OOAK Table Tennis Forum

All - i have spent hours reading this forum, searching and trying to decipher what others have done. I am doing my best not to get flamed/break rules and ultimately gain knowledge.

Here is my question - my loving wife got me a Joo Se Hyuk for xmas all on her own. she did a little research and decided to drop that on me. My question is now on rubbers...not necessarily which rubbers since i know that is very subjective, but more type of rubbers. So here is background.

I am definitely nowhere near as good as probably the lowest rated player on this site. I play for about an hour to 2 a day against an extremely varied range of skill. One thing to note is out of probably 10 of those players only one has a strong FH with loops. Against everyone i am ultimately a chopper or blocker. but that is with a very varied speed and spin coming at me. I really want to get a LP on my BH bc of this and something like the Mark V for my forehand. But im worried because im really just playing recreational the LP wont be nearly as beneficial as most really float the return or put my chop into the net. So i was trying to decide if i was going to go double inverted with something like the Tackiness Chop on BH and Mark V on forehand. I wanted to get some thoughts on going double inverted vs LP/inverted based on not only my level but competition. Because ultimately i want to be consistent and continue getting my technique better which i have spent alot of time on over the past year.

thanks all!

Is the practice in a club? Do you have access to a coach or senior players? If so I would be seeking their advice.

Generally though I wouldn’t recommend that anyone used LP until they had a well developed game style. Otherwise it will restrict your style and stroke play right from the beginning. Medium pace medium spin inverted rubbers will allow for the widest variety of strokes while your game develops. As your technique improves you will begin to develop a natural style of play and strengths and weaknesses will become more apparent. You can then start to think about whether tailoring your rubbers to better suit your style would be beneficial.

Dunno if this helps but if u looking for "chopping" inverted rubber ... Try butterfly chop&drive? It might help get a good feel and you can still smash with it. Later u can try SP or go for LP

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Backup C-pen blades:

• TSP Black Balsa 7.0 :
  1. FH/BH-729OEM/729SuperFX
  2. FH/BH-STN
• 729 Bomb : FH/BH-YRD/T5QS
• DHS PowerG-9 : FH/BH-729SuperFX
• Stag Balsa Koto : FH/BH-YRD/YR9

Fun blades:

• Yasaka Battle Balsa(ST) : FH/BH-YSD

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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

Yes, JSH is big and heavy, and not too fast although fast for a defensive blade.

2 chinese rubbers would take a toll. Preferably one pips-out rubber with thinner sponge or ox, if one doesn’t have the strength/stamina to use both inverted on it.

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instagram: rokphishtt

I second an ox rubber for your backhand, like for example Dawei 388D/388D-1. I suggest to try 388D-1 first if you're more actively playing.

Since the JSH is an oversized blade the forehand rubber may also create a weight-problem for you. You may give the Globe Magic Wand in 1.8mm a try which is light but also quite hard and it allows for good spin while still maintaining good control. Both rubbers are available at sub $10 at eacheng.

Am I correct to assume that most opponents aren't able to drive you away from the table so you're playing quite close (<2mtrs?) to it?

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Red is blogging here >> http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=30522

You're playing for fun in a recreational setup - it really doesn't matter - do what gives you most joy!

With that context, here are some suggestions:

- Don't go wild with money - it's easy to accumulate a lot of rubbers that soon build up to a lot of money spent. If you have the money, ignore that
- Start off with inexpensive stuff - 729, Giant Dragon, Spinlord etc - you don't say where you're from, but this is all affordable stuff
- Don't overthink things - the differences between manufacturers, rubbers, sponge thicknesses etc are much much more subtle that a forum like thi makes out, and until you become a really quite advanced player, you won't really be worried by it. Different material feels 'different' at first but you very very quickly adapt and the different becomes the new normal
- If you fancy some LP, just go ahead and get some and see what happens, Will cost you $10 and be a bit of fun. Be warned, if you've never used LP before, it will take a very very long time to become proficient with them

I would go with a general chinese fh rubber like some form of 729 - there are loads availble, something like 729 Super FX. On the BH, sure, try out some LP - maybe 729 755 OX.

Good luck.

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"When one eye is fixed upon your destination, there is only one eye left with which to find the Way."

Read my blog: "LordCope's Latest Learnings Log": http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=24452

If you are a true defender in heart then playing anything except LPs BH is a waste of time.

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Andro Fibercomp Def: Tibhar Evolution MX-S 1.8; SpinLord Dornenglanz ox