The Science of Sponge Thickness: A Complete Guide to Table Tennis Rubber Selection

“Should I get MAX thickness or go thinner, like a 1.8mm sponge?”

It’s a question that puzzles both beginners and advanced players alike. While most players obsess over choosing the perfect rubber, they often overlook a crucial decision: sponge thickness. Get it wrong, and even the best rubber in the world won’t perform as intended.

If this sounds like you, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll go over the effects of going for a thinner or thicker sponge thickness. 

We’ll talk about inverted rubbers, short pips, long pips, and antispin separately because the effects differ greatly depending on the rubber type.

Inverted Rubbers

Let’s begin with inverted rubbers, which account for the majority of rubbers used in modern table tennis. Understanding how sponge thickness affects these rubbers provides a foundation for understanding all rubber types.

The traditional rule of thumb is that, if you’re an offensive player, you should choose thicker sponges, and, if you’re an all-rounder or a defender, you can go thinner.

However, this common advice oversimplifies a complex relationship between player technique and equipment characteristics. Let’s break down the physics in practical terms.

The Physics Behind Sponge Thickness

While researching this topic, I came across a very interesting comment by a user on Reddit that coincides with my findings.

I’ll explain it using my words.

When the ball hits the rubber, the sponge underneath gets compressed to a certain extent, but the sponge doesn’t want to be compressed. So, it will store energy before pushing back against the ball to reverse its direction.

This effect is like that of a trampoline. When we jump on a trampoline, it gets compressed up to a certain extent before shooting us back up.

So, you might think, that the thicker the sponge, the more compression we can get, thus, our shots will be faster and spinner right? Well, yes and no.

Finding Your Sweet Spot

Common sponge thicknesses for inverted rubbers range from 1.5 to 2.5mm. 

Now, imagine if we could get a 10mm sponge. Would it make sense? No.

This is because no human on the planet can hit hard enough to compress 10mm of sponge on a table tennis shot. 

In addition, such a thick rubber would be extremely heavy and it’d make the racket extremely head-heavy.

Conversely, an extremely thin sponge (say, 0.1mm) would “bottom out” – compress fully – even with minimal force, providing little energy storage potential.

The Power-Thickness Relationship

This relationship between hitting power and sponge compression reveals why players with different power levels need different thicknesses. More powerful shots require thicker sponges to store and return energy efficiently.

The harder we hit, the more we’ll benefit from thicker (and harder) rubbers, as we’ll be able to hit harder and harder without bottoming out the sponge. With thicker sponges, we can store more energy. 

The perfect sponge thickness and hardness should match your maximum swing speed, optimizing both control and speed for your level of play.

The Reddit user explains it this way:

Practical Recommendations

So what should you do?

It’s often worthwhile to opt for thicker rubbers if you’re an offensive player, even if you’re a beginner. 

This is because if you want to hit the ball harder and harder over time, the rubber won’t bottom out, and it’ll reward you for hitting hard.

There are relatively tame rubbers such as the Xiom Vega Intro or the Yinhe Mercury 2, that, even if you get them in MAX thickness, they’ll still be controllable while almost never bottoming out.

I’d recommend opting for thinner sponges in the following cases:

• You’re a control-oriented player such as a pusher, blocker, or a classic defender. In this case, you can go for thinner sponges such as 1.5-1.8mm.
• You want to reduce the weight of your racket because of personal preference, wrist pain, etc. Getting a thinner sponge will reduce the weight of your bat.
• You can choose a slightly thinner variant on your backhand side as an offensive player because you won’t hit the ball as hard, but I wouldn’t go any thinner than 2.0mm myself.

Short Pips

Short pips are similar to inverted rubbers in some ways regarding how different sponge thicknesses affect them, and different in others.

Because short pips have less grip than inverted rubbers, short pips with thinner sponges can be beneficial for players who want to use them to play defensive strokes such as blocks or chops.

For those who want to hit and attack with the short pips, it’s still worth it to go for 2.0 or thicker sponges.

There are also players who use OX short pips, that is, without a sponge. These rackets are known as “hardbats”.

OX short pips work well because you have good control over the ball, the pips lose quite a bit of spin sensitivity, and they produce very awkward balls.

