Maybe you can tell us about what you use already, and where you'd like to be going with this? The part about "being not as good as the lowest rated player" scares me - either one of the options you mentioned will have a learning curve if you aren't already familiar with the rubbers involved. Even something really "mild" like Batwings on both sides will be nigh on uncontrollable for a brand new player who is used, to, say, 10 year old rec bats, especially if said rec bats have pips-out-no-sponge (i.e. hard rubber) on them. If you're already playing with the likes of Mark V then I'd say, well, give the long pips a try. You can always decide to give up on it but do give it a couple months. The Joo blade, judging from the numerous posts I've seen here about it, IS a rather heavy beast, and is designed to be used with one sheet of light rubber (i.e. long pips). Don't buy any really expensive rubber, either - you can sheets of Chinese long pips for under $10 postage paid, and the same with inverted rubber. Remember Joo is as much of a looper as he is a chopper, don't expect to get that good immediately
, but do try to learn to attack, at least on the forehand... that blade isn't designed purely for defence. Iskandar