OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Anybody played with this ? Has nasty vibrations ?

_________________
Xiom Strato , St
FH: DHS H3 prov, max
BH: Butterfly Tenergy 05FX, max

Ummm~~~~~ Undoubtedly Samsonov Alpha has unique vibration.
If you are using stiff blade, you may feel this vibration nasty. I think the vibration of Samsonov Alpha isn't included in the kind of "clean and pleasant" vibration.

Samsonov Alpha is good blade. I have used this blade some years ago, and I love it very much.

But, when I tested new german rubbers with Samsonov Alpha some months ago, I disappointed. It is due to the lack of harmony. The ball stretched well, but with less spin. Creating heavy ball (with ample spin) was very difficult. As a result, the stability was very low. I tested Samsonov Alpha with Tibhar Nimbus and XIOM Omega II. I didn't use speed glue. I attached the rubbers with PSA(pressure sensitive adhesive).

The lack of harmony and stability was not present in the combination of Samsonov Alpha and the german rubbers of previous generation (such as Tibhar Rapid D.TecS).

If you want to replace your blade with 5-ply blade, I don't recommend Samsonov Alpha because speed glue will be banned in one year. Instead, I recommend Samsonov Premium (contact). Samsonov Premium (contact) showed good harmony with new generation rubbers.

This doesn't have anything to do with the blade, but does't the PSA sheet change the actual rubber characteristics compared to a regular rubber cement, such as butterfly clean chack?

_________________
Chasse Patate

At first I had the same doubt about PSA.
But, now I don't have any distrust about PSA. I have used PSA for more than 9 months.


Of course it will be a lie if I say there is "no" change of rubber characteristics. But I have confidence that the amount of change is negligible. And, it is the same level as that due to rubber cement.

PSA is very thin. Rubber cement also makes thin film between rubber sponge and blade surface.

For 9 months, I have experienced no trouble due to PSA.


But, there are the other kinds of problems in current PSAs.

Butterfly New Quick : the adhesion force is too great that it occasionally hurts blade surface.

Nittaku Nori Sheet : the adhesion force (for blade surface) is too weak that it is very difficult to get good adhesion between blade and rubber.

Now I am using XIOM PSA120 (the product name is "PSA120"). The adhesion force for rubber sponge is very strong and that for blade surface is ideally optimized. I love this PSA.

XIOM is selling PSA25 for European market. The names are different but the two products are almost identical. PSA120 is made in Korea (produced by 3M). PSA25 is made in Germany.

Well , I will think at Premium Contact , but I am worry about lack of speed ... this is All+ isn't it ? And , Contact has no vibrations ?

_________________
Xiom Strato , St
FH: DHS H3 prov, max
BH: Butterfly Tenergy 05FX, max

Yes, it is a matter of course that you worry about the lack of speed.
But, I think that you can easily solve the problem by changing your rubber. Samsonov Carbon is relatively stiff blade, so your current rubbers, I think, are fit to that blade. But, they are too soft to be matched with Samsonov Premium or Samsonov Alpha. (Many people think that Samsonov Alpha is stiffer than Samsonov Premium. But their bending stiffnesses are at the same level.)

The loss of speed will not great as you think. If you aren't smash player but continuous topspin player, the new combination woll be satisfactory.

In this case, the problem is in the matter of "feeling."

Your current combination is "hard blade + soft rubber" and new combination will be "soft blade + hard rubber." Some people adapt themselves to new combination quite well, but, the others fail to adapt. I cannot say more about this because I don't know your preference.

By the way, why did you think about Samsonov Alpha at first? Is your current combination unsatisfactory? Or do you just want refreshment?

I forgot to write something.

Samsonov Premium is also vibrant, but the kind of vibration is quite different from that of Samsonov Alpha. I think the vibration of Samsonov Premium is quite clean and pleasant.

But, if you don't like vibration, it is still unsatisfactory for you.

What do you think of other kinds of blades? 7-play blades or Hinoki carbon blades may be good choice.

If you are loyal to TIBHAR, I recommend CHILA OFF. Have you ever heard about CHILA OFF?

