OOAK Table Tennis Forum

So I wanted to get a 729 802-40 for a spinny SP.

I'm a 1-sided penholder, I'm pretty sure a 1.9mm is best.

However I'm not sure which hardness is good, there is a 35 super soft and a 40 hard one, which hardness would have more advantages.

How would a soft(er) one perform in passive strokes and active strokes?

Likewise, how a hard(er) one perform?

My hypothesis is a harder sponge can give more speed and spin, however it comes with the price of having better strokes and technique

This topic hasn't been touched a lot I believe when compared to sponge thickness.



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C-pen (1 sided) : DHS Power G7 + DHS 651 (2.2 mm Black) + Red Racket sheet
Currently trying : DHS Sharping
Looking forward to : 729 802-40 (40 deg) + DHS Dragonow

In my (very limited) experience, the super soft is faster in most cases and spinnier, generally closer to inverted. The harder sponge is perhaps a little faster on flat hits. Otherwise slower and with better control.

As for the "very limited experience": I haven't compared them side by side. I have used the soft for a year or so (before lockdown). Before that I used hard for 3-4 months, I think.

There are a lot of 802-40 sponges.

I started with the 35, mushy and slow.

Then got 5-6 sheets of the 38 Mystery III, sometimes excellent, IMO the best balance amongst all offerings. But QC can be an issue, the last sheet I got had a more porous sponge and much slower.

42 is the last one I played with, imo more consistent than the 38 and the fastest of the lot.

The topsheet is not very bouncy, so harder=faster unlike some tensor pips.

Well I guess I'm going maximum speed with the hardest sponge (40-42 degree) with 2.0mm, add a PG7 PH, and l'll hit my way to victory.

Will also be doing a DHS dragonow review in 3 months (shipping is long, and I'll be trying the 802-40 first for a month)

> Dragonow is horizontally aligned

> Currently trying DHS sharping, fast and insensitive, but literally breaks so fast (Please do keep in mind, I'm playing full stroke hits and the side "swipe" TPB)

The serves weren't really spinny as 802, it's just OK spin. but really a classic styled short pip, but again, it's fragile, not recommended for budget-tight people

Edit : I use high toss serve, and I replicate Shan Xiaona/He Zhi Wen play with a twist; more FH and less TPB

Sent from my RMX2002 using Tapatalk

_________________
C-pen (1 sided) : DHS Power G7 + DHS 651 (2.2 mm Black) + Red Racket sheet
Currently trying : DHS Sharping
Looking forward to : 729 802-40 (40 deg) + DHS Dragonow

Hello, please advise the best sponge to play. Not the hardest and not the softest, to be comfortable and pleasant to play. Thank you!

Based on my experiences with
DHS 651
729 802
Yinhe Uranus
DHS Sharping
*Please do note I am a penholder

Soft : 35-36
Medium : 38-39
Hard : 41-43
Chinese scale

DHS 651, Sharping = Harder top
So I think the medium to medium-hard sponge is best, a bit of spin, but still forces you to play the proper technique

a softer sponge would give more spin (I think)

729 802 = Softer top
The default sponge is medium soft, and it's a more spinny SP, it still plays like an SP well, but I definitely had bad habits with it such as playing as if I were using inverted.

So be the judge yourself and decide which one would you like, but on a general 729 802, Dawei 388b, DHS 651/652, Globe 889
and its variants, you can't go wrong with any ~

Sent from my RMX2002 using Tapatalk

_________________
C-pen (1 sided) : DHS Power G7 + DHS 651 (2.2 mm Black) + Red Racket sheet
Currently trying : DHS Sharping
Looking forward to : 729 802-40 (40 deg) + DHS Dragonow