I actually bought two of these bats. Right out of the package, the first one had a problem with the sponge not rebounding. In fact, the rubber on both sides came dented in a few places. Since it was cheap, I still played around with it. The rubber on both sides now has many, many dents all over. The second racket I gave to a friend. His has no problems with the sponge and rebounds like it's supposed to. The best part about this racket is the handle. It does feel good in your hand, and just looks kinda cool. But as for truth in advertising.... this is NO PRO racket! as the writing on the package claims. In fact, according to the manufactuers rating system, there is a rating above Pro, called Advanced. What??? There's a higher level than Pro? There's some Advanced group out here who are better than Pros? Also, if you know anything about racket rubbers, you will be disappointed with this bat. It has zero tack. I do think these would be fine for basic play around the house, and kids will probably find the "Viper" logo cool. Other than the guess of what kind of racket you will recieve, there's the price. I bought one for $12, and the other a few days later for $7. The price seems to jump around and you never know what it is. With a little search, I think you'd be much happier with a Timo Boll racket from Butterly. I saw a beginner one for like $9 on Amazon, and in my opinion, Butterfly is one of the top racket makers in the world. If you want to spend a few more $, but the DHS 4002 Shakehand for like $20. Money well spent (read the reviews). UPDATE 10-25-13 The hits and misses just keep coming. After realizing that the "dents" were not going to go away on my racket, I contacted the seller. The response I received was to send pictures. I had told a coworker he could use the racket and the next day I saw he had emblazed his intitials on it, so I figured a return was out of the question. Anyhow, a few says later another coworker was playing with the other Viper racket I had bought for him. After losing a game, he got soo mad that he tried to break the handle off the paddle. He tried several times and finally put soo much force on it, that it broke. It really took alot though. The following day he grabbed the Viper racket I had been using. During a game, he banged it on the table, but with nothing of the force from the day before. To everyone's surpise, the handle snapped right off. Trust me, this wasn't a hard hit. I feel it's also pertinent to mention that on the first paddle which I had used, the plastic Viper logo was not seated well in the handle and protruded about 1/8" from the handle. This would have irritated, if not cut my hand, had I not taken it into the garage and beat it down with a hammer. However, it still wasn't flush. I will also note that the rubber on these paddles is a mystery. It's NOT ITTF approved, which may not be a concern. So, here's the conclusion. One paddle cost $7, one $12. The $12 one had rubber that didn't rebound and left "dents" all over, a plastic logo that protruded and broke fairly easily. The $7 had no "dents", was hard to break and the logo was fairly flush. Neither however have good rubber. For the about the same price ($10), the company 729 makes a paddle that comes with a nice case and it has ITTF Friendship rubber. I bought two (off Amazon) for beginner friends at work and they love em. Also, I haven't tried it, but Butterfly (makers of great paddles) makes a Temo Bol paddle for like $10. I suspect this is of decent quality.