How Does Sponge Thickness Affect Play

There is a school that propagates using thick sponges. The ball sinks in deeper, and it takes more contact (more energy) to exhaust the sponges' absorbtion (and rebounce) capacity before the blade layers kick in. The people of that school seem to advocate spinning everything and avoiding direct hits.

I like to have direct hits in my arsenal. Flat kills and active blocks directly off the bounce can put pressure on the opponent, even if you miss out on the first initiative and don't manage an over-the-table loop kill.

Some claim thicker sponge absorbs more, and offers more control. My experiences tell me otherwise. Thicker sponges feel more lively, more responsive. Sponge hardness matters; this is more so (at least, to me) on soft sponges than it is on hard sponges. I think I get better feedback, more feeling, using thinner sponges.

Classic defenders usually played with rather thin sponges, from 1.0 to 1.5mm and rarely thicker. They did so on slow blades. Modern defenders look different to me, and I wouldn't know what the likes of Joo Saeyhuk, Ruwen Filus or Gionis Panagiotis have on their FH (with the BH being "grass" with thin sponge, I think, or even no sponge at all).

I try 2.1 sponges every now and then (and am playing with them on both wings now). I've hit a few balls with 2.3 sponges as well, which gives me an instant panic comparable to the 2.5mm sponges that were available when I was a young player. It is beyond my touch.

And I'll probably go back to 1.8/1.9mm on BH, and maybe 1.9/2.0mm on FH after my renewed foray into 2.1.

The differences in feel will depend a lot on the players style and experience, rubber type, blade, preferable distance of play.
Usually a thinner sponge provides more control to beginners. At max thickness softer tensors with a lot of catapult are more difficult at close distance, but at mid feel firmer. Harder sponges at max thickness feel better at longer distance, taking more of the drive and giving more power, but it may hinder the feel of the blade and its feedback if you are used to it. So it makes sense most of the non-pro players to prefer the middle thickness.

Good explanations I think.

For some reason, manufacturers offer the whole palette on every rubber, while I don´t see much demand for super-thick slow defensive rubbers or very thin all out offensive rubbers.
Chinese manufacturers are more consequential often: If it´s an offensive rubber, it will be available in 2.0 or 2.2, thinner would be missing the point they seem to think.
And some European manufacturers now follow, for example GEWO´s new Nexxus range starts with 1.9 mm sponge, not thinner, and you would see HYPE XT 40 starting from 1.7 (being a controllable soft rubber) but the top of the range XT 50 only from 1.9
To me, this makes sense - why go for a speed optimized super performance rubber that demands skill and training, then choose a thin sponge? You would rather go for a more controlled rubber anyway, then pick that in 1.9 or so.

Most players cannot maximize the use of max sponge in terms of control and spin. Max sponge gives faster and stronger spin in loops more than thinner sponges provided you are able to maximize them.

Most of use do not need thick or max sponges. We play relatively close to the table. Most of us can get by with 1.8 to 2mm sponges. Softer sponges should be a little thicker for avoid "bottoming" our especially on the FH.

When the ball hits the paddle a slows to a stop, all the energy of the ball is absorbed in the sponge, top sheet, maybe the wood and the ball. All of it. THe next issue is how much of the energy is returned to the ball on the rebound?
Soft thick sponges will absorb a greater percentage of the energy than thinner harder sponges. The next issue is how elastic is the sponge relative to the other items that are being compressed.

If the thicker and softer sponges will deform more during impact. When rebounding, the sponge will return to its original shape. It is this restoring shape added to the swing that provides the 'catapult' that everyone talks about but you are not getting something for nothing. You need to swing hard to deform the sponge. Sponges absorb energy. They do not generate energy.

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Most of use do not need thick or max sponges. We play relatively close to the table. Most of us can get by with 1.8 to 2mm sponges. Softer sponges should be a little thicker for avoid "bottoming" our especially on the FH.

When the ball hits the paddle a slows to a stop, all the energy of the ball is absorbed in the sponge, top sheet, maybe the wood and the ball. All of it. THe next issue is how much of the energy is returned to the ball on the rebound?
Soft thick sponges will absorb a greater percentage of the energy than thinner harder sponges. The next issue is how elastic is the sponge relative to the other items that are being compressed.

If the thicker and softer sponges will deform more during impact. When rebounding, the sponge will return to its original shape. It is this restoring shape added to the swing that provides the 'catapult' that everyone talks about but you are not getting something for nothing. You need to swing hard to deform the sponge. Sponges absorb energy. They do not generate energy.