OOAK Table Tennis Forum

In my experience, the Stiga S1 and S2 rubbers are pretty useless, unless you want to just "shovel back" everything that comes your way and hope for the best. They are quite durable, so they are fine as toy bats for kids' garage/basement play. For "beginner to intermediate" players, even a 3 star (S3 rubber) Stiga premade will feel a bit limiting. As you say, convenience may play a role. If you don't mind paying twice the price (or more) for something half as good (or worse), just for the convenience of getting it in hand immediately, then go for the 3 star one. It lets you play all the strokes. It will last a long time, but don't plan on changing the rubbers. (Rubber is not glued with ordinary TT glue, so getting it off is more work than it's worth. Durability, as mentioned.)

If you also order one of the Sanwei bats with T88-I, when you get it you will notice a significant weight difference. This is mostly due to difference in rubbers. The sponge below the Stiga rubbers is very porous (mostly air) and absorbs energy so you get a lot of "control", while the Sanwei sponge contains more rubber and less air, which makes it more springy (and heavier).

I can personally vouch for SANWEI M8 with T88 combo. A perfect setup for beginners starting out. Decent spin, good speed, and overall good controllability. The touch and feedback from the blade excellent.

I recommend this setup all the new players joining our club. However, in our last batch, I found the rubbers to be of slightly inferior quality. One of our players just happen to brush the bat on the table while playing and the rubber tore off. I expected slight damage but this thing just tore of from the middle.

But the good thing is T88 rubbers can be purchased individually and we generally keep a stock of them. Mind you the rubbers are difficult to pull of.

I can somewhat understand when you said all rubbers feel the same to you. Now, all the blades are the same too?

Are you OK?

Nope. Just the M8 (which you can buy separately) and the pre-made. I think they're exactly the same wood, just different handle colors. Same handle shape even. They don't just feel the same, they look the same and measure the same. Can't compare blade weights without pulling the rubbers off of course, and there'd be variation expected there anyhow.

Iskandar

Iskandar,

What do you think about this?

Combo Racket: Palio Infinite-3 Blade
Palio CJ8000 (H36-38) Rubbers

https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bWi3KoZ2

I'm more of a recreational player.. strong on forehand loop and drives. Improving on backhand abilities..

I don't know, I've never used one, but I can't see any reason as to why it wouldn't work.

This one, though, is quite a bit cheaper, and I HAVE used it, and I KNOW it's excellent. Also probably 5-10 grams lighter. AND it comes with a case.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/SANWEI- ... 98984.html

Iskandar

Thank you. Placed an order. Got it for $19 AUD. Waiting for delivery now.

Speaking of Sanwei pistol grip rackets - I finally came across where they sell the special rubber sheets:

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/produc ... 30720.html





Comes in sets of two. I'll bet they're some variant of T88.

I also found some premades (this is one of them):

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/ITTF-Ap ... 20274.html



According to EmRatThich, those rubbers must be highly boosted... look at all the pips poking through.. And note the magical blue sponge (which is why the red sheet's so dark..)..

Iskandar

Hi, I've been playing table tennis for about a year and have fallen in love with the sport. I was introduced to the sport by a co-worker and have been training and playing with him. I use a mass-produced paddle bought from Amazon (Stiga Pro Carbon). I would like to buy something that's of better quality or more suited to the playing style I've developed. I play primarily as a chopper and defensively, going to offense when the balls are high and readily positioned to be attacked. From what I've read, choppers tend to use rubbers that allow more spin while preferring lower sponge thickness for control. I'm not sure if this is accurate. Apart from these guidelines, I would be grateful for specific recommendations. My budget is USD $75 and below.

I'm leaving for a different state, and I would like to gift my co-worker a paddle as a thank you for introducing me to this wonderful sport. He plays an offensive style, close to the table, and blocks well. I would appreciate recommendations for a more experienced player who focuses less on generating spin and more on speed. My budget for this paddle is USD $100 and below.

Thank you in advance for your help, and please let me know if I should provide more detail.

Well, you came to the right place.. Lots of choppers here. They'll have all sorts of defensive blades you can buy and what sorts of long pips are best, etc. But for $75? Yes, the rubbers won't cost too much - you can get sheets for as little as $5 (or $10 if you want something with thinner sponge), and you can get long pips for under $15, BUT all these chopping blades they talk about ("VKMO", "Joo", etc. are mainly Japanese and cost a lot). There are cheaper blades but they don't get much mention..

For the gift paddle, I'd suggest this:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1308156861.html

Iskandar

Hi,

From what you've mentioned, it looks like you've been chopping with a inverted rubbers, on both sides ... In which case, a classic defense blade could work for you, perhaps a Yinhe Def-5, Tibhar CO-S-3 Defence ST, or Tibhar Defense Plus .. I've made these recommendations, based on your budget .. If you want something faster, and springy, then the Donic Defplay Senso (V3) could also work ..

As for the inverted rubbers, for chopping ..Let's see .. there's ..

[list=]
[*]729 FX
[*]Giant Dragon Submarine
[*]Reactor Corbor or Ckylin
[*]LKT/KTL Pro XP or XT (Tacky version)
[/list]

Problem is finding something in thin sponge (if that is what is desired). MOST Chinese rubbers don't. Not sure if 729FX comes in thin sponge (though the Big Pore Sponge stuff does). The old 729 Batwings did, but that's hard to find anymore. Some versions of KTL Pro XT do (Green Dragon), but I'm not sure about the "baseline" model. Corbor and Ckylin doesn't, last I checked. These two are VERY different from each other - Ckylin is dead slow.

Long pips are an option, too - most choppers seem to use them. But that's another can of worms...

Iskandar

Hi, new poster here.
Hello everyone.
I am returning to table tennis after a 35 year break, and will soon be going along to a local club first the first time.
I used to play in the Uk in tournaments and leagues in SE England at U15 level, and naturally local league at adult level.
Way back when, I used Sriver L & Sriver S, and then SuperSriver and Tackiness D.
My style was mainly couter hitting and looping from mid to close range.
I have played a dozen or so times in the last 35 years, mainly with my (teenage kids), and my timing & touch still feels ok, even if I am not as bendy or bouncy as in days of yore.
I bought a couple of heavily discounted bats from Mike Ashley : a Stiga Carbo and a Dunlop 7000.
Neither of these is really what I intend to use long-term (if a 50 year old can have a long-term).
But I intend to take one of these along to the club when I first go along.
The Stiga Carbo feels pretty pedestrian, inert and does not seem to generate prodigious amounts of spin, but it feels nice when blocking, and hitting short topspin shots.
The Dunlop on the other hand is faster, more spinny, seems to throw the ball higher, and all-together more responsive, but does not give the same feel or touch as the Stiga.
Which of these would be the better to take along on day 1 of the rest of my table tennis life?

If I survive my re-birth, what would be the ideal set up for me? ( I see that Sriver and Tackiness D are still around 35 years later, but I am sure that things must have moved along a bit)

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Unfortunately bats from department stores, and sadly, from general sports stores are usually pretty dead, slow and heavy. Even bats sold under "good" brand names like Donic, Stiga and Butterfly, which you find in such stores, are dead, slow and heavy. Get something from an actual table tennis retailer - most of these are online. If you're used to Japanese/European rubbers these are available, so is Chinese - Chinese rubbers tend to be a little different than what you might be used to but are perfectly usable. You should also be aware of some changes to the game. The first is, the ball is bigger. This makes it much easier to control, but it also means rubbers that worked back in the 1980s will be a little too slow. Sriver/Tackiness/MarkV will still work, but people will use max thickness sponge rather than 2.0mm. Also, the speed glue ban has given rise to "Tensoroids" - this is a category of fast, spinny rubbers that didn't exist back then. Problem is they're VERY expensive - and aren't actually required, especially for beginners.

My suggestion would be to get this particular bat:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1308156861.html

It's fast enough, has plenty of control and good feel, and is relatively inexpensive. I use this particular blade.

Iskandar

Thank you for the heads up, I also notice from watching the olympics, games are now best of 5 to 11, and serves in blocks of 2.
Last time I played was with 38mm celluloid ball (TSP 3* or Schildkrot IIRC ) so it will be interesting hitting 40mm plastic, especially with my (crappy) Dunlop Rev 7500, as I guess delivery of that nice new bat will take 2-3 weeks.
That bat looks like amazing value btw, and at that price if I do not get along with it, it's no great shakes.
One of the few times I hit a few balls about 12 years ago, (on a campsite in France) I guy leant me a bat and it was Friendship 729 on both sides. I found it was ok for playing close to the table. You could not play back, as there was a wall about 6 foot behind the table ( memories of Desmond Douglas).
Thanks again for the heads-up, the recommendation and the URL.