Hello,

I've been playing TT for roughly 3 years, and I am about to buy a brand new bat. I'm working on improving my chopping and bridging the gaps to become a proper modern defender

Style of play: wannabe modern defender, loads of patience and spin manipulation to annoy the opponent, I love to add massive spin to every stroke
FH: moderately attacking. Spinny serves, mostly looping, sometimes blocks to surprise the opponent, and some chops to slow down the pace
BH: mostly defense far from the table, short pushes and some flicks when the ball allows for it

I was thinking about the following setup:
Blade: Donic Defplay Senso
FH: VJC>07 Sticky Extra, or anyway something with massive spin that still allows for acceptable control
BH: Any beginner LP (not sure whether OX or with a thin sponge though) which doesn't require too much technical skills to be mastered.

Looking forward to reading your advices,
Thank you in advance.

Hello ootbs,

Thank you very much for your reply.
I checked indeed the Neptune and the 388D-1, and they appear to be good options, also easily available at online stores.

A couple of follow-up questions:

• Why did you recommend me a LP with (thin) sponge instead of an 0X one? I never got to understand the difference between them, and which type of players would benefit from one or the other
• About the Koji Matsushita Offensive, is it the case that the higher quality (and price-tag) makes it retain the same level of control of the Defplay Senso, but with increased offensive capabilities? I read around that the Defplay Senso is already advised for modern defenders, although indeed stats say that it is not that fast.

Hello ootbs,

Thank you very much for your reply.
I checked indeed the Neptune and the 388D-1, and they appear to be good options, also easily available at online stores.

A couple of follow-up questions:

• Why did you recommend me a LP with (thin) sponge instead of an 0X one? I never got to understand the difference between them, and which type of players would benefit from one or the other
• About the Koji Matsushita Offensive, is it the case that the higher quality (and price-tag) makes it retain the same level of control of the Defplay Senso, but with increased offensive capabilities? I read around that the Defplay Senso is already advised for modern defenders, although indeed stats say that it is not that fast.

Very detailed reply, thanks.

In the end, I don't mind spending a bit more on the bat and make a long-term investment.
All in all, I'm not so experienced with "feeling" the difference between the various equipment yet, so I guess I'll just give a try with the setup you favored the most and then take that as a benchmark.

I'll ask you one last question about sponge thickness for the FH: I read that values below 2.0 are suitable for less offensive players which still want a good amount of control. Does it then make sense to look at a thickness of around 1.8, given my level and style of play?

Thank you Jakob.
Given your analysis of pros and cons, I think then the OX would be more suitable to my style of play, as I won't be attacking at all with my LP, apart from some occasional BH flick on easy balls, or some deceptive FH serves after twiddling the bat.

The problem with ox and slow wood that they are too slow with a new ball. And if the level of your opponent's is not high they will often send you empty balls instead of topspin. No spin balls are hard to chop with long pips, especially with ox. That is why a modern trend is to use short or medium pips for chopping.