OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hullo all,

Long time no see (over a decade)!

For some silly reason, I gave up this brilliant sport as a teenager (am 26 now) and only found my way back to it about 6 months ago. In that amount of time I've: reinvented my style, got qualified as a coach, quickly rising up the ranks again (at 1150 Ratings Central atm, up from 820 in September with a 43-6 W/L record ) and planning to take it fairly seriously to compete in Australia's para table tennis scene.

I've got a significantly shorter left leg and mobility issues, so decided that moving away from double inverted and introducing long pimples will give me a lot more control over the speed of the game!

I started off looking at a modern defender style and being able to chop & loop at medium distance as my most desired play style, which I've found great success with so far. In this context, I landed on a Donic Defplay Senso w/ Donic Bluefire M2 1.8mm and Donic Spike P1 OX (TSP P1-R clone).

But upon receiving some coaching and chatting with other players in my club, given my mobility issues I think it makes sense for my future success against better players if I play a style closer to the table incorporating blocking & attacking with my pips to set up inverted attacks. I suppose I'm thinking of Manika Batra and Min Hyung Jee as models in this area, factoring in the ceiling of the para game is more comparable to the women's than men's.

My questions, if you would be so kind to help, as an intermediate player looking to choose equipment I can stick with to grow & improve:

1. I settled on the Donic Defplay Senso because it was recommended as having great control, decent reversal, and good for chopping & looping away from the table (generally slow but fast enough when wanted). It's also oversized and fairly light.
With a close to the table blocker style, which of these desired attributes stay the same and which change? Am I better off with something that has a more regular sized head and more of a focus on reversal? Any suggestions in this area very welcome!!

2. TSP P1-R (or Donic Spike P1 that I'm using) seems to get a "meh, it's definitely pretty fine" for this style of play - and seeing a fairly universal suggestion for Grass D.Tecs in it its place. Whatever the case, I think it makes sense to stick with OX. Any thoughts?

3. I'm not as fussy on the inverted side of things, but if you have any suggestions or input, especially pairing with a blade you'd suggest, please let me know! At the moment my thought process is: less than 2mm sponge, not super hard, not super fast.

I really appreciate the help - and thank you for welcoming me back. I'm so glad to be here! :~)

Some years ago, a few leg injuries in sequence gave me temporary mobility issues. I had a similar approach as you outline, staying close to the table and use equipment to manage "incoming energy" (speed/spin). I tried a few MP, LP and inverted options (DF1615, Gambler Reflectoid, Friendship 563) and ended up with Palio ck531a on thin sponge (0,5mm) as my preferred BH rubber. Played more chickenwing than twiddle over the table, but given the time I would twiddle for BH attack. The Palio is not the most deceptive LP, and sponge also detracts from deception. My purpose for using LP was mostly for control and energy absorption.

If your LP choice is more permanent and you will practice regularly, you may want to look elsewhere. For purpose as stated, the Palio is good, durable, and IIRC dirt cheap.

My OX LP recommendations. All cheap to try. Listed in order of slow to fast.
(1) Dawei 388D
(2) Bomb Talent
(3) Palio CK531a - as per Keme

I have played and like all three. All worth a go for what you are after. Good luck!

Thank you for the suggestions

How about blade options? From browsing the forum, it seems I should give a balsa blade a go? If so, I came across the following potential options that might be nice. Any feedback?

- Tibhar Defense Plus
- Donic Alligator Combi
- Re-Impact Tachi

During last 10 years the TT ball changed. I think you need to refresh modern equipment choices. Only Butterfly Tenergy 05 survived 10 years. New pips, new blades, new inverted rubbers.

I was going to come in here and post an equipment advice thread about coming back after a ten-year hiatus and changing styles due to old nagging injuries, but apparently I've already done it here.

My style is really similar. I do enjoy drifting back a bit and two-wing chopping from mid range, but when the pressure is on I almost always end up right back at the table. I don't play tournaments, but the guys at my club that I tend to exchange match wins with are in the 1600-1800 range in tournament play, so I suppose I'm somewhere in there.

Most of my points tend to come from quick LP punches off the side of the table wherever the opponent isn't, or reaction return slams ( I honestly have no idea how I do this, and it'd definitely be a huge advantage if I could perform that kind of forehand smash on demand and not just as a reaction to an incoming kill shot, haha ).

Also do a lot of chickenwing shots rather than twiddling, other than on serves, where I twiddle all of the time to vary spin and pace.

So hopefully I'm more adding to the discussion on your thread rather than diverting it with different equipment options and making life harder on you.

Right now I'm looking at these blades:

Sauer & Tröger Black and White or Unicorn
Tibhar Stratus Power Defense
Obligatory Donic Defplay Senso v3 looks

LP I'm leaning toward grass. I currently have them with a 0.5 sponge and while great for chopping they can get a bit wild at times blocking/chop blocking, and I chop block a TON.

Also looking at Hellfire X for the S&T fusion or Dornenglanz for the cheaper.

I'm kind of all over the place on FH rubber. I had the thought of keeping things ultralight with a Victas V>11 with the S&T balsa blade. Also looking at VS>401/402 Limber. Also considering something like the DHS Hurricane 3 Neo Soft for budgetary reasons again. There are just an overwhelming number of forehand rubber options. I like chopping and pushing, and definitely do that more often than settling back into a loop-off.

Following with much interest!