Would switching to a 5 ply wood blade help at this point?

To me it sounds like you may do well with something sort of in between. Something like a Butterfly Petr Korbel or a Tibhar Stratus Power Wood or an OSP Virtuoso Plus. Those are at the high end of Off- or the low end of Off. You could also try a 7 ply all wood blades like a Stiga Clipper or a Xiom Extreme S. Those are kind of thick though and that may feel weird after a blade like the ZJK SZLC.

One thing to know and understand: If your technique is good, you can use anything. But if your technique is not flawless a blade like the ZJK SZLC can cause you to cut down your stroke and not have as complete stroke as you would want. So it can mess with the technique a little. Whereas a blade that is slightly slower, like the Off- blades you are thinking about, will make you work a little harder and force you to have a complete stroke.

As you improve you start being able to get a lot of pace on the ball and a lot of power even though the blade you are using is sort of slow. This is because the slower blade forces you to complete the stroke and use more body. So the slower blade could help your technique to improve.

Which also means, that if you wanted to go fully with something that is a true Off- instead of the blades I mentioned which are a little faster and verging on Off speed rating, it still would actually be a win win scenario.

Blades like Nittaku Acoustic or Violin, OSP Virtuoso, Stiga Offensive Classic, Yasaka Sweden Extra. There are many more.

Every time I have had my main blade break (I am Hell on blades - they only last a year for me) I go to the Nexy Lissom, a 5 ply blade and play 1-4 months, then get back my main blade.

Whenever I get my main blade back after using Lissom a few months, my playing level goes UP every time.

Why? I have to work a little harder on the power shot and do better preparation work to set it up. I can also generate great spin, which helps me focus on control... so many of the things that pundit coaches talk about and hold as important, I check those blocks with my fallback 5 ply wooden blade.

I would say go for it, use it a few months, it will kinda force you to be better on your first touch, your middle shots, your openers, and whatever you do to setup shots.

I hate to be the party pooper but there is a contradiction in your post and I am second guessing that there is a language barrier , at one point you say you have been playing table tennis professionally and at another you are saying that you unofficially rated as somebody who can play comfortably against players in the range of 1800-2100 ... would you mind clarifying which is which ?

Der and Carl has given you the best advice possible based on what you information you have provided ... but please keep in mind that 1800-2100 is a wide range .. and 2400 is in on an entirely different level....

You should really post your video and ask people for advise , even better , go to a coach that you feel is good and honest and ask him for his opinion ...

In general, yes switching to a wood blade is always advisable , but the stuff you saw the 2400 level player do is a combination of lot of advanced technique , reading spin , touch , ability to create more spin that you can perceive from the contact you see from the other end , and the list goes on ... it is not really an indicator of what your real shortcomings are ...
and to reinforce the point I was originally making, I also play comfortably with people in the range you mentioned , but also I have trouble against lower level players who are less predictable and who spin and placement is not as consistent ... which actually is nothing against them but rather against me , if I truly belonged to the 2100 level I would have no problem in handling those guys .. and I try to play whosoever wants to play with me as long as they are serious about the game ... and not somebody who is just fooling around ... so beware of "unofficial" ratings tag , its best to play sanctioned tournaments to know your true playing level and ask for advise from a coach who can actually see your game in real life , or at least supplement your questions with video evidence...

i have seen people who have used composite blades that are fast and have a better improvement in their game when they switched to a 5 ply all wood blade. what good does speed will do you if you cannot maximize the use of your blade's speed because your shots are going off the table always. sure the 5 ply all wood is slower but you can use your own muscle power to produce stronger shots and then at the end of the day you can still control your strokes and ball accuracy.

Clu37 said:

When I meant unofficially rated, I meant it as an estimate people gave me. I have a rating of 974, particularly because I did pretty bad in the few tournaments I've been to (Got very nervous, but handicap tournaments has helped me a lot recently, I have my next tournament in a week and I feel very confident about it. Playing U1400, U1600, and Team U3600).

I don't think that 1800-2100 is THAT wide of a margin, given that 2000+ have pretty much mastered basic and advanced strokes, can easily read spin and play through tactics rather than actual technique. I believe the only difference between an 1800 and a 2000+ player is the fact that 2000+ player has more knowledge regarding what tactics to use and when to effectively use them. Obviously, 2400+ would mean that they know much more about how to effectively use tactics than 2000+ and so on and so on. Coaches, other professional players, some national team players, etc. have given me that range of 1800-2100 as a good estimate of where I'm at right now. I honestly think that I lean more towards the 1800 range than the 2100 range, but I'm pretty sure in a matter of a few more months I might be able to surpass that barrier.

Regarding the wood blade, I've come to the conclusion that I should use a wood blade for the next few months, see how it goes. A slower blade will help develop strokes and force my body to perform the stroke, which is a really good point you guys made. Only reason why I say Timo Boll Off- is because its the only other blade I have, and I don't want to start EJ'ing as I see that it's quite addictive. But on a serious note, I'm pretty sure Timo Boll Off- is a good enough blade for a 5-ply; it has a pretty wide sweet spot, handle is comfortable, vibrations feel great, though I really do appreciate the recommendations.

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With all due respect, you can only speak about ratings and what it takes to maintain them with some confidence when you have actually achieved them. 1800 and 2100 are like night and day, I tend even when I am losing rating points not to lose to 1800 players who are not actually playing at a 2000 level (their performance and rating level dramatically jumps after I lose to them if they are playing tournaments).

All the rating estimates are based on what they see you do, they cannot see you adjust to pressure or weaker players so take the estimates with a grain of salt, competitive TT reveals a lot about people that ratings estimates do not. The desire to win a point by pushing or keeping the ball on the table vs taking a risk to make an offensive shot often separates the men from the boys. And being able to do so when the score is 0-1 and when the score is 9-10 is another separator.

On the blade question, using a slower blade never hurts especially when developing aspects of your technique. That said, it does take time to adjust in either direction and the time taken to adjust must be accepted.

NextLevel said:

With all due respect, you can only speak about ratings and what it takes to maintain them with some confidence when you have actually achieved them. 1800 and 2100 are like night and day, I tend even when I am losing rating points not to lose to 1800 players who are not actually playing at a 2000 level (their performance and rating level dramatically jumps after I lose to them