OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hello,

I've been playing TT for roughly 3 years, and I am about to buy a brand new bat. I'm working on improving my chopping and bridging the gaps to become a proper modern defender

Style of play: wannabe modern defender, loads of patience and spin manipulation to annoy the opponent, I love to add massive spin to every stroke
FH: moderately attacking. Spinny serves, mostly looping, sometimes blocks to surprise the opponent, and some chops to slow down the pace
BH: mostly defense far from the table, short pushes and some flicks when the ball allows for it

I was thinking about the following setup:
Blade: Donic Defplay Senso
FH: VJC>07 Sticky Extra, or anyway something with massive spin that still allows for acceptable control
BH: Any beginner LP (not sure whether OX or with a thin sponge though) which doesn't require too much technical skills to be mastered.

Looking forward to reading your advices,
Thank you in advance.

Defplay Senso V3 is one of blades I currently play with ..

However, I would recommend Victas Koji Matsushita Offensive Blade..

As for inverted, you could also look at one of the variants of Spinlord Marder..

As a beginner LP for chopping I would recommend either

• Yinhe Neptune 0.5mm - 0.7mm
• Dawei 388D-1 0.5 - 0.7mm
• Butterfly Feint Long II 0.5mm

Hello ootbs,

Thank you very much for your reply.
I checked indeed the Neptune and the 388D-1, and they appear to be good options, also easily available at online stores.

A couple of follow-up questions:

• Why did you recommend me a LP with (thin) sponge instead of an 0X one? I never got to understand the difference between them, and which type of players would benefit from one or the other
• About the Koji Matsushita Offensive, is it the case that the higher quality (and price-tag) makes it retain the same level of control of the Defplay Senso, but with increased offensive capabilities? I read around that the Defplay Senso is already advised for modern defenders, although indeed stats say that it is not that fast.

OX

- more control
- Slower
- more deception (close to the table)
- more reversal (close to the table)

Thin Sponge

- little bit less control
- faster (better for offensive strokes)
- little bit less deception and reversal close to the table

On Black Friday, I have bought several blades and pips and inverted rubbers. I have the defplay (34+% discount) and also the VKMO (76 instead of 120€) which would be delivered next week.
- I have also bought the Galaxy Neptune in Red OX
- Dawei 388D-1 Quattro Allround, 0,3 Red (I wonder if it's frictionless or not --> banned?)
- Dawei 388D-1, 0,5 Black
- Dawei 388D, 0,5 Black

My dream set up would be the Nittaku Violoncello blade Straight (to ease Twiddling) with a New Joola Dynaryz Max rubber (ACC and then maybe later AGR)
and a good long pip for chopping in OX or thin sponge.
I thought of the Giant Dragon Cropcircles but I've read it's not good as mentioned on Revspin.

Best regards

Jakob (Belgium-27y)

Thank you Jakob.
Given your analysis of pros and cons, I think then the OX would be more suitable to my style of play, as I won't be attacking at all with my LP, apart from some occasional BH flick on easy balls, or some deceptive FH serves after twiddling the bat.

Hi,

The recommendations I've made, are based on personal experiences, and preferences.

I've played with both, the Defplay Senso V3 (which I own), and VKMO, which 2-3 players I play with own, but I play with, every now and then .. At time, I find the Deplay a tad to springy .. Lately, I've been gravitating towards blades that are harder & stiffer .. My Defplay with setup with the Neptune 0.6mm ... A fellow club-make has a VKMO with Neptune 06.mm, and for some reason, I prefer his setup .. I feel that I can block better, when close to the table, and chop better, when away (mid-distance) from the table ..

I recommended LPs with a thin sponge, since you mentioned that you'd like to learn how to play in the modern-defender style - chopping away from the table .. With the new P-ball, I feel a LP with a thin sponge, is more versatile, and more suited to chopping, without losing too much control.

Very detailed reply, thanks.

In the end, I don't mind spending a bit more on the bat and make a long-term investment.
All in all, I'm not so experienced with "feeling" the difference between the various equipment yet, so I guess I'll just give a try with the setup you favored the most and then take that as a benchmark.

I'll ask you one last question about sponge thickness for the FH: I read that values below 2.0 are suitable for less offensive players which still want a good amount of control. Does it then make sense to look at a thickness of around 1.8, given my level and style of play?

Yes, I guess 1.8mm or so, should be good for chopping as well as spinny loops ...

You're welcome, but I forget to mention that Sponged LP's can create more spin variations

The problem with ox and slow wood that they are too slow with a new ball. And if the level of your opponent's is not high they will often send you empty balls instead of topspin. No spin balls are hard to chop with long pips, especially with ox. That is why a modern trend is to use short or medium pips for chopping.

I agree with the downside of using ox on a slow blade. I'd add stiga vertical 20 with .5 sponge to the list of good, easy chopping rubbers. I've been playing around with it for the past few months, good spin on chops and nice attacking potential.Not as difficult to learn the short game as say the classic P1-r

umm.. for me, it'd depend on the blade, and LP ... An OX LP such as D.tecs would, for me, would work fine on a stiff slow'ish blade.. If on a fast blade, then I'd prefer atleast a wee bit of sponge.. Some LPs have a sponge that act as a cushion, absorbing speed .. The problem (atleast for me) with OX is the almost direct contact with the wood, which, against power-loops, makes the ball just fly off the table, especially when passive blocking, close to the table.. Ofcourse, this issue (like most others) can be mitigated with the correct technique, and bat-angle ..