OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I'm desperately trying to get more consistent at looping against backspin. (Especially backhand loop [but forehand could use improvement too]). My coach noticed that my blade is bit too stiff and doesn't provide enough vibration/feedback. So, I'm thinking about making some changes to my paddle. (I've only been playing for a couple months and started training with a coach for several weeks)

I've been using a pre-made Palio paddle (Palio Master 2). The blade is similar to OFF- and the rubber is Palio CJ8000 Biotech 36-38 with a 2.0 mm sponge on both sides. (I'm a shakehand player)

My goal is to develop a better feel when I'm hitting the ball (and also to get a little more spin). So.... I went ahead and bought a Stiga Allround Classic blade. Now the question is which rubber to pair it with. Should I stick with the CJ8000 rubber? Should I stick with 2.0 mm thickness? (It also comes in 1.8 ad 2.2 mm).


My issue with the CJ8000 rubber is that it's kind of hard to get a hold of. I have to order on Amazon and wait 6-8 weeks for it to arrive from China. So, I'm actually thinking of trying out the Mark V rubber instead. But, I don't know which sponge thickness to choose. (1.8, 2.0 or max?)

Thanks!

Don't have to change the palio. Just get it from eBay or eacheng....way faster and it is probably the same vendor

Get it in Max. This has much debate to it, but this is my suggestion.

Don't get the Palio.. Why not? Sure, it plays nicely but you'll be cursing when you try to put it on the blade. Every one of the dozen or so sheets of CJ8000 I've ever bought had quite a bit of "dish" in the sheet - it curls towards the sponge. (They didn't wait long enough for the sponge to shrink before gluing it to the topsheet.) Trying to get that on the blade, which is flat, is painful. When you do get it on, the topsheet is under compression, which is NOT what you want. I actually ended up with a crease in the topsheet in one case. Yeah, you could use "P.O." or boosters to flatten out the sheet first, but why bother when there are so many other very similar sheets on the market? Many of them are actually cheaper than CJ8000. If you MUST use Palio, get those $4 "generic" sheets of Emperor Dragon ttnpp sells.

http://ttnpp.com/store/cj8000/746-palio ... ers-6.html

These are flat, and they're excellent.

Iskandar

So I can confirm that the 2.0mm (36 degree) rubber had some of the "dishing" issues that you were describing. Fortunately the 2.2mm rubber (36 degree) does not have that problem and I've been happy with it.

That's good to hear. In defense of Palio all the sheets I bought were bought within 2-3 months of each other, earlier or later sheets might not have the same problem. Also encountered one or two other Palio sheets with the same problem (one of the Dragons, and probably a sheet of Hadou) and one (Emperor Dragon) had a big bubble where the topsheet was unattached, luckily, towards the side where most of it could be cut off. All the sheets of Yasaka ZAP I bought (there are almost as many kinds of Yasaka ZAP as there are CJ8000, and Palio makes it) also had bad dish. On the other hand, those $4 sheets of "Generic Dragon" from ttnpp and elsewhere did not have any of these problems, they were dead flat.

Iskandar

I pretty much just use 2.0mm rubbers and loop ok, not the best on this forum but decent enough for my club level. You can check out my blog to see what I mean. I first learnt to loop with 1.8mm Magic carbon. Having said that, I don't think that 2.2mm would do any harm and if going Chinese rubber I think it might be better to go thicker rather than thinner. Recently I purchased Mars II, 2.0mm 33degree and put it on an Appelgren allplay (similar to Stiga Allround) for a mate of mine and I thought it played really well. Wasn't that impressed with the Palio CJ8000 36-38 degree when I tried it but that was a while ago on a stiffer blade (N11). It might be personal preference but I think a softer sponge is good to start looping with moreso than the thickness.

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