OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi all! I'm quite new to taking table tennis even remotely seriously, and I had a question about choice of rubbers.

I've started playing a lot recently (using very generic, ~US $10 rackets), and through a bit of experimentation have determined that I'm most comfortable playing an at the table block/push style of game emphasizing ball placement. I'm wanting to take the plunge and buy a decent racket that fits that style, which for me basically means something that will take off as much of my opponent's spin and speed as possible, so I can focus on tricky ball placement.

I figure either an antispin or long pips rubber would work best for this, but I'm not sure which of the two types would be better, much less which specific rubber within each of those types would be my best bet. The only decent rubber I've gotten to play with was on a friend's racket, where one side was a Butterfly Super Anti, and I really liked it, but wasn't sure if some other anti or long pip is even better for killing spin and speed.

Thanks in advance for your time and patience dealing with a relative newb!

It is not easy to advice to a beginner. You can make a lot wrong, irreversibly. So probably several people will ask you questions before you'll get any advice. Mine are: How old are you? And what is your sports environment, do you play in a club or just at home, have you access to (semi)professional trainers?

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Equipment: Dr Neubauer Firewall+ - Butterfly Tenergy 05 - Spinlab Vortex 2.3 (red sponge)

If you are blocking and used to playing with cheap paddles then I think anti would be closer to what you've been playing with than long pips. Just make sure you get a good sheet of all around inverted like mark V 1.5 or sriver 1.5 that way you can learn all the inverted strokes.

If you are going to use anti it'd be best if you could learn the inverted strokes on both sides so you could twiddle the paddle and make use of the anti better.

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-Teddy

For what you say SA is an excellent choice.

2 buts:

Defensive rubber on both sides is not a great idea. Even if you really want to emphasize control I'd go with at least a medium spin short pip like Btfy speedy po or ritc 802 for on 1 side for serving and some attacking.

long pips would cost you some control but cause a lot more trouble for opponents. Same with the new 'frictionless' antis but they're beastly expensive.

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coming back after 2 years off
don't freaking know what I'm using from day to day!

Butterfly Super Anti is a very good choice for BH.
Tackiness Drive 1.5mm FH and Grubba blade.

Then you have a fantastic long lasting set-up

If you wanna try LP i would recommend
D.techs or Dornenglanz..BUT...
It take a lot more time to handle those LP's...

Cheers
Geddk

Thanks for the responses! To answer some of the questions, I am 26, have access to a couple clubs, but probably won't be getting so serious as to get involved with a trainer, at least not unless I get bitten by the table tennis bug

As far as my current ability goes, it's a weird hodgepodge. My blocks are actually respectable, or so I've been told. My pushing isn't all that good (I'm almost incapable of pushing long, and in general my pushes end up shorter/higher than I intend). My backhand loop actually isn't that bad (again, so I've been told), while with my forehand I have an annoying habit of always putting too much direct contact on the ball, with the result that it doesn't drop enough to stay on the table. I'm not sure whether it's the paddle, complete lack of skill on my part, or some combination of the two, but my chopping is horrendous. I rarely get it to work anything like I intend. Oh, and strangely enough, I'm MUCH more comfortable with forehand serves, but instinctively try to cover most shots backhand. Probably a bad habit developed a long time ago.

That's the basic lay of the land skill-wise for me. The reason I prefer being a push-blocker is that one of my knees likes to complain if I do a lot of quick steps, so being able to stay up on the table rather than moving in and out or laterally a lot is much to be preferred.

So, as to the rubbers, though, it seems the consensus so far is that antis would do better at killing opponents' speed and spin than long pips (or at least have a much gentler learning curve), and that the Super Anti is about as good as it gets without breaking the bank?

Thanks again!

I you buy BTY it will cost 120$ for grubba, SA and drive...
Not cheap.. but very good stuff..

Cheers
Geddk

Neo,

You could try an inverted rubber as a beginner set-up. Anti is good but you have to learn the basic. Don't jump on using branded ones. Try soft inverted chinese rubber with thickness of 1.5 to 1.8.

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Enjoy the game. It is a never ending learning experience once you play and keep the ball on that 45 sq ft of space or should I say half of that space.