10 years out of the game - Equipment?

Do you still have your old blade?

When you have played recently, what did you use? How did it feel? How did you feel you played?

I could throw out a bunch of options without hearing answers to those questions. But the answers to some of those questions will help me give you equipment information that is more based on your needs.


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XO21 said:

Hey Carl, thanks for the reply.

Yes, I still have the blade (see attached with a Tibhar Samsonov Alpha I also own). I used the Forte blade with the Bryce rubbers and they felt great considering their age. Obviously they had lost a bit of life and where heavily glued up to inject some play out of them.

Despite not hitting a ball in any table tennis capacity for over a decade I felt my timing and general play was still there.

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Use either blade. Get Tenergy. T05, T80 or T64. Your choice. T05=most spin, highest arc, least speed. T80=a little less spin and arc, a little more speed. T64=fastest, lowest arc, least spin.

All are pretty amazing.

Try them without boosting first. If after a few weeks you feel you want to boost, try with one layer of booster oil first. Only add a second if you feel the first layer was not enough. After trying two layers, only try one more if two layers is not enough.

Speed glue will kind of mess up Tenergy. But they can be boosted by people hooked on the glue effect. Truthfully, I like the fact that I can just glue Tenergy on and not boost it and be fine.

If you wanted a less expensive rubber that is almost as good: Tibhar Evolution MX-P.


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Carl makes a good suggestion. I would add that if you have not played in 10 years, you might consider getting your Tenergy or Tibhar Evolution MX-P in the size just below max thickness. You might also want to get a clubmate or practice partner show you the best ways to use the new water based glues. They are a little different than the speed glues we all used to use. (One big difference, don't stretch these new rubbers when you attach them! We used to do that with speed glue, but it is really bad on these new rubbers). The one thing I would disagree with Carl about, IMHO, it is never necessary to add booster to either Tenergy or MX-P, at least not when those rubbers are new. MX-P already comes with a lot of factory booster, so there is absolutely no point in boosting them, not unless they are getting old and dead feeling and then you can get another more so out of them by re-boosting. I think Tenergy gives you everything you need without it. (By the way, boosters are a way to emulate some of the speed glue effect in a way that evades detection, they are relatively non-volatile oils that you put on the sponge and allow to sit for a few days before gluing). In fact, booster can make Tenergy a mushy and a bit more unpredictable. Actually, I am not sure I disagree with him, since he seems to be just pointing out that these things exist. I know that they can make some rubbers quite a bit better, but I very much question their usefulness for Tenergy or MX-P.

Your blades will still be fine. Later, you might want to try some of the newer composites. The best ones from 2005 are still sold now, but there are many others as well.

Yep. Baal has probably never heard me recommend boosting before. I will give some context.

XO21 said he recently played with his old Bryce Speed glued up with Speed Glue. Now maybe the Bryce is dead from years of sitting in the closet. Probably decently dead. But Speed Glue--the real stuff--that gives much more of a boost effect than the current boosters. And old Bryce on Speed Glue might feel kind of wild compared to Tenergy with no extra boost effect to someone who really can handle Bryce on Speed Glue.

As I said in my post, I don't boost Tenergy. I like T05 more than the other versions of Tenergy. I will take a little extra spin over the speed. But I definitely don't need to boost it. I don't need to boost it when it is worn. I will do something to make the topsheet grip better when T05 is starting to wear out. But I don't bother boosting.

However, I know a couple of pretty high level players who definitely boost whatever Euro/Japanese rubbers they use including Tenergy. I have felt it. To me it feels crazy. But it does feel like a good kind of that I simply don't need.

But it is also why I recommended that, if, after XO21 tried Tenergy for a few weeks, he didn't feel happy with the amount of juice the rubber had, he could cautiously try and boost it, one layer of boost at a time.

If he can handle boosted Tenergy and without boost it feels like it is not quite enough, then he could try.

But the FIRST recommendation is to give it a shot without boosting.

So, basically, I kind of agree with Baal. But if XO21 was a Speed Glue kid, just totally letting go of that may be hard. [emoji2]

If you are happy with Tenergy without boosting, don't bother with it. The process of boosting is kind of a pain in the backside. If you decide you can't get by without at least trying to boost, proceed cautiously, one layer at a time until you find what really works for you.




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You prolly already accepted that nothing will make you feel 10 yrs younger nor will any modern rubber feel like Glued up Bryce. A lively modern offensive rubber is about the best you can go to be close, everyone makes one or five of those. It is also most a matter of art. Some are unique and you pretty much gotta become an EJ to find out for yourself.

What is the over/under on the OP becoming an EJ in the next year?

Hey XO21 - Welcome back.

Sounds like you have followed my footsteps - I had a 10 year break (bar 1 season), and came back to the sport last year.

Again, like you, I used Bryce (with speed glue), before the ban, but I did have a quicker blade (Schlager Carbon).

Regarding rubbers - Tenergy is horribly expensive, but in the grand scheme of things, it works out similar to the rest due to its longevity.

Playing 2-3 times per week, you'll get 6 months of life (more if you don't mind a large percentage of the qualities disappearing), less if want to keep optimum performance.

With a lot of the other rubbers, they will die much much quicker, and you'll end up spending half as much, but having to replace twice as often.

Hope this helps.

I personally don't like thd fx versions.

I have played with the Vega Europe DF for half a year. It's a pretty harmless rubber which is good for developing technique and touch because it is so easy to play with it.

However, in terms of speed and spin, it can't compete with Tenergy. Vega Europe DF can't really handle incoming power right at the table. It's best if you are a bit behind the table. I think many will like it on their backhand (unless you counter-topspin aggressively on the backhand). I used it on my forehand and it was useful for developing consistency as it would take me at least 4-5 Topspins to win a point .

Vega Pro is an excellent rubber that rewards good technique with monstrous spin and power. The sponge doesn't give you as much catapult as with Tenergy so you have to make sure that you transfer your weight well but it's great for the price

XO21 said:

Thanks anchorschmidt! Really helpful reply.

I think I'm going to pick up a pair of Tibhar MX-P's or bite the bullet and pay the extra for some T05's.

Can anyone recommend me some glue? I've got a bit of speed glue here, would that do the trick for a one off glueing of the rubbers? Or do I need to pick up some water based stuff? I think someone mentioned speed glue ruins these sort of rubbers.

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Yeah, if you value your investment you don't really want to use speed glue to glue Tenergy or MXP or most of the glue effect rubbers. The new glue is totally weird and you will need to get used to it. But it is worth using it on these new rubbers. Unless you don't mind the prospect of buying a new set a few days after the first set.

I'd say the price of the Water Based Glue is much better than the price of needing a second set of Tenergy after doing nothing more than glueing them.


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plus, speed glue is bad for your health...

I agree. Don't use speed glue on these new rubbers. They really aren't designed for it and I think it could mess them up.

In a way, I'm kind of jealous that you get to explore a variety of modern rubbers out there.

I recommend Tenergy purely for the fact it's widely used as a reference rubber. There are many reviews where they describe a rubber X like "bit faster than T05 but have lower arc than T05 etc etc" so it's a good idea to grasp the characterictics of Tenergy by using it first. You can always switch to cheaper(but very good) alternatives but you'll always have Tenergy on the back of your mind if you never use it.

the problem with Tenergy , you will probably like it, and don't want to change... and you will end spending up a lot (like me)...

I'm sure there are plenty of good, similar rubbers, but I don't want to try them. No time to waste for that. Any hard sponge tensor rubber from a main maker should be good. XIOM Vega (Japan ?), Omega V (Pro ?), Fastarc G1 (?)... I use SpinArt for BH but for FH i think its good too.