OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Yes I said bats!

I've recently joined a new club, fairly popular and with new players coming in without their own equipment.

Would like some suggestions to set up 2-3 loaners bats on the cheap (but still capable) that I can keep around or even give away.

I'm thinking N11 or M8 + Pro XP, but are their similar capable premades preferably with non-tacky rubbers? Preferably slightly faster than XP (I think they may be too slow on an Allround blade).

All the stuff I carry around are way too fast for beginners.

BTW, key point is as cheap as you can but at least capable of finishing a point when used by someone more experienced.

If you're making up bats for beginners the M8 is considerably slower (and more controllable) than the N11.

The Sanwei "M8 Premade" disappeared for a short time but it seems to be back:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32793574001.html

It's essentially the M8 blade with T88 rubbers. Problem is it costs $3-4 more than it used to. It's going to cost more or less the same as a M8 blade with two $5 rubbers. If you don't mind assembling the bats there's a large variety of $5 sheets - Reactor Corbor's probably the cheapest (sometimes as little as $3.50 a sheet). Then there's 729 General Sponge (Batwings), Yinhe 9000 (the generic 2 for 1 pack), Kokutaku 868 (probably the lightest, and the sponge is 2.0 rather than 2.2mm), Sanwei T88-III (2 for 1 packet). All of these are tacky, faster than KTL XT/XP, and easy enough to control. If you get a REAL BEGINNER, maybe a hardbat would be a good idea. The general public, who don't play table tennis, can't handle ANY hobbyist level inverted - the ball flies off into the unknown with the least amount of spin. If you wanted to make one up, the M8 blade would be a good start. There are short pips available for $5-6 a sheet, but you have to hunt for them. Problem is assembling the bats - easiest would be with glue sheets and they cost money. What I'd do for a hardbat would be to troll the department stores - or Amazon - the hardbats they sell there would be good enough for this. (Don't buy they ones from Daiso though.. those aren't very good..)

Some Chinese pre-mades that play very well (that I've actually tried) are the ones made by Yinhe. I have personal experience with the 01 and 06. (The 06 is somewhat expensive.)

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1632593430.html

Do some searching around, these go for between $10 and $15. There's also 729 pre-mades, should be OK too. DHS pre-mades are quite good, I've heard, but considerably more expensive.

Iskandar

So, N11s and M8 are both in the shopping cart.

Of the rubbers...which would be along the same lines as Sriver/Mark V?

I can't say exactly, since I've never actually played with Sriver or Mark V. I'd say none of the $5 sheets are EXACTLY like Sriver - for one, they're tacky, and have a fairly hard sponge (though I wonder about that, these days.. most are "42 degrees" while some of the more expensive sheets are 45, 47, 49 degrees) while Sriver supposedly has comparatively softer sponge. But the $5 sheets are slow-ish (especially from half distance) and have pretty good control. I've heard that rubbers like 729 Focus III Snipe are more like Sriver (being non-tacky, for one) but these are more like $8-12 rubbers.

If you want to buy several M8s, maybe this is a good source:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32635784830.html

Kinda expensive for ONE blade (since they add shipping) but there's a discount that kicks in with two blades, and the shipping goes up only a small amount with each additional blade. There's some sort of sale going on right now so it's actually cheaper than this other source even for one blade at this time:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32864701460.html

You do get a free bat cover with this one though.

Iskandar

On behalf of the beneficiaries, thank you Iskandar.

Going to the M8 and N11s. 2 Sheets of the Yinhe 9000d for the M8, Focus 3 for the N11 with 999T. 999T was the second rubber I ever bought (after G888), should bring back memories.

Will try the 999 with the ol' speed glue glass plate method. I might even use this myself!

Edit: Hmm, apparently, I can get the 2x999T premade for cheaper than a single sheet of 999T rubber. 3 bats it is then! I can see why you are addicted to this stuff!

There used to be all sorts of 999 sheets for $5 each but they seem to have disappeared. There are still a few sheets available here and there (probably old stock). The 999 company seems to be out of business, the rubbers have almost disappeared and the rubbers are no longer in the LARC, but the Globe company (which also makes rubbers called "999", different logo) is still in operation. These are more expensive though.

Iskandar

Hi Iskandar,

I think the loaners were a great idea, just gave away the N11 because the new guy liked it so much.

Now I'm getting a few more but also thought about an introductory chopping setup...

I've always played hard fast blades, so know nothing about choppers. Anything in the budget range for those?

Can't say I know much about chopping or chopping setups either. I can chop a lot better with the M8 than I could with a N11, but that's not terribly helpful, I guess. There are relatively inexpensive oversized chopping blades on Eacheng and elsewhere - the Sword 309 comes to mind.. and then there's also the LKT Toxic 3. I actually have both, I've actually put rubbers on the Sword, but I haven't done much with it. There's rubber to think about, too... some choices to make. Long pips? Or inverted both sides? Thinner sponge or max sponge? And this is for a loaner bat, so the answers may be influenced by the fact that they're not for experienced players..

Iskandar