OOAK Table Tennis Forum

After 10+ years playing full-time hardbat with an LKT Toxic 3 and Dr. Evil, I am planning a switch to sponge short pips. My game with hardbat has been close to the table: pushing, blocking, and hitting off both wings. My primary point earner is a hard and flat forehand. I am looking for a blade to use with RITC 802 in 1.5mm on both sides. What I envision as the perfect blade would be around 80 grams, allround to OFF speed, with low throw and excellent control for blocking incoming loops to wide angles. Control is more important than speed. Think shakehand He Zhi Wen or Shan Xiaona style. After so many years of hardbat, this will be somewhat of an experiment, so reasonable price has at least some importance. I am not interested in winning points with deception. I want to win my points with positioning shots leading up to a flat forehand winner. All suggestions are welcome and will be considered deeply! And here's a starter to open discussion: the Gambler Zen.

Is 80 grams a strict limit? Two SP rubbers won't add a lot of weight, so perhaps a heavier blade could be considered?

Gambler Zen may be a good choice but its description says "soft feeling" which I'm not sure suits a short pips hitting game well. A heavier, harder and stiffer blade would facilitate hitting better, in my opinion. For example, I find the Avalox P700 blade to be very good in this department (it isn't as good for looping but it doesn't seem you're looking for that anyway). The P700 is obviously heavier and more expensive than the Zen, though.

I'd recommend Avalox P700 for this style. Perfect with with 802 1.5. I think you'll adapt to the weight very quickly.

_________________
Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

Or would one of those thick balsa blades work? Maybe Re-Impact at the high end, or XVT at the low end of the price range. Balsa blades supposedly "supplement" the sponge. The weight will be reduced, probably more in line with a hardbat once you've added the 1.5mm sponge on both sides..

Iskandar

P700, Stiga Clipper are pretty much the industry standard for short pips play. Fast, but linear and predictable. If you want something a little slower but maintains the crisp hitting yet linear characteristics, the Donic Persson Powerplay is a good option as well.

Not to undermine Taib, but Balsa is the worst blade for flat hitting. Non-linear, dissipated impact feel. Touch shots feel like marshmallows, hard hits feel like an empty box.

Hi,

as an allout pips hitter, I recommend my own Blade: TSP Reflex award off (It´s off- in my opinion).
Played by all out pips shakehand player and four times australian olympic participant Miao Miao.

As an all wood blade it´s decently fast, stiff and relative hard with good control.
In Germany you can get it for 40 euros.

Greetings Claus

Thank you all for your input and suggestions! I ended up going with the Gambler DJ Fly. I will give that blade a good try and see where I go from there.

Interesting to know, thanks.

Iskandar

I'd agree with Iskander ... been playing with the XVT Balsa (Read Setup 3 in my signature), and it's simply awesome at flat-out hitting... Infact, I've always thought that balsa-based blades are meant for flat hitters .... Same goes for Gergley - Aeons ago, I've owned and played extensively with it... A lot heavier the XVT, but excellent for flat hits...

Infact, the word is, that balsa is not particularly well-suited for top-spin... Although, I feel that the with Balsa blades, the quality of my top-spins is better...

i like 802 + hrs or mrs sponge with soft blade

recently purchased a Tulpe 7007 blade. 5+2 very thin carbon layers. Soft touch but stiff. Speed about off-.
Awesome control, enough speed in short play. Price ca. 15-20€

Just to give an uodate, I like the DJ Fly pretty well. I find it solid, controllable, and fast enough. I am also experimenting with a Sanwei M8 with 1.5 802 BH and 1.8 802 FH, though so far I have only robot play for comparison. So far the comparison shows what most (I think) would expect: the DJ Fly is faster and more solid; the M8 is a little easier to control and seems to put a little more spin on the ball. We will see how it all pans out when there is play against humans again!

Where are you getting 802 in 1.5 and 1.8?! It's only available in 1.7 and 1.9 that I have seen.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

I bought the 802 on Aliexpress. Sorry, but I don't remember the seller.

If you bought it on aliexpress then it's saved in your order history and you can check [WINKING FACE]

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk