OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I think Baal has mentioned this happening before, but until Monday I didn't really appreciate fully what he meant. I do now.

I play with 802 1.5mm 35° sponge short pips on the forehand. and until now I had Giant Dragon Taichi 2.0mm on the backhand for RPB. On Monday I changed it for Cornilleau Pilot Power 2.0mm and what a surprising change of bat characteristics it brought about. Almost shocking, but not quite enough to qualify for a tabloid front page.

So what happened then?
The two most noticeable changes was that the forehand and the sound changed markedly.

The forehand slowed down significantly in the low and mid-range hits. I don't mind, it gave me more control and on "full swings" the ball still travels fast enough.

The sounds also changed. Previously it was a slightly dull and woody "tock"-ish sound on hard hits. After the rubber change it turned into something resembling a gunshot. Not the Hollywood-style bullshitty, rolling thunder, hauwitzer style gunshot, but more like a real one - a very short, sharp, "dry" crack. And it was very, very loud...

I never realised this much could change by attaching a new RPB rubber. Looking at the physical properties of the rubbers, I can see quite significant differences:

Taichi is heavier than Pilot Power.
Taichi has a harder sponge than Pilot Power, 38 versus 33 degrees.
Taichi's topsheet is harder than that of Pilot Power.
Taichi feels much "denser" overall compared to Pilot Power.
Taichi is a conventional rubber while Pilot Power is an SGE rubber.

I can make sense of the slowing down of the forehand as a softer rubber ought to absorb more energy than a harder one. That this would result in slower slow and medium hard hits also makes sense as does the fact that the full power hits are not affected (the wood comes into play, IMHO).

Anyway, so far so good, but I can not get my head around the sound changing so drastically.
Anybody got any plausible theories about this or similar experiences?

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NITTAKU SEPTEAR cpen | FH: 729 802, 1.5, black | RPB: CORNILLEAU PILOT POWER, 2.0, red
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I recognize this but see the fysics behind it a little different.
Allthough a higher added weigth would seem to make it more powerfull it doesn,t if it is not funktional in energytransfer (which is only a small part of the rubber and the other side none). On the contrary, because the rubbers dampen the blades vibrations less and as these are direktly connected with energytranfer the blade gets faster with less rubber.

Why you feel it as slower on low impact shots could be that you first have to move towards the ball and often with a quick motion/reaction and then touch subtle. These two motions are not completely seperated (but fluently) but often you have to slow down the blade a little first and then touch. A part of the energy of moving to the ball (fast) stays in the stroke. lighter setup slowing down the blade before the touch is easier and quicker.

Softer sponge means less energy is taken by the rubber (as you noticed on full strokes) because the blade can vibrate (move) more seperate (and thus more free) relative to the rubber especially also the topsheet and the topsheet is a big part of the rubber. Even speedgluing the opposite rubber (making it heavier) still can influence the other side as if a lighter rubber was attached and it is noticable too but much less on blades that don't vibrate/flex as much.
As sound implies vibes also the less dampening the louder the sound.

I can't say I've experienced that much difference myself, when changing the rubber on the opposite side. The change in sound is certainly evidence of real change, not just perceived change.

Better not let Cornilleau into this little secret, or their marketing department be claiming that this rubber will turn both sides of a bat into SGE rubbers

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Haggisv, you have a blade with hard outer layers, glassfibre and soft thick inner balsa (4,5 mm is for only the balsalayer) without much flex.
The soft inner layers give an amount of disconnection then you won,t notice it that much.
Speedplays blade also harder outer layers (arylate carbon) and a very fast stiff blade.
I think you would notice it on a thinner blade with harder (ayous) innerlayers. I play a hurricane hao 5,5 mm and solid core. Especially the flexing where the blade as a whole (including both rubbers) has a flexing frecquency is influenced and when that is more pronounced this influence is also more pronounced.
It is most pronounced on thinner oversized def blades. Because the oversize also pronounces the flex due to bigger distance between the neck and where you hit the ball. So for those who use such blades it will be more relevant.
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I've noticed this effect before.

Physics tells us the degree that the incoming power is absorbed by the bat, is determined by a combination of the bat's mass, and the energy absorbing charateristics of it's components. Add to the mass (ie a more dense sponge on one side) and there are now more "at rest" atoms to absorb the incoming power. This is why a blade in a larger size will overall be slower, than the identical blade in a smaller size. The effect is less pronounced at top speed because then you are generating the power (ie: the more mass brought to bare- the better), rather than deflecting back the incoming energy.

You'll notice this effect far more when dropping from sponge to OX (or via versa) on your b/h.

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With a larger headsize you will use different hitting spots for different shots. More def shots for instance blocking a hard topspin : nearer to the handle gives more control. The added length of the blade is not funktional (for energy transfer, it does increase the sweetspot) but dampening, lowering the flex frecquency. Because the added wood is not between the ball and the handle it can't play a role in energy transfer.
Further to the tip of the blade gives longer distance between ball and grip thus more wood is funktional. Allthough the frecquencies are also lowered, it has more heft, bigger amplitude, longer ballcontact etc. For combi players (attack and def) therefore oversized blade has an advantage cause it is also easier to vary the hitting spot a little with a bigger sweetspot.

That makes a lot of sense, thanks ghrasp!

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Thanks for the replies and discussion, guys. It has been very educating and entertaining

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NITTAKU SEPTEAR cpen | FH: 729 802, 1.5, black | RPB: CORNILLEAU PILOT POWER, 2.0, red
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