Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Players flip the bat to hide which side is about to strike the ball. The figure is taken from International Table Tennis Federation, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a sports fact?

Yes. It sits on the Sports shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Table tennis bats have two different rubber surfaces

Players flip the bat to hide which side is about to strike the ball One side is usually smooth and grips for spin, the other pimpled and flatter for control or to kill spin. The two sides must be different colours, a rule brought in to help opponents read the shot. Rubber thickness is also limited by the rules. It sits in Mondo's sports collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

International Table Tennis Federation

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

Go further

Sports trivia

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Tags: table-tennis, equipment, rubber

Table tennis bats have two different rubber surfaces: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Players flip the bat to hide which side is about to strike the ball. The figure is taken from International Table Tennis Federation, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a sports fact?: Yes. It sits on the Sports shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.