MB17 wrote:
Hi,
I was looking for a racket to get back to playing after a long time, and as the majority of sites recommend the Stiga Pro Carbon, I ended up here in this topic. Hope someone can help me.
I play recreational, and suppose I know the basics. I would say I'm a mid level beginner, and use the penhold grip. I'm an impatient all around-er who ends up striking when I get the chance. My backhand seems more solid both for serving and striking, forehand more defensive.
See the comments above about Stiga/Donic/Butterfly/Schildkrot etc. pre-mades. This Pro Carbon falls in this category, and is expensive to boot. That rubber (S5) is not something that anyone on this forum would recommend buying to put on their bats, even if it were available, which it is not, since it only comes with pre-mades.
On top of that, the consensus here seems to be that most players (especially beginners, "mid-level" or not) should avoid carbon blades.
Quote:
In my country I have access to the following rubbers right now: Reactor Corbor, GENERAL, 729 XL, 868 KOKUTAKU, T88, T88 III and TIMBOLL. The blade is Reactor Classic. They send the racket mounted. I also have access to some premade rackets that are more expensive, but would fit my pocket, such as: Donic Ovtcharov 1000, 3000 and Top Team 800; DHS 6002 and 4002; and several Butterfly: Addoy 1000, 2000, 201, RDJ CS-2, RDJ S4, RDJ S5, Stayer 1800 (there is the Wakaba 300 Classic, but it gets too expensive).
The rubbers you mentioned are all OK - they're made in China and budget-friendly. Mind you, the "Timo Boll" rubbers are NOT ITTF approved - they do seem OK though (I had a few sheets). I doubt Herr Boll ever gave them permission to use his name...
The bats? Aside from the DHS ones, I'd stay away from anything that already has the rubber attached to it. See my comments above. This especially includes those Donics and the Butterfly Addoys and Wakabas. See my recommendation above. A Sanwei M8 + 2 sheets of rubber should set you back less than USD30.
Iskandar