OOAK Table Tennis Forum

So I played in a match last night, against a fellow using an ancient barna hardbat with an equally ancient set of OX short pimples. He was very good, extremely consistent, got a lot of chop on the ball, and had amazing aim. I got chatting to him later, and he told me he'd bought a replacement bat recently but didn't like it as much. He got it out to show me, Turns out it was a Juic Euro Chopper, with 2 x TSP Miracle OX. I've had my eyes on a Euro Chopper as my hardbat blade for a while, so I borrowed his for a quick knock. It was radically different from my current setup, much faster, so I couldn't really get a feel for it. The chap said I could borrow it for a bit, so I took it to practice tonight, and had a 2-3 hr knock with it.

Very very interesting experience. Once I got used to it being a faster blade than my defence plus, I learned just to hit the ball more softly. After several hours I felt I was play in a far more fluid way - it almost felt as if I was dancing. My footwork was better, and I was playing gentle but consistent fh and bh drives, blocks, pushes and chops, and varying speed and direction. It's much too early to tell, but I felt it was very good for my play. I'm quite tempted to get something similar and have a crack at playing hardbat for a while. There was something very very enjoyable about it.

Does the miracle OX exist anywhere? If not what's something similar? I can get a Juic Euro Chopper (and that was what I was proposing anyway), but was considering either the Andro Classic or Dr Evil. Any suggestions / thoughts?

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Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

A Google searched revealed at least one store that carried it. Both Dr. Evil and Andro Classic are approved hardbat rubbers in the U.S. and I'm sure both would at least be similar to TSP Miracle in OX (I've used SP topsheets and hardbat rubbers, and none of them seemed to be radically different). Andro Classic will have a textile backing, so it'll be very easy to glue to a blade, and it should last much longer as well, assuming you're willing to pay the extra price for it.

Spinny SP topsheets can be used, and it'll basically be a bit more spin generation in exchange for a bit less control against heavy spins from your opponent.

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Custom Blade 'Hard Justice' w/ Yasaka Cobalt a
Tatco Hornet w/ ATP Leland Era

TSP Miracle also has a textile backing and it's pretty grippy. Nice rubber.

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The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

One thing I noticed was that the ball on the bat made a very high "pop" sound, rather than a duller, thuddy sound. I wonder if this is just the effect of no sponge anywhere on the bat? That said, the fellow with the Barna bat didn't have the same effect. His sounded much more solid and less high-pitched and tinny.

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Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

This has to do primarily with the speed and size of the blade. A slow, oversize blade will make more of a low-pitched 'plonk' or 'thud', while a faster and/or smaller blade will be high-pitched. I think even the thickness comes into effect, since Hock blades are also very thin and flexible.

My old Tatco blades can plonk with the best of them, but even the slow Tibhar COS3 has a more high-pitched sound.

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Custom Blade 'Hard Justice' w/ Yasaka Cobalt a
Tatco Hornet w/ ATP Leland Era

I think the popping noise has to do with the blade. Heavier blades such as Barna are more solid. Lighter blades are more likely to produce more noise because you get more of a "drum" effect when the ball strikes the surface (my research).

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Valor Champion (Hardbat)
FH/BH: Valor Premier OX
Valor Kuruxu (Regular TT)
FH: Valor Premier - Sponge
BH: Globe 979 LP OX
http://www.valortabletennis.com

Yes that would make sense. When I had just LP OX on my 729 Bomb, that made a high-pitched drummy sound - cork and fairly light. I don't have anything to compare with, but I'll keep an ear out!

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Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

So my 'own' hardbat setup (I gave the one I borrowed back to the fellow) has been in use for a few weeks: Dr Evil on a Joola Basic blade. It plays fine... but I still get a terrible high pinging noise when I hit the ball. I get used to the sound after a bit, but it does make me feel really self-conscious, and upsets other players too...

Comments above suggested maybe a slower, bigger blade would help, and perhaps something thinner. I'm keen not to throw away a ton of money just trying to find something that doesn't make the noise, but it is a bit of a problem...

I asked Jay if he experienced the same, and he told me that his current setup isn't so bad: "Right now I'm using a Nittaku Resist. This is a defensive blade that has willow outer plies and it also has a lower pitch."

I see this is available in Europe: http://www.tabletennis11.com/other_eng/ ... yWWTRYmt9s

I might try it out...

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Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

Pretty much any oversized blade I've used has a lower 'pong' to it, while pretty much any standard blade I've used has more of a 'ping;' I'm guessing your friend's Euro Chopper had a more pleasant tone to it. Your best bet may be to get an oversized blade if you're concerned about the sound.

If you'd like, I could actually record and upload the sounds of a few of my different blades hitting the ball.

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Custom Blade 'Hard Justice' w/ Yasaka Cobalt a
Tatco Hornet w/ ATP Leland Era

Curiously it didn't, which really surprised me!

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Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

That'd be interesting! I'll record mine too!

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Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

I sorta kinda remember coming across a website where someone's building and selling replica Hocks. Anyone ever come across this?

Iskandar

http://www.valortabletennis.com

I have three real hocks. Valor's versions are way heavier.

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The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
Table Tennis Video Links: itTV | laola1.tv | ttbl | fftt | Challenger Series | mnnb-tv

My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

My current "hardhat" is my OSP expert. I only use hardbat now when playing against long pips just because it makes it much easier for me to beat them.

And I only use it hardhat on one side. So its

OSP expert
FH DHS TG3
BH Dr Evil

I beat a very disruptive long pimpler at a tournament with that setup the very first hit I ever had with it and I have never beaten him before in maaany encounters.

I've used Dr evil on a lot of blades, its not like long pips ox where you want a really stiff blade. With hardhat rubbers I find them best when the blade has some traction.

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Donic defplay senso
Haifu whale soft (grips-euro)
Nittaku pimplemini 1.0mm

Which of their blades is the Hock copy?

http://www.valortabletennis.com/BLADES_c11.htm

Iskandar