OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Good luck! With enough diligence and hard-working, you will learn to use the flanti properly. But be patient with yourself, don't get mad if it's not going smoothly. This will take some time. This flanti works pretty strangely, here you have to get the ball away as quick as you can. I myself found that learning to use the anti is harder than to learn the basic inverted strokes.

If I'm not undiscreet, can I ask you why did you start antiing? I'm curious.

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"Spin is my only way, haven't got else to say. Have you checked your anti? Let it all for you untie!"

Blade: Dr. Neubauer Matador (flared handle, 7-ply, allwood, OFF-)
Forehand Rubber: Butterfly Dignics09C (2.1 mm, black, hybrid)
Backhand Rubber: Der Materialspezialist Scandal (1.2 mm, red, frictionless)
Playing Style: Modern Defender

I’m really new to frictionless antis. I tried the Scandal once about 2 weeks ago on a Dr Neubauer Baricade and couldn’t control it at all. The wrong blade with too much flex and softness in passive play that just didn’t work. I then tried the Scandal on my Unicorn blade 2 days ago and the control was way better.

So I’m new to frictionless antis but definitely enjoying it. I played with Butterfly super anti for about a year and thoroughly enjoyed attacking with it, especially on my forehand. So I’mtrying to learn and get used to different combinations for different types of players.

It will mean more practicing to be able to adjust between my different set ups but that’s part of life. My third setup is my tried and tested unicorn hellfire x setup. I have not played with this setup for more than a year mainly due to the irritation and cost of replacing the pips that kept on breaking off. Hopefully now with 3 setups it will last 3 times longer.

Happy to answer, though it is a bit of long and ancient history. When I started playing many (many) years ago, I played with a Seemiller grip, with one side anti (I think Sriver Killer). Morphed to playing with Anti Power back when both sides could be the same color - that was a nasty combination. Played with hard rubber (Dr. Evil) for a long time, which was really fun, then Best Anti, which I really liked, and messed around a bit with long pips - could never quite control it well enough. I was fascinated by the videos of the flanti, so I am giving it a whirl. I twiddle a lot, as I think the variation in speed and spin is an advantage (at least at my level). I also like having less spin sensitive rubber to assist in returning serve, as I think that is one of the most key, and often ignored, aspects of the game, and really hard to do well consistently.

Pretty much just like to annoy my opponents and get in arguments about "junk rubber".

Nice story. The reason for me is pretty much the same, to assist the spin-handling capability of mine. I have also watched several videos, including the ones from Andrea Aschi and Antispin Gepi and liked the style. Another reason is that I just can't do the backhand looping and I thought "if I can't attack with it, let me at least defend with it". As for consistency, it is hard indeed. One of my clubmates told me my flanti is "a real homicider, but also a suicider". He is right, it is dangerous if used by proper hands, but if not, only the user is going to suffer from it. The flanti requires much more practice and skill than a normal inverted rubber. I played with the Best Anti first, then the Anti Power, then Trick Anti and got here, the ABS 2 Pro.
I personally don't believe in this "junk rubber" b*llshit, as the antis and pimples are not junk, they are just different and much more rarely used (pimples maybe not, but anti). They represent a different style and shouldn't be judged. There are players who feel comfortable using these. I once spoke to a fanatic and he told me if he could, he would ban these rubbers. I told him afterwards how lucky that the decision is not in your hands. I say these rubbers don't give you unfair advantage (as some say). Not unfair, as everyone has the chance to play with these. I still don't understand why the frictionless long pimples were banned.

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"Spin is my only way, haven't got else to say. Have you checked your anti? Let it all for you untie!"

Blade: Dr. Neubauer Matador (flared handle, 7-ply, allwood, OFF-)
Forehand Rubber: Butterfly Dignics09C (2.1 mm, black, hybrid)
Backhand Rubber: Der Materialspezialist Scandal (1.2 mm, red, frictionless)
Playing Style: Modern Defender

Welcome! Good to see a dude using anti on forehand. Using flantis are pretty hard, for the first weeks don't expect that you will know it inside-out. Controlling them is much harder than it looks. Unfortunately, in their case, it is important what blade do you use, as in your case, flexy blades will not make it work properly.

Will not the different combinations screw with your consistency?

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"Spin is my only way, haven't got else to say. Have you checked your anti? Let it all for you untie!"

