OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi all,

I've recently been using my double looper/hitter setup more (2). I have an old blade which I've cleaned and varnished and I quite like it, but my overall racket weight is around 180g which is borderline uncomfortable for me. I like the power of a heavier (90-95g) blade but I tend to do a lot of flicking and wrist shots and those are suffering because I'm a bit slower using this blade.

So far I've found Galaxy T-10/11 around 70-75g (from eacheng) and these:
http://www.thorntonstabletennis.co.uk/a ... nflex.html

One of my club-mates recommended the sunflexes. I was thinking of getting the Off- version.

Also, I plan on modding the blade by chopping off 1 or 2 inches from the handle and adding a thin cork insert for stability. This should reduce the weight by a further 5-6g.

So overall, my 'planned' weight reduction is around 25-30g which should have a bit of an impact...

Ideas, comments, recommendations?

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#Regular# Sunflex Martinez OFF- | Bty. Tenergy 64 (2.1mm) | TSP Curl PR-1 (OX)
#Vs other LP# Sunflex Martinez OFF- | Bty. Tenergy 64 (2.1 mm) | TSP Curl P-H(OX)

"All your spin are belong to us!"

Comment on Sunflex blades is that they play, and are typically crafted well. Galaxy blades are perfectly fine as well. Be careful that you are so bent on lowering the overall weight of the blade as to throw off the balance dramatically. These manufacturers have considered everything there is to lower weights in their blades, and they have tried them all as well. In the end it produces a blade that people don't want because although the overall weight of blade has gone down 25%, the blade balance has moved up the blade so far that it's no longer a quality feeling to play. Also there's such a thing as swing weight (used in tennis alot). As the balance of the blade moves up the blade the actual swing weight goes up alot, so a 140gm blade with a really high balance point say 4-6 cm's over the handle will give off the swing weight of a 200 gm setup that is completely balanced.

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Photino
My rubbers are 9 years old. They won’t be there long.

Thanks for the reply... I'll definitely see how the original plays before considering trimming the handle. I generally like my blades with short handles and slightly top-heavy. Maybe I would go for a custom but I don't think I can get one under 30 squid.

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#Regular# Sunflex Martinez OFF- | Bty. Tenergy 64 (2.1mm) | TSP Curl PR-1 (OX)
#Vs other LP# Sunflex Martinez OFF- | Bty. Tenergy 64 (2.1 mm) | TSP Curl P-H(OX)

"All your spin are belong to us!"

My target paddle weight is 145g (not hard to achieve with light-weight OX LP on one side). There's a lot written on OOAK about what a paddle should weigh; search on 'weigh' or 'weight' for more info. Personally, I think that many players -- particularly juniors -- are hindered by paddles weighing more than 180g or so, but that's just my opinion.

You can reduce your double inverted paddle weight a few ways, listed in order of influence:

- Lighter rubber. There's a huge difference between a rubber like Sinus Sound and Tenergy 05. Light rubbers (cut) weigh around 35g while heavy rubbers can weigh over 55g.. per side!

- Lighter blade. Light blades can weigh as little as 60g while heavy blade can top 100g. I'd avoid either extreme.

- Thinner sponge (do you really need max sponge? On both sides?)

- Smaller head shape (less wood and less rubber (X2) = less weight). I've seen exhibitions where expert players effectively rallied with a paddle head the size of a soup spoon!

- No edge tape (save 1-3g depending on which you choose)

great advice ...

I'm ideally looking for a total combo weight of around 150g, hopefully I'm one blade-change away. I just love the weight of my LP setup (140g) and I don't think +10g will feel that heavy.

I am a big fan of edge tape as I feel it protects the rubber from damage, especially if you have something brittle on.

I've also experimented a lot with rubbers and I'm comfortable with the ones one my secondary and yes, I do need max sponge on both sides because I intend to play double wing looper-hitter attacking basically everything... I reject the concept or a rally

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#Regular# Sunflex Martinez OFF- | Bty. Tenergy 64 (2.1mm) | TSP Curl PR-1 (OX)
#Vs other LP# Sunflex Martinez OFF- | Bty. Tenergy 64 (2.1 mm) | TSP Curl P-H(OX)

"All your spin are belong to us!"

Donic Cayman all+ off - blade 26$
LKT Pro XP 8$ very light rubber.

Very light and nice set up, cheap too.

Regards Geddk

thanks, will look into it...

I just need the blade tho... I've decided I like what rubbers I have on atm (although might change my mind if they don't go well with what I get).

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#Regular# Sunflex Martinez OFF- | Bty. Tenergy 64 (2.1mm) | TSP Curl PR-1 (OX)
#Vs other LP# Sunflex Martinez OFF- | Bty. Tenergy 64 (2.1 mm) | TSP Curl P-H(OX)

"All your spin are belong to us!"