OOAK Table Tennis Forum

With today's technology and research, it's surprising they can't come up with something similar, although the market for these blades is probably rather small now, so not many would invest in the research.

It does make me very interested to try one though. How many of these would be there around, and how do you recognise them?

@scottgordon, What hardbat rubber do you use on your Hock blade?

I appreciate the info. Does Valor Premier compare at all to the Leyland you prefer? I'm thinking about putting together my first high quality hardbat setup. I want to get a blade that will serve two purposes, to be excellent at both hardbat and modern defense.

I think the main requirements for the blade are flexibility and size. I think oversize makes sense for both hardbat and modern defense. I'm leaning towards the Donic Defplay Senso. Could this work well for hardbat? Also, I need a good suggestion for hardbat rubber that chops really well. I chop quite a bit with my inverted setup, so I'd like to have that option with hardbat as well.

I appreciate the info. Does Valor Premier compare at all to the Leyland you prefer? I'm thinking about putting together my first high quality hardbat setup. I want to get a blade that will serve two purposes, to be excellent at both hardbat and modern defense.

I think the main requirements for the blade are flexibility and size. I think oversize makes sense for both hardbat and modern defense. I'm leaning towards the Donic Defplay Senso. Could this work well for hardbat? Also, I need a good suggestion for hardbat rubber that chops really well. I chop quite a bit with my inverted setup, so I'd like to have that option with hardbat as well.

Scott is right no rubber plays like Leyland but Valor Premier was designed to be as close to Leyland as possible and still pass the ITTF licensing tests.

CHEERS!

for instance not allowing pimples of the length and diameter of Leyland (for no justified reason).

You're right that modern blades can be great for hardbat. Whatever feels best is what you should use.

But one of the appeals of the Hock, is that it is (was) a completely handmade artisan blade and it is utterly unique - at least the 3ply blades were. The story of Bernie Hock's making of the 3ply wood is quite remarkable... in the late 1940s he spent a couple of years researching wood, and how to make a thin plywood that wouldn't warp. In about 1950, he worked with a mill and special ordered certain cuts of wood, cured and then glued in certain ways to his specification, and the result was a stock of 3-ply wood that was so huge that he used it for the next 45 years. All 3ply Hocks are from this original batch of wood from 1950. He was so confident that they wouldn't warp, he recommended cleaning the rubber by immersing the paddle in water!! (I would never do that, but that's how confident he was).

They play unlike any other paddle I've ever tried - they are both slow and fast. I can understand someone not liking them, but if you do like them, it's not easy finding something similar. The Valor paddles are the closest I've seen... no surprise, because much of their design is inspired by the Hocks. Oh - and Paddle Palace mades a blade called the "Hawk" that is also similar. Barna's are cool too, but very different from the Hock.

And of course, there is something cool about playing with a piece of history - kinda like playing a vintage guitar. I love playing with a Hock and couldn't imagine playing with anything else. And I've beaten sponge players up to about 2200 with it... even won an U2200 event once. Maybe I'd be 50 points stronger with something else, but probably not because I'd be less enthusiastic.