TOTOP Table Tennis Racket Set with 3 Balls

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.

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.

No. It is a recreational set for home and family play, and we would rather describe it that way than call it professional. If you play at a club and want to improve, a bat with a proper blade and named rubbers is a different purchase - ask us.

A quality grade set by the maker: roundness, wall thickness consistency, hardness and bounce consistency. One star is a training ball, two stars a practice ball, three stars the match grade. The ITTF sets no specification at all for one and two star balls - only three star balls appear on the approved list. Anything advertised above three stars is marketing; three is the top grade that exists.

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.

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.

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.

The modern plastic ball. Table tennis moved off celluloid from July 2014, mainly because celluloid is highly flammable and increasingly restricted for shipping and storage. Plastic balls are made to a slightly wider tolerance window and marked 40+ to distinguish them. They bounce a little higher, travel slightly faster and take noticeably less spin than the old celluloid ball.