If you block with these pips, they’ll return wobbly, no-spin balls, and if you chop with them, they give out anything between no-spin to medium backspin.

• So, if you want to play an active block, punch, hit, and loop game, go for thicker sponges such as 2.0mm or MAX.
• If you want to play an all-round game, it’s probably better to go for anywhere between 1.5 and 2.0mm sponge thickness.
• If you want to try out hardbat, purchase OX short pips.

Long Pips

Long pips players generally fall into two distinct categories: close-to-table players who focus on blocking and creating attacking opportunities, and away-from-table defenders who rely on chopping and backspin shots.

Most players should use OX long pips, that is, without sponge, because these pips have the most reversal, that is, they reverse incoming spin the best.

So, if your opponent gives you a heavy topspin and you just block it back, if your long pips have no sponge, your opponent will receive medium to heavy backspin. 

In contrast, long pips with 1mm sponge produce less spin reversal, returning mostly no-spin or slight backspin balls.

Understanding Sponge Effects

You should use sponge on your pips if you play away from the table because this will allow you to create more spin by yourself.

While OX long pips excel at reversing your opponent’s spin, they struggle to generate new spin on their own. This becomes a problem when chopping away from the table, where you need to create your own backspin rather than just reverse incoming spin.

So, if you play away from the table, it’s best to use sponged pips to allow you to create spin on your own. 

If your opponent puts heavy topspin on the ball and you chop the ball with sponged long pips, your opponent will receive more backspin than the topspin they initially put, if you play your shot right.

Choosing Your Sponge Thickness

But just how much sponge should you use? It depends on your level and preferences.

0.5mm is usually the thinnest sponge available, and it’s a great sponge thickness for many scenarios.

I recommend 0.5mm if you’re learning to use long pips, or if you’re a chopper that relies on consistency rather than spin.

0.5mm is the thickness that’ll give you the most control, so if you want to return as many balls as possible, 0.5mm will give you the best chance at that.

1mm could already be considered a thick sponge when it comes to long pips.

This thickness will be harder to control but you’ll be able to put a bit more spin on your chops.

And, if you’re very confident in your skills, you’re an advanced player with great feeling and you want as much backspin as possible, you can go even thicker than 1mm.

Antispin

You can think of antispin as the opposite of inverted, especially with the new frictionless antis like Dr. Neubauer ABS and all its variants.

Dr. Neubauer ABS has what’s called a “dampening sponge”, so more sponge equals less speed and more control. 

For antispin rubbers that have a dampening sponge, more sponge will equal more control but less spin reversal. 

So, if you play close to the table and you want the utmost spin reversal, you should go for thinner sponges, but they’ll be harder to control.

If you want more control, you can go for thicker sponges, but you’ll have less spin reversal.

While this behavior is typical for most anti rubbers, grippier variants can enable attacking play when paired with thicker sponges.

Choosing Your Ideal Sponge Thickness

After examining how sponge thickness affects each rubber type, here are the key principles to guide your choice:

• Inverted Rubbers: Think of sponge thickness as a trampoline that needs to match your power. The harder you hit, the thicker you can go. Most offensive players will benefit from MAX (2.2-2.5mm), while control players can opt for 1.8-2.0mm. When in doubt, go thicker on your forehand side.
• Short Pips: Mirror the inverted principle for attacking players (2.0mm+), but consider thinner sponges (1.5-1.8mm) for blocking and control. OX remains a valid choice for classic hardbat play.
• Long Pips: Close to table players should choose OX for maximum spin reversal. Choppers should consider:
  • 0.5mm for learning or consistency-focused play
  • 1.0mm for increased spin generation
  • 1.0mm+ for advanced players seeking maximum spin
• Anti: Thinner sponges maximize spin reversal but sacrifice control, while thicker sponges offer more control but less reversal. Consider your playing distance and style when choosing.

Remember: There’s no universal “best” thickness—it all depends on your playing style, skill level, and goals. When in doubt, most players should err on the side of slightly thicker sponges, as they provide more room for technical growth. You can always adapt your technique to a thicker sponge, but a too-thin sponge might limit your development.

Finally, don’t be afraid to experiment. Many players keep multiple sponge thicknesses of their favorite rubber to use in different situations or as they develop their game.