STIGA Carbon Fiber Ping Pong Paddle - 2mm Sponge, Flared Handle - Performance Table Tennis Racket, Black

I'm no ping-pong superstar but I needed something that was better than the community paddles... ahem excuse me.. "bats" that are offered at my computer for lunch-time tournaments. These guys are not beginners and using those paddles left me at a disadvantage when it came to ball control. My game has certainly improved over time and with the added ball control I can get so much more spin.

Great racket. Lives up to expectations.

Good quality paddle.

This is for intermediate recreational players and basic for advanced players in the table tennis arena kind of setup. But, have to say best paddle in this price range.

The raptor is a very versatile blade. Good feel and control of the ball.

Bought it for my son who learned to play ping pong recently and enjoy making "snakes." He loves this new paddle and the fun of even more spins!

Final Update (5star for a recreational player, 3 stars for an intermediate player):So here is what I think after a few months of heavy playing with this racket. If you're a recreational player then you're going to love this bat. The racket has a low throw angle similar to the cheap blades that recreational players usually use which will make it easy to transition. Since it's a very stiff blade, it has a large sweet spot, is fast when you hit the ball flat, and is quite good for pushing and playing close to the table. Passive blocking can work but only if the other player is hitting the ball hard since the rubbers don't have a great deal of catapult effect.If you're an intermediate player then it's not a great bat for you, especially at this price, you can easily get an amazing Chinese clone blade with for example AK47 rubbers. Overall, I paid almost $100 for this racket and it's just not worth it. It's too stiff with zero vibration, you get no feedback at all from the bat. Spin is just ok, the blade is too fast and you have to decide between slow and heavy spin with a nice arc or fast and linear with little safety arc (this makes it easier for your opponent to loop your balls as well since you can't generate a lot of topspin) so if you're not careful then be ready for a lot of unforced errors and shooting the ball off the table. There is also no dwell time at all which makes it difficult to open up heavy backspin pushes and even harder to develop your game in areas that you're lacking. Stay away if you're a serious intermediate player, and instead get something more flexible.***********************************************Update after a month:So I've been using this racket for a bit over a month, 5 days a week. What I've found is that it's at its best in short to mid-range game. It could be that the rubber has a low throw angle or the catapult effect is not that big, but for long-range, you really need to use a good technique and really brush up the ball to get it to the table.Looping and counter looping is great but I'm finding it difficult to improve the consistency of my counter topspin to a heavy backspin push. That's a quality shot and I don't have the best technique so since there's almost no dwell time, it makes it harder to consistently land the ball and I've been struggling with those more than ever.***********************************************I've been playing table tennis for a long time and finally decided to get my own paddle and opted for an advanced lvl premade one as it would be cheaper (or I thought).The bat is not great for beginners and works best for a low to mid intermediate player who knows what he/she's ​doing and is trying to improve her/his consistency. The weight of the blade is balanced on the front and it's a bit on the heavy side but once you get used to it then you won't notice it and it will help you hit hard as well.However, if you're an upper intermediate player or even mid, chances are that you've played with a custom-made bat either at a club or have borrowed one from a friend. Do not expect the same performance from this bat because S5 rubber actually provides a great deal of control but not that much speed compared to a custom-made racket. A custom-made bat with decent Chinese rubbers will be a lot faster (will have less control) but will be a bit more expensive as you have to buy a decent blade as well.The good news is that the blade is decent meaning you can, later on, get yourself some good rubbers, and then you have a proper beast on your hand.

I personally don't care much about table tennis/ping-pong, however my friend is obsessed. I purchased two of these paddles so he can have a good quality set when he goes to play at the local bar.This set is top notch. I've personally used them during my ping-poing games and I've been impressed by the grip of the paddles... definitely see why there's different "tiers" of paddles when it comes to ping-pong/tennis.I do however wish it came with a case or some portable/mobile container the paddle could be stored in.4/5 only because there's no case/container to store the paddle in