It's a hard choice to make when considering buying the best outdoor table tennis table as there are so many different factors to take in to consideration. Playing table tennis outdoors can be a lot of fun if you live in the right climate. Perhaps even in the cold, it's a great way to warm up! Read our guide on how to compare outdoor table tennis tables.
There are so many different brands, surfaces, types of table tennis tables and outdoor factors in your playing.
The main questions you have to ask yourself are:
- What is the right table for me?
- What brand of table tennis table do I want?
- What is my budget?
It is also important take into consideration the surface you are placing the table on, the kind of table you want to use, what weather you have in your state and if you're going to fold it away after the game.
Cornilleau 510M Outdoor Stationary Table Tennis Table
This amazing ping pong table is perfect if you need to leave the table outside all the time without a cover. It's usually installed in parks and public places because it is so robust. It's a no-frill table but it is pretty indestructible. The 510M is around $1649.99.
I have put together a list of questions below to help you when comparing table tennis tables to help you make your decision a little easier.
- What floor are you playing the table on?
- Are you going to fold the table away after the game?
- Are you going to keep the table up?
- Does your outdoor space have a roof cover or not?
- What's the weather like in your state?
- How long are the summer seasons?
- Is the table going to be placed on grass, concrete or a tiled outdoor patio surface?
These questions will really help when looking at the area you have to play with and the type of table you are considering when purchasing an outdoor table tennis table.
Outdoor tables are not necessarily ITTF approved table tennis tables as most tournaments will occur indoors. As this is all about fun, lets look at the type of brands you have on the market for outdoor table tennis tables and what is the slight difference in specification in each table to help you make your decision.
So specific to outdoor table tennis tables, you have brands such as Kettler, Stiga, Butterfly, Cornilleau to name a few. We will provide detailed reviews of each tables in the review section, but below is a selection of really good out door tables to consider and they vary in budget, quality and style.
So lets look at the most expensive one first:
The Cornilleau Sport 500M Outdoor Table Tennis Table
It's a wonderful table with great features and really a very high standard in the materials used for this table, which adds to the all weather purpose of the table to help with it's longevity.
It's really nice to see that this table comes with safety edges, so if you're playing with your family and the kids are still small, they are protected from a shart edge
It also comes with a MATTOP finish, for the anti glare, this can really help as when you're playing in the sun and the ball bounces in a way where you catch the sun light the table surface will protect you from that.
The legs are very sturdy with extra thickness added with adjustable legs. This can be really beneficial if the surface you are playing on is slightly uneven. One of the cool things is that It's available in both blue and green table tops.
One of the great things is that if you plan to put the table away after the game, It comes with a double wheel caster, that really help when moving it about.
It has a DSI security system which helps you open and close the table fully locking it and avoids it rolling away whilst in stortage.
This is an all round solid table tennis table and will give you and your family endless hours of fun! The 500M costs around $149.99.
The Butterfly TW24B Playback Outdoor Table Tennis Table
First of all, let me tell you about the butterfly brand, it's one of the worlds best and well known table tennis brands, coming all the way from Japan and founded in 1950 by Hikosuke Tamasu.
Hikosuke wanted to make his hobby in to a profession and he did a great job of that!. He has given so much for the sport it's a pleasure to see the brand still in the game to this day!
So the first thing to see is the difference between these tables, this Butterfly table is much ligher than the Cornilleau Sport 500. It has larger wheels, which allows for great mobility.
I would think this would be a perfect table for floors with smooth surfaces, if you have a tiled patio, outdoor swimming pool area or BBQ area.
The Butterfly comes with a synthetic laminate playing surface
which provides for a great bounce when getting that unexpected return of serve. This table even comes with some holders each side to neatly put your bat and ball away after the game, very handy if you're anything like me and leave them lying around and end up losing them!
I would think this is a great all-round table, which is neat, elegant and sturdy enough to stand the test of time. It's around $696.
The Kettler Match 5.0 Weatherproof Outdoor Table Tennis Table- Green
OK, next up is the Kettler, but why are we looking at this table? The Kettler brand is not as strong as the other two brands at professional level, but it offers something different, it comes with a waterproof sealed aluminum composite non-glare top. This model, the Kettler Match 5.0 costs around $599.99.
This means that you don't have to fold it away and it's perfect to keeping outdoors all the time. This table is good even under the toughest conditions.
One of the special things about this table is that it has fade resistant coating, which is perfect if you live in a sunny area and are worried about the table looking old in a year or so.
It also comes with wheels to help with the ease of mobility and you can lock them off, so they table doesn't move during the match when you're smashing the ball around getting competitive with your family!
One of the nice touches is that again it comes with side pockets to store the bat and balls away.
I think it's a fantastic all weather out-door table and will definitely stand the heat, rain, snow and who knows - maybe even a bad thunder storm!
Although I don't wish you to experience a thunder storm.
If you do have a bad one overnight the table will still be OK in the morning and able to start playing away as if you're 10 – 3 up and you're about to win!
The great thing about outdoor table tennis tables is that you are not as restricted as indoor tables as you should have much more space to plays some fantastic shots.
When it's not so windy, you are able to stand back from the table and start to play some brilliant long forhand loops, back hand loops and long back hand chops which will give your opponent a run around the table.
I hope this will help for when you choose your best outdoor table tennis table, in another post I will put together my top 5 recommendations for outdoor tables.