To: carbionman
Re: Denis Neale
How would a player with a "simple" game exhibit "smartness"?
It would seem to me the a "complex, varied" game would be needed to exhibit "smartness".
And that a "simple" game that wins exhibits "physcial giftedness".
Thanks.

Pandit appears to be still playing but not quite as much. When I played him on 2016 I think he was using Spectol. Not sure of his blade though.

The last I heard Denis Neale was playing in hardbat events but of course he used short-pips with sponge in his earlier days. He was freakish and probably the smartest player I have seen. His game was very simple - flat-hit fh and bh and a little topspin roll against backspin. He may have used a chop defence at some time but I dont think he would have in his prime. He had wins over Hasegawa and Surbek who, along with Secretin, were the best lobbers in the world.

Can you post what pips and blade are using the players you re talking to?

To: carbionman
Re: Denis Neale
How would a player with a "simple" game exhibit "smartness"?
It would seem to me the a "complex, varied" game would be needed to exhibit "smartness".
And that a "simple" game that wins exhibits "physcial giftedness".
Thanks.

The point the writer was making was that though Denis Neale never used chop defence, he COULD do it, and knew how to use it to the point where he could use it as a "Plan B" for times when it was needed. Since this was a book of instruction, the author was saying that although one might never actually use certain strokes, it's still worthwhile to learn to do ALL of them just in case you do need them.



Yan Jun used some sort of 1970s Chinese blade. Probably basswood and heavy. Probably Double Happiness (today known as DHS). It was round in shape. The rubber, I'm not sure. Chinese pips out of some sort. He had topsheets to sell, but I wasn't around the one time he brought them out. He said something quite interesting - apparently quality control wasn't very good, so you'd try several sheets of sponge until you found one you liked. And then you'd change the topsheet from time to time but keep the same sheet of sponge.

Clark Yeh? No idea, but I think it was the same general type of blade and rubber. He must've been in his later teens at the time, and was getting quite tall (he was maybe 10 or 11 when I first started attending tournaments in the area).



Can't say I've ever seen him play (though I read his book, which went WAY beyond the usual "how to do strokes" and "strategy", and got into such topics as conditioning). I imagine someone with a "simple game" that mainly involves two strokes can show smartness by using speed and angles - perhaps forcing opponents out of position before hitting the winner wide to where they couldn't reach it. And there's always serve and return, and forcing weak returns for third and fifth ball kills.

Iskandar

I would never use a used table tennis rubber unless it was given to me for free and I knew how old it was/how much use it had. These things wear out/age out quickly.

Since you're a tennis player, the flatter SP stroke might be better-suited for your natural tennis ground stroke. If you're on a strict budget I'd recommend 729 Legend 105 SP.. $30 at zeropong.com. If you can afford $45 I'd recommend TSP Spinpips RED max which is what I use. The TSP is faster and more accurate.
Both will provide great offensive blocking and punch-blocking; non-reactivity to incoming spin; and the ability to generate a surprising amount of spin on serve and topspin drive stokes. Use a stiff, hard, all-hardwood blade (flexy looper's blades and Balsa blades need not apply for SP duty!)