OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Simple question, very complicated topic.

Given that the equipment I'm talking about is difference within the same type of equpiment ie differences between inverted rubbers, or differences between LP rubbers etc and not differences between different types eg LP vs inverted, how much difference do you think having the right equipment for your needs would make to your game? Is there really that much difference between the brands and even within the brands?

If someone has played table tennis for a few years & are asking this question, then maybe they should move to pickleball or padel or hardbat or sandpaper or TTX

double post so deleted

Dialing in the right equipment made a huge difference for me. I've tested literally hundreds of variations over the years. I could never do the things I currently do with another setup.

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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

For me quite much difference.

Depends on the people I play against. Using different rubbers don’t make me change how I play but it change the effectiveness. It’s like this: I like trying various blades. But it’s expensive to put on good expensive rubbers on blades I’m trying. So I buy and use cheap rubber for benchmark. In this case Yinhe Mercury 2. I bought four to put on various blades so I don’t have to swap the rubber and put on new blade one at a time. It works well against people far lower level up to slightly lower level than me. Against people with similar level I’m starting to struggle. A few times I lost 3-0/3-1 against someone. The next time I put on much better rubber say, Tibhar K1/K1+ I reversed the situation. I also know that against some people much higher level than me, if I were to use even more expensive rubbers it would do me no good because it has something to do with they not being bothered with my play style and not because of the effects I could get from better rubbers. So I limit myself to rubbers around Tibhar K1/K1+ in performance and price as my “best setup” and I still use cheaper rubbers: Mercury 2 and few others in between (price and performance) rubbers. Most expensive rubbers I bought recently is Vega Korea pink.

It doesn’t bother me much when I lost to some people when I use the cheaper rubbers because I usually can guess why I lost. Some of them, I know if I were to change to better rubber I would have won (and I did), some I know it wouldn’t make a difference. I usually have four blades in my bag at any one time. If I know ahead of time I’m playing a new good player, I take out my “best setup”. Otherwise I take out whichever one I plan to try that day and play with people I often play with.

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instagram: rokphishtt

It makes a big difference to me. My forehand weapon is slow high-spin loops from a backspin ball. This can be performed with any rubbers, but there seem to be very few that can give me that extreme spin that opponents struggle block. Without this it takes my forehand weapon away.

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For me - No current day tensors as classic inverted rubbers with soft sponge (preferably softest sponge) suit best for my level and playing requirement

Well, imho, it depends on how large the differences are between each rubber. Are you shifting from cheap to very expensive, or just a minor upgrade. The other consideration is how familiar you are with the different rubbers you use. I'm sure most of us here would prefer being an expert in one specific thing rather than being the jack-of-all-trades.

A wise man once said, "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."

There are groups with huge differences - looking just at inverted - e.g. Chinese/tacky vs tensor rubbers.

Within each, there are sponge thicknesses and hardnesses, which interact with the blade.

If I play with for example a Hurricane 3 vs a Tenergy 05, my whole game has to change - serve, return of serve, keeping it short or not, spin or speed of loop, tactics to suit... every combination has benefits and constraints.

Even when rubbers are very similar, there are certain rubbers which suit your natural game, or not. Why I can trust a certain backhand rubber to land a loop off a quick long serve, compared to another with very similar characteristics which sends it long, I have no idea...

MNNB, have you settled now on your equipment or will you continue to experiement? And out of curiosity, what have you done with that first setup? I still have the blade, a Taico Def 200 but my FH rubber Joola Tango Metallic and my BH rubber (Goldway S936 I think) are well gone.

rokphish2, I've never changed rubbers to play better opponents, more to suit my style and demands on how a rubber feels. I understand now why you have so much testing posts and presumably equipment - I think there is a thread somewhere where you took photos of all your equipment stored

haggisv, I note your FH heavy spin weapon of choice seems to be Victas VS > 401 but you have three setups listed. Are those experimental setups and if so, what particularly are you looking for with them compared to your main setup?

TTbuddy, I tend to find european soft tensor rubbers too bouncy for me, at least on my FH. Are you a spin player / looper by any chance or maybe a blocker?

Agrid_INA, a Bruce Lee fan? I see your point. Here's another "We need a variety of input and influence and voices. You cannot get all the answers to life and business from one person or from one source. -Jim Rohn"

In my experiences, there are differences but as I no longer play competitions I merely seek that which feels comfortable in my hand and with which I can play the shots I need to "good enough".

Of the rubbers I've tried:

- Fastest rubber (without speed glue) - Juic Couga
- Spinniest - I'm not really a spin player. For me technique rules given a "decent" rubber is used
- Best inverted for blocking - sorry, I think this is more of a blade thing. I like balsa blades for blocking, with a softer sponge rubber TSP 6.5 balsa springs to mind with something like 1.8mm Stiga Tour S
- Favourite short pimple - there is a lot of differences between them, but based purely on how many times I've returned to it, 802-40 supersoft 1.8mm or more. I've played decent players with that and they've not even realised I'd been using a short pimple so I'd consider 802-40 supersoft as a good transition rubber if you want to move from inverted to short pimples
- most fun counter hitting setup, Andro Super Core Carbon light off+ with Xiom Zeta Asia on the FH, can't remember what I had on the BH but it was a short pimple
- most difficult rubber to use Tibhar Ellen Def 1.5, that was a short lived expensive experiement
- Inverted rubbers I can't get along with, Tibhar Evolution MX-P, Donic F1 or any other bouncy fast rubber and for different reason, Hurricane 2 or 3 (non speed glued)
- Rubbers I've bought most of or I like and have lasted a long time, (FH only) Yazaka Rakza 7, Hurricane 8 hard, Nittaku Fastarc G-1, Spintech Dynasty, Xiom Zeta Asia, (BH only) Stiga Calibra Tour S, Donic F3 Big Slam (durability issues though) and many short pips

