OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Thank you. You must be quite a meticulous guy in your analysis. Wow, we get to watch a video too. Great.
I am trying out different blades and rubbers myself, out of curiosity and for the experience. It's been fun. But I am not too good in my observations and analysis. I shall try my best.

We keep hearing that balsa blades aren't "good for looping", and am waiting to hear if this really is the case!

Iskandar

That's exactly what I want to know, whether balsa blades are good for looping.

Somehow I am still intrigued by the Galaxy T11+. After evaluation with some carbon blades I am not afraid of their stiffness and speed now. While I can afford to throw away a USD20+ blade but the whole set-up with rubbers will cost much more. Maybe I should try the T11+ with some cheap $15 rubbers such as the Yinhe Sun.

Just put Musa 1.8mm on the fh of an old 6.5 which was close to unplayable with 2.0mm 868.

First impressions are good with spin, control, feel and enough power when needed. Low throw which suits chopping blocks and drives.

Any thoughts on good short/medium pips for bh currently trying 802_40. 1.5mm. But lacks feel.

Wow! A Balsa blade review ! Can't wait to watch the video

That too with my favorite Euro-type rubber Yasaka Rakza7 !

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__________________________________________________________
Backup C-pen blades:

• TSP Black Balsa 7.0 :
  1. FH/BH-YRakza9/XOmegaVT
  2. FH/BH-TSP Spectol/Yinhe Qing OX
• 729 Bomb C-P : FH/BH-DHS H2 Orig/DHS H3 Orig
• TSP Versal :
  1. FH/BH-XOmegaVA/YJupiter-II
  2. FH/BH-*blank*

Fun blades:

• Yasaka Battle Balsa(ST) : FH/BH- DHS TG2Neo/Gewo HypeXT 47
• Dr. Neubauer
  High Technology
  Cypress-Carbon(ST)
  ***************************** : FH/BH-YRakza7/YRakza7

==========================================================

More Chinese rubber available in thin sponge:

LKT Pro XT Green Dragon (1.5, 1.8, 2.0, 2.2)
LKT Pro XP Red Dragon (1.5, 1.8, 2.0, 2.2)

The other varieties of XT and XP only seem to be available in 2.0 and 2.2.

729 Super FX with the large pore sponge (1.0, 1.5, 1.8, 2.0, 2.2)
729 Super FX black with black sponge (1.0, 1.5, 2.0)
729 Focus III Snipe (1.5, 1.8, 2.1)
729 General Sponge (Batwings) (1.5, 1.8, 2.0, 2.2)

Probably more but that's all I could find at the moment. All of these are manufactured by 729.

Iskandar

*bump* Please do a TSP 6.5 Balsa blade review pls ?

_________________
__________________________________________________________
Backup C-pen blades:

• TSP Black Balsa 7.0 :
  1. FH/BH-YRakza9/XOmegaVT
  2. FH/BH-TSP Spectol/Yinhe Qing OX
• 729 Bomb C-P : FH/BH-DHS H2 Orig/DHS H3 Orig
• TSP Versal :
  1. FH/BH-XOmegaVA/YJupiter-II
  2. FH/BH-*blank*

Fun blades:

• Yasaka Battle Balsa(ST) : FH/BH- DHS TG2Neo/Gewo HypeXT 47
• Dr. Neubauer
  High Technology
  Cypress-Carbon(ST)
  ***************************** : FH/BH-YRakza7/YRakza7

==========================================================

I was at an intensive training session last week, specifically working on FH loop/topspin. I had been using my regular Primorac blade, but was finding that it was a little uncomfortable - quite a lot of vibrations transmitted into my lower arm / elbow, especially when counter-looping away from the table.

The coach suggested trying a balsa blade, just to see how it felt. I duly obliged, and liked it very much. Vibrations gone, good feeling, very nice for looping. I don't understand why a balsa blade would not be good for looping - as long as you make a full swing, with plenty of rotation in the body and a good whip, which is what I'm working on.

Anyway, after I tried the Balsa blade for 30 mins or so, I went back to the Primorac, but greatly preferred the Balsa one, so stuck with it. The Primorac has now been sold!

For reference, this is a 7mm balsa blade by Andro rather than a 6.5mm from TSP, but I think they will be pretty similar.

In terms of rubber, I'm using 1.9mm Andro Rasant - a solid, all-round, good spin, good control tensor.

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Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

I agree with you that balsa blades can loop well.

I finally bought a Galaxy T11+ and slap on 2 cheap rubbers on - FH Ckylin small bluefire, BH 999 T-1. Total costs AUD52
With this I could loop well from near and mid-distance. Blocks well, chops well with lots of control.
The 999 T-1 lacks a bit of spin and is very heavy - but what to expect from a USD8 rubber?
Still a very good investment compared to below:

My friend had a new Butterfly Innerforce ALC, FH Bryce and BH Tenergy80, total set up AUD450
I played with this. It is much faster and more power in it. Loops & blocks well too. But I didn't have it long enough to have a good evaluation.

Which makes me wonder whether I should slap on an Andro Rasant / Yasaka Radza 7, 9 and even Tenergy 05 on my T11+

Hee hee hee.. Going from Ckylin to Tenergy 05 would be like, what, a bicycle to a Ferrari? Ckylin's got to be the slowest rubber I've ever come across. I suppose on a very fast blade (I think the T11+ qualifies) it'd be reasonable..

Iskandar

Probably the reason that you are enjoying the balsa blade is the good choice of rubber whether by luck or judgment. It seems faster balsa blades suit medium hard linear (non bouncy) rubbers in the thinner e.g. 1.8mm sizes. This is exactly what you appear to have in 1.9mm Rasant. If you had put on say one of the softer Vega rubbers in max you may have stuck with the Primorac!

* bump * * bump* *nudge* *nudge*

Where is that Balsa blade with Rakza7 rubber review videos !!!

_________________
__________________________________________________________
Backup C-pen blades:

• TSP Black Balsa 7.0 :
  1. FH/BH-YRakza9/XOmegaVT
  2. FH/BH-TSP Spectol/Yinhe Qing OX
• 729 Bomb C-P : FH/BH-DHS H2 Orig/DHS H3 Orig
• TSP Versal :
  1. FH/BH-XOmegaVA/YJupiter-II
  2. FH/BH-*blank*

Fun blades:

• Yasaka Battle Balsa(ST) : FH/BH- DHS TG2Neo/Gewo HypeXT 47
• Dr. Neubauer
  High Technology
  Cypress-Carbon(ST)
  ***************************** : FH/BH-YRakza7/YRakza7

==========================================================

The rakza 7 soft 1.9mm is out on loan to someone who is trying to find a light and spinny rubber to use up to the table, along with Stiga Tour S 1.9mm and Andro Rassant 1.9.

The TSP Balsa 6.5 is used as my coaching bat where I mostly feed and block - it is a very good bat for blocking but I don't like the springiness of the balsa for my forehand. It's got Xiom Vega Pro on the forehand, simply to keep it company (don't use forehand much at the moment) and Rasant Powersponge on the backhand which I find is well suited to blocking. I stopped using it as my match bat around Christmas time and went back to my custom made Peter Freundlieb blade with DHS Hurricane 8 on my forehand and Sharping SP's on my backhand.

It was an interesting experience using the TSP Balsa and dropping to 1.9mm definitely helped me in terms of being more controllable but for up to the table play it's just too bouncy for me on that forehand side.

As for video reviews, I need to get my testing system decided first and I will have more time from December when I take break from work for a couple of years.

Currenlty working on editing a forehand video technique I filmed last weekend with Jim Clegg and a couple of our top youngsters. That's my priority for the next few weeks. Then I must get round to reviewing the spinpips haggisv sent me.

Thanks for the interest.

Try Xiom Musa 1.8mm or 2.0mm on the balsa 6.5

Will be much less bouncy that Vega pro but still plenty of speed. Musa is Really good at making TSP balsa bades play more linear. Unlike Xiom tensors which seem to work against you.

I have the Musa already thank you and have tried it on other blades, can't remember if I tried it on a balsa blade. It was a rubber I tried a few years ago to try and help me develop more control in general. It is less bouncy which as you say, something tensors in general seem to suffer from. It's a good suggestion. Thank you