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PostPosted: 22 Jan 2020, 02:41 
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Yeah, my experience over the last 3-4 years has been that differences between rubbers are usually quite subtle, most rubbers I find are usable. The difference between blades, though, can be dramatic. Since this is the case I've been buying "expensive" rubbers willy nilly - I've never bought the same "expensive" rubber more than once. The next one is always a different sheet, and this is because someone will make a remark on the forum that so-and-so rubber is the cat's meow for some reason, so I have to find out for myself. So far I've tried (let's see if I can remember) - Macro Era, Rasant, Rasant Turbo, Evolution MX-P, Rakza X, Rakza 7.. haven't got to Tenergy 05 yet (it's bloody expensive). In between there have been cheaper rubbers - H3, 000 (er, I mean 999), Big Dipper, AK47 Blue, Bloom Power, Bloom Spin. I didn't find anything I really disliked, except for H3 and 999 (just a little too slow) - everything else was usable, and "felt good". Blades, on the other hand... I've got a bunch, usually fairly cheap ones, but also a Darker 7p-2a, a Nittaku Septear, three Yinhe Kiso 7s, a Stiga Allround Classic. For a while I was using the Yinhe N11 (I have three, matched for weight), until I found the Sanwei M8. I CAN play with most of them, but the Sanwei is the one I really like. So much so that the others haven't been touched in a long time. And I'm lucky that the blade I like is so cheap I can own.. a large number of them :lol: .

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PostPosted: 23 Jan 2020, 10:36 
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Speaking of M8, mine arrived yesterday. Came well packaged. Great service from Ali Battleship. Very light blade. Though the handle appears to be rather small, it fits comfortably and perfectly in my hand with the right thickness (for me at least) contrary to some reports I read about it being thin and rather small. Ball bounce for feel and sound on bare blade also seem good. Have sealed the blade (in preparation) and will sand the edges down near the blade neck (as I do with all my blades) if/when I decide to use it or give it a go. Appears to be winner - nevertheless :up: I bet my initial positive feedback on the M8 will make Isk's day if/when he reads this post :)


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PostPosted: 23 Jan 2020, 16:21 
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The handle is thinner than most other blades, perhaps because this blade is aimed at youth, as it says in the advertising. I suppose if one wants a fatter blade handle then 2-3 layers of friction tape (or that kinesiology tape) should be enough to fatten it up a little. I don't have large hands, so it feels fine to me.

Iskandar


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PostPosted: 28 Jan 2020, 20:01 
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Blade: Stiga All-round Classic
FH: Yasaka Rakza 7 2.0
BH: Yasaka Rakza 7 2.0
iskandar, I do like your messages and the slightly cynical/sarcastic tone. I think we would get well along...
thanks again for sharing your experiences, this is very helpful... I currently do not think of changing the blade anytime soon... but will remember the Sanwei M8

all the best, David

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Blade: Stiga Allround Classic
FH: Joola Samba Plus 1.8
BH: Joola Samba Plus 2.0


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PostPosted: 25 Feb 2020, 22:32 
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Just to give you an update... so I am playing with the new combo Stiga ARC and Rakza 7 for few days now, no matches yet.

First thing I noticed is that the bat is now much heavier with the harder sponge (Rakza 7 vs Samba Plus) but I start to like it and actually feel the old combo rather light/toy version...

Second thing is that it is much more difficult to impart spin, particularly underspin on pushing, at the same time I start to feel it is much less sensitive to incoming underspin... It is like the ball is leaving my racket much more flat now, i.e. does not bounce much to the net or long, at the same time very difficult to make a super floating spinny push just above the net... But overall less risky, more control, still need to learn to adjust the height of my shots...

In blocks/drives I start to feel actually more control, In topspn, definitely harder to impart spin.. difficult to make high arc, but I start to feel that I can hit harder and the ball actually flies lower and still hits the table, so more dangerous to the opponent...

I guess I need to train much more and also adjust my movements to the new rubber, But in summary quite happy and looking forward to play further.

I would be interested to hear if this is what you would expect after such transition or if what I describe is rather surprising to you...

(I will let you know again in few weeks time and hopefully also after some matches...)

All the best, David

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FH: Joola Samba Plus 1.8
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PostPosted: 26 Feb 2020, 15:17 
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I went back and read your previous posts to figure out what was going on. So you switched from Joola Samba Plus which has a REALLY soft sponge to Rakza 7, which is still pretty soft. I've played with Rakza 7, but not with the Samba, so I don't have any direct experience with this. Rakza 7 (together with Baracuda) are what people on this forum refer to when someone wants a soft Tensor, and is known for being very spinny, especially when it comes to serves. If Samba is even softer, I can imagine that, at low impact speeds (serves, pushes) you could indeed produce more spin with it. It would also be more prone to reacting to spin - these are the two sides of the same thing. If a rubber produces a lot of spin, it will also react more readily to spin.

So why do pros like hard sponge rubbers like Tenergy 05, MX-P and H3? Because they hit the ball hard. And with very hard loops you actually make more spin with harder rubbers. Softer rubbers would also tend to "bottom out", i.e. compress so much they can't compress any more. This supposedly leads to loss of control and less spin and speed.

I'd think Rakza 7 is a happy medium for us lower level players, not that most of us would find harder rubbers impossible to use. I've tried MX-P, it plays fine, I didn't have trouble using it. Then again I didn't stick it on a fast carbon blade. Which is why I think there's a warning on the MX-P packet about having to be a pro before you can use the rubber. (It's also probably marketing.. :lol: )

Iskandar


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PostPosted: 26 Feb 2020, 19:41 
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iskandar, thank you... interesting to think that you consider Rakza 7 still a softer sponge, for me the difference in feeling is really large/noticeable, but I of course had not played with anything harder than Samba Plus before...

Few more comments from yesterday club training session with few matches in...

1) my most frequent training partner at roughly the same level. He is older with not so good footwork anymore, but when younger he was one of the best in the region. He has unbelievable wrist, can impart so much spin with short fast movements particularly on serves, He usually win matches against somebody who does not know his serves easily - he has got like 10+ different, difficult-to-read-spin and also angled serves
- Playing so much together that I know from his movement already what spin/placement would come - I could return the serves relatively well but with slightly more errors (net or long) than usual.
- He does not attack at all when I return slightly higher ball with underspin (mainly because of the movement limitations) - so this was not a problem.
- On the other hand he likes to loop my long underspin serves and pushes a lot. He had big troubles doing this now. He said "I noticed you have something different, the balls are coming differently"... basically my serves (particularly long under or side-under) and long pushes seemed quicker and spinnier to him...
- We are relatively level although recently I am winning slightly more, I won 2-0 (both 12-10)

2) played two doubles matches against the same team of both anti+normal - both much higher ranked. I still have trouble with anti... The new rubber being different and anti was a deadly combination for me. I played even worse than usual, almost no control... Lost 0-3 and 1-3 - no chance.

3) played with higher ranked guy (like probably one league higher), I have never won a match before (but won few games), now won 3-0 and only one game was kind of tied. Not sure though how much was the rubber (frankly probably not much)... He was making many more mistakes than usual... and my returns of his serves were fast (mainly long or angled blocks and sometimes pushes) and landing on the table... I play quite risky usually - trying to hit the lines (subconsciously) which sometimes works but many times not... Anyway as I have never won a match against him before... very good

