Table Tennis while played indoors can still be effected by the changes in the weather. The most marked differences are the effects on the rubber.

Temperature

The different temperature of your rubber effects the elasticity and therefore how ‘lively’ the rubber is. In hot weather the bat will be faster and you may find the ball is going off the end of the table for no apparent reason. Conversely, in cold weather the rubber gets a little harder and therefore does not have as much bounce. You may find the ball going into the net or you just don’t feel like you can hit the ball fast enough.

The solution to this is to keep your rubber warm on cold days. You can do this simply by sticking it up your jumper or keeping it between your hands to keep the rubber surface warm. You will need to do this during a match as well on particularly cold days. On hot days there is not as much that you can do apart from keeping the bat in an insulated bat case. Players often like the effect of the heated rubber and want to cool it down.

Check your rubber

Humidity

Another dramatic effect on the rubber is humidity. If it is a humid day the rubber will develop a thin layer of moisture on the surface. Of course this is devastating when you are trying to generate spin because the ball will just slip off the surface of the rubber. Again, if you are not aware of it you may start making all sorts of other unnecessary adjustments and throwing your mind into overdrive.

The solution here is to make sure that the rubber surface is dry before you play each point. You can do this by wiping it on a dry piece of your clothing. If you are a big sweater and don’t have any dry piece of clothing, you may need to ask permission to use your towel. The umpire should allow this as this is effecting the game and it would be impossible to play the game properly.

Always keep these in mind before you start berating yourself for missing your shots. It may just need a little adjustment to cope with the weather.