What is this measuring tool? w/ PIC

Probably a durometer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shore_durometer
It is used to measure hardness of a material like rubber.  There are different types of durometers and different scales.

Thanks... sure, ~could~ be BUT I question why an official (presumably) would be using one at a tournament. Of course it goes without saying; I would not know if such a practice is standard or not !

I guess that's the energywood blade that one of the Swedish players uses..

plazm wrote: I guess that's the energywood blade that one of the Swedish players uses..

good call... it looks like so

Maybe its measuring the code number to see if its streched

High probability it is a durometer gauge.

Expensive tool for testing a rubber parameter that doesn't really matter so far as the rules are concerned. A digital model like that would run well over $500.

I would expect that it's being used by a player to verify consistency of his equipment. I might question the methodology though- handheld hardness testers are never very accurate. By the time you get to the O scale it's really helpful to put everything in a fixture. It will also be averaging the hardness of top sheet and sponge together, but maybe that's the goal?

Ah, wonder what the guy in the original post is measuring then 

It is a thickness gauge for determining the rubber and sponge thickness.  The small post is tared out at zero when on a flat level surface and then the post is put on the blade while the rest lays flat on the rubber surface.  the difference gives you the thickness reading of rubber and sponge combination.