause problems for your opponent, you'll have to replace them.

The umpire, and ultimately the tournament referee, will decide whether your racket is sufficiently damaged to render it illegal.

But because it's at the umpire's discretion, this means that one umpire may decide that your racket's OK, whilst another may decide that it's not.

But, in deciding whether your racket is legal or not, the umpire has to primarily consider the interests of your opponent.