4) finally, played against another much higher ranked player (3 league levels above) which I have never won before (won 2 games cumulatively across like 10 matches).
- He is one of my informal coaches in the club and quite fond of my progress. He glued the new rubber for me, so he knew... he himself plays Samba Plus so I guess he was not super happy with me changing :) He always says that I need more control, also plays 1.8 and was making some remarks when I switched to 2.0
- He plays not spectacularly, but has excellent placement of balls and can hide the direction of his shots to the last moment. Lost 0-3, no chance. The further lack of control on my side due to the new rubber was noticeable to him (not that much to me :) )
- What was quite interesting - after the game he made the the remark that I should take more initiative - that I am only blocking... I told him that he is by far much better player and that the way he places the ball to the edges of the table and let me move - I do not have much chance/time to be in a good position to actually do something.. Point taken for me to next time try to stay slightly further away from the table (his shots are not very fast or spinny) to get more time... and of course trying to move him first before he moves me - but that is easier said than done

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PostPosted: 27 Feb 2020, 13:15 
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Yeah, I'd say most rubbers (especially Chinese rubbers) have sponge which is harder than the one in Rakza 7. That doesn't mean Rakza 7 is slow - it's faster than a lot of the cheaper Chinese rubbers, and definitely faster than H3 (which I think is too slow for most people, at least before it's boosted). I lent my bat with Rakza 7 on it to a friend, who was mostly used to Chinese rubbers like 729, and he was hitting the ball past the end of the table. Strange, because to me there doesn't seem to be that much of a difference (though there is one).

On the other hand Rakza 7 should be slower than the harder Tensors (e.g. Rasant).

Iskandar


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PostPosted: 22 Jan 2021, 04:39 
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FH: Yasaka Rakza 7 2.0
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I wanted to post my experience, last year based on the forum support I changed from Stiga All Round Classic with very sot rubber (Joola Samba Plus) to same bat with Rakza 7... I was searching on internet for something and somehow this old forum came up... it was very interesting to re-read it, I must say with the experience of past 12 months - what you were saying makes much more sense now... Anyway, I am writing as I hope that my story might help somebody...

The year I trained a lot in club and also hired a really good coach (training 1. Bundesliga in Germany) although he trained me usually just 1x weekly... later 2x weekly... I made fantastic progress and still making more and more... I moved two categories higher in 6 months (until last June) - I guess equivalent to maybe 400 points in your rankings... Since then I could not play much more (COVID) but I feel and the coach is saying I improved much further... at least he says now my technique is really solid - it took me/him 6-9 months to sort this out... and I though I had good technique...

I think the change to Rakza 7 was absolutely the right choice, together with the coach teaching me the right technique, I realized how less energy/hip-power I was putting in the topspin before, now with proper technique the combination works absolutely great - very spinny and fast tops with much lower trajectory...There is still a lot to learn, but my biggest problems are still serve return (as you said before they always will be) and also consistency...

Maybe one comment / "finding" on the consistency, what seems to work the best for me to improve is a return board (among all others I tried, training, coach, multiball, single ball, matches, robot...). The fact that it gives this direct feedback - whenever you hit the ball differently it comes back differently - is fantastic... I mean the coach can always adjust for you a bit so that your bad ball comes back still good placed, and of course robot always places the balls more or less the same... Trying to play 10 topspins accross the table with the return board you have to adjust the shots all the time and still be consistent...

So overall, my advice after the last months would be: for a beginner - get a good training advice/coach - ideally somebody who himself is a good player and can play the strokes you want to learn (this was not always easy for me - as my club colleagues although higher ranked and natural authority - had only little to tell me compared to a 1. bundesliga coach - the level of detail he teaches is incredible), choose your setup to be middle-of-the-road, Stiga Allround Classic and Rakza 7 are great (I am sure there are many others that are great as well) and do not change your setups ... I am sure if you would give my current setup to any good players (I do not mean pros here) - they would still be able to play well... the consistency in shots (not making mistakes) and ball placement with 50-80% spin/speed are much more effective, than more errors with 80-100% speed/spin balls...

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Blade: Stiga Allround Classic
FH: Joola Samba Plus 1.8
BH: Joola Samba Plus 2.0


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