OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hello, I'm looking for an intermediate racket and rubber, ALL+/OFF- with priority to spin and control. Already looked at Timo Boll W5 and Spirit, Stiga AllAround and KillerSpin Jet600. Don't want a carbon racket or a too rigid one. I read your advices but still there is a lot of choice. I have been playing for one year regularly with a Donic 400 and now feel it is time to level up. What would be your advice? It would really be appreciated! Thanks a lot, Diego

There's one of these threads started more or less every three or four days. Eg:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=31382

How "intermediate" are you? If you're the level I think you are, this bat will serve as well as any, and you can continue using it until you get to about 1800... and then you can still use it. If by "intermediate" you mean 2000+, then, well, you might STILL be able to use this bat to effect, maybe you'd change one or both of the rubbers.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Sh ... 20589.html

Iskandar

I've got a few of questions.
1) What is your budget?
2) What is your style?
3) What do you wish to develop?
4) Where would you purchase from?

That recommendation from Iskandar is a good one however I think will only get you so far. It would suit someone just starting out who flat hits and pushes a lot. Its a great deal for the price and would even be worthwhile getting one for $15 just as a reference and comparison.

For someone looking at training and improving I think there are better options around. If you read Iskandar's M8 thread, the weights and thickness of that blade can vary greatly so you don't really know what you are getting until it arrives. You may be able to request specific dimensions.

I've never used the M8 but I think your suggestion of a Stiga Allround Classic is a good one. Donic Appelgren Allplay and Yasaka Sweden Classic are other similar good choices. You could purchase some medium/soft chinese rubbers such as Mars II or LKT XP pro and you will have a good set up to last a long time. If prepared to pay more again you could choose more classic rubbers like Xiom Musa or Yasaka Mark V or Nikkatu Magic Carbon. Might be overkill though for your level for the additional cost.

A good ALL+ blade is Yasaka Sweden Extra and I really liked the Tibhar Samsonov Alpha as a choice for OFF-. There is also a good range of entry level tensor rubbers such as Xiom Intro and TSP Regalis should you want another step up in level, though don't think that these will have you play any better. If you can't control them the result can be sometimes worse and cost you more.

A short video would help with a recommendation otherwise just buy something at the lower end, use it, develop a style then change the rubbers in a year.

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

The M8 is a CHEAP blade, but that doesn't mean it's bad. In fact, regardless of price, I think it's every bit as good as its European equivalents, probably even better than some of them. Yes, QC could be better, there's variations in weight and thickness from blade to blade but it isn't terrible. The thick ones don't seem to be any faster than the thin ones. And weight variations - MUCH, MUCH BIGGER weight variations - can be found in blades that cost a couple hundred dollars or more. So much so that people buy "matched pairs", so that they'll have a spare that weighs the same as the primary bat. A good vendor (I don't consider XVT one.. ) will select a pair (or more) blades of the same weight for you.

Not that you really need to worry about all this stuff at this point...

Iskandar

I should buy one one day so that I can give an informed view. I'd expect that it could take someone from early in their career to deep into their TT career. Having used lots of Chinese rubbers, I don't think this is the case with them. This is based on me using N11 and 868 for a season.

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

The Chinese use hard Chinese rubbers for looping all the way to the top, so Batwings should be usable for looping, and learning to loop, since it's medium-hard. If you've been watching those EmRatThich videos, apparently in China, as you progress with your technique and are able to loop harder and harder, you progress to harder rubbers and eventually when you get to Ma Long the rubbers are super-hard and feel super-dead (and are of no use to mere mortals, who ironically will pay megabucks for a sheet of it, or what people claim is a sheet of it.. ). Apparently the same rule applies to the much softer European/Japanese rubbers as well - Tenergy 05 and Evolution MX-P are the hardest of the lot, though softer than Chinese rubbers.

Iskandar

I guess depends what you can afford,

My friend used this paddle for months before buying the timo boll spirit, Since he got that paddle its been passed around our club a little and its nice to play with:

http://www.tabletennisdb.com/blade/butterfly-schlager-precision.html

Should be absolutely nothing wrong with THAT blade. It's a Butterfly and isn't cheap, to begin with. Nor should there be anything wrong with hundreds of other blades. Blades can feel very different from one to another, and it can take a while to adjust to them (unlike rubbers) but the important thing is to get something reasonable and USE IT FOR A WHILE instead of switching around all the time.

Iskandar