Blade: Dr. Neubauer Matador (flared handle, 7-ply, allwood, OFF-)
Forehand Rubber: Butterfly Dignics09C (2.1 mm, black, hybrid)
Backhand Rubber: Der Materialspezialist Scandal (1.2 mm, red, frictionless)
Playing Style: Modern Defender

I feel like explaining my transition too. When I was a child I started playing with rackets already assembled from the factory. I wasn't in any club, I played on a table at school. Then I stopped playing for approximately 25 years until I arrived at my current club, where I discovered that you could buy a blade on one hand and rubbers on the other. The sports director had a lot of equipment from players who donate it to him when they leave the sport (we live in a tourist area where many foreigners play for a while and then return to their country) or change equipment. This allowed me to try a lot of material in a short time, I started with inverted rubbers, I tried long pips but at the time I didn't like them and I ended up playing with TSP Super Spinpips on both sides on a Donic Dotec Off. I soon discovered that the backhand attack and the serve were my strengths and my weakness was returning serves with a lot of spin and even more so if they were fast. When I leveled up in the competition I had to adapt to the long pimples to be able to counter these damaging serves and in turn I opted for a smooth rubber on my FH to add even more spin to my serves. From the beginning I saw that the long OX pips were more manageable than with a sponge and they also did more damage. I have always had a blade and rubber as a headboard but I have not stopped trying other materials looking for the holy grail until I reach the current moment, which I arrive at after having stopped playing for 5 years and starting again last year. Right now my holy grail is the material that appears in my signature: Dr. Neubauer Matador Texa Carbon, a blade from which I am able to hit soft and placed balls or deep balls. It allows me to defend close to the table or attack with either BH or FH. D. Neubauer Desperado Reloaded are incredible pips that allow very soft or aggressive shoots, attacking and blocking, doing a lot of damage in all his shoots. On the forehand I have a soft rubber but very fast and with spin that allows me to have control, spin and speed. Curiously, this combination works very well on this blade, but if you try it on others it doesn't work so well. So I have come to the conclusion that you have to do a lot of testing to reach the "perfect" combination for your style. I liked the Matador Texa Carbon so much and am so confident that I bought a second unit to do new experiments without touching my main equipment. And I'm working on those right now, I've already tried many other long pips in this blade and none of them give me the performance of the Desperado Reloaded (I still have to use it with Spinlord Leviathan, which are very good in other woods, Spinlord Dornenglanz, which are the ones that used previously and with Hellfire X. Although I doubt it will displace the Desperado R). I'm also experimenting with flantis looking for something even more disruptive than long pips. For now I have tried ABS 2 Pro and I am not very satisfied because I lose precision, touch and attack, in addition to having longer and higher blocks compared to Desperado. This Monday 11/09 I will try the Barna Super Glanti...Always looking for something better... I have use ABS 2 Pro y a Dr. Neubauer Kungfu blade and Palio TCT, but the results, even though they were somewhat better, have not been satisfactory.

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Dr. Neubauer Matador Texa Carbon Gewo Proton Neo 450 Dr. Neubauer Desperado Reloaded OX
YouTube Channel (follow please): https://www.youtube.com/@clubtenisdemesafuengirola

The journey we are going on to find the perfect combination for us is long and expensive. I did the same and found something I could go on for a while. Keen on hearing about the Super Glanti. This journey takes up a lot of research, testing and reading. Good luck with that! Don't ever forget, one equipment is better than the other! If you always want the very best, you will never end up with one and it's going to screw up your consistency and empty your wallet!

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"Spin is my only way, haven't got else to say. Have you checked your anti? Let it all for you untie!"

Blade: Dr. Neubauer Matador (flared handle, 7-ply, allwood, OFF-)
Forehand Rubber: Butterfly Dignics09C (2.1 mm, black, hybrid)
Backhand Rubber: Der Materialspezialist Scandal (1.2 mm, red, frictionless)
Playing Style: Modern Defender

When I played full-time hardbat for a few years, I always countered the "junk rubber" comments with "Yea, that inverted stuff is really cheating. Needing to rely on all that fancy spin and sponge rather than having good technique is really harming the game and should be outlawed". One of my buddies used to say, "It is just a ball with spin and it doesn't matter how the spin got there - you have to learn to deal with it".

Well yes, depends on individual attitude. Only the players are keeping telling this "cheating" who can't deal with these rubbers properly. These rubbers have their limitations and can be outplayed. I don't say it is easy, but definitely possible. I also had a teammate in my previous club who kept saying "It doesn't matter how to ball comes back, you just have to put it back in a way the opponent can't return it". I said "Okay, but if you just hit it randomly and don't think about the spin, what will you do"? Matter of attitude.

_________________
"Spin is my only way, haven't got else to say. Have you checked your anti? Let it all for you untie!"

Blade: Dr. Neubauer Matador (flared handle, 7-ply, allwood, OFF-)
Forehand Rubber: Butterfly Dignics09C (2.1 mm, black, hybrid)
Backhand Rubber: Der Materialspezialist Scandal (1.2 mm, red, frictionless)
Playing Style: Modern Defender

I try to keep the strokes similar on both forehand and backhand to limit my own confusion. Lots of side swipes and punching type of shots. So far it is working but I need to keep on practicing playing slower and not overly attacking all the time.

