This may change your mind on what to play.

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Doesn't it bug ya that no one actually reads, thinks, and responds to this kind of thread, but hundreds are crazy to know hte exact blade/rubber combo of a CNT player?

Why learn about blades and think for yourself when you can model yourself after Ma Long by picking the exact setup that he does ;) ?
 
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So true Der Echte. If people read this it should give them a good understanding on how to pick a blade and rubber that will suit them instead of just trying to copy a pro that is far above their playing level.

I'm receiving a new blade soon and I will try and match a rubber to it using the method in the article.
 
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Doesn't it bug ya that no one actually reads, thinks, and responds to this kind of thread, but hundreds are crazy to know hte exact blade/rubber combo of a CNT player?

Very good point Der_Echte but I think many of the people including me wants to know the pros equipment just because it's fun to see which rubbers and blades they using and not because people searching for the exact same equipment as their Idol. But of course their is some people who things they will magical become as good as Ma Long because they use the same equipment, but thats just sad.. :)
 
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Well, i bought DHS Hurricane 3 and it is way far better than my JM and Carbonado, and many in the club asking or recommending me to go with Hurricane Long 5, and there is one player using it and it is really an amazing awesome blade, believe me, if those pros using blades that are bad for us then we will never care about it, but they are nice blades they are using, and most players here are really good skilled.

From what i see in the club, they don't care about ply or wood type or carbon type, they just buy and play, even coaches somehow don't know about the designs of the blades or rubbers, they just copy what they read, but one coach i always ask he use and test rackets and give about his opinion and feeling or impression, he tested almost all my rackets because he assembled them all, but i tell him about the design or material used sometimes as they care about how those racket perform in playing and not care much about what things are those rackets made of, the only thing they know if this racket is all wood or have carbon.
 
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On the other side of the coin, it is a LOT of fun to buy all kinds of equipment and try it out if you have the money, even better if you can get people to give you equipment to try. Fun to make reviews for forums too.

My main point was that it seems 99% of the forum is so totally tongue wagging bloody drooling interested in much more minor matters (like what bat a certain player uses or what was the color of his Chocolate Sundae he had last week) and willing to learn and discuss those instead of some things that are more educational and useful. (like the OP's post)

OP had this post up for 1/2 day and no one responded or barely even read the post, but when we post a topic like "What ZZ Top CNT player is using - spy photo"... then that thread got 4000 hits and 10 comments the first hour it posted.
 
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Come on guys, there's no need to act all superior. Give players a little more credit. it's a good article, but it is long and boring for a quick read. I read all sorts of technical stuff in my day job. I read this once, but even I would have to perhaps print this so that I could scan-read in order to get a full understanding.
Now if someone could summarise it. that would be great
 
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I agree Tiny, it is serious read that you cannot do when the wife is nagging and the kids get crazy, you gotta chew on it and ponder on it considerable. I do not agree with everything he wrote, but i gotta say it causes you to think and evaluate for oneself what is important and that in my book is a very good thing. I suspect that holds value to you as well.

I was interested in seeing WHY the author held important his criteria in selecting equipment, that is always good to examine and reconsider one's reasoning. I was particularly interested in what he thought about hollow handled blades and WHY he thought they acted the way they did. Everyone knows for the record I am nuetral to strongly against those kind of blades for my own clear reasons.
 
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I feel it is a very in-depth, well-though, excellently research but never the less very theoretical and therefore a boring article.
I have come to the point, where I agree that equipment might have more or less 5% impact on your game. Everything else is technique, fitness, tactics and strategy.

Yes, in off season, we should try out new gear to understand what is new or what might suit us better. But putting loads of money behind it is purely a personal pursuit which depends on how much cash you can spare.

Whenever, I think of upgrading or changing my setup due to despair, I always look at players who are playing much much better than me without using any cutting edge technology stuff. It always helps me in putting my mind in the correct perspective, so I realize again that it is technique that matters.

But, as a closing remark, I always enjoy reading and watching equipment reviews, because this helps me sometimes in deciding on what to choose next. But it is always better to take these reviews with a pinch of salt.
 
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Holy f**k this is serious EJ stuff. You need help man.....

Seriously though, i've read through the first few parts and agree with it on the most part.

Just one question.

Is it true that parallel grain direction = better quality?
One explanation i've heard about slanted grains is due to the fact that that piece of wood was originally from the near-root part of the tree, which makes sense, assuming that they wont turn the chunk of wood while cutting just to go along with the pattern.....thats for Kiso hinoki though...and i've seen slanted patterns even on BTY custom mades too.....

Also im not sure if it feels any different while playing too

Any thoughts?
 
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There is some very intrestibg and usefull stuff, but the theory behind combinations of hardness of the rubber and blade is just bullsh....!

A beginner should play with medium hard rubber on the forehand and medium on the backhand on an allround blade and when you grt an off- blade you should upgrade your backhand rubber to medium hard as well?! Thats not good at all for beginners. They should get an allround blade with soft and slow rubbers to develop and once their technique is good they can get harder rubbers...
 
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Thanks for the article. I'm sorry to say I'm currently reading it and enjoying it.

I've also posted a photo of Fatt's hollow handle on the French forum. I always suspected BTY blades have hollow handles, but am not wealthy (or upset) enough to split any of mine ;)

I find the rubber matches an interesting thought. However I'd have to moderate the suggestions with personal preference (hard / soft rubbers) and whetehr you will actually only need to consider hardness and thickness when having to deal with more powerful spins...
 
great article, definitely something to refer back to when dealing with equipment.

@amayzde : the reasoning is sound wrt to blade and rubber choices, you don't want soft rubbers to start off with as they will have the most bouncyness at slow speed which effectively ruins control for beginners as they are mostly playing in the slow/medium side of things.
 
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Hollow handle or not?.. You can test by seeing from x-ray machine when you enter in some big companies.

Ex.
Clipper cr both normal and wrb are hollow.
 
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