OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hello,

I've been playing with thick balsa blades with LP ox lately. The problem is that blocking fast drives/loops often end up going long. Does anyone have some recommendations for LPs that provide decent reversal but also dampen or absorb incoming ball speed to compensate for the speed of the thick balsa? Thanks!

Which Balsa Blade and LP are you using ...?

Actually, one of the properties of Balsa, that makes it unique, is that in can absorb incoming energy quite well, and can also generate a good amount of of outgoing energy..

But, yes, balsa blades can seem quite lively ..

When I started of with my 10mm Balsa, I had the same issue.. However, after playing with it for almost 2.5 years, it works a lot better now, at blocking incoming attacks.. I won't say it works 100%, but it's been a significant improvement, from when I started with it... I think, it's a technique thing.. I guess, relaxing my grip, and holding the blade, from just a wee bit lower, and closing the blade, the last minute when blocking, MAY be helping, but I'm not too sure.. My body works on Auto-Pilot mode, and tends to make these micro-adjustments, on it's own.

I'm currently using Neubauer High Tech Plus. It is 13mm thick. I also have a Neubauer Firewall Plus, which I think is about 10mm. BH rubber is Dragon Talon National Team.

Which blade and LP do you use?

It's difficult to get an lp that dampens and still gives strong reversal
Best dampening p1r ox but low passive reversal.
Best of both worlds 388d ox,slower than Talon national team but good passive reversal.
Is it slow enough for your blade ?I can't say I've never used thick balsa

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Tsp Black Balsa 3.0 Tenergy 05 1.9 388d ox black

You may try this blade: https://www.czopiarze.pl/Deska-Barna-Original-Champion

This is a def blade with balsa side, very light weight, feeling is very good, reversal spin especially on ox is very good. On the sponge, you may produce close to the table little low spin than in ox, we tried this blade on several combinations, and in our opinion this is one of the best blades with balsa ( of course I mean def blades ).

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I gave up on thick balsa blades some years ago for the very same reason. Thinner kiri blades seem to work for me. I’m playing with Joola CWX with Dornenglanz 3 and it’s very manageable. Hope this helps

Here's something funny - I had 388d(ox) on a couple of blades.. absolutely fine .. worked well .. good reversal .. decent control, et all .. Then, I decided to transfer a sheet onto my 10mm Balsa Hinoki Carbon .. It was uncontrollable & crazy .. I just could not keep the ball on the table, even against a spinny push.. thought, I must've glued-it on wrong ..but, it was the same, even after re-gluing .. After that, I glued-on a Globe 979 on the same blade, and it worked really well. When the pips started falling-off, I replaced the Globe with Bomb Talent, which is what I am using now.. I feel that even though the BT is faster than the 388d, it's still more controllable than the 388D, on the Balsa blade..

Try either (or all) :

• Dr.N - Troublemaker
• Spinlord Dornenglanz
• Globe 979
• Metal TT - Death

Though I like 388D (tried it on a very slow Balsa and few other allround wood blades, it performed well on all of them), BT will always be my no.1 LP choice to play and enjoy table tennis with confidence from a purely recreational perspective

As PB very well said.The best blocking pips with best braking effect are : GD NT and D.Techs.
DG blocks well but tends to send the ball longer but who cares? Dg is dangerous if you can block low enough.

Thick Balsa blades are often OFF+++ and difficult to control owing to their so-called catapult effect.