OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi,

I'm a 35 year old Belgian player. I was pretty serious as a kid. Play 20 hrs a week, getting good coaching, ...
But I quit because it was too much stress. I restarted playing again just before lockdown and have been in
love with the game again ever since. I had three major back surgeries and need to stay moving, since I don't
know annything else besides tabletennis.

Last summer I wanted to switch to try anti because i fell in love with the playing style of Luca Mladenovic and
Andrea Aschi. So i bought myself a matador texa carbon blade and a ABS EVO 2 2.1 mm. But ... I really really
struggled to make the change. It was very hard to change my game and my strokes. I didn't stick to it because
of the competition. So i played two inverted rubbers (Dignics 09C, rakza Z, Rakza 7, ...) I'm playing a very good
season in local belgian league play with about 75 procent win rate. But i notice my backhand is my weaker side
and my playing style takes a lot of energy from my body. I don't think i will be able to keep it up with my back as
i get older.

So this summer i want to retry making the transition to play anti. Plan is to slow down the game with the anti to
give myself a bit more time to deploy my main weapon (FH topspin).Playing close to the table and blocking. So
no chopping or playing a really deffensive game. I've been trying an old Yasaka Anti-power I
borrowed from my dad and noticed i can do very similar motion but have a lot more control than with the ABS.
Downside of tha yasaka balls are long and there is a lot less spin reversal.

I'm looking for a anti that has more or less the same spin revearsal as ABS EVO 2 (when you hit it right those balls
are very dangerous) but is a little bit easier to control. This way i can learn and make the transition to a more
difficult rubber later. I'm searching for information on various websites, but there is so much choice i don't really know
what to do. Also every rubber I try will cost me about 50 €.

Should I stick to the abs series and just try a different thickness or the non evo or soft version? Or should i go and
try another rubber. And if so witch one. was hoping you guys could maybe give me some tips and pointers in what direction
to move.

I'm new to the forum. So i will try and read up on the stickies subjects

Cheers
Pieter Carels

Welcome to the forum, nice to have you here! These days, there are basically two types of anti. The "traditional" anti that still has a slight amount of grip and plays more traditionally, like the Yasaka Anti Power that you have. And then there are the "frictionless" anti rubbers, like the Dr Neubauer and Der Materialspezialist rubbers.

As is the case with long pips, there is a trade off. The anti rubbers that have more spin reversal and speed slowing effect are more difficult to control. The more traditional antis will be easier to control, especially coming from inverted, but will not give you the ability to slow the game.

If you do really want to slow down the game to set up your forehand, but you want the reversal, then in my opinion the ABS 2 versions are probably the place to start. No traditional anti is going to offer the ability to slow the game and give the reversal. The DMS (Der Materialspezialist) rubbers offer even slower and higher reversal capabilities, but they are even more angle and blade dependent, so starting with ABS 2 is your best option.

Dr Neubauer has recently come out with ABS 2 Pro. That could be worth a look for you. It's faster than ABS 2 Evo due to a harder sponge, but to me it does perform a little more like an inverted in terms of being to counter attack light top spin. Otherwise, if you don't want faster, stick with learning the ABS 2 Evo.

You could also try a pips out rubber. If you're looking to change the pace but not be too defensive, perhaps a medium pip that provides good control, blocking, and hitting might work for you. I am not too experienced in that area lately, but you could read up in that area of the forum.

_________________
"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

Thanks,

Would the 2,5 be easier to control then the 2.1 i currenly have?
Is there a big difference is thinksness with these rubbers?

And would the revearsel be better then Yasaka?

Cheers
Pieter

Hi and welcome! I agree with Dwruck

And 2.5 is easier to control than 2.1 since these sponges are dampening sponges, meaning they get slower as the get thicker. The latest version of ABS 2 is faster than the others (I think it is the pro version). You should start with the slowest, since you also have a rather fast blade. If you have money you should also try Der Materialspezialist Störkraft, it is clearly slower, especially in 1.6 mm. That one would slow down the pace of the game, allowing you to develop good technique for the BH strokes.

There is also another options to the classic anti and the modern frictionless, the new semi-grippy slow antis, line Super Stop, Gigant and Mantlet. These are almost as slow as Störkraft but are not frictionless. So you can hit against top spin with them. But you will not win many points from fooling your opponnet with spin (but the slowness fools many opponets too).

If you want more videos, look at Carlos Muhlbach (previously Arcila), ha changed from double inverted to anti on BH like 6 years ago. There are clips with him both with double inverted and with anti. And you can see how he gets better and better with anti every year.

_________________
Def-attack's attempts to find balance between defence/attack | Getting better - health and game |
My Youtube

Hi Peter! Welcome to the forum.

I'm Andrea, i'm glad to hear your appreciation for my playstyle!

You have already received great advice from both dwruck and def-attack.
I will receive the Matador Texa Carbon next week so I’ll be able to give you my opinion on this blade and if my slow anti setup works on it.

_________________
My "dirty" antispin youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndreaAschi

Hi thanks for the replys.
Andrea what thickness are u using?
Why arz you stull using regular ABS instead of the Evo version?

I´ve send you a private message on TTD Forum.

Hi Andrea,

Didn't know you're on this forum .. I've been following your matches, regularly on Youtube, and have become a fan .. Great come-back, against the blocker, BTW.. Kudos !!

Hi,

i play with Matador texa carbon from months and i don't suggest it to new anti players. In my opinion it's playable only with dms flanti (that are slower than the dr Neubauer ones) or if you use special dampening sponges (es. spinlab ones).
If you want to play original dr Neubauer rubbers i suggest you an off-/all+ blade like the first matador. That will help you to have more control and better feeling. I tested abs2 pro with "normal" matador and the combination was good.

_________________
Antispin player !

Follow me on YouTube

https://youtube.com/user/giacomuz10

How do you aply the dampening sponges?
How do i take of the topsheet and stick it
Onto a new sponge?

I use glue sheet to attack the sponge on the blade, then cut and attack with normal glue the rubber on the sponge. Take off the topsheet is easy and you don't need anything, just use your hands and try to be careful and slow. Usually anti spin has very low amount of glue.

_________________
Antispin player !

Follow me on YouTube

https://youtube.com/user/giacomuz10

I see i can buy sponges from DMS.
Since i already have a topsheet from the ABS is seems a good and
Cheap way to try a slower sponge.

What sponge would you recommand ti start with.
Adrea says he uses punk from spinlab, but postage is more expensive
Then the qponges

Never tried DMS sponges so i can't help you. Only used spinlab ones sorry.

_________________
Antispin player !

Follow me on YouTube

https://youtube.com/user/giacomuz10

Does annyone use the topsheet from spinlap with pink songe?

Is there a big difference betwee the different topsheets from different brands
Or are they more or less the same?

Gepi is right about the blade combinations. Due to the differences in topsheet and sponge between Dr Neubauer and DMS rubbers, it will cause big differences. I have also found that the versions of ABS2 play much better on the "regular" Matador, but the DMS rubbers are better on a harder, stiffer blade due to the slower speed.

I think (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) that all of the ABS2 versions use the same top sheet, it's just the sponge that is different. For DMS the top sheet is different between the different versions.

_________________
"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 also have a regular carbon blade orba viscaria.
You think these would be better for an ABS?