A couple of months ago, before Christmas, I ran a session at our club where I made up a variety of bats and rubbers so the kids could try them out (many had pre-made setups and were curious about different rubbers, plus it gave them a chance to try things like LP's and SP's and MP's and anti so they could get an understanding of the skill needed to use them and what they were and weren't good at. It's fun to watch a player try and loop with LP's and look puzzled why they can't ). I asked the players to list 2 strengths and 2 weaknesses of each setup and how they'd rate using that equipment. These were the setups:

On Table 1 (short pimples)
Test setup 1: Short pimples setup - Friendship 729 Red Spirit Blade with Friendship 802.40 supersoft FH and TSP Spectol 21 BH
Setup 2: Use their own setup against setup 1 then switch their setup to using test setup

On Table 2
Test setup 1: Medium pimples and antispin setup - Hallmark Enigma Blade with Friendship 563 Tack Speed FH and Tibhar Ellen Defence BH
Setup 2: Use their own setup against setup 1 then switch their setup to using test setup

On Table 3 (difference a blade can make - same rubbers Yasak Rakza 7 FH, DHS Hurricane 8 BH)
Test setup 1: Taico 200 Def (anatomic handle)
Test setup 2: Andro Super Cor Carbon Light off+ (flared handle)

On Table 4 (Premium setup vs their own - usually cheap beginners set or low end better setup)
Test setup 1: Blade Timo Boll ALX, FH Butterfly Tenergy 05, BH Butterfly Tenergy 05FX
Setup 2: Use their own setup against setup 1 then switch their setup to using test setup

On Table 5 Inverted Long Pimple combo
Test setup 1: TSP Balsa 6.5, FH Andro Rassant Ppowersponge, BH Kokutaku Tuple 911 OX
Setup 2: Use their own setup against setup 1 then switch their setup to using test setup

The results on the night were interesting.

Since that time I know of only one of the players who've changed their setup and they switched to a Butterfly Wakaba 2000 premade setup. Only one person prefered the expensive premium setup of the Timo Boll ALC Butterfly Tenergy combo to their own. Sometimes more expensive, premium, doesn't or isn't the best option

So in my experience there are differences and that's one of the things that make this wonderful game such fun. Variety. Different ages and abilities can play this game to the same rules as the pro's, with the same equipment or if you prefer there's a world of equpiment out there to suit your style and needs.

I just moved to China and as new comer at the clubs, I must be on my best performance when I encounter new good level players. Otherwise when I play bad due to not using good rubbers and blades that I’m already familiar with, they won’t look/ask to play with me again. Ha!

I try new blades/other rubbers when playing against people that I frequently play with which I know their level at.

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instagram: rokphishtt

My problem is I kept getting my setups banned, i.e. Super Block, Insider, the original Grass DTecs, etc. Then the various 40+ balls wreaked further havoc with my game. It took a long time to find a suitable setup and my game system has had to evolve also. My setup is now settled. The WRM Gokushu2 blade is slow, controlled, and absolutely perfect for my style, BUT practically all long pimples have a high bounce on a blade like this. The low-throw Monkey keeps the ball down. The spin-reversal is not great, but I don't rely on that so much anymore. Nowadays my game is built around low-speed, low-bounce, precision placement, and making far fewer errors.

Yes I still have my old Dr. Neubauer Firewall Plus blade with Super Block and 1.6mm Tibhar Super Defense 40 around here somewhere. It doesn't work so well with the 40+ ball.

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The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
Table Tennis Video Links: itTV | laola1.tv | ttbl | fftt | Challenger Series | mnnb-tv

My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

Great post and contributions Debater and MNNB. Legends!
Debater, I too find European soft sponged rubbers too bouncy. Used classic Tackiness Chop and Drive for many years in the past but unfortunately the sponge in the newer versions appear harder with different feel and performance, faster too I would say. Palio CJ8000 with soft 38 degrees Japanese sponge best fits my blocking and spin oriented game these days. It helps me to play with confidence and enjoy table tennis (win or lose!) once-a-week at my leisurley level Love the sport and feel privileged to be sharing my two pennies worth with other members on this great forum!

The others setups were ones that worked for me in the past, and also gave me that high-spin factor. Unfortunately some (TSP) are discontinued and some are becoming hard to get (Glove 999). With Chinese-made rubbers there were always bigger differences between batches, so when I found one that I really liked, the next sheet was not not as good. The 401 seems very consistant, which is why I've stuck to it for so long.

I think equipment matter a lot more for those that have unique styles (often un-coached) and for intermediate to high club level. At beginner level it probably matter very little, and if you've got very standard technique, the rubber does not matter as much, and you can more easily adjust to new types of rubber.

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide