OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I guess I will buy one more Dr Evil and put it up in case you are here with your Mrs. I will have to practice hitting the forehand with a little more open blade angle just like what I did on the backhand. Guess my advantage over you now is I have a robot as a practice partner. As I mentioned in another thread, playing table tennis is similar as playing chess game; as for patience, I'll have to develop, because I hit too much. With my back hand attack like my LP, I think I will do fine.

Well, at least you were there and have fun. And that also means, you are well from your previous injury.

I have the same problem with my hardbat forehand, I can only chop and push, can't do much else. Backhand hand is a different mechanic, I guess it is because we played LP OX or LP with thin sponge with natural open blade and for me, with lots of wrist action.

Hi folks,

This is my first time writing in a tt forum, or any online forum for that matter. I quickly looked over a few of the postings and I wanted to make my recommendations and corrections. First, if you are practicing hardbat for the Bud Light thing, then go get a really cheap paddle from K-mart. If you are interested in learning to play hardbat, then you will want to find a 3- or 5-ply blade and put two identical rubbers that are legal by the Hardbat Comittee (someone posted these rubbers in this forum). There is no color rule regarding hardbat rubbers; so they can be red/black, black/black, or red/red. Also, please note, if a paddle qualifies as a 'legal' hardbat by the hardbat committee, then it is legal in all USATT saction events (but not ITTF events). This is a very unknown rule that you can stump people at your club with, especially those players who like to enforce all the rules. Please see the 2001 color rule exclusion for hard bat paddles at USATT.org if you doubt me on this. You cannot use carbon or any other composite material in hard bat events--nor would you want to. Slower blades allow more dwell time and this is important in hardbat playing.

If you are wanting to learn the 'strokes' of hardbat, definitely get a copy of that TT video called "Legends of Table Tennis" and watch some Reisman, Yip, and others on you-tube. Finally, if you are hitting the ball in the net with your forehand, you are probably using too much of a traditional topsin inverted stroke. Try to come more forward with your racket and right at contact pull up to lift the ball--of course, if it is high you don't have to lift it.

I hope this helps a bit. Cheers.

Tabletennistalk, first, welcome to the forum and second, thanks for the tips.

I had 2 set ups now for my hard bat, one with Donic Applegren All play and the other one is Joola MC1. And you are correct, the slower bat plays a lot better.

Just ordered a black 0x Dr Evil. This coupled with red version and an old Toni Hold Blade will give me a hardbat. Going to play the captain of our premier team with it, I saw a tournament (one guy in the tournament was really good) and I told our captain hardbat was easy as the strokes would be just like using pips (Having never played with a hardbat). He called my bluff and he'll be using inverted.
I'm looking forward to it.

I notice that Millitall is in the list does anyone know if Millitall 2 is o.k or not? I'm still looking for a decent FLP replacement and this may do both jobs. Very disillusioned with table tennis may quit and play with a hardbat.

Edit: original question could tie it in with short pimple if needed. I'd certaily like to see some footage of proper hardbat play.

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Equipment Review Index
Joola Turbo: FH: Joola Peking (2mm) , BH: Joola Peking (2mm)
Another one bites the dust.

The authorised rubber list is only available in USA and in some european tournaments, like Cervia in Italy. In France, Belgium and Germany, all short pips rubbers without sponge are generally authorised in hardbat events.

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Hardbat France, the first French association to promote hardbat
http://www.hardbat-france.fr/

Unbeknownst to myself till now, I grew up playing what is called hardbat. I wonder when this term was first used in the sport, certainly many years before the advent of the the word.
I did not choose the hardbat style, it is what we had in the 70's at the time and not even realizing that sponge paddles had already been around for twenty years. I know there was a sandpaper paddle that I really took a liking too. Yes, if you are wondering, I grew up back in the sticks. This has got me curious, am going to find those old paddles and see which style that I prefer.

Hardbat, as it is now called, was popular in the U.S. when we produced some world-class players like Marty Reisman. When sandwich rubbers (essentially hardbat with sponge underneath) started to dominate the world scene, Americans could not keep up with competition, and the sport gradually lost its popularity here.
"Hardbat" advocates today would like the old-style equipment that Americans became famous for (also known as "classic" table tennis) to make a comeback. However, the number of full-time hardbat players today participating in sanctioned tournaments is still very small compared to those using modern equipment. I was an avid hardbatter myself, and was hoping that the $100,000 Budlight Classic would increase this style's popularity, but I was wrong, alas... The number of serious hardbatters in our SoCal area has been shrinking from a couple dozen just two years ago, to almost none today.