OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Yeah, I've seen some people use a similar grip, and it never works very well. I don't mean to sound offensive, but I'd say changing your grip to shakehand or at least Seemiller should be your top priority. It won't take that long to adjust, and the benefits will be enormous.

_________________
Shakehand Modern Defense
Butterfly Defence Pro ST, Butterfly Tenergy 64 (1.7), TSP Curl P-1R (1.0~1.3)

I guess that would be close to a hammer grip (With that thumb on the back I sometimes call it a "skillet grip", and advise my players to change). As long as you can stay close to the table and control the game from there, it is quite an efficient grip, with little trouble in the crossover zone and good power for attack strokes. If "Bar league" implies cramped venues, the position close to the table may be the only position there is, so the grip is actually quite OK. However, once you need to stretch or turn a bit, it is very difficult to angle the bat for a good return. (I may be wrong at this, seeing that glennholder uses a hammer grip to some extent. Perhaps ask him ...)

That's a good suggestion. You can get SST Cross with 1.5mm sponge and is relatively light (I had used it in the past). The DHS rubbers are quite heavy. However, the SST Cross does not stay tacky very long.

_________________
The Dark Side: "Quicker, easier, more seductive" - Yoda

729 series is pretty good, and also h2 and h3 are very tacky and spinny as well, you can get them for $20 or under.

_________________
Xiom Zetro Quad
FH: Tibhar 1Q XD
BH: Yasaka MarkV XS

I just got finished trying Apollo from yin he ( milky way ) its like $20.00 a sheet and
has a good finish to it as well. Spins very well and is tacky and has a little machanical spin as well. I also use TopEnergy soft, and that also spins pretty good and is not expensive. Again this is depending on technique. Sticky seems to work good at low speed and unless you can generate alot of wrist snap with tensor rubbers...? just keep trying. *Remember to use the tip of the blade to generate the most spin off serve.

Peace GIG

_________________
*IT IS NOT LOGICAL TO PLAY WITH LONG PIPS*
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.


New blade set-up... Nittaku Monophonic with Dawie 388d-1 ox and Big slam max ( really like this one) down to FH rubber selections--I like it better than talon
flaired handle and 90 grams

If the sticky surface is also quite hard and stiff and in addition mounted on a dull sponge then you have to hit it very explosively to bring rotation into the ball. This is the reason why I need some catapult in the sponge and a certain flexibilty in the rubber - I have a miserably working wrist.

Another annoying feature of these classical chinese rubbers: temperature sensitivity ! In the summer time (training) life is OK, but then in winter (when the league games takes place) you hardly get anything of these rubbers during the game - it's too cold (room temperature 17-18° C).

fazer227 said:

Yes, I used it in the 1.5mm, so does Pushblocker. Rubber durability is not a concern if all you are using it for is serving, you don't make as many hits with it then!

Hurricane 2 is the most tackiest rubber. it's only 15$ or so. It's hard to control so you may be better with Hurricane 3 but it is a little less tacky.

_________________
Welcome to the dark side of table tennis....

Joola Rosskopf exact medium
Stiga Destroyer OX
Yasaka Mark V

Galaxy K-4
Galaxy Moon Pro 2.0
DHS Hurricane 3 provincial 39°

I got a look at someone's blade that had 729 Super FX on it, and talk about TACKY. Serious amount of tack, maybe the most I've ever seen, probably even more than Palio Thor's. Never took a good look at the Hurricane rubber. I still love Thor's, with the hard sponge it gives so much power and spin.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Thanks for all of the helpful advice! I think I am going to go with 729 GeoSpin Tacky. Of course I love its tackiness but I also like that it isn't quite as hard as most tacky Chinese rubbers. Seems to have good elastic and tacky properties to combine for great spin potential...not to mention the value. I assume 2.2 in black will have the highest spin potential? The slower speed of this rubber is a plus for me too since I will have it on an offensive Bomb blade and I am more of an Allround+ player.

duckyjp,

I currently play with Geospin Tacky.

My impressions of it is this. It's nice, cheaper rubber. You can create good spin with this rubber. I like the medium sponge on it but I was slightly disappointed with its initial tackiness. Both the Red & Black (each 2.2 mm) for me could pick up the ball up off the table for about a second or two before dropping.

Given everything advertised about this rubber, I was expecting better results from a tackiness prospective.

In the end though it's a nice rubber. It's a great price and it has a medium sponge so it is not a monster for a newer player (like myself) to control. In time I am curious to step it up a little to perhaps the Hurricane series. I'm not sure what I will think of the harder sponges (hopefully I don't lose too much feel) but it seems like from a tackiness & grippy prospective, those are even better.

Good luck.

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

YinHe/Milky Way Apollo I seems like a similar option to the 729 GeoSpin Tacky. Can anyone compare the two? Which is tackier? Which is softer?

I am also curious about the softer side of the Hurricane series - Specifically Hurricane 2 with the #19 sponge. If it is really the exact same super tacky top sheet and if it is significantly softer than regular Hurricane 2.

I got to hit the other night with a buddy's paddle. He bought it used and it had Hurricane 3 on one side and G666 on the other. Wow talk about tacky & spin. And these were old rubbers!! IMO they blow away Geospin Tacky in tackiness. I'd like to see how these hit when new.

Now the paddle was heavy with both. But I play Jpen and would just get one for myself.

I could not tell which I liked more or felt which was tackier between the H3 & G666. I should note that the H3 was Red and the G666 was black. Honestly both felt about the same in amount of spin and grip. Both blew me away. Really enjoyed hitting with them.

Now I know these are harder sponges compared to Geospin tacky but honestly the difference IMO isn't that great. They both have such tacky topsheets, I could feel the ball lift up on my hits. Felt like I had good control.

Where these shined that I've never experienced is the harder, faster sponges. I typically like the idea of soft rubbers but on short pushes where the ball has little to no speed, the chops on these harder sponges were much springier and had more spin. Pushes I might play in the past that would go into the net (say if they're not hit with enough umph with the soft sponge) would go over with these harder sponges with much more spin.

Needless to say, I'm a big fan of DHS after hitting with these two rubbers. There's a club mate selling a brand new sheet of H3 Neo for $15 and I jumped on that. I will give my impressions here in about a week.

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

G666 is one of the most under-rated rubbers on the planet, period, mostly because of 'our' obsession with speed.

_________________
Timo Boll ALC ST
FH Tibhar Evolution MX-P Max
BH Tibhar Evolution FX-S 1.8
185g