OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Is it necessary to have space for the fingers on the front rubber, should it be glued with a gap to the handle?

I mean is it just a preference or is there gong to be any difference in the game as well. What if there is no space for the fingers, like regular shakehand blades, but on a Cpen blade?

And what if one has rubber both sides? Space on the back as well, or should/can that be all the way to the handle?

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No you don´t need to leave a gap but many penholder players do it beacuse it´s allowed and you can save some weight that way. And i think its a little more comfortable for penholders.

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Timo Boll Spark
Bryce Speed 1,9 black
Feint Long III 1,3 red

Mm

A coach at my club (penholder) says it will affect your play. If you have the gap, he said that it will change the angle, and make your forehand better and your backhand less good. This is because if you have a cushion(rubber and sponge) to press onto with the backhand, it'll be better.

I haven't tried this out, but it does make sense. I'd personally like my forehand rubbers without the gap but I don't think it really matters if you accomodate for the angle differences.

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' Winners never quit and quitters never win. ' Jorgen Persson

729 BOMB Penhold
FH Tenergy 05
BH Palio CK531A

I is penholder .
Chopping with SH is fun

I always have a gap, firstly because I don't like the feel of rubber under my fingers and secondly it will be heavier.

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Expert II crwi C-Pen
Red Acuda P1

Interesting, I never thought of the weight impact

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Additionally, if we have a gap, I think the whole set up will be more head heavy.

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Expert II crwi C-Pen
Red Acuda P1

The weight is pretty much neglible, especially when you take into consideration the placement - it's behind or over the top of your bottom fingers, so has the least effect on swings.

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Chasse Patate

I agree, it's more what's more comfortable for your fingers than the weight. Keep in mind that the rubber is close to the handle so has little effect on the balance of the blade.

Most people like between 1/4-1/2" gap, I like 3/8" but it depends on the thickness of the rubber, blade, and length of your fingers. Try it a few different ways before you glue your rubber down.

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-- Andrew

Spintech All Around Penhold blade
Spinlord Keiler II 1.5 black
Nittaku FastArc G1 red

729 all around blade
Tibhar Grass D-Tec S Red
Nittaku FastArc G1 black

I used to leave no gap as I didn't think it really mattered, but not too long ago, I took a lesson from LiZhenshi, and the first thing he told me to do was cut my rubber so i left a gap between the handle and rubber. His reason was simple: You want all the feel you can get, so you want the thumb and index finger directly on the blade

He repeated that to me the entire evening, every time he saw my blade -- "When you get home tonight...cut off the bottom of the rubber!"

When a PHer who has 4 World titles to his name gives you advice..you listen.

Yes, that sounds like advice you should take... Where do you play?

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-- Andrew

Spintech All Around Penhold blade
Spinlord Keiler II 1.5 black
Nittaku FastArc G1 red

729 all around blade
Tibhar Grass D-Tec S Red
Nittaku FastArc G1 black

Wang Hao has very little gap on the FH and none on the BH.

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Galaxy K-4/ Xiom Vega Pro/ Xiom Vega Pro

Ma Lin has got a visible gap on the FH and no gap on the BH as well.

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BTY Joo Se Hyuk | BTY Tenergy 64 2.1mm | TSP P1R 1mm

Chop til you drop baby!

How comfortable you are with the final thickness is probably a factor too.

I used to play J-pen with a fairly thick blade (10mm) so I'm used to having a bit of material under my fingers. I've recently switched to C-pen with gaps on the FH and BH and found that it's thinner than I'm used to. So I've had to grip a little tighter which made it uncomfortable for me.

So now I'm trying to leave a gap on the FH but none on the BH. Haven't had a chance to have a hit with it yet, but so far it already feels a little more comfortable to me.

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Main bat:
Kokutaku Laser Carbon C-pen
729 Transcend SP 2.0mm Black
Juic Offense Ultima 2.0mm Red

Backup:
Blade: Stiga Optimum Sync C-Pen
Globe 999 National Team 2.0mm Red
729 804-40 Super Soft Pro Ver 2.0mm Black

On its way: Haifu Blue Whale II (Black Sponge) Red Label Factory Tuned

I leave the same gap on both sides, but that's mainly because as an total EJ, I try many different rubbers on the RPB side, and I like to flip the RPB side over to see how the BH rubber performs as a FH rubber also. I also get that miniscule amount of weight savings.

I live and play in the San Francisco Bay Area.

So far, I would leave a gap for FH but no gap for BH. This is nice particularly if both sides are inverted rubber. But recently having switch to pimples for BH, I find it can be quite uncomfortable after hitting a while for the back fingers resting on those pimples. I noticed a lady used a piece of tape to cover up the pimple area where her fingers rest for comfort. But recently, I accidentally found that if I also leave a gap for BH with the pimples, my fingers actually avoided resting on the pimples which is so nice. So from now on, with new pimple rubbers for BH, I will also leave a gap for that purpose.

Cheers.

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