STIGA Carbo 6-Star Table Tennis Racket

They are the manufacturer's own tier within their own ready-made range, and nothing more. They are not an ITTF rating and they do not compare between brands - a 6-star STIGA and a 6-star DHS are different scales. More stars means a better blade and better rubbers, and usually a faster, less forgiving bat. STIGA put it well themselves: more stars mean a better bat, but also one that is more difficult to play with.

STIGA Sports Beijing, the Chinese subsidiary. STIGA's Star Series - Loop, Bounce, Crystal, Tube and Carbo - is their catalogue and does not appear on the Swedish or American STIGA sites. It is genuine STIGA, from a different catalogue. We say so because it matters if you go looking for the model online and cannot find it.

No, and we would not sell it as one. This is the consumer and intermediate Star Series, not STIGA's competition blade and rubber line. It is a good bat for club and social play; a serious competitive player buys a blade and rubbers separately.

Every rubber is a sheet of pimples on a sponge - the only difference is which way they face. Pips-in, or inverted, has the pimples glued inward so the smooth side meets the ball: maximum friction, maximum spin, and what almost every player should use. Pips-out has the pimples facing outward, so far less of the surface touches the ball: much less spin generated, but also much less of the opponent's spin absorbed, which is the point.

Better than you would need to elsewhere. Heat roughly doubles the rate at which rubber oxidises for every ten degrees, so a bat that lasts a year in a European club can be dead in months here. Never leave one in a parked car. Use protective film on both rubbers after every session and keep it in a case - that single habit does more than anything else. Clean with a proper rubber cleaner or a damp microfibre cloth, never with detergent or solvent, and let it dry fully before sealing it away.

When the topsheet stops gripping - roll a ball across it and see whether it catches or slides. Other signs: loops produce visibly less spin, balls fly long on strokes that used to land deep, the surface looks matt and pale where it was glossy, or the edges are lifting. A player training five hours a week replaces every two to four months; a club player every six to twelve; a casual player when the symptoms show. In Dar heat, expect the shorter end of each range.

The ITTF specify a playing surface 2.74 m long by 1.525 m wide, 76 cm above the floor. The net is 15.25 cm high along its whole length, suspended from posts whose outside edges sit 15.25 cm beyond each side line - which is why a regulation net spans 1.83 m, or 72 inches. The ball is 40 mm across and weighs 2.7 g.

Yes. We deliver across Dar es Salaam and send nationwide to Arusha, Moshi, Mwanza, Dodoma, Zanzibar and beyond by courier. A table is a bulky item, so tell us when you order and we will arrange the right transport.