OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi so to put context to my situation. Im a sort of a semi-beginner to table tennis I used to practice a little with my friend who has been playing for a couple of years and for the past 2 months ive been taking it more seriously. At my local club one of my friends offered me a blade saying that I should make a custom bat out of it.

The blade is what I believe to be a clone of the Mizutani Jun Super ZLC. Anyway I've been doing research into making custom bats and to put it simply I'm cautious to use this blade as its an OFF+ blade and this will be my first custom bat. My friend said that I should just use the blade and eventually I will get the feel for it. I'm curious as to weather i can make it more beginner friendly by counteracting the speed of the blade with a more slower rubber so I can still use the high quality blade whilst still more easily developing my skill as a player but obviously with doing this It feels like I am not using the blade to its full potential however I know I wont be able to handle a higher quality rubber.


I would like to make use of this blade but as I said I'm cautious to jump into the deep end and I don't know when ill ever be ready. I have gotten the blade for free so I wouldn't see it as a waste of money to make use of this blade by having a more controllable rubber. If anyone knows what I should do to make it possible for someone of my level to use this, or even if I should just jump in the deep end and just learn it (again idk if im ready or how i will know).

on a side note I was also thinking of using long pips on one side however I know it will change of the dynamic of the game and I'm not sure when someone can be ready for that if ever as obviously I would have to learn to play with this new style but obviously I don't want to overwhelm myself as the blade will "increase" the level of play.

Hi,

The Mizutani blade is awesome indeed, but surely not for beginner or even advance-beginner/intermediate level players. I'd recommend an all-wood blade, in the All+ or even OFF- range .. An all-wood blade will help you get a feel of the ball, while playing, which is important for developing better strokes, and ball-sense..

Check-out Sanwei M8 + Sanwei T888-III rubbers .. The blade and rubber are available separately, but also as a combo, and will cost under $25 ..Keep the Mizutani setup aside, for while, and get yourself the above or the likes of it .. Once your strokes/game gets a lot better, you could think of upgrading, or switching back to the Mizutani .

Fully agree with ootbs. It will be a dive into the deep end with the clone of the Mizutani Jun Super ZLC Begin with a pre or custom made setup using an ALL/ALL+ blade and take it from there. Save the Mizutani Jun Super ZLC clone for later when you will be ready for it after proper development of your strokes and playing style you settle for and then choose the rubbers to complement your blade and play in the future. Good luck!

I really have to agree with the previous posters - the wrong equipment can lead to bad habits, so as a beginner, it's important you start with something that's right for you.

To answer your earlier question, yes - you can slow down the blade somewhat by using slower rubbers (eg: a pure 'control" rubber), but even then, this is not in your best interests as you're creating a bit of an unnatural beast. Yes you will get used to it, but the bat (and its style of play) that you are getting used to is neither advisable for beginners, nor desirable from a playing or development perspective.

Without knowing your playing style, skill level, physical build / physical limitations, or underlying level of giftedness at TT, it's hard to make a recommendation about which particular blade or rubber would work best for you. Its is still possible - but VERY unlikely - that this blade (being a clone of a better-known blade) might potentially be a good one for you. We simply don't have enough info to tell.

So the best way to deal with this problem IMO, is to start with the two most basic considerations of all when choosing a blade (regardless of your level), based on COMFORT and CONTROL.

CONTROL:
1: CAN YOU CONTROL THE BALL WELL ENOUGH (i.e.: like 90% of the time or more)?

By this I mean:

Do you miss the table a lot?
When you miss, does it fly into the net? or go long? or go sideways?
Can you hit the ball gently?
Can you control the way it spins off the blade?
When faced with a simple return (or a chance to win the point) can you place the ball exactly where you want it to be? at the right speed? with the right spin?
Can you spin the ball enough to your liking (or not spin the ball) at will when serving, and does the ball end up where you want it when serving.

If any of these above questions are an issue for you, then your game needs more control. So use a slower bat, go for a rubber combo that gives you more control, and practice all your shots until you can do all the above at least 70% to 80% of the time.

Once you can do all the above most of the time - THEN I would recommend considering a faster / spinnier / more aggressive set-up... but not before.


2: COMFORT:

By this I mean:

IS IT COMFORTABLE for you to use the bat?
Does it feel heavy in your hand? Or Light?
If the weight towards the tip of the bat, or towards the handle?
If you use your wrist a lot, does it strain your wrist to use it?
If you WANT to use your wrist more, will the bat let you?
How does it feel in your hand? Does the handle fill your hand too little? or too much?
If you relax your fingers or playing hand during play, does the blade slip out of your grip easily? does it FEEL like it might slip out at any point, so you find yourself squeezing the bat more? Maybe the handle is wrong for you.
Does the handle get slippery when you play?
Is the blade too thick for you to do a close gentle push close to the net without hitting the table?
How about a pendulum serve? Thicker blades are faster in general play, but can make it hard to execute some service techniques properly.
Does it rub on your hand or fingers anywhere? Are you developing callouses?
Do you have skeletal problems / muscle issues / coordination issues that require a custom build?

Unless you can honestly say "No, none of the above apply - there are no problems with the blade, I can control it properly and it never feels uncomfortable or unwieldy") then there's a problem with your equipment and you need to recitfy it.

Essentially, any blade that stops you from executing ANY technique at ANY time for ANY reason at all, is probably is not the right bat for you.

If however, none of the above problems are present, but you are still unsatisfied about your blade plays for you (ie; it's too slow / too small etc) that's when I would recommend changing to something faster, better, etc.

New equipment is great, faster equipment is great... but if your new equipment creates a problem for you (or else doesn't solve a problem you have) then once again, its not the right bat for you.

Always start with Control and Comfort... everything else springs from there - and after changing over, if your new blade doesn't work as well for you as your old one did, and the problem isn't rectified, then go back to your original bat and keep searching, rather than persist with a bad blade or else chop and change a lot.

Hope this all helps. Congratulations on choosing TT as your new serious (and highly enjoyable) pastime - you are in very good company.

Best of luck!!

_________________
Wakkibat: Custom Made TT Blades
Proudly made in Australia from local and imported timbers
http://www.wakkibat.com

Every year around Christmas we seem to get a spate of posts like this..

In any case, I just posted about something you could buy:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=38811#p393223

Iskandar