OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Thing is I barely have any space to let my bat dry is all. But I suppose I could do that. Cutting down the blade seems dangerous. I'm not at all a handy person, and I get the feeling I'd just ruin the blade completely if I tried something crafty like that.

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Blade: Japsko Allround+ | Forehand:LKT Pro XT 1.5 mm | Backhand: Lion Rebirth 0.6 mm
Blade: TSP Black Balsa 3.0 | Forehand:Friendship Fx Supersoft 1.8 mm | Backhand: SpinLord Agenda OX
Blade: Stiga Hypertech CR | Forehand: CTT National Strike 2.0 mm | Backhand: RITC 802 1.5 mm

You sure do have the space. All you have to do after applying the seal is to have the blade stand upright by it's handle. If you can't find a place to do it safely where it won't be knocked over, you could have it leaning against something sturdy just fine.

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instagram: rokphishtt

Yeah, I suppose you're right. I'm really just trying to avoid it since I'm not one for handiwork. I don't like having to wait for stuff to dry, and I'm not one for putting on even layers. But yeah, I'll seal stuff myself if need be.

How are the Giant Dragon blades? They look both affordable and interesting. I'm specifically interested in the Kris 2, which seems to be like the Kris but without oversize. It just seems so wonky with such a thick blade, though.

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Blade: Japsko Allround+ | Forehand:LKT Pro XT 1.5 mm | Backhand: Lion Rebirth 0.6 mm
Blade: TSP Black Balsa 3.0 | Forehand:Friendship Fx Supersoft 1.8 mm | Backhand: SpinLord Agenda OX
Blade: Stiga Hypertech CR | Forehand: CTT National Strike 2.0 mm | Backhand: RITC 802 1.5 mm

Kris 2 is thinner and smaller than the Kris, but it seems of good quality.

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Nice! Next time I've scrambled together enough money I think that will be my purchase. I've been toying with the thought of an OFF- blade through and through as well, but I'm more curious about the Kris 2.

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Blade: Japsko Allround+ | Forehand:LKT Pro XT 1.5 mm | Backhand: Lion Rebirth 0.6 mm
Blade: TSP Black Balsa 3.0 | Forehand:Friendship Fx Supersoft 1.8 mm | Backhand: SpinLord Agenda OX
Blade: Stiga Hypertech CR | Forehand: CTT National Strike 2.0 mm | Backhand: RITC 802 1.5 mm

A couple of days ago I remembered that an old classmate from high school is a TT player, and he goes to the same college as I do. Since I can't get enough of this sport during the regular training session, I invited him for a session, which we just had.
Turns out he still plays, and he's a defender through and through. He plays with Dornenglanz OX on the backhand and Stiga Clippa 1.8 (I think) on the forehand of a Stiga Allround Classic WRB. It was great fun playing with him.
He plays in a club that's located in a (really) small village about 20 km outside of town, so I was super impressed when he told me they have about 100 active players there every week. To put it in perspective, the elementary school up there has a 100 pupils. And that's the only school there is there. And to top it off, practically all of them are LP defenders! Apparently they had a coach who put LPs on everyone's paddle, similar to how coaches usually try to make everyone a double winged looper. As such he was really excited to bring me up there, since I'm capable of attacking a bit. Apparently they don't have many players who can hit hard at all.

The session today was great! Last week I've been slowly but surely figuring out how to consistently get the ball to the other side with some quality, and today mid to long distance chopping clicked into place. I read the guide someone (can't remember who wrote it - sorry) wrote about how to chop, and concluded that my chops until now were initiated far too high up. As this sparring partner didn't have a blazing, fast loop I got some great practice in letting the ball sink considerably and then chopping it back. The result was nothing short of amazing. He was also really impressed by how well I played with the LPs, considering it's only been a month

Now I've sort of figured out what kind of game I want to play - an inverted forehand and a chopping pips backhand with the occasional blocking/attacking. I've found that in general my backhand attacks are much harder for the opponent to return, if I can land them. This probably has to do with the wonky trajectory as much as anything else. So, knowing how I want to play I can really focus on finding the right gear. I admit I am a little bit of an EJ, but right now I have stuff that works. I want stuff that's great. I give myself this season to experiment and really find a nice setup, and then I'll calm down with the equipmenting. Later tonight I'll do some switching around and put the 837 on my Japsko blade, together with the Red Diamond, then I'll use the left over National Strike as a forehand rubber using my 802 pips as a backhand chopping rubber on the Hypertech CR. I reckon that'll give me one really nice bat, as the Red Diamond is a lot newer than my Mark V M2 and has considerably more "juice" in it. I'm always scared that it might be a bit too fast, but it offers an astounding amount of control. It also gives me the chance to experiment with a softer, tackier forehand rubber offering a lot more control, as well as trying out chopping with SPs. I'm hoping that such a setup will improve my backhand attacks as well. The percentage on them is getting higher, but they're still pretty much gambling.

See you later, Google translator!

