Throw Angle

A term that is used to describe the angle the flight of the ball makes coming off a racket face in relation to the direction the racket is travelling. The throw angle indicates whether the rubber tends to 'throw' the ball higher or lower when making the same stroke. In general, low throw rubbers are considered to be easier to play with against topspin, whilst high throw rubbers are supposed to be able to lift backspin over the net more easily.

Each rubber has characteristic throw angle for each different type of stroke and blade. Generally, low throw rubbers have degrees of throw in the 30s, while 40-44 degrees of throw is roughly a medium throw rubber, and higher than 44 degrees of throw is typically considered a high throw rubber. These numbers are not exact, and may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

The throw angle characteristics are also affected by the contact racket angles, whether the contact is on the inside, middle or outside of the ball, and whether the racket is closed or open. The throw angle of a rubber can be modified considerably by the blade used, with flexy, slow or allround blades typically increasing the throw angle.