I am not satisfied with the level of my spin , so I want to try something slower blade because with my setup if I am not 100% in shape I am literally dead. I am an atacker with much spin , loops stuff like that ...
I had a Cryzer blade and I loved the feel of it. Now I have only very fast blades. I wanted to try BTY Hinoki Shake Swift, but I didn't find any review. I don't want experiments anymore and I heard good things on Alpha. I think since there are no reviews on Swift I'll buy one and write a review. By the way, today I heard that many top players from Romania are using Swift.

_________________
Xiom Strato , St
FH: DHS H3 prov, max
BH: Butterfly Tenergy 05FX, max

Many people think that soft rubber or soft blade will give more spin, but this is not truth. In general, harder rubbers have more capability of spin. Though the harder rubbers need higher range of averge swing speed, even hobby players - not professionals - can get more spin if they try to swing faster.

Sometimes softer rubbers lose more energy than harder rubbers. People think that softer rubbers catch and drag ball well but harder rubbers don't. This is not truth. The catching feeling is just feeling. The real performance is much higher in harder rubbers.
Then why people uses softer rubbers? This is also concerned with feeling.
(I won't tell anything concerned with speed glue because it will be banned soon.)
More important thing is initial speed of rebound. The initial speed of ball leaving rubber surface is slower in softer rubbers. Of course this is the result of loss of energy. But, it gives more control. This enables you to play more aggresive close to table with slower swing speed. The drawback is insufficient spin that you expected.

Everything is deeply concerned with playing style of individual player.

If you don't like vibration and need more spin, I recommend you another blade.
What do you think about Butterfly Schlager Light? Not Schlager but Schlager Light.

Schlager Light is carbon blade of 6.2mm thickness. This blade is much easier to control than Primorac Carbon. Extremely speaking, this is closer to all-wood blades.
I think the controlability of this blade is excellent.
If you attach new german rubber such as Andro Plasma 470, you feel great harmony and new dimension of performance. Speed Glue is needless. I recommend water glue or PSA.

''Many people think that soft rubber or soft blade will give more spin, but this is not truth. In general, harder rubbers have more capability of spin.''
what about softer blades?

''The initial speed of ball leaving rubber surface is slower in softer rubbers''
then why is it higher on my egp as it was on my former geospin tacky?

I dont think I could recommend that schlager light and plasma 470.. for me it'd be way too uncontrolleble but like you said.. depends on the individual. but be prepared to hold back with your short game or your balls will go longer than expected...

_________________
Frame: Nittaku Violin
FH: Joola Energy 2.0
BH: Bty Solcion 2.1

I used to play with the Premium Contact with F2 and 430 up until a month ago, and the amount of spin generated by that bat is quite high.

The Premium contact blade is about Off- / Off but with great feeling and an incredible amount of control. However it is definitely slower than the Samsonov Carbon.

_________________
** Never play leapfrog with a Unicorn **

BH: Inspirit Quattro 39deg
FH: Inspirit Quattro 42deg
Blade: Andro Supercore Off- / Gambler Black Diamond Balsa Texalium Off+

Well , today I tried to amplify my swing and the follow through (something like Chen Qi)and I can say there is significant increase of spin. I think I must stick with my Tibhar blade and to improve the technique.

_________________
Xiom Strato , St
FH: DHS H3 prov, max
BH: Butterfly Tenergy 05FX, max

Yes, in many cases it is the best way.
Changing equipments gives us just a little improvement. Except the case that someone's equipment is not suitable for his playing style - e.g. Chinese rubber or pimple out rubber for mid-distance looper. Though this example is too extreme, I think everyone will agree.

I think your current equipments isn't so far from the ideal for you. When using soft rubber on hard blade, reducing the angle between swing trajectory and ground would be good tip.

Thanx for the tips !

Anyway in case of changing I will try a Hinoki Shake Swift blade - stiff and soft.

_________________
Xiom Strato , St
FH: DHS H3 prov, max
BH: Butterfly Tenergy 05FX, max

IMHO Tibhar Samsonov Alpha works best with slower "medium-to-hard" rubbers, no soft rubbers, no tensors. Tango, Bryce, JO Silver, Nimbus, etc. all these i felt way too fast for this blade.

_________________
Do you like my signature?