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Blade: Japsko Allround+ | Forehand:LKT Pro XT 1.5 mm | Backhand: Lion Rebirth 0.6 mm
Blade: TSP Black Balsa 3.0 | Forehand:Friendship Fx Supersoft 1.8 mm | Backhand: SpinLord Agenda OX
Blade: Stiga Hypertech CR | Forehand: CTT National Strike 2.0 mm | Backhand: RITC 802 1.5 mm

Sounds like you just hit a jackpot finding a pool of players like that. =)

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instagram: rokphishtt

Yeah, it's amazing. I'm happy where I am right now, though, the club is really close to where I live and the two training sessions a week are full with kids that range from a little above my level to quite a ways below my level. However, I'm more experienced in competing and training in general than they are, what with having been a world level fencer, so I really feel I can be of use as a sparring partner.
But yeah, as a complement, going out there will be great fun. And if I can't make it into my club's team (there are two, one is reserved for youths, and the other one is probably a little too good for me right now) I can always compete for the other club, as they are glad to have me. Man, table tennis is huge in this town!

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Blade: Japsko Allround+ | Forehand:LKT Pro XT 1.5 mm | Backhand: Lion Rebirth 0.6 mm
Blade: TSP Black Balsa 3.0 | Forehand:Friendship Fx Supersoft 1.8 mm | Backhand: SpinLord Agenda OX
Blade: Stiga Hypertech CR | Forehand: CTT National Strike 2.0 mm | Backhand: RITC 802 1.5 mm

Knorben, I don't say this much, but I'm superduper jealous at your situation.

Today we had another session with the great top trainer Hans. I got to try "looping", or at least some attacking drills with my LPs. Problem was that my sparring partner hogged all the time. We were supposed to loop twice each and then switch, but he insisted he loop more. Almost a little annoying.

Anyway, I also tried some hitting with my second bat, the National Strike/802 one, and here's my conclusion:
- I need a slower forehand rubber than the Red Diamond. Meaning I'll have to buy one, since I don't have any more rubbers, other than my Mark V M2, which has too little spin left in it. The National Strike is a lot softer and slower, and that worked so much better. The Red Diamond feels really nice, but it's too fast for my taste.
- I seriously can't decide between LPs or SPs on my backhand. Attacking with the SPs was so much better than with the LPs, but chopping was a lot harder. Still, it was nice to always get backspin out of my chops.

My shopping list is slowly taking form:
- A blade, either the Hallmark Aurora if I can get over the fact that it's oversize or the Kris 2
- One or two soft, slow, spinny inverted rubbers. Probably around 1.8 mm thickness, maybe even 1.5. I have no idea which to try right now, though, but I'm leaning towards 729 Super FX
- A LP rubber. Right now I'm considering a couple of different ones, but I'll wait until after the course next weekend
- A SP rubber more suited for chopping/allround play, haven't looked so much on this one yet.

Now I'll just have to get my hands on some money.

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Blade: Japsko Allround+ | Forehand:LKT Pro XT 1.5 mm | Backhand: Lion Rebirth 0.6 mm
Blade: TSP Black Balsa 3.0 | Forehand:Friendship Fx Supersoft 1.8 mm | Backhand: SpinLord Agenda OX
Blade: Stiga Hypertech CR | Forehand: CTT National Strike 2.0 mm | Backhand: RITC 802 1.5 mm

Globe 979 or Globe Mo Wang II attack real easy and efficient in OX, don't know how they are with sponge. They chop ok too (esp. 979), when you do the full stroke and play actively. Mo Wang II is VERY grippy and I think it almost plays like a short pip (though I never played SPs).

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I think you should give grippy antispin a go. Its way easier to attack with than with long pips, and it has more control on the chop than short pips.

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SPW/Solo

Some kids at the club have anti rubbers, they didn't go well with me at all. I might revisit them at some point, but right now I'm more curious to try out pips rubbers for a while. If I find nothing that suits me I'll try some anti again.

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Blade: Japsko Allround+ | Forehand:LKT Pro XT 1.5 mm | Backhand: Lion Rebirth 0.6 mm
Blade: TSP Black Balsa 3.0 | Forehand:Friendship Fx Supersoft 1.8 mm | Backhand: SpinLord Agenda OX
Blade: Stiga Hypertech CR | Forehand: CTT National Strike 2.0 mm | Backhand: RITC 802 1.5 mm

Tomorrow is finally the day of the course on LPs I signed up for. I'm really looking forward to it, as Hans Thalin has been sort of deliberately waiting with instructing me until this course. What's fun is that he seems to be a bit of an EJ himself, which I noticed this Tuesday when I asked him for advice on a forehand rubber.
So here's an updated list of which rubbers will be available to try tomorrow:

