OOAK Table Tennis Forum

So I’m a beginner/intermediate player with a Reverse Backhand Penhold Grip.

I’m currently using a cheap pre-assembled Butterfly paddle with Yuki rubber (whatever that is, can’t find any description of it anywhere), and what looks to be about 2mm rubber. I like it, but I don’t have anything to compare it to.

I’m developing a nice hard fh topspin loop, and my bh is not far behind. I also have a good defensive slice fh and bh. I’m really enjoying the offensive game, and want to develop it further… but I don’t want to do so at significant loss of defense… so I guess I’m heading towards an ALL+ or OFF- game…

So what characteristics of blade/rubber should I be looking for, and what combo would you recommend? After reading a bit about other RBP players out there, and what they prefer, my hunch is a fairly soft and lightweight blade, and a medium speed rubber, not too tacky. Am I on the right track?

Blades I’ve been considering:

Yasaka Extra
Butterfly ExtraWing (a bit pricey)
Stiga Allround

Rubber (I must admit I’m a bit overwhelmed by all the rubber choices, only got two at this point):

Butterfly Sriver
RITC 720 Cream Transcend (cheap!)

Please share your thoughts. Thanks!

The rubber on your Yuki is probably Flextra.

Get a Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive (MEO) or similar.

Put something like Sriver FX on the backhand or similar.

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Chasse Patate

Thanks... and what about the forehand?

How about this:

Yasaka Extra Offense

FH: Cream Transcend 2.0

BH: Cream Transcend 1.5

I guess thats ok, but I don't think a 1.5mm rubber on the rpb is really that good an idea if you are planning on using it full time or as an offensive shot.

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Chasse Patate

So I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the following setup:

Yasaka Extra Penhold
FH: LKT Rapid Speed 2.2 Red
BH: LKT Rapid Speed 2.0 Black

The Rapid Speed seems to get unanimous praise as a great all-around rubber, decent for beginners, similar to Sriver but maybe a tad faster.

It's cheap, so if I don't like it I can just try something else.

Yeah, should be fine.

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Chasse Patate

great thanks so much for your help!

So I played with this setup for about an hour last night, so far so good.

It feels fairly soft and spinny, which I think is good for my game. A bit higher throw takes some getting used to, but not bad at all.

Is it ideal for my game? I dunno. My game is still developing, so time will tell. Seems like a great starting point though.