OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Ahh.. they're probably saving "8" for a special occasion. Maybe for Ma Long's eighth anniversary on the Chinese Team or something of the sort, when they can introduce a new blade.

Note that Xiom has no problems with "4" (or IV).. I'd've thought things were the same in Korea when it came to this sort of thing. It certainly is in Japan (and Singapore, and Taiwan, perhaps even Vietnam).



Please enlighten us.. I've learned a lot in the last few days, all these Hurricane blades were under my radar previously. I thought the "Long" referred to some physical characteristic of the blade - I figured that if there was a "Hurricane Long", there had to be a "Hurricane Short" somewhere..

Iskandar

Fan Zhedong uses a blade with a Stiga handle. He is sponsored by Stiga. But there is some convincing evidence that the blade is actually a Viscaria, which he was known to use in the past.

https://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/foru ... -equipment.

If it is a Viscaria, it is unlikely that it is a specially selected one, as Butterfly are probably not too keen on making Stiga look good. But this may be false logic.

I totally agree that it is Ma Long who makes those low arc topspins, not the rubber. I was going to comment to that effect, but that might have spoiled the point . And, I can, on occasion, do the same with commercial, non team, Hurricane 8 rubber. I think EmRatThich is taking the TTDB ratings too seriously. I have no way of measuring the throw of a rubber, and I'd be surprised if most of the contributors to that database are any different in that respect. However, it does come back to selection from a batch, and he may choose a different type of characteristic than I would. Now, if I could choose to swap for the muscles in his legs... or to be 40 years younger.

_________________
Other setups:
SDC Custom Blade/Butterfly Dignics 80/Butterfly Glayzer
BTY Viscaria/Tibhar K3/Tibhar K3

Play like the pro who uses it? No chance. Talent, technique, hard work, skill, they trump equipment when it comes to how well I play.

However, would I be able to play better than I do with my current setup? Only one way to find out.

Rather than side track this topic by talking about fake rubber I'll start another topic for that which I'll simply call "What would have to happen for you to..."

You can find it here:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=31038

In the meantime I'll contact some people and manufactureres to try and establish if there is any point to the test I propose to do based on whether the setup I bought is likely to be the same / have the same characteristics as that used by Mima Ito and if it's not, in what ways it is different.

Thank you for the input.

Interesting.

If he's using a Viscaria he could still have picked it out - a simple matter of asking a big dealer to choose several of a given weight, then trying them one by one until he found one he liked, and then he could have surgery done to it to replace the handle bits. Butterfly need not be involved per se, and there's nothing illegal about it, though it is underhanded..

I went and had a look at the tabletennisdaily thread - my goodness. People are peeping at these low-resolution shots trying to decide how thick core layers are and whether that's an arylate/carbon layer or just dark wood.. I must say, this seems to fascinate a lot of people. There is someone who keeps saying "it's been discussed many times and has therefore been proven" when being discussed many times doesn't prove anything.

Iskandar

Incidentally, even if he does use a Viscaria in tournaments, that does not mean that he never uses an Infinity, or some other blade, for practice occasionally, to legitimise the Stiga marketing. I don't normally drink instant coffee, but I have been known to at times. (I know, not the same thing at all, but photos could have been taken, especially if I was advertising one or the other.) And I don't think, apart from hearsay from people who know people who know him, that it is proven beyond reasonable doubt that he is using Viscaria. But he wouldn't be unique.

_________________
Other setups:
SDC Custom Blade/Butterfly Dignics 80/Butterfly Glayzer
BTY Viscaria/Tibhar K3/Tibhar K3

Even if someone posts clear photos of a racket on a table, or even close-up photos supposedly taken at Racket Control, I'd still be skeptical, given how easy it is to generate fake news. Who knows whose racket that really is, or which table it's laying on. Unless you have Fan Zhendong himself standing there holding the racket, where you can see his face.. That goes double for hearsay, even if the souce "knows Fan Zhendong". Even if this source is actually named - because he might not have said anything of the sort at all.

Reminds me of a forum totally unrelated to table tennis. The whole thing is too complicated to relate here, but someone "proved with photographs" that it was possible to make an object hang differently by varying where the attachment point of some wires were. These wires went through another pivot point on the object, which didn't move. This was the culmination of a long, bitter argument on the subject, and just as one side was celebrating the other side pointed out that the person who posted the photos (quite known as a prankster) probably taped several ounces of lead to the back of the object (which he admitted doing later on). Had a pretty good laugh at that. (Object was a control line model airplane hanging by the leadouts, the "experiment" involved moving the bellcrank to various points near the nose and the tail, while the leadout guide remained in the same place. Argument was over whether the bellcrank position mattered in terms of nose-in/nose-out tracking in flight.)

