Will putting oil on my bat increase the grip?

Table Tennis Equipment

Last updated 9 years ago

ben lin

ben lin Asked 9 years ago

I have seen in some videos that if you put sunflower oil on your bat it makes your grip on your bat more grippy? I want to know so i don’t ruin my bat , thx ben


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario Answered 9 years ago

Hi Ben,

Don’t do it.  I don’t think it helps at all and can ruin the rubber.  It is not worth it.


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Thoughts on this question

Kevin Long

Kevin Long Posted 9 years ago

I wouldn't recommend it. Here is the short explanation as to why.

Let's begin with some basic chemistry; 'Like' compounds dissociate into each other, whereas 'Unlike' compounds do not. An example of this is water and oil. Water is a polar compound, and oil is non-polar and so they do not mix, as oil won't split into smaller molecules and vice versa. Water and salt mix though, as both are polar. (This is extremely simplified, but I don't want to explain what happens exactly to these 'like' compounds. But if you're interested, google 'Dissociation')

With that said, rubber is a non-polar compound, as is oil. Hence when you apply Sunflower oil, or any oil, onto a rubber and allow it to sit, the top sheet dissolves a little bit. The resulting grip is mainly due to 2 things: 1. The very top surface of the topsheet wearing away to expose some of the middle topsheet. 2. The dissolved rubber being softer and hence having a slightly longer dwell time.

As you can imagine, any process with the word 'dissolve' involved is probably not the best for your rubber. You can experiment with an old old rubber and see how much you can change the rubber from multiple applications, I'm not sure anyone has tried that before, it might be good to observe it.



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