OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Has anyone tried this LP? It costs ~$20 usd compare to ~$5 usd for a regular 388D-1

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Dawei-388D-1-Provincial-Long-Pips-Out-Top-Sheet-No-Sponge-/251513780515?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a8f63b923

From what I can ascertain this is a softer compound than standard 388d-1. Supposedly produces similar shots to the "enlarged" pip sheets common in china (which are more like jap pips but less elastic), but this comes in under ITTF limit of course.

Interesting, I used to like the 388 D-1 Quattro when I played with it a few years ago. I wonder how different this version is.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

I would have some serious doubt it's actually a professional version, not just marketing. If it's meant from Chinese National players (if there are any that use LPs), why would they print Professional in English? If it's meant for outside China, what properties make it an professional version?
It would not be the first time a Chinese manufacturer brings out many versions of the same rubber model (so that is does not have to get multiple ITTF approvals), with different characteristics, like softer and harder compounds. No doubt naming this is professional version means they can charge a lot more...

Imagine this conversation:
Owner 1: Oh no, the latest batch from Factory X has come out a lot softer, and it's going to be very hard to return them and force them to make it again.

Owner 2: Why not release it as a special version?

Owner 1: But we only have limited numbers.

Owner 2: Just call is a provincial version, everyone know they are much harder to get, and numbers are limited.

Owner 1: Great idea! It works for other major manufacturers, why not for us? These Westeners will believe anything.

Sorry.... could not resist.

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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
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Ha ha ha, I think you may have hit on their marketing genius there!

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Funny, but the "label" is molded in.

The "Professional" label is molded in???

Iskandar

Westerners? Oh that's what that word I means that I was continually called when I travelled in China.

I recall there was some kind of small identifying marking directly on the rubber.

It's also sold by very reputable shops in china so most certainly comes direct from the factory. It costs 30rmb instead of 10-25 for normal/quattro. Maybe it's not that different from quattro, I don't know.

so does anybody has pic of topsheet? :>
maybe there is differences
i heard the rubber of topsheet is more natural, better quality

_________________
Butterfly Defence II / Victas Curl P1V 0.5mm / Tibhar Evolution MX-P 2.0mm -185g

I went through a bunch of the listings here:

http://s.taobao.com/search?q=%E7%9C%81% ... Id=tb.item

and these two had clearest pics of red sheet:

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a23 ... t=3#detail
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a23 ... t=3#detail

You can see despite claims of "professional" status, one appears more transparent than the other. The ITTF sheet looks more opaque, the sheet I had was more transparent, etc.
---

Also note the special marking at the bottom right of the sheet for one set of photos; conspicuously absent from the other which is also a reputable shop (right hand side of the rubber where it should be seems cut off).

so do u know what differences are? :>

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Butterfly Defence II / Victas Curl P1V 0.5mm / Tibhar Evolution MX-P 2.0mm -185g

I bought a few of these because they turn out to be very very good for me.

First of all, the Pro is actually short for Provincial in Chinese. Dawei had supposedly made this version for Chinese Provincial team players, like how DHS has H3 for Provincial team and National Team. But since no Chinese National Team member is using LP as I know, there would be no one to use a National Team version, thus, only a Pro level version for 388 D-1. And it is built into the mould of the rubber in Chinese characters Provincial Team in the lower right hand corner.

I can tell you this has friction, if you buy from an honest reseller, untreated, and pips size is within legal limits. Even the height is quite short, ~1.70 mm without glues, I checked with calipers, so unless you put way too many layers of glue, it will not exceed 2.0mm

The bottom sheet is super thin. On top of that the material is quite soft and very elastic. So this must be one of the most difficult OX LP right to glue.

Having said all that, how does it play?

Long answer short, really really well for a legal OX LP!

Spin reversal is almost as good as it gets for legal LP.

And the returns have what I would call an unstable trajectory, for not having a better way to describe it. You can say on the opposite side of the spectrum, a BTY Ilius B, which has some sponge, has a very predictable trajectory. it's not a fault of the Ilius B, if you like to have a consistent and powerful attack, a stable trajectory is a good thing. This thing 388D1 pro will dip and float.

Definitely not as fast as Grass Dtecs, but I find Grass Dtecs too fast, I can't properly block a strong loop drive, of course this is mostly my problem. If you like a fast OX LP, and very funny, Grass Dtecs is the way to go. But with 388D1 it is as funny as Grass Dtecs, but you can control the ball to go slower, and drop the shots shorter.

I keep saying "slow" but it is not as slow as Yinhe's Neptune, that is way too slow, it became difficult to use. The 388D1 Pro is just right for me.

And quite surprisingly attacking works quite well with this, not very fast, but you can attack well. And I am really beginning to wonder if a fast attack with OX LP is really necessary with 40+ balls, a good opponent will take a half step back and loop it back no matter how fast the OX LP attack, unless the placement is really nasty. So a slower attack that brings the opponent closer to the table is actually useful too, if it has the same nasty placement.

And I was even more surprised how quickly I can adapt to it, all the flipping, flicking, redirecting came together without too much practice.

Some of you will always want to know about chopping. I am not a chopper at all, and this is not as good as P1V for chopping, I would say similar or maybe better than Grass Dtecs. If you are mainly a chopper, I don't think this should be your goto rubber, unless you are on a Chinese Provincial Team, maybe those guys/gals can chop really well with this, but likely they will put some sponge on it if they are pro choppers.

So I can only say, this suits my style really really well, I went and bought 10 sheets because it is so cheap. And the material doesn't feel like it will last. Even bad gluing will easily destroy the rubber, so I have lots of spare just in case

Thanks for the update moming!

Have you tried the original 388d-1? It sounds similar to what you're describing, and the original is actually quite a good long pimple, and quite popular.

_________________
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

The answer is, I am not so sure. I had used many versions of 388D-1, that claims to be original and untreated. But the last "regular one" I played with had pips that looked a little bit big, and the height was 2.3!

The thing is, the Pro version doesn't cost so much more than the regular version, but at least from the store I get it from, it is still cheaper than a Cappuccino, the quality is consistent, which is quite important for Chinese LP. My dad used to play with LKT, which was also quite good, unit he bought a later batch that was much stiffer and not very good.

I will stick with this Pro version until their quality changes