Iskandar

In light of the question marks raised around the equipment setup I've bought, compared to the actual setup that Mima Ito uses and the impact this could have on any test I conduct I've approached two members of the ITTF equipment committee - Torsten Kuenett and Kagin Lee. Torsten has replied and qualified his response by explaining he is in charge of balls. He referred me to Kagin Lee who is in charge of racket coverings. Kagin Lee has also replied.

Having read their replies, short of Nittaku responding to my questions I'm comfortable the test will still be valid.

For a full publilshed response please check out the other topic I've started Link to What would have to happen for you to...

To be honest I don't think you'd need worry all that much about authenticity. Most of the stuff you hear about "different" pro equipment has to do with the Chinese. Chances are good that Mima-chan is using exactly what they say she uses, the only difference might be that she gets to choose among several blades.

Besides, authentic or not, what exactly were you trying to figure out again?

Iskandar

Speaking of overpriced blades - here's a doozy.

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/produc ... 40147.html

It certainly does LOOK cool.



Check out the core.



Who's Huieson? You've probably seen their balls on ebay.

Oh... here's a classic. Fake "Butefly" Zhang Jike blade.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Table-t ... 27818.html





Tempted to get one just for that bad counterfeit logo...

Iskandar

Yep! With Huieson, everything is "Pro" and "3 star" and nothing is "ITTF approved".

Still laughing so hard i have problems typing. I found a picture of their robot. In principle it is supposed to work somewhat like a boxer's punching ball, I guess.

Hee hee hee..



"HUIESON 1set Table Sucker Type Table Tennis Trainer Pingpong Ball Training Machine Rapid Rebound Tennis Robot"

"PS: The sucker must be fixed on clean and smooth place."

Iskandar

The mention in its product description of "sucker type" and "for rapid stroking" has a few connotations which didn't do any good for my breath control. Still gasping...

@Debater: Sorry for pulling the discussion on your thread way off topic. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

Around here, what we usually refer to as "warming up" or "counter driving" they call "stroking", which I've always thought quite amusing, though I've never mentioned it to anyone until now..

Iskandar

I recently got a DHS 506+, which I plan to use as a (cheaper) backup to my HL3. The thinking was that the HL3 is a personalised version of the 506+, and the two seem to have similar characteristics of speed, spin and control.

Indeed, it seems to play in a very similar manner, such that there is very little adjustment needed to switch between the two. Result. Although, limited experience so far.

But there are differences. The face of the 506+ is longer (making it a Hurricane Longer? ), by a couple of mm. This seems to make it more similar to the first version of the HL3, the one with the printing on the face. Although, I have reason to believe these are older stock. The other difference is that there is less bare wood near the handle; the wings are smaller. This gives it a slightly different feel. The ball hitting the blade gives a subtly different sensation. All in all, it is heavier as I use it, over 200g with H8 Max on both sides, but the blade itself weighs 90g, which I asked for as my HL3 came with a certificate that says 90g +/- 1g. The good news is that the FL handle is the same as the HL3, except in the visual design. This is the most comfortable handle for my preference. (By way of comparison, the FB2 has the same size and shape of face as the HL3, including the larger wings, but has a thinner handle.) It makes me wonder if the customisation that we attribute to "star" blades is really as much down to this type of detail as to any special wood quality.

Oh, and the red plies are darker on the 506+.

Probably, if I had anything better to spend money on these days, I would not worry too much about getting the "pro" versions. But I'm not disappointed in them. And if any super star is reading (could happen...), and wants to send me their actual playing bat, certainly not going to say no.

_________________
Other setups:
SDC Custom Blade/Butterfly Dignics 80/Butterfly Glayzer
BTY Viscaria/Tibhar K3/Tibhar K3

Gee... this isn't even a GOOD fake..

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hurrica ... 65488.html







Wonder if it plays like an arylate-carbon... A little too expensive to buy on a whim.

This one's a "Visacria"...

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Good-qu ... 80146.html

Doesn't have Ma Long's picture on the butt end...

Not exactly the same as the other "Mishima Butterfly" blade, the arylate-carbon layers are on the "outside".



Iskandar