Speed glue
Encyclopedia
In table tennis
speed glue is glue
that is used to re-fix the rubber surfaces to the racket or paddle. Speed glue is usually applied around 30 minutes before a match starts. The use of speed glue has been found to increase the elasticity
of the racket, which adds speed and spin to the ball.
Speed glue works by its solvent vapours which make the porous cells of soft rubber
expand. This stretches the rubber giving it a tension that in turn makes the ball behave like an object meeting a trampoline
.
It was discovered by accident in the 1970s when a player used bicycle puncture repair glue to fix his racket before a match. The difference in the play of the ball became immediately obvious. The high performance effect lasts only a few hours.
Table tennis player Dragutin Surbek
of Yugoslavia is given the major credit for popularising this use of speed glue between 1979 and 1983.
The ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) for a short time banned speed glue. Certain toxic substances in glue are still banned on health grounds but speed glues are now legal for use in tournament play if they are approved by the ITTF. However the ITTF have reviewed the ban on speed glue and have decided that from September 2008 all adhesives used must not contain any volatile organic compounds.
Virtually all of the world’s top players use speed glue.
Speed glue was allowed for the last time in the 2008 Summer Olympics
. From the 2012 Olympics games, speed glue is banned in the Olympics.
used to assemble table tennis
paddles in a manner to make them hit balls back with increased speed. It is optional; a person may choose to use regular glue instead. Its use in tournaments is currently disputed due to believed toxicity in some speed glues.
The theory behind speed glue is that it is soaked up by the sponge layer between the rubber topsheet and blade of a table tennis paddle. The sponge begins to expand, and consequently begins to stretch the attached rubber topsheet causing increased tension and creating a "trampoline" effect on the ball causing it to bounce back quicker.
Speed glue use is generally more common among advanced table tennis players. The increased speed of the strokes of the paddle is usually too great for beginners to handle. Professional players who use speed glue generally apply it to their paddle a few hours before their match because the effects of speed glue do not last long. The effects last usually 3–6 hours, although recently long life glues have been developed to prolong the effect for up to 4 days. Offensive players tend to use speed glue more than defensive players as they emphasise speed over spin and control. Generally, speed is inversely proportional to control.
Speed glue needs to be reapplied several times to have an optimal effect. The nature of speed glue is very unpredictable, so several coats are needed to make the bounce of the paddle more predictable. When professionals are seen applying speed glue to their paddles before a tournament, they have applied speed glue to it several times before that time. Softer sponge rubbers will gain a larger performance boost from speed glue than harder rubbers. The use of speed glue will, over time, degrade the quality of the rubber so persistent use will mean the rubbers will need to be replaced sooner.
Speed glue is mixed with certain solvent
s to create a better effect. Some of these solvents are illegal and contain potentially hazardous vapors. They are considered to be inhalants. In 1995, the International Table Tennis Federation
(ITTF) banned the use of all halogen
ated solvents, all solvents with benzene
rings, and N-hexane in paddles. They have also started the practice of random testing of paddles in international tournaments checking for the aforementioned solvents. Speed glue is in a broader sense the creatine
of table tennis.
The amount of increase the glue will give a rubber is dependent on the sponge. Softer sponged rubber, e.g. Yasaka's MarkV 30, Butterfly's Bryce FX, Joola's Samba, will absorb the glue more readily and therefore have a bigger dome when they expand, leading to a greater effect, with harder sponges e.g. Most Chinese rubbers, Butterfly's Bryce Hard, expanding less leading to a slightly lesser effect.
In gameplay terms, speed glue has some disadvantages. Due to the increased sponge thickness, speed does increase, but as mentioned before usually control decreases as speed increases. Also, after several regluings speed glue begins to build up on the racket, increasing the weight of the paddle. The nature of table tennis blades are so sensitive, that a few extra grams may cause the player to not perform as well. The more the glue builds up on the rubber, the more glue must be applied on the next application to achieve the same effect. After 5-10 layers of glue, some players peel the old glue off to reduce the weight of the sponge, and to reduce the amount of glue needed to obtain the optimum effect. Another disadvantage is that the increased tension on the sponge from the glue will cause the rubber to wear out faster than usual. In order to prolong the life of the rubber, some players remove the rubber from the blade after they play to allow the rubber to contract naturally, rather than remain stressed on the blade.
Spotting speed glue is very difficult at times. If the paddle makes a very distinctive high-pitched sound on contact, then the paddle may have speed glue. When holding the paddle, the person may notice an increase of weight from normal paddles. Also, there is a distinct smell that is given off from some speed glues when used.
In 2004, the ITTF decided to ban any glues containing volatile organic solvents as of 1 September 2007 due to health concerns. The date had been moved back to 1 September 2008.
This has spurred on a new line of products by table tennis manufacturers to innovate and develop water based speed glues and rubber sheets with speed glue effect built in that last the lifetime of the rubber. VOC glues are still allowed when done under regulated conditions i.e. at the manufacturer.
On June 27, 2007, the International Table Tennis Federation banned all speed glue containing "volatile compounds" effective immediately in response to an unconfirmed health incident in Japan.
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
speed glue is glue
Glue
This is a list of various types of glue. Historically, the term "glue" only referred to protein colloids prepared from animal flesh. The meaning has been extended to refer to any fluid adhesive....
that is used to re-fix the rubber surfaces to the racket or paddle. Speed glue is usually applied around 30 minutes before a match starts. The use of speed glue has been found to increase the elasticity
Elasticity (physics)
In physics, elasticity is the physical property of a material that returns to its original shape after the stress that made it deform or distort is removed. The relative amount of deformation is called the strain....
of the racket, which adds speed and spin to the ball.
Speed glue works by its solvent vapours which make the porous cells of soft rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
expand. This stretches the rubber giving it a tension that in turn makes the ball behave like an object meeting a trampoline
Trampoline
A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched over a steel frame using many coiled springs. People bounce on trampolines for recreational and competitive purposes....
.
It was discovered by accident in the 1970s when a player used bicycle puncture repair glue to fix his racket before a match. The difference in the play of the ball became immediately obvious. The high performance effect lasts only a few hours.
Table tennis player Dragutin Surbek
Dragutin Šurbek
Dragutin Šurbek is a legendary former table tennis player from Croatia. He is one of the most successful Croatian table tennis players ever....
of Yugoslavia is given the major credit for popularising this use of speed glue between 1979 and 1983.
The ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) for a short time banned speed glue. Certain toxic substances in glue are still banned on health grounds but speed glues are now legal for use in tournament play if they are approved by the ITTF. However the ITTF have reviewed the ban on speed glue and have decided that from September 2008 all adhesives used must not contain any volatile organic compounds.
Virtually all of the world’s top players use speed glue.
Speed glue was allowed for the last time in the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
. From the 2012 Olympics games, speed glue is banned in the Olympics.
Description
Speed glue is an adhesiveAdhesive
An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...
used to assemble table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
paddles in a manner to make them hit balls back with increased speed. It is optional; a person may choose to use regular glue instead. Its use in tournaments is currently disputed due to believed toxicity in some speed glues.
The theory behind speed glue is that it is soaked up by the sponge layer between the rubber topsheet and blade of a table tennis paddle. The sponge begins to expand, and consequently begins to stretch the attached rubber topsheet causing increased tension and creating a "trampoline" effect on the ball causing it to bounce back quicker.
Speed glue use is generally more common among advanced table tennis players. The increased speed of the strokes of the paddle is usually too great for beginners to handle. Professional players who use speed glue generally apply it to their paddle a few hours before their match because the effects of speed glue do not last long. The effects last usually 3–6 hours, although recently long life glues have been developed to prolong the effect for up to 4 days. Offensive players tend to use speed glue more than defensive players as they emphasise speed over spin and control. Generally, speed is inversely proportional to control.
Speed glue needs to be reapplied several times to have an optimal effect. The nature of speed glue is very unpredictable, so several coats are needed to make the bounce of the paddle more predictable. When professionals are seen applying speed glue to their paddles before a tournament, they have applied speed glue to it several times before that time. Softer sponge rubbers will gain a larger performance boost from speed glue than harder rubbers. The use of speed glue will, over time, degrade the quality of the rubber so persistent use will mean the rubbers will need to be replaced sooner.
Speed glue is mixed with certain solvent
Solvent
A solvent is a liquid, solid, or gas that dissolves another solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution that is soluble in a certain volume of solvent at a specified temperature...
s to create a better effect. Some of these solvents are illegal and contain potentially hazardous vapors. They are considered to be inhalants. In 1995, the International Table Tennis Federation
International Table Tennis Federation
The International Table Tennis Federation is the governing body for all national table tennis associations.-Founding history:The ITTF was founded in 1926, the nine founding members being Austria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Germany, Hungary, India, Sweden and Wales...
(ITTF) banned the use of all halogen
Halogen
The halogens or halogen elements are a series of nonmetal elements from Group 17 IUPAC Style of the periodic table, comprising fluorine , chlorine , bromine , iodine , and astatine...
ated solvents, all solvents with benzene
Benzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
rings, and N-hexane in paddles. They have also started the practice of random testing of paddles in international tournaments checking for the aforementioned solvents. Speed glue is in a broader sense the creatine
Creatine
Creatine is a nitrogenous organic acid that occurs naturally in vertebrates and helps to supply energy to all cells in the body, primarily muscle. This is achieved by increasing the formation of Adenosine triphosphate...
of table tennis.
The amount of increase the glue will give a rubber is dependent on the sponge. Softer sponged rubber, e.g. Yasaka's MarkV 30, Butterfly's Bryce FX, Joola's Samba, will absorb the glue more readily and therefore have a bigger dome when they expand, leading to a greater effect, with harder sponges e.g. Most Chinese rubbers, Butterfly's Bryce Hard, expanding less leading to a slightly lesser effect.
In gameplay terms, speed glue has some disadvantages. Due to the increased sponge thickness, speed does increase, but as mentioned before usually control decreases as speed increases. Also, after several regluings speed glue begins to build up on the racket, increasing the weight of the paddle. The nature of table tennis blades are so sensitive, that a few extra grams may cause the player to not perform as well. The more the glue builds up on the rubber, the more glue must be applied on the next application to achieve the same effect. After 5-10 layers of glue, some players peel the old glue off to reduce the weight of the sponge, and to reduce the amount of glue needed to obtain the optimum effect. Another disadvantage is that the increased tension on the sponge from the glue will cause the rubber to wear out faster than usual. In order to prolong the life of the rubber, some players remove the rubber from the blade after they play to allow the rubber to contract naturally, rather than remain stressed on the blade.
Spotting speed glue is very difficult at times. If the paddle makes a very distinctive high-pitched sound on contact, then the paddle may have speed glue. When holding the paddle, the person may notice an increase of weight from normal paddles. Also, there is a distinct smell that is given off from some speed glues when used.
In 2004, the ITTF decided to ban any glues containing volatile organic solvents as of 1 September 2007 due to health concerns. The date had been moved back to 1 September 2008.
This has spurred on a new line of products by table tennis manufacturers to innovate and develop water based speed glues and rubber sheets with speed glue effect built in that last the lifetime of the rubber. VOC glues are still allowed when done under regulated conditions i.e. at the manufacturer.
On June 27, 2007, the International Table Tennis Federation banned all speed glue containing "volatile compounds" effective immediately in response to an unconfirmed health incident in Japan.