I also try the similar late chop shots which is easier to adjust to, for me anyway. It's all about twiddling and having the pace and a little spin variation. Limiting my mistakes by not being too offensive but that's a mind set change.

As you feel. Practice makes you better with time. I'm also stopping buying new rubbers and blade so I can get used to one and build up a consistent game.

_________________
"Spin is my only way, haven't got else to say. Have you checked your anti? Let it all for you untie!"

Blade: Dr. Neubauer Matador (flared handle, 7-ply, allwood, OFF-)
Forehand Rubber: Butterfly Dignics09C (2.1 mm, black, hybrid)
Backhand Rubber: Der Materialspezialist Scandal (1.2 mm, red, frictionless)
Playing Style: Modern Defender

I have been playing with Diabolic Special for about a month now, and have learned a bit, at least for me, what it can do and what I should do with it - two different things.

I can return almost anything (especially serves), but I should not rely on it for this, as some of the returns aren't all that effective. Placement and height is crucial.

Chopping is fun, but unless I can keep it really low, it does not present much of a problem for anyone who is any good.

I can hit balls that have incoming underpin, but that does not really produce much of an effective hit. Pretty much a slowish topspin drive that opponents can block or counter. Hitting a ball that has incoming topspin is much more effective, as the flat trajectory and possible outgoing underspin really is tough for an opponent to handle, but it is a tough shot to execute consistently, as there is no outgoing topspin to help the ball land on the table. Fine margin for error.

What has been most effective is blocking topspin (obviously), as it produces pretty off-speed and funky returns. Returning serve with good drop shots or fast long pushes has been effective. Pushing a ball with incoming underspin is pretty effective, especially if fast, as that can produce a return that is higher than the opponent intends. I have been attacking many of those with the anti, but probably much better to attack with a rubber on the other side of the paddle more designed for that.

The one stroke I have seen experts use that still mystifies me is a sideswipe return of an incoming underspin ball. If the anti is truly frictionless, not sure what all the sideways motion is for, as it would not be adding any spin to the ball. Why not just hit it with a normalish stroke if the intent is to send it back with the original incoming spin? Maybe for increased touch or less deep contact with the rubber?

So lessons learned - use the rubber for what it is best designed to do (blocking, placement, and negating/preserving spin). Don't use it for stuff that it is not intended for (attacking). Even if it can sort of do those things, best to maximize its strengths. For other needed shots, that is why we can have combination rackets - use another type of rubber for what it is good for.

I'm not sure what happens, but for me server are easier to return with a sideswipe, as my flanti seems less sensitive to blade angle. It gives a slightly more disruptive effect for the ball. I do chopping too, it keeps some of the spin, just enough to force mistakes from the opponent. Reversal is not that high, so can't really rely on that, rather placement and attacks.

_________________
"Spin is my only way, haven't got else to say. Have you checked your anti? Let it all for you untie!"

Blade: Dr. Neubauer Matador (flared handle, 7-ply, allwood, OFF-)
Forehand Rubber: Butterfly Dignics09C (2.1 mm, black, hybrid)
Backhand Rubber: Der Materialspezialist Scandal (1.2 mm, red, frictionless)
Playing Style: Modern Defender

Yea, the physics of the sideswipe eludes me, as if truly frictionless, moving the racket sideways will provide the same surface as holding it still and just blocking. I think maybe the sideways motion prevents me from swinging forward too much and allowing the ball to drop shorter - somehow gives more control. Also adds some deception, as it is also easy to change the racket angle slightly to place the ball in different places.

I do chop a lot with the anti, as it is a lot of fun and you can add some variation, especially with speed of the chop. But I need to use that more to set up a good attack rather than relying on continually chopping in a point.

Try to undercut the ball with the anti at home. You will see it have a little bit of backspin. 100% frictionless is physically impossible, maybe it is 98% or 99% I don't know. The 1% of friction provided allow you to do interesting with the sidesweep. For example if you receive a sidespin ball, it is possible with the sidesweep to convert it to a backspin ball. You just use the 1% friction to redirection (you are not adding any effect on the ball, you are using the effect your opponent gave you) the sidespin into backspin.

Luka Mladenovic does it very good. This why so many times he serves with sidespin (there is some backspin in his serve in some extent) then backhand sidesweep to convert it to full backspin. for example here: https://youtu.be/_nDgHvwGpv4?t=14 (timestamp included)

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Setup 1
Blade - Gerry Viscaria Super ZLC
FH - Tuttle G20 President
BH - Slick antispin