OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Great pictures, and great design Charlie!

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
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The Blade is a beauty! Wow never seen rubber attached like this. fancy
I sort of feel happy for you, knowing how it is when you recieve a new blade and it really fits!

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Yinhe 200# 1 ply (10mm)
Yinhe Venus II both sides 1,8mm (factory & home tuned)

Butterfly Maze T-Tec All +
Roxon 450 BH
Haifu BWII (red sponge) FH

Just played another 8 games against a guy who usually beats me about 6 games to 1...today, different story...I won 6 and he won 2. I love this blade more and more every time I pick it up. It is considerably faster than my pre-made but in a good way. Seems like it is much easier to get the ball back on the table, regardless of whether I am slicing, looping, or smashing.

Well, today was my first real challenge. I played against the Asian and South African guys and learned one thing really quick. Just because my backhand has pips out does NOT mean I can hit through their spin. I still had a lot of trouble against a few of their serves. I did, however, play much better than before and even managed to win a few games, which is very unusual for me, or unfortunately, my partner in those games.

Definitely a nice looking blade. Handle looks very stylish.

I used 563 very briefly and with the sponge on it, it is going to be fairly spin sensitive. So hitting through spin will need some experience for sure. Still, just be firm with your strokes, being hesitant will just let the spin do its thing even more so. You might eventually want to try some other pips, even without sponge. In time reading over the forum and asking questions you will work out what might be worth trying and how to put new rubbers on. Its not hard, but can be daunting the first time, so take your time over it all.

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Those BBC blades just look better and better every time I look at them. Must ...... resist ..... must ...... resist ........

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Timo Boll ALC ST
FH Tibhar Evolution MX-P Max
BH Tibhar Evolution FX-S 1.8
185g

I only need look at your sig to know resistance is useless for you my friend LOL

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

True - but I paid very little for all of them. In fact, the T-11 is the only blade of those that I bought new. Acoustic was £40, Keyshot £25, Primorac £3 !!!, Grubba free .....

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Timo Boll ALC ST
FH Tibhar Evolution MX-P Max
BH Tibhar Evolution FX-S 1.8
185g

I really like your enthusiasm kerbouchard and it's great that you are playing 2 hours a day as this will really accelerate your progress (especially if you use the time to practice strokes rather than just play games). I read that you have only been playing for three months which is a very, very short time indeed for TT (a tennis background is usually more of a disadvantage than an advantage because the player has to go through a period of 'unlearning' the tennis techniques). TT is a very fast and complex game which takes a good period to reach a reasonable degree of competence (amongst many other things there is much to learn about how to create and counter spin). With that in mind I was wondering why you have gone for medium pips so early in the piece? Medium pips are great if you are a developed player and they suit your game but if you are a beginner with shots that are not fully formed the pips can severely retard your development. For example, it may well be that you could develop a dynamic BH loop (a shot which would take at least a year or 2 to get up and going well) but if you use pips on your BH you will never know. I don't want to seem like a wet blanket but I really think you should use inverted on both sides for now and work on developing your strokes. Once your strokes and the rest of your game are solid and defined then see what equipment suits you. It may be that medium pips are the go for you but it may not.

Thanks for the input and advice. I pick up things very fast and have already developed both a forehand and backhand loop that is quite effective. My biggest problem is my return of serve. Against the guys I play against a lot, I have no problems, but they don't use a lot of spin on their serves, and even when they do, I play them singles so I get a chance to learn how to attack what they do and cope with it pretty quickly. My problems come when I play a certain group of guys who only play doubles. They have been playing together for years and I am a relatively new addition to the group...kind of an outsider, really. In any case, I get so nervous about losing points that I end up playing timidly which is not my game. Just a mental thing I need to work through. In any case, there are a few of their serves that I may only see 4 or so times in a game. I was watching some youtube videos on strategy for return of service against extreme spin and hopefully that will help. I always knew you had to aim differently based on the serve, but it was always confusing for me to know which direction to aim...and at times, even when I knew which direction to aim, I would either pop up the ball, put it into the net, or just go off the table to the side. A recent tip I watched was to try to mimic the servers blade angle when they made contact when I make contact. I will try that tomorrow.

Unfortunately, pretty much all we do is play games after a quick warm up. I very seriously doubt I could get them to repeatedly send me balls that I have trouble with until I master them. They are too competitive to give me that kind of advantage, and I don't know anybody else who can serve like them. I'll keep trying and maybe I'll try to find a tennis club around my area. I live in Dallas, TX...I'm sure there have to be some in the area.

What you describe is a common problem - in the beginning returning difficult spin serves is tough! Every player starting out has experienced what you are going through now. However, like smashing and looping, returning spin serves is something that just has to be learnt and it takes time and experience. Using medium pips (or any other low friction rubber) on in order to help you return serve is like using a band-aid to mend a puncture - sooner or later it catches up with you. If you don't mind me saying, I think you should set longer term goals for your game and not worry about your results in the short-term. With your enthusiasm and the amount of time you are spending on the court you will be a much different player in 12 to 18 months. By then you should be able to return spin serves in your sleep. So maybe think about replacing the pips with inverted. good luck.

I will definitely consider that. This particular blade was something that Charlie at BBC designed for me based on what I told him my weaknesses were and what I wanted to get out of the game. It wasn't necessarily based on a long term improvement strategy. In any case, I am finding the medium pips to be quite spinny and very reactive to their incoming spin, so the strategy did not exactly work out. In any case, it is less pronounced, but I think maybe still more than my off the shelf racket I had before. Perhaps, it will provide a more gentle learning curve than if he would have went inverted on both sides. I guess only time will tell.

In any case, after a week with this racket, I don't see myself as a long term medium pips player. I think I will end up with an inverted or possibly long pips or maybe even anti-spin. We will see. One thing is for sure...I am loving the confidence I have in my new forehand...I am returning smashes that I never thought I could and my kill shots are leaving my opponents shaking their heads in wonder.

My two weaknesses at this point with the competition I am playing is chopping chops and my serve return...both caused by me not reacting to their spin correctly. Hopefully, with more practice and more playing I will be able to pick it up more quickly.

As I said before, 3 months is a very short time to be playing and really you are just beginning. As such I think it would be premature to think of your game as anywhere near developed (I'm not trying to be mean here) and so, in a sense, getting equipment to suit your current game is a bit like putting the cart before the horse. Best to work on your game for a year or so (with inverted both sides ) and then see where you are at.

It is very common for ex-tennis players to have trouble chopping chops because they tend to adopt a similar approach to a slice in tennis. For a tennis slice you start above the ball with (generally) your racquet around 45% and hit slightly below the equator of the ball. If you do this shot against a chop in TT the ball will go straight in the net.To chop a chop (ie push return backspin) in TT try starting with your blade slightly below the ball and quite flat. Then slide under the ball aiming to hit the 'south pole' of it. As you do so brush it finely thereby imparting backspin as well as taking the pace off. Don't worry if the ball goes high at first as you learn to control it in time.

Thanks for the tip.