What is looping?
Before I go on to tell about the equipment that helps looping, I would like to describe what is looping. The looping stroke is a stroke where a player generates a loop or curve before the ball hits the other side of the table. The curve or loop is achieved with top spin, however you can play any kind of spin to achieve the same result of loop. A defensive player can generate a loop while he chops to return the ball. Because of the large number of attacking players around, when someone talks about looping, it is primarily top spin strokes against the opponent different spin.
Speed
When I have started playing table tennis two years back, I had this wrong notion that I need to have the fastest blade like Offensive for looping. Now after two years, I have changed my mind. You don’t need a faster blade for looping. You can loop with a defensive blade and still can win the point. The offensive blades will help playing further away from the table.
Vibrations
If you have not used some pure wood blades made of hinoki or balsa, you won’t probably understand what I’m talking. When the table tennis ball hits a table tennis blade with a speed of 50 mph – and some to 120 mph at the highest level – the impact causes a large amount of vibration on the blade. This vibration can spread to the handle and then finally to your nerves. There are players who like this vibration but some don’t. I’m a person who hate vibrations. The table tennis manufactures have come up with new technologies to dampen the vibrations. The wooden blades made with balsa or hinoki have almost zero vibration.
Weight
I have met players who are so specific about the weight of the blade. The weight of table tennis blades vary from 50 gm to 120 gm. I have recently conducted a research and have found that the range most of the table tennis blades – defensive to offensive extreme - fall between 70 gm and 95 gm. The weight of the blade can affect the power that you can generate while looping. The blades having more weight is hard to play spinny placement strokes over the table.
Stiffness
The stiffness is an important thing to look for when you buy a table tennis blade for looping. The flexible blades are good for looping close to the table as well as further away from the table. Don’t confuse vibration of a blade with the flexibility of the blade. A blade causing too many vibrations can cause erratic effect on the flexibility. If you have not got what flexibility means, I can better explain with an example. If you ever have done pool jump, you know what a diving board is. The diving board or jump board has a spring action that throws the jumpers up in the air. The spring action can give a good start of the jumpers into the pool. That kind of science applies to the table tennis blade also.
The pure wooden blades made of thick Hinoki or Balsa are stiff but thinner ones are less stiff. The players have to have good strokes to generate loops with such blades. The stiffer blades help “touch shots” – you can preciously hit on the table with top spin. The players who have more focus power will be helped much by stiffer blades.
Spin
A table tennis blade can’t generate any spin of its own. The spin is generated from the rubber which is put on the table tennis blade. However, a blade can help a rubber to generate more spin in a stroke. The blades that are flexible can help to generate more top spin – they are forgiving with players bad strokes. The stiff blades are less likely to generate more spin unless you use the forearm and wrist a lot.
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