OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I'm serious. There is no need to spend more than $30 on your first bat, and the suggestion I made is the bat I play with. But I give the same exact answer to everyone who asks (and it happens about once a day around here.. Twice today... )

Iskandar

PG7 is great off- blade with great spin and high throw angle. I love it. Get two same rubbers on forehand and backhand - keep it simple for now. Mark V 2.0 or 1.8 mm is probably the best. Bryce is too fast for you...

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Blade: Yinhe (Galaxy) W-6 (flared)
FH: Friendship Cream Transcend (2.0 mm)
BH: Friendship Cream Transcend (2.0 mm)

Despite Iksander recommending the same set-up time and time again and making a bit of a joke about it, I tend to agree with his selection and think its pretty solid for a new player. I've got a similar setup myself including the N11 and its completely fine, not just for new players, most players at club level.

I'd encourage you to buy it and use it until Xmas then if not satisfied or feel something is missing then upgrade at that time however give it a decent chance first.

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

Over at japsko.se they have a bunch of assembled bats that are great as first bats as well as later ones. They usually consist of a cheap Allround/Allround+ rated blade with two sheets of 729 Friendship Super Fx or LKT Pro XT/XP. Those setups are perfectly fine, and I actually really like Japsko's own blades. I've mostly tried the Allround and Allround+ ones, but they're great

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Blade: Japsko Allround+ | Forehand:LKT Pro XT 1.5 mm | Backhand: Lion Rebirth 0.6 mm
Blade: TSP Black Balsa 3.0 | Forehand:Friendship Fx Supersoft 1.8 mm | Backhand: SpinLord Agenda OX
Blade: Stiga Hypertech CR | Forehand: CTT National Strike 2.0 mm | Backhand: RITC 802 1.5 mm

Well, my coach encouraged me to buy Tibhar blade and Xiom Vega Europe for BH. For FH he suggested me to buy a Yasaka Mark V (a most update model though).
He will buy them for me with a discount, so I can chose only out of popular blades and rubbers, that can be easily found in local market (Greece).

They sound nice rubbers, interested in what blade.

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

I have noticed that iskandar recommended rubbers in 2.2 mm thickness, so does that mean that newer players shouldn't be afraid of everything over 1.8 mm as was common advice before?

There are a lot of chinese grippy rubbers I would like to try but can only be found in 2.2 mm, like inspirit quattro ul, galaxy mars 2, Palio Hidden Dragon, Outlaw and Six shooter but I was wary of them because of thickness.

I was thinking of trying them with a slower allround blade like a Donic Appelgren Allplay, Galaxy N11 or Instinct perhaps.

If 2.2 would be ok it would make my life a lot easier since it is really difficult to find anything at 2.0 and lower and searching for lower thickness really cripples your choices.

Thank you for all the help

When i order bats in at the club for new players, i try get 2.0mm but can't always so go 2,2mm sometimes and don't think it makes much difference as long as its not a fast rubber. I've also got some 1.8mm for less offensive players and they are good too.

If looking at the cheap chinese shops, I think lkt pro xp, 729 general, dawei super power xp and globe 999 i think all come in 2.0mm and would suit your needs. Other than that, have a look at the ooakshop to see what they have in various sizes.

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

The problem is a lot of Chinese rubber is ONLY available in 2.2mm. The ones that are not are a very small minority, it seems.

In the old days people used to tell beginners to start with 1.5mm and never go beyond 2.0mm. Now it's different - a lot of what the Chinese call "training rubber" ONLY comes in 2.2mm. What's the change? The 40mm ball. With the old 38mm ball 2.2 was undoubtedly too thick, even for many top players. With the 40mm ball, this is no longer the case and even beginners can handle 2.2mm sponge (as long as prudent rubber selection is practiced - Tenergy shouldn't be a beginner's first rubber, for instance, though it might work in a thinner sponge).

On top of all of this I see some interesting postings here and there on this forum. 2.2mm supposedly INCREASES control for topspin strokes (since it increases the amount of spin you can generate, and topspin is what causes the ball to dip rather than flying off the end of the table). Another person even contends that thicker sponge is SLOWER (which flies in the face of previous recommendations, and makes one wonder why defenders don't all have very thick sponge under the long pips).

Iskandar

Actually, I have found the solution to all my EJ tendencies and it was in front of my nose the whole time

amazon.de carries a remarkably solid selection of chinese rubbers and I have found 2008 xp, IQUL and Hidden Dragon in 1.8 and 2.0 so that should keep my curiosity occupied for a while.

Hello,

I have been playing table tennis somewhat casually for slightly under 2 years. Up until this point I have been using the paddles provided by the club I attend, but these paddles do not have consistent quality and don't typically suit my style, so I recently decided to get my own paddle. I have little knowledge of equipment so I would like some recommendations.

I currently play chop heavy, varying between defensive and modern defensive. I can chop from both forehand and backhand, although my forehand is somewhat stronger. For more offensive strokes the forehand is also favored, I can use the backhand when necessary, but I can't generate as much speed. I am not sure what combination of characteristics would be best suited for this. I don't like the idea of getting long pips, although I don't know exactly why I feel that way.

I am looking to spend probably around $30-50, but I am willing to go above if necessary to get a good quality product. I am also not totally sure where I should be buying from.

Oh boy, a beginning chopper. This is another whole can of worms, because you have to decide who you want to play like - in other words, there's the Long Pips Question looming over your head!

Iskandar

LP question already answered, sort of, so your default suggestion should work for this one too, Iskandar

Go back in this thread a page or so to find Iskandar's default suggestion. It should be good.

If you feel that most bats are too bouncy, you may want slower rubbers than the Dragons Iskandar uses. Consider Dawei 2008 XP (even the "Super Power" variety of that rubber gives quite moderate speed). Gambler Reflectoid is also good.

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My blog of failures, etc., also containing equipment list at "resurrection" (referred to in a few of my early posts), and my current lineup
Rating in the middle/low range in the region.
Moderating the LP Attacking subforum in the Technique section.

I wasn't sure if this would be a good chopping bat, if it is then I think I will circumvent the long pips question for now by buying two bats. One with long pips and iskandar's default one.

That said, I will need some advice on a good long pips setup for beginners. Of course I will want something that chops well, good blocks are second, and good attacks are 3rd priority. I also feel I would want a sponge under the long pips, I've heard some don't use one, but that doesn't seem like it would feel right. And since I don't know if this has an effect on what I should get for the rest of the bat, let me know if I should be getting a different blade than iskandar's suggested.

Hi all,

I posted on here a while back for some help on a first custom bat for myself. My daughter recently got a hold of it and somehow broke the blade so I'm in the market for a new one. I was previously using:

LKT Instinct +
729 super fx on FH
Dawei 2008xp on BA

I liked the setup a lot and improved considerably in my game. As such, I'm thinking about just ordering another LKT Instinct+ and sticking with what works but wanted to see if there was anything else in the same price range I might like better.
A coworker bought a DHS Skyline TG3 and hated it while I loved it. I felt like I could spin with it much more effectively. He ended up giving it to me so I'll probably use that on my FH and the 729 super fx on BA as I preferred that over the Dawei.

Any other blades I should look into as a fairly new player who is starting to get better at spinning/looping but still needs control?