A proper table tennis racket must have a red rubber on one side and a black rubber on the other to be legally used in competition. What is the reason for this, and does it really matter which one you use on your forehand or backhand?

Why red on one side and black on the other?

Many years ago the ITTF introduced the rule that one side of the bat should be covered with red rubber and the other side black. The main reason for this was that many players used different rubbers on each side of the bat, some dramatically different, such as antispin on one side and a fast spinning rubber on the other. The idea was that opponents needed to be able to anticipate what was on the incoming ball from the stroke played by the opponent, and should not be reliant on guessing which rubber they used. Having the two different colored rubbers allowed opponents to see which rubber was used for which shot.

A common question these days is why certain players, or even entire teams, always use one color rubber on the forehand and the other on the backhand. Are red and black tires, even identical brand and type, inherently different?

Well, the consensus is that yes, they definitely ARE different, but for some rubbers it’s much more significant than others… For sticky Chinese style rubbers, for example, the difference is usually more obvious; the red gum is slightly less sticky and the black is slightly softer and stickier. The sticky surface slows the ball down a bit, so it also makes the red a bit faster than the black. So you would do the thing that suits you best right. For more spin based loop style play, a black rubber may be a better choice to help generate spin. For a hitting/driving style game the red may be a better choice which will not only give you a little more speed but the red rubber is also a little less sensitive to incoming spin making it more tolerant.

This difference is believed to come from the manufacturing process. The raw rubber used to make the rubber topsheets is naturally sticky and black. The dye needed to redden the gums makes them lose some of their stickiness and softness. For some rubbers, the different characteristics are quite obvious. For example, a black “729 Geospin Tacky”, one of the most spinning rubbers made by the Chinese manufacturer “729 Friendship”, is much stickier in black than the same rubber in red. Because players often buy a rubber of this type for its great spin potential, the black one is much more popular than the red one.

For many Japanese or European rubbers, most of which are inherently non-sticky (but grippy), the differences aren’t really noticeable, so the decision isn’t that important.

So, in conclusion, the decision on which color you use on which side does make a difference, although many players are not even aware of this, and their decision is based on personal preference, or simply inherited from other players. For a more spin based game I would recommend black on whichever side is used more to generate spins. For a more speed-based game, red on your attacking side might be more appropriate.