OOAK Table Tennis Forum

What makes a really good C-Pen blade? Is there any difference to what is looked for in a SH blade? I know some blades don't get made in C-Pen when they are made in SH and vice-versa. Is this because the blade doesn't actually have what it takes to interchange between the two styles, or do you think it is simple business decisions by the manufacturers and any blade that makes a good SH also should make a good C-Pen?

What characteristics do you, as a penhold player (C-Pen as J-Pen obviously has other considerations), look for in a blade? Is stiffer better? Lighter? Faster? Do many penholders defend? (I've only seen attackers).

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

I'd say it depends on the style. Some penholders like a softer, lighter more flexible blade, like Ma Lin with his Yasaka Extra in the 38mm ball era. Of course he used hard sponge Chinese inverted rubbers.

Others preferred hard, stiff blades, like Liu Guoliang's Avalox 700 or Clipper CR or Toshio Tasaki's Butterfly Carbon blade. Of course, they played with short pips, with Guoliang having a softer blade for more pips looping and Tasaki a harder, faster blade for more pips smashing.

Key differences in Chinese penhold and regular shakehands blade is length, with many blades, particularly Avalox and Yasaka being up to 10mm longer in the penhold version.

For handles, the penhold ones tend to be set further up in the blade, providing more of a shoulder for the fingers. Handles tend to be either flat (for a wider pincer grip and larger hands) or conical (for smaller hands and a more narrow pincer grip).

_________________
-- 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've been using a Nittaku Rutis cpen lately. Extremely narrow handle; it's barely wider than a jpen handle. I love it.

_________________
Chasse Patate

That has looked tempting, much like the modified Timo Boll Spirit some of the Korean women's team short pips players have been using.

Only thing is that I like a longer blade head than the Rutis offers, I prefer at least 160mm and better if it's 163-164 mm due to being used to the long headed Japanese/Korean style blades I used to use.

I've considered modifying one of my other blades to that style with a piece of cork from an old J/K blade. Is the width of the handle about 20mm?

_________________
-- 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 would say it depends on the player and his style of play. Some players prefer a softer, lighter more flexible blade, like Ma Lin with his Yasaka Extra previously with hard sponge Chinese pips-in rubbers. While others preferred hard, stiff blades.

Key differences in Chinese penhold and regular shakehands blade is the length of the handle. I believe it is the business decision that the manufacturer do this.

Characteristic as a Cpen to look for in a blade - for handles, the penhold ones tend to be set further up in the blade, providing more of a shoulder for the fingers, hence comfort. But for the player with skinny or bony fingers, there are conical (for smaller hands and a more narrow pincer grip).

For me, lightness is a key factor. I like to play an attacking style but I rarely get a kill with the first smash, so a light bat really helps in stroke recovery. The c-pen grip also has less leverage than a shakehand grip - finger support vs entire hand support, so a lighter blade also makes it easier in terms of wrist movement.

_________________
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

One must be careful not to make the blade too light.

One of the advantages of a heavier blade is you get momentum that carries the blade through the stroke. As you loop more and your arm fatigues, the momentum can carry the blade though at a speed that will be higher than your fatigued arm can pull off.

_________________
Chasse Patate

Yes, this is true. However, for my skinny arms, I don't really have what you would call a 'killer' smash, so recovery is still more important for me!

_________________
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

Actually, I played with someone last night who has a pretty heavy setup. Must be like 180g+. The advantage of that is there is no half-measure in his stroke. The balls always come pretty hard. Even when he sometimes want to do a controlled FH shot, it still comes quite fast. Initially the balls whiz past me. But once I get the hang of it, his problem begins because each time I return the ball, he can hardly recover in time to return the next ball. And even if he did it in time, it almost always overshoot because his shot becomes too powerful with even the slightest of swing. Mind you, when he did get to smash a powerful one, there is no returning that. So it has its advantages and disadvantages.

For myself, my favourite overall bat weight should be around 145-150g. Anymore than that, though I can play with it, my shoulder which has been carrying an injury all this time, will start to hurt. Otherwise, I find bat at just under 160g best for smash and controlled shots. With the lighter setup of mine, I find I do have to swing harder with better timing to get a really good deadly smash winner.

Cheers.

_________________
Main Setup: There is NO such thing
Table Tennis Directory | Rubber Mass Database I | Rubber Mass Database II | Sponge Hardness Database