Glued to blades:
- Dornenglanz ox (Hans is a big fan of this rubber, and recommends it often. It's really popular around here for LP players)
- Dornenglanz 0.5 mm Toni Hold dampening sponge
- Stachelfeuer ox
- Globe Mo Wang II 1.0 mm
- Globe Mo Wang 0.6 mm
- CTT National Pogo 0.6 mm without friction (whatever that means. Is it a rubber with low friction, does it come in a low friction variant, or is it just used enough for the friction to have worn off? We'll see)
- Lion Claw ox
- Neubauer Fighter ox
- Neubauer Monster Classic ox
- Neubauer Boomerang Classic ox
- Hallmark Friction Special 2 ox
- JUIC Leggy ox
- Palio CK531A ox
- Prasidha 1615 ox
- Dragon Talon ox
- Bomb Talent ox
- Sanwei Code

Rubber sheets without blades, available to try if I glue them onto a blade of my own:
- Blitzschlag ox
- KTL Stranger ox
- Neubauer Desperado ox
- Neubauer Terminator 1.5 mm (SP, supposed to play like an LP)
- Lion Rebirth 1.5 mm (MP, supposed to play like an LP)
- Joola Timeless (anti)
- Giant Dragon Soft Anti
- Grass DTecs 1.2 mm
- Feint Long III 0.5 mm
- Lion Claw ox
- Prasidha Long A ox
- Hallmark Phoenix 2.0 mm

There will also be a couple of blades on display:
- Neubauer Barricade
- LKT Toxic 3 and TSP Balsa Fitter 2.5
- Japsko Defense and Chen Defender
- Japsko Off/Def and LKT Magic Killer Carbon
- Joola Chen Wei-xing
- Butterfly Joo Se Hyuk and Hallmark Aurora
- Sword Final Strike

I can hardly wait! I'll probably be buying one sheet of LPs, one sheet of SPs (thinking of trying some version of 799 with thin sponge) and one or two sheets of inverted rubbers. The advice I got from Hans only convinced me further to choose a rubber with a thinner sponge. Initially I was thinking of going back to 1.8, but I'll probably go so far as to 1.5. The 729 Fx Supersoft is a hot candidate. It seems to be all that I'm looking for right now: Super soft, super slow, super light. I just hope it's durable enough. I don't want to have to buy new rubbers every month or two because they wear out.

I couldn't go to the club supposed to have 100 LP defenders this Wednesday, since I was really swamped in school. I even had to skip practice yesterday. Hopefully I'll get to go next week, I'm really curious about the whole thing. Next week will also be the last before my big comeback competition. I'll have to play a lot to get used to the new rubbers I'm getting, so I can crush my opponents
It's been really long since I competed in any sport, and I sorely miss it. The adrenaline rush and the sort of zen-like state of mind where you only need to focus on the next point is almost like meditation to me. It's what I miss most about fencing, as well.

Also, I'm wondering if anyone has any tips on how to remove the rubber from a premade bat? I bought two bats really cheap and I want to salvage the blades, just for fun, but the sponge is attached so dang hard it takes ages to remove it.

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Blade: Japsko Allround+ | Forehand:LKT Pro XT 1.5 mm | Backhand: Lion Rebirth 0.6 mm
Blade: TSP Black Balsa 3.0 | Forehand:Friendship Fx Supersoft 1.8 mm | Backhand: SpinLord Agenda OX
Blade: Stiga Hypertech CR | Forehand: CTT National Strike 2.0 mm | Backhand: RITC 802 1.5 mm

Previously I have used a paint scraper to wedge off the sponge, sometimes using some solvent to aid the process. That was heavy and tedious work, and always required quite a bit of sanding to get an acceptable finish. Took ages, as you say.

On the last cheap bats I "defaced" I used a steel wire brush to remove the sponge (the heavy duty type of brush you would use to remove paint or rust, not the fine wired "detail work" type). Note that I did this to really cheap bats, so i did not risk a lot. Use at own risk...
Also make sure you avoid carpeted areas and similar fluffy fabrics. The sponge crumbles fly around a bit, and I suspect they would settle into such surfaces and be difficult to remove.

• Rip off the topsheet
• Dig deep into the sponge with your brush and start working.
• When you feel that the brush bottoms through the sponge to the blade, lighten up on the pressure a bit so you don't rip up the wood fibers.
  The glue layer seems to protect the wood surface to some degree, so gentle scraping from the brush wires does not do any damage.
• When you have worked over the entire surface and removed most of the sponge to a thin even surface, use a coarse sandpaper (40-60 grit) to remove remaining sponge and glue.
  Use a hard sanding block and try to work down the entire surface at once, to reduce the risk of sanding through the veneer in bared areas.

With this procedure I defaced two bats within an hour. With my old procedure I would expect to spend at least twice the time and effort.
I have seen suggestions to use the pip side of the ripped off topsheet the way I use the brush. That may work for some, but not for me.

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My blog of failures, etc., also containing equipment list at "resurrection" (referred to in a few of my early posts), and my current lineup
Rating in the middle/low range in the region.
Moderating the LP Attacking subforum in the Technique section.