Are Pool Table Tennis Conversion Tops worthwhile?
A Table Tennis Conversion Top is basically a table tennis tennis table without the legs and support, which is placed onto a pool table (or similar table or support structure) to turn it into a table tennis table.
Table tennis tables take up a large space, and pretty much fill up any dedicated games room, leaving no room for other items like pool tables, regular tables or shuffle boards, etc. What if you want to have them all, but only have a single room available? Well this is where a table tennis conversion is well worth considering!
There are only a few table tennis conversion tops on the market that designed specifically to fit on top of a range of pool table sizes. This is a great option for someone who already has a pool table, and does no have the room to add a table tennis table!
The conversion top uses the frame and body of the pool table. By placing the conversion top on the pool table and locking it with the mounting brackets, you and your friends can start playing ping pong in no time!
The key feature about these conversion tops is that they are very easy to install. As mentioned before, there are several available conversion tops that will be able to fit on different sizes of pool tables. All you need to do is mount it and lock it with the mounting brackets on the pool and you will have a solid ping pong table ready for play. When you’re not using it for table tennis, you can take it off, put it against the wall where it takes up little room.
~
Benefits:
Sounds ideal, right?
Well it does in theory, and there are some great benefits, such as:
- Saves space – You can have a pool table AND a table tennis table in the same room, taking up no more space.
- Save money – A table tennis conversion top is generally cheaper than a complete table tennis table.
- Bonus features – By covering up the conversion top, it can double up as a table for other things, like entertainment, eating or other hobbies. In addition to this it protects your pool table!
~
Drawbacks:
So what are the drawbacks? Well as a serious table tennis player, I would not get one myself. Why?
Well table tennis and snooker tables are not the same size or height. An official snooker table is 11’ by 5’10’’, whereas a table tennis table is 9’ by 5’…a slight problem here!
In addition to this, a snooker table height is typically 2’10’’, whereas a table tennis table is 2’8’’ (76cm), so when playing on a conversion top you’ll be playing on a surface that’s too high! Smaller snooker tables may be a little lower, and closer to the height of a proper table tennis table, so these may provide a better fit.
For myself, as a person that plays competition and takes the game quite seriously, a proper table is really the only option for me.
So is it worth it?
Does it matter that it’s not exactly the same height or that it does not exactly cover the table underneath? Well it depends… if you have the table mainly for some social fun with friends, I’m sure you’ll have just as much fun no matter how high the table is.
Even if you ARE more serious about your table tennis game, having a conversion top can still be useful for a lot of things like practicing techniques and serves, improving your coordination and reflexes. All of these improve over time for the more social and fun games, and will no doubt benefit you as well if you do decide the take your game further to the real game of table tennis.
Yes there will be a significant adjustment, but most of the skills you’ve accumulated will not have gone to waste, and will easily be adapted to the genuine table tennis game.
My advice is that if you just want to have fun, the conversion tops are a great idea, and will save you lots of space as well as money.
If you’re new to table tennis, and simply don’t have the room for a table tennis table in addition to your pool or other table, then a conversion top can teach you lots of table tennis skills which will no doubt improve over time.
However once you’ve decided to you wish to learn proper table tennis, or if you already play table tennis elsewhere and want to improve your skills, then a genuine table tennis table is a much better option. As you advance further in level, switching between different table height is just too much of a disturbance or frustrating.. as things that work on one table don’t work on another.
~
Where to buy?
Many of the major table tennis manufacturers do not make table tennis conversion tops, and even if they do, many dealers do not carry them. Chances are your local shops will not carry them, so you might want to buy online.
Below you can see conversion tops from Megaspin.net, a well priced and major online store for table tennis equipment mainly for the USA customers, to give you some idea of what they look like and pricing. You can consider buying from there, or search to see if you can find anything better.
JOOLA
  |
JOOLA Pool Conversion Top |
US$329.99  Save 17% |
Killerspin
 |
Killerspin Paragon Conversion Top with 2 Killerspin rackets, 3 balls |
| US$399.00 |
Article by: haggisv
