OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hey everyone, I am a modern defender on a medium level. My game is basically chopping away from the table especially from the backhand side, lob/ forehand chop on the forehand side, if the opponent gives me easy balls, I also attack from both sides preferring flat hits rather than topspin. I have a CURL P1-R 1.0mm on bh and a Victas VS>401 2.0mm on fh. My current blade is a Tibhar Stratus power defense, I'm looking to upgrade because the blade is a bit slow while using forehand topspin and I feel it doesn't make my long pips rubber work fully, since on slow balls I don't manage to get a good amount of spin out of them even with full stroke.
I am taking a look at the classical Matsushita and the offensive version. The first one is relatively slower (don't know how it'd compare with my Stratus Power Defense tho), while it'll certainly allow superb control, I don't know if it'll be a big upgrade for my lack of spin and problems while attacking, the second one is faster (classified as OFF-), but I feel like it would be too fast for someone who plays mostly defensive.
I am looking for your suggestions/experiences/feedback on the matter. Also is megaspin a good site to get one of them? Haven't seen them any cheaper in any site

I haven't used either of the blades you are considering, but I have used the one you're currently using, and I also know an international player who uses it. I don't have any evidence to suggest that that blade/rubber combination would lead to a lack of spin with FH or BH shots.

How do you know the blade is too slow? What are you experiencing, and how are you measuring it? How do you know the issue is not with how you are playing your strokes? I'm a little skeptical that changing your blade will make a massive difference to the amount of spin on either your fh or bh strokes.

In terms of your leve, I'm not sure what medium level is, as I'm not sure what you're comparing it to. Do you play in the USA? Do you have a rating? Have you played anyone with a rating? Do you compete in tournaments / leagues? It's hard to judge your level of experience without some frame of reference, which makes it hard to offer advice without either coming across as patronising, or assuming that you know more than you do.

Do you have any video footage of you playing? Even 10 secs will help - and various people will be able to chip in. It would really help if we could see you playing the strokes you say you're currently unhappy with.

Do you have access to a coach? You might find that for the cost of a new blade you could have two or three sessions with a coach who would help you generate more spin with a few tweaks and exercises, so if that's an option, don't rule it out.

Maybe you've already been down this route, have worked with a coach, have great technique, and are playing at a pretty hjgh level already, in which case maybe a tweak to equipment is exactly what you need.

I'm not saying don't change blades - it could be interesting, although in the absence of being able to do side-by-side comparisons. it's hard to be remotely scientific.

What I am saying is that someone (including myself) describing issues with generating quality spin is, on balance, more likely to have a problem with how they are trying to generate spin, than with the blade they are using.

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Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

It's hard to describe my level, I'm not from USA and I don't know how their ranking works. In Italy I am ranked 1600/9000 and I play in the highest regional league. I already have a coach and he thought me the right movements for chopping. I feel the lack of spin, when I need to generate it myself and I don't hear the typical sound of the blade making the pips work, I don't always experience it, but with quite "dead" balls from the opponent. I tried faster blades from other defenders (even if with different long pips) and I felt that with less control, balls were ending up more spinny and I was hearing more often the blade sound. Unfortunately, I don't have any recent footage that could help you understanding my level.

That's useful info and context. I don't personally relate to the sound which you're describing, but if you can draw a correlation between that sound/feel and a good shot, that could be a useful way to compare.

My main suspicion (as a person who has changed equipment far too many times!) is that the "try someone else's setup" is a really terrible way to evaluate if a setup will work for you. I've lost count of the number of times I've had a quick knock with some other person's setup, and many many times my immediate impression is "this is better". Of course it isn't better - it's just *different*. Without some degree of scientific testing, such as 2 baskets of multiball for each regular exercise you do, plus some relatively realistic match play, you have no way at all of telling whether the setup of the other player is in any way a good fit for your game/style/technique.

In my defence I have done a fair amount of "somewhat" scientific comparisons, and have tried, when making changes, to have two setups, and change one variable - so in your case rather than changing the blade, I would buy a complete replacement with the same FH and BH rubbbers, and compare the old and the new, over an hour or two with my coach. Trouble is that gets expensive!

I'll leave it for others to offer their thoughts on which of the two options (if any) might be an improvement for you. From my own personal experience, I find that for feeling / spin generation, I *feel* like a slower blade helps. If I were using your current setup (and I've played with both rubbers and that blade, but not all at once) I think I would prefer your current setup over something faster. However, I also recall that blade being quite hard. The blade I use myself is similar but a bit softer, which I prefer.

I shall watch with interest. And if you get a chance to get some footage of you playing, it would be great to see! Even hand held with a phone for one rally, one exercise, etc is worth seeing.

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Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

I agree, but the thing is that I tend to never change my equipment in general (been using my forehand rubber for something like 3 years) and I think to make a good evaluation, trying it might help. The unfortunate thing is that in case I prefer the Power Defence I need to buy it again, since it's held together with glue, since after a championship match I threw it towards a wall

PS. How do you think the hardness of the blade affects the general feeling/generation of spin?

Aha! I wonder whether that might actually be a contribution? A damaged / stuck together blade might not be entirely optimal in terms of its performance!



I suspect it's a personal thing, but I tend to think a softer blade suits control and feel, and a harder is better for aggressive pimples shots, and a more penetrative style. But I am sure others have different opinions.

For my game, especially on the LP side, I value control and placement, feel, touch. I find with a faster and/or harder blade, that suffers, but there are more skilled players than me who can manage the same control/touch/feel and also benefit from the speed.

For me personally I prefer to sacrifice speed / penetration, if it means I am safer and make fewer mistakes.

_________________
Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

Just a small update: after one training session with the Victas Matsushita I noticed that it's definitely faster than my old Stratus Power Defense, seems closer to an attack blade than to it.
I couldn't believe myself, since I managed to be very consistent in using forehand topspin and backhand smashes. As for defense it also solved my lack of spin problem, since now most of the balls end up spinny and the people I played with had more problems with them.
The only problem is control in general, I need to read very well the attacks and even the serves of the opponent to be consistent and I did so many mistakes on simple things and far from the table I didn't feel as consistent as I used to, a lot of chops were going too long. I think I need to get used to it, but the general feels are good to me, today I will train once again and then Saturday I'll try it in a tournament.
Anyway, I still have the doubt if the Koji Matsushita Defensive could've been better for my game, but the price is so high that I think I'll stick for years with this doubt