OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Anyone successfully changed a blade handle? I have a DHS 301 with a pencil thin ST handle that I want to make larger. How should I go about getting this done?
Thanks for any tips. I dont want any wrapping as I suppose that might affect feedback. Thanks

T-shape handle to empower your every stroke. Devised by a Russian guy.

I use lawn tennis overgrip tapes. Table Tennis brands have similar products, I have not tested them. Many professional table tennis players use overgrip tape so it should not create a playing disadvantage for the user.

Feedback is different but as for me it improves the feeling of the difference between tight and relaxed palm grip.

Had some tennis overgrip tape lying about and wrapped my handle in it. Feeling quite positive about it now especially as you say pros do it so cant be too bad for feedback. I see what you mean about improving the difference between tight and loose grip. One of my many faults is gripping too tightly. I feel like this could make it easier to loosen up my grip and so keep my wrist more mobile.

You can remove the wooden pieces of the handle with a knife (be careful) and glue two others largers pieces from another blade. I have done this with a Palio TCT that has very small handle.

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Why would wrapping affect "feedback"? Just don't use padded tape. In any case.. you never know.. it might actually improve the feel.

Iskandar

If it's "devised by a Russian guy", why is the ad in English, French and German but not Russian???

Iskandar

Please, do not feed the troll

Overgrip definitely improves the blade feel. The question is how the feel of the ball changes. Lighter rackets usually provide more vibrations, overgrips increase the total racket weight.

My suggestion - if you need to use grip tape of some sort, instead of using padded tape, just use adhesive bandage or that "kinesiology" tape. Put several layers where you want the handle to be thicker.

Iskandar

As a blade maker, I can tell you that changing handle scales is possible but challenging, and frankly not advisable. So much of a blade's stiffness / flexibility comes from the handle geometry. The second you take off or change the handle scales then you're going to run the risk of changing the blade's flexibility and balance - which is really not good for your whole set up.

Best way I can describe the physics involved is to imagine your blade as a trampoline attached to the end of a flexible stick. The trampoline has its own bounce and flex to it thanks to the springs in the trampoline... This is your playing surface, and your rubber is acting as the springs, and providing a lot of the blade's power.

But there's a second source of flexibility and power, and that's the stick the trampoline is attached to (ie your blade's handle). This stick can be whippy like a fishing rod, or stiff like a power pole. The more flexible your handle is, the more it will affect the flexibility of your blade, and by extension your throw angle, as having a flexible handle alters the angle at which the trampoline works. Imagine placing a trampoline on a steep slope... If you bounce on it, you're going to be propelled off at an angle, thanks to the slope of the ground.

The same effect happens with a table tennis blade. The blade's handle flexes a tiny bit during the swing towards the ball... Only a few millimetres or so - but that's all that's needed. This is like tilting the ground under the trampoline a little bit... The ball is going to leave at a slightly different angle due to the flex of the blade. In addition to which, the handle flex also straightens out as you're following through after impact. This also effects the throw angle a little.

If your blade's core + medial + outer ply sandwich on its own is particularly stiff, then thickening / widening the handle is possible and it shouldn't change the blade's performance too much. Just be aware though that that some blade plywood is inherently more flexible than others by design. If your blade is inherently flexible and you changing the handle scales and thickening the handle ends up adding extra stiffness to the handle's throat (ie: the thinnest part of the handle below where your thumb rests in a shakehand grip) then you will end up stiffening the blade and altering your throw angle.

Tape is one common way of thickening a handle without affecting your handle geometry or throw angle, but as you said, it can also cut down on handle vibrations across multiple frequencies, and thereby reduce overall feedback... Plus as you said, you don't want to cut down the vibrations.

To be brutally honest, the effect you are after can be achieved most easily by wearing the right pair of thick fingerless gloves on your playing hand, like you can find at your average hardware store.

The thickness of the glove will help compensate for the thin handle, your fingertips are exposed to bare wood so you still get complete feedback through them, and by choosing the right fabric for the palm of your glove, you can ensure that whatever frequency of vibrations you respond to best (high, medium or low), you can still keep that sensory information coming through to the skin on your palm.

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