This racket will make plastic balls go NUTS

Wow...they've spent a lot of money on the production equipment. They have a video on the site showing how the paddle is made. 

ri0t1 wrote: I do not for see this going into any regulated tourney's.. Especially not ITTF as bamboo is not allowed (at least to my knowledge).  Their market seems to be a little off, because there production line is only pumping out black pips on both side premade bats.. I'm not sure who they're marketing to but I do not hold high hopes for this company.

pongfugrasshopper wrote: ri0t1 wrote: I do not for see this going into any regulated tourney's.. Especially not ITTF as bamboo is not allowed (at least to my knowledge).  ... I don't see why bamboo wouldn't be allowed... what makes it illegal?

Dunno how technical they get, but ITTF rules state " At least 85% of the blade by thickness shall be of natural wood;" and I think bamboo is classified as "grass" rather than "wood"

Bamboo is used in some other blades and despite the fact that super-formal definition lists bamboo as grass, no umpire in their right mind would want to get into arguments about what makes bamboo grass and not wood. So bamboo should be fine at almost any level of actual competitions.

What I don't like is that :

a) they are making pre-made paddles with BLACK rubber on BOTH sides

b) the fact that the paddles are pre-made. I really hope they are not using some superglue which will make it impossible to take the rubbers off. If they do, nobody who plays TT more or less seriously will want these paddles, and as someone correctly mentioned above, recreational players very rarely spend 108 dollars on a paddle.

I hope they are reading this and will react. My urgent advice to them is to talk to someone who actually knows a thing or two about higher level amateur/club table tennis - that should save them from some embarrassment and perhaps get them a few more sales. Maybe even here... who knows?

I doubt very much these guys will see any kind of profit from this, but in any case they are enjoying what they do and are proud of it. They are making the paddles in the US, not afraid to get their hands dirty. That's nice.

Recreational golfers spend more than $108 on their clubs.

Some guy who's king of his garage can tell his friends that he bought a 5 star professional paddle for
only $108. 

The market for recreational players is 100 times that of tournament players.

mts388 wrote: Recreational golfers spend more than $108 on their clubs. Some guy who's king of his garage can tell his friends that he bought a 5 star professional paddle for only $108.  The market for recreational players is 100 times that of tournament players.

A pic showing someone holding the racket can be found at the website. I can say immediately that the playing surface will be located too far out from the hand, decreasing precision too much. In other words, small rapid wrist movements, for example at service return, will be impaired. Also, backhand probably will be too high. They also has a patent application pending. If it is the hole in the handle that is the main thing, my friend Lennart Brendling sold similar rackets already in the beginning of the 90:s, so it is not new. But it sure looks nice.

Edited by TTslurp - 02/19/2016 at 3:21am

Butterfly Millerga has bamboo top, feels, looks, and performs great