OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi everyone,

Let me first introduce myself, then I'll jump to my question.

I've been playing table tennis since I was about 9 years old, but never in a club. I'm 26 now and last year, so in 2017, I joined a club.
I played for 6 or 7 months, once every week. I also took some lessons at some point. These lesson were twice a week, so during that time I was playing three times a week.
But the training sessions didn't last for long since the trainer's instructions were too fast for me.
Because of these lessons I know the correct stroke for both FH and BH. On FH I can play with a bit of topsin sometimes.
Then I had an accident with my bike and broke my elbow. 5 months later, my elbow is enough recovered and I started going back to the club and playing once a week.
When I go once a week it is the day that you can play freely, so it's at a recreative level. Nevertheless, I registered for competition this season 2018-2019.
This will be my first season in competition. As of last year, the chairman of the club told me I should start to play competition (this was before I broke my elbow).
He told me that at the lowest level of competition, I would be able to win 3 of the 4 matches. I replied that I make to many mistakes and that some opponents playing styles are difficult for me.
He then said that the opponents at he lowest level of competition also make a lot of mistakes. So I will be trying out competition this season.

I read some good reviews about this rubber 'Yasaka Mark V'. According to the reviews on revspin.net it is a good rubber with good control.
Now, my question. What blade goes well with this rubber considering the fact that I'm more of an attacking player? Is 'Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive' an option?
I read that 'Mark V' is by some considered to be a little bit slow. So I'm looking for a blade that is either cheap or not too expensive, but has good speed.
Can anyone help me with my question ?

Best regards

My main shakehand blade is the Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive with Mark V on forehand and Mark V GPS (softer) on backhand. In my opinion, the YEO and the Mark V go very well together, but the softer GPS feels a little bit mushy. I believe the YEO with Mark V on both sides would be a great combination! Plus, don't worry about speed. Sure, when compared to Hurricane, the Mark V is a little slow, but for anyone but Ma Long, the Mark V on a semi-stiff blade such as the YEO will produce great speed, and even greater speed once you perfect your strokes.

Your post suggests that you are in the beginner stages. Depending on your goals and commitment to improvement as to what might suit you best. Budget is also an issue. How much are you prepared to spend?

Also what are to using now?

It appears to me that you have chosen a faster blade with slower rubbers, not that they are really slow. Another option is a slower blade and faster or softer rubbers. You could choose the Yasaka Sweden Extra with a couple of medium soft tensor rubbers for the same price or less.

I've just have back to my ALL blade and speed is no problem at my intermediate level.

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

Hi coymanneemus and Cobalt,

thank you both for your comment.
Cobalt, exactly, I'm at the beginning stages. I'm using a beginner racket now. Blade name is something like 'Joola Gold'.
The FH rubber is 'Joola For You' and BH rubber is 'Joola For All'. I want the Yasaka Mark V rubber on both sides. I actually don't want any other rubber.
An even if I would go for another rubber, I wouldn't choose one with tensors. Anyway, thanks for your suggestions.
Although it may be a bit slow, it was used or is used by olympic champion Ma Lin.
My question was, what blade goes well with this rubber too speed it up somewhat considering the fact that I'm an attacking player?
Is 'Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive' a bad choice for that? You say I have chosen a rubber that is a bit slow combined with a faster blade.
If I want a blade that speeds up my game and at the same time, not buy anything too expensive, by that I mean max. €90 for a racket, is this a good choice then?
I don't have any commitment to table tennis. I play for fun. The more I can play, the more fun I have. Unfortunately I can't play very often. Only once a week.
Wich is one of the reasons I choose to play competition. That would mean I can play twice a week.

In my view to move up the levels you generally need to keen to loop. Not always but usually. Often the difference between a recreational or lower club player and higher levels is the ability to turn backspin to topspin and to loop.

The problem with a faster blade is that the ball can ping off the blade face quickly and send the ball long. This sometimes means that you can be scared to hit the ball and start poking and playing abbreviated shots rather than developing full shots.

I'm not that familiar with the blade but have used Mark V. I didn't particularly like it but its not a highly rated Classic rubber for nothing. It was horrible on a Stiga Allround Classic WRB. Just dead. It might be good on the Ma Lin. The extra speed would do it good.

I'd suggest though, to go to the club with your current bat, which I agree you should upgrade, and have a hit with a couple other set ups. Give a slower blade with softer rubbers a go. I'm not saying you will prefer it but worth trying before buying.

Also above I meant to say Sweden Classic though Sweden Extra is also good though feels a little harder and is faster.

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

What blade and rubber is better then to turn backspin into topspin?
Also, some players at our club can make this spin serve in wich the ball is either spinning clockwise or counter clockwise. I thought it was clockwise.
Anyway, when I try to return the serve, the ball goes flying of the racket in the air. I don't want any anti rubbers.
That being said, what rubber and blade would you recommend to return a serve like that?
Thanks for your help so far.

The key is to practice and train to do it. A faster blade can limit this. As I've posted in another thread, if you goal is to just have fun then I think you've picked a great set up, however it may, or may not be the best to develop your game. Usually a slower blade of perhaps ALL+ to Off- is recommended.

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

A slower blade is recommended to 1) develop my game and 2) deal with those hard spin serves. What about Tibhar Stratus Power Wood? The blade has less speed than Yasaka Extra Offensive, but more control. Would that be a better pick considering your recommendations?
And does it combine well with Mark V?

BUY THIS!!! BUY THIS!!!

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/SANWEI- ... 74001.html

The blade is excellent, perfect for a beginner, the rubbers would be just as good as anything else you could get at four times the price, and it's all assembled for you already... Even if you decide to get something expensive, get one of these anyway, you won't regret it... I mean, what's to lose? Other than $13.41 including shipping...

Disclaimer - I play with this blade. In fact, I have an ungodly number of them.

(Dang.. I saw a $4 coupon.. clicked on it, it says it's for new users only. I was JUST about to order one of these, too, despite having 24 of these blades already.. But if you are new to AliExpress this combo will cost you.. $9.41!!! I suppose I could always register as a new user using a different email address.. )

Iskandar

Thanks a lot for your recommendation Iskandar! as a newcomber, i will definitely take your advice! was wondeirng if I might ask you some other questions if you don't mind? thanks

Sure. Ask away. Not that I'm any sort of expert..

Iskandar

Low cost bats can play pretty good e.g. I have just made up a bat for a work colleague using a Blutenkirsche Force 5 ply all+ blade and Tuple 007 rubber. Decent balance of spin, speed and control and not too heavy.

Back to the subject of this post I can recommend Xiom Musa 2.0mm or even max as a good alternative to Mark V and cheaper. Plenty of speed on an offensive blade as well as good control due to the medium classic sponge having no catapult effect..

The question was not what rubber to choose for my new racket, because that will be Yasaka Mark V. The question was, what blade goes well with it considering the fact that I'm an attacking player. Then Cobalt pointed out it also matters for what the racket will be used. Will it be used to have fun or to improve my game and go up levels + to deal with hard spin serves. Cobalt also said if it is used to have fun, he thinks the combination of Mark V together with Yasaka (Ma Lin) Extra Offensive is a great set-up. Thanks to Cobalt and coymanneemus, I'm a little wiser now. Now I'm also considering 'Tibhar Stratus Power Wood' to improve my game instead of YEO to have fun. Tibhar Stratus Power Wood has less speed but more control. This can help with dealing with the hard spin serves. It may also be better to improve my game as Cobalt already pointed out. I'm considering both blades now, but I'm still not sure wich one I will choose. As soon as Cobalt has time again I hope he will answer my question. Unless someone is knowledgeable about this and can answer my question, I await Cobalt's answer.

What goes well with Mark V? ANYTHING REASONABLE will go well with Mark V. If you are a beginner and want to attack, there are oodles of all-wood ALL to ALL+ blades out there that will work. They ARE different from each other, some are more heavy, some are lighter, some are somewhat faster or slightly slower, but they will all WORK, and you could switch between them and be playing as well after a short acclimatization period. And you could substitute Sriver, they'll still work. Or Musa. Or Mendo. Or even Batwings ($5 a sheet). Or those Sanwei T88 rubbers that come with that bat I mentioned in the previous post. That blade (the Sanwei M8) would work, too (and they're about $9-10 apiece bare, postage paid, and weigh between 72 and 80 or so grams).

The thing is.. don't think too much about it. It doesn't matter that much. What does matter is actual practice and coaching.

Iskandar

Iskandar already summed it up pretty well, so I'll just reinforce it - you are overthinking it. It does not matter much which of the options being discussed you'll end up picking. None of the rubbers/blades listed will magically land the ball on the table or will receive serves for you.

Best players in my club can swap their setups among themselves and will still beat me handily. They are likely to do it even with hardbat. Your problem is not equipment, it's practice and working on technique, reading spin etc.

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USATT: 1807 | League: 1887