OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hello!

I'm curious as to what type of feedback I can get from the forum at large about my best option for a forehand rubber given a little bit of history and information, and a few parameters.

I'm currently using a Nittaku Sou MF R as my main blade, and that part of the equation is going to be pretty set in stone. It's a single ply hinoki blade, though slightly thinner than your average blade of this type. I picked this blade as I like to play two sided pen, really enjoy the feeling of the cork handle, and this blade allowed me to cut about 45 grams from the total weight of my previous jpen that I had converted from single side.

I'm not typical, and importantly I'm not looking to become typical - I play a style of game that could be considered either all-around or defensive. I enjoy this style and wanted to have a robust tool kit is part of why I'm struggling so much with the rubber selection at large. My absolute favorite shot to hit is a TBH chop, to me the feeling of lining that up right is what I imagine a great loop might feel like to others. I chop both wings when pushed back, I block close, I sometimes open on underspin, and ultimate I hit flat to finish out points.

Currently I'm running DHS C8 in 1.0, which would be a long pip I believe, though the history of posts on the board indicate that it may not behave exactly like one in all situations. For me this has been nice for chopping, nice for attacking underspin, fairly good for flat hitting against dead/under/top (with heavy top of course causing issues, but usually that's a chopped ball anyway) but I find my service with this pip to be fairly lacking.

I transitioned to the C8 from Tibhar Ellen Def in 1.5 and that was incredibly robust in many ways, though short dead balls were a personal weakness. I mostly moved off of this to avoid continual commentary from the new club I play at, figuring that with new coaching and better long term prospects I might want to pick a more conventional rubber. I don't feel like I need an anti or a long to help me return serves, so that's not a sticking point. Probably most crucial is

I've also used Beautry in 1.8, but for me this was too fast to play the style of defense that I most enjoy, it was fantastic for attacking, but it didn't suit my personality, I guess?

So: I've been reading about a bunch of different options here, and I'm open to any rubber that might offer the versatility I'm looking for, though I'd say my inverted experience is low overall. Based on what I've read, things I've considered are Aggressor in 1.5, Spectol Soft in 1.5, or maybe some form of a Keiler?

Without really seeing a ton of reviews on how some of this interacts with a hinoki like wood, it's been hard to get a sense for what to do I've just invested heavily in a home setup for practice on top of the new area and club, so I figured it was worth a check in here, though I also feel like I could just continue with the C8 and steadily improve, maybe even the serve!

That turned long and ramble-esque, but any insights are super appreciated!

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Blog: Thinking Octopus Thoughts
USATT: 771 Club: 947

Sorry to say but using long pips on the FH of a single ply blade is a unusual combination. You may not get many responses.

Well, that's the thing, I'm not dead set on long pips by any means, and I'm less curious about others who have played the same style, and more curious about people's experiences with rubbers on a similar wood trying similar ideas~

Basically, at the core of it, I want something at least some grip and if I can chop with control, and hit with control, I imagine I can figure out the rest as I go along.

I fall into the average category of wanting a rubber that can do it all And I'm somewhat convinced a thinner short pips could be the real answer. If Dragonow came in something thinner than 1.8 I might not even be asking the question at all, really.

So yeah, again a ramble, but less the style, more the interaction with that wood and ability to do the things, be that shakehand forehand, backhand, or otherwise~

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

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Blog: Thinking Octopus Thoughts
USATT: 771 Club: 947

Have you considered turning your bat around and using the long pip on the BH and the spinlord rubber on the FH? This way you can develop proper technique on your FH such as topspin drives, looping and hitting. I play with Long pips and you cant really do a loop or generate topspin with long pips. Additionally you will find it hard to get quality coaching whilst using long pips on the FH as its such a rare playing style. Good luck

Hi Reniculous,

I’m not sure I have an answer for you, though I’d like to offer my two cents. First off, I own the Sou MF R also (trying to sell it actually, so let me know if ur looking for a backup blade LOL) and other 1-ply Hinoki blades, and played 1-sided Jpen for about 5 yrs until ~18 months ago. I have transitioned to mostly playing with oversized blades that I modify to a jpen-like grip and use LPs and inverted and twiddle. I’ve slowly been learning RPB as well. I tend to play quite aggressively with a slow blade now, vs. the Hinoki which felt great to hit with, but which I couldn’t control as well.

A couple of ideas:
1. Spinlord Stachelfeuer. I have only used this in OX. Slowest, highest control LP I have tried, great rubber. Not very funky for a LP, but you can hit with it consistently on the FH using an open, loop-like stroke. I’d highly recommend watching Kento Nomura, who used this rubber for FH and BH (he twiddles often, large variety of strokes). He used this rubber for a few years before moving onto Blitzschlag and Dornenglanz more recently: https://youtu.be/QlbkuaDAtWQ
I strongly recommend checking out his YouTube channel, since his style may be similar enough to give you some ideas about how to proceed—very entertaining to watch him play! I suppose if you don’t twiddle at all, opting for Stachelfeuer in 1.2mm may be a good fit.
2. Med Pips: Keiler should be a good fit for you also. I like Gipfelsturm and tried it in 1.8mm which was too fast. I have heard that Keiler is similar, so I’d likely go with 1.2 or 1.5mm if going this route. Another medium pip I like is Dawei 388 C-1. I have this on the back of my Darker 25AL Jpen in 1.0. I don’t have much playing experience with it yet (Covid), but hitting BH and RPB shots seems easy enough. I’ve heard it’s a little funkier and more defensive than 563, another well-regarded MP. Finally, I think TSP Curl P-H may be a good fit—I’d read Greg Letts’ posts more if considering it (haven’t used those myself).

It’s cool that we’re like-minded in some ways, but opposite in others, since you prefer a defensive game with an OFF blade To each his own! It makes this game more interesting!