OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hmm.. their bat case looks really nice though. I mean REALLY nice.

https://www.eastfieldco.com/collections ... l-bat-case



Currently I'm putting my rackets in Ziploc bags (without zipping them up but smoothing the plastic onto the rubber if I'm using a tacky one) and throwing them in my tote bag..

Iskandar

So, if I try to sum up: The SANWEI M8 blade, premade with T88 rubbers or 729 rubbers, would be your recommendation for, let's say, a "very beginner" child, one that just wants to get a taste of the game, and might lose interest after a short period of time. However, for a child who's more serious about practicing and reaches, let's say, a beginner level (here "beginner level" is by adult standards), might need some more serious racket. What would your recommend such a child, who's more serious into the game, but still "beginner" by adult standards?

The M8 would still be fine for a child of "adult beginner" level and even beyond that. It's not a kids' blade specifically, it's just a good blade. My 11-year-old does about 8 hours a week at the table with her M8 and spends some of that time beating lower-club-level but very experienced adults. You could always change out the rubbers for fancier ones later.

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"Once you get past a certain threshold, everyone's problems are the same: fortifying your island and hiding the heat signature from your fusion reactor." –Doctor Impossible

Let's put it this way. I prefer the M8 over a pretty large number of blades that I've tried. These include some rather expensive ones - the Nittaku Septear, the Darker 7p-2a, the Yinhe Kiso 7, and a large number of Chinese blades including the HRT Clipper, the LKT Instinct +, the Yinhe W6 Loop King, the N11 and the 896 - mainly stuff people on the form have recommended (someday I'm going to have to get rid of some of them - they're filling up a couple tote bags). I bought the M8 because I came across what looked like a nice blade for the ridiculous price (then) of $7.90. It can't be that good, right? Then again, what was there to lose? Waited the usual 3 weeks, put rubbers on it, and I took it along with a pair of the N11s I was using to the club at Chiang Mai. I finally took it out the end of the second evening and.. goodness gracious... was that a surprise. I've not gone back since (though perhaps I should give that Darker blade another chance, I certainly did pay enough money for it, and it would be about the same speed and weight as the M8..).

I think quite a few high level players would love the M8. They'd probably never try one though, since it's "too cheap". And probably would be too light for some. I like it partly because it is light.

For the kid who might be likely to quit, I think one of those Wal-Mart bats would be sufficient... the Sanwei M8 is in a totally different league.

Iskandar

Damn it! It almost annoys me that it's so cheap! How lucky I am that I can learn from your (expensive?) experiences and jump straight to the perfect choice! Thanks again everyone.

I still want to elaborate, please, about the rubbers. If I get it right, then the Sanwei M8 blade is good (and excellent relative to its price), however the rubbers it comes premade with (T88 or 729) are fine but nothing spectacular, and if the child gets more serious then the next step would be to stick to the Sanwei M8 blade but replace the rubbers with something "more fancy". Can you please give a recommendation or 2 as for "more fancy rubbers" that would fit the Sanwei M8? @TTEquipment.co.uk has mentioned the Palio AK 47 (though he didn't mention a specific type - Red, Blue, or Yellow) as a good, light, and not expensive rubber. Any more ideas?

Hi YaronCT,

I deliberately didn't specify which AK47 as everyone has their own opinions about which one to use.

The way I look at it is the more the experience and skill level of the player, the harder sponge that player can handle. So blue > Yellow > Red as you get better.
The other way to look at it is, buy yellow (mid), see how you get on and then adjust up or down if needed. Obviously though the player can get used to a specific type of rubber quite quickly if being coached, so that idea soon goes out of the window

This was the thread that made me try the rubbers ...

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/ ... o-ak47-red

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Web: https://www.ttequipment.co.uk
Find us on Facebook : TTEquipment.co.uk

Would you use a different type for FH than for BH, like yellow for FH and blue for BH?

OK, here's another bit of "controversial" opinion which a lot of people might not agree with. I've come to this by trying an ungodly number of rubbers - mainly Chinese, but also some pretty expensive European and Japanese stuff (like Andro Rasant/Rasant Turbo, Tibhar Evolution MX-P, Rakza X). In my opinion rubbers really don't matter that much. The differences between (conventional inverted) rubbers are mainly subtle rather than in-your-face. Some rubbers are faster, some are slower, but they're not DRAMATICALLY faster or slower (or spinnier). I've been looking (in vain) for a rubber that's so fast and so spinny that I can't use it. I gave up after trying Evolution MX-P - which, by the way, is an excellent, controllable rubber that produces great spin and speed, but not more or less so than a lot of other rubbers I've tried. (And, like a lot of expensive rubbers, it only lasts about two months before it shrinks..) AK47 is excellent rubber (I am currently playing with a sheet), but for MOST players, especially beginners, T88 would work just as well. And will continue working well until they're rated over 2000. Don't let me stop you, AK47 won't HURT, I just don't think it would be radically different from the T88.

Which AK47 to buy? Perhaps blue? It's the softest and the least bouncy. Different sheets on each side? Don't worry about that for now.. (Says the guy who's never had the same sheet on both sides before..)



*Sigh* For some reason I've gotten banned on TableTennisDaily ("no reason given"). Not only can I not post, I can't even read the forum! I didn't really mind since I almost never go there, but I'd like to see this.

Iskandar

You can just log out (or delete cookies) and read it, I can read it without ever registering there...

Wonder, though, how you got *banned*... You seem such a nice and friendly guy.

I certainly didn't get into any fights over there.. Logging out was the first thing I thought of doing, but I don't even see a logout button of any sort...

"You have been banned for the following reason: No reason was specified. Date the ban will be lifted: Never"



Maybe some people don't like people posting about cheap equipment.

Iskandar

I saw your last(?) post on TTD was an innocuous suggestion that some people didn't boost Hurricane or whatever because it was illegal. Apparently, them's (maybe) fightin' words.

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"Once you get past a certain threshold, everyone's problems are the same: fortifying your island and hiding the heat signature from your fusion reactor." –Doctor Impossible

In that case I'd suggest you to try deleting your browser cookies.

So, you're basically saying, after trying half the blades and rubbers in the world, spending your whole fortune on it, selling your house and going to live in the streets, that most players can do just fine with a blade that costs less than a box of 3 Nittaku Premium balls, and that the rubber doesn't really matter - they can just put a chewing gum there, and they'll do just fine. In fact, maybe I don't need to buy any blade - I can just play with my Xiaomi Mi 5 - it's very light (only 129g), has great bounce, it's always with me anyway, plus it can play a soothing music to help me concentrate. Moreover, it can videotape my shots, and my girlfriend can give me advice for my game in real time. The only downside I could possible think of is it hasn't been ITTF approved (yet), but I've submitted it for approval and I don't expect it to take long. Really, I think we can close the equipment forum.

We seem to have progressed from this point, which is where most people are coming from in their replies.

I think the point at which people start to disagree with Iskandar is when he says that rubbers don't really matter. My feeling is, that familiarity with your equipment is more important than most people acknowledge, and you can hit a very high level of play with most competent equipment, after time spent with it.

But there is a difference between H3 and Yinhe 9000 and Xiom Intro and Xiom O7T and Mx-P etc. And there are differences between most rubbers when they are new and when they have been played a few weeks. Blades stay more constant over time, and are at least as important as the rubber. It is easier IMHO to transition to speedy rubber from Chinese style than to go the other way around, but it will vary according to individual styles. So you can do the same strokes with most setups, and will only need to vary relatively small aspects.

So, the M8 combos will be capable of seeing talented and dedicated students to a much higher level than you might think. Maybe even to a level at which they will understand where they can improve their own game and setup, and can thus make some informed decisions.

BTW, Ding Ning can play with a phone, but only in exhibition. Look for footage from exhibition matches in Hong Kong before Rio. In competition, there are rules. And, for those who don't already know, Eastfield is the brand created by Coach Ben Larcombe, of expertabletennis.com. He was involved with some of the most recommended premades from Palio as well (Expert/Master etc). There will always be an overhead, as to some extent his name commands it, and he will be sourcing from other manufacturers. But they are competent products.

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

Hehehe.. I was replying to someone who basically said that since H3 was useless in its unboosted stage, he couldn't figure out why ANYONE would use H3 unboosted…

I did manage to get to the AK47 thread by using a different browser. Not really much there, apparently someone heard that AK47 was very much like Tensors and wanted to know if that was true. There was one detailed answer that said, in essence, "yes, it's KINDA like a Tensor but isn't quite there yet". My problem (going back to "differences between rubbers are subtle") is that I've never actually figured out what a Tensor is supposed to BE like, so I don't really know the answer to this question even though I've been using AK47 Blue for the last 2-3 weeks.

Iskandar

Funny, I use a Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A Prime.

Most of the stuff I tried (at least in the beginning) was CHEAP. $5 or less per sheet. Check out my "Training Rubbers" thread. I had this GREAT idea that since everyone was trying and reviewing expensive rubbers, I'd review the really cheap ones (that would appeal to, say, kids buying rubber with lunch money). Rather disappointed (or confused) when I couldn't really find all that much difference between them. I then HAD to try more expensive sheets just to see what I was missing. First came the more expensive Chinese sheets (Big Dipper, etc.) - at the most $20 a sheet. Then I got to wondering - what's a Tensor like? Maybe I'm missing out there. The advertising claims super speed and super spin, surely a $40 sheet is MUCH better than a $5 sheet?? Well, they were DIFFERENT.. though not as different as I was led to believe... Still haven't worked my way up to Tenergy 05 just yet.. yeezuz that's expensive.. and for what?



Um, the chances are exceedingly minute.. If by a "pro" you mean someone who earns money playing table tennis. Now, if you meant, whether the child will hit 2000 in 4-5 years (a great many do) and 2600 in 8 years, well, that's definitely doable but it'll take lots of dedication, practice, coaching, etc.



I do acknowledge that others may be far more sensitive to differences in equipment than I am, and I am not in any ways a high level player (more like low-middling club level). However I am sensitive enough that I can't just switch from blade to blade without readjustments, even if those blades are as close as, say, a KTL Instinct+ and a N11. Switching rubbers is different. I've had a Tensor on one side and, say, Yinhe 9000 on the other, and flipping the racket around, although I could feel the difference (subtle) it didn't effect the shots I was making (or not making). I'd actually have to stop and THINK about what I was experiencing (which wasn't the case for different blades). I've pretty much quit trying different blades (because I want something stable to play with and I've found something I really like) but I'll probably never buy an expensive sheet of rubber twice because I'm still wondering if there's still something magical out there that I have not found yet.

There are exceptions of course. 999T proved too slow for my taste. So did H3. H3 really is an outlier, at least in its unboosted state. It's dead slow on over-the-table shots, and the only way you can get speed out of it is with herculean swings. But once you do use herculean swings it's fast enough. H3, much more so that MX-P, is a rubber that "only pros" would or should use, but for entirely different reasons. While MX-P, on the packet, implies that it's too fast and spinny for lower level players to handle, H3 is too SLOW for low level players who can't muster the Ma Long type strokes it requires. I tried it boosted, still the same problem.

Anything completely unusable? Yes. Reactor Ckylin. I still chuckle when I remember what it said in the advertising - Chinese Blue Fire. Yeah.. Chinese Blue Fire my foot. The sponge was blue. That's as far as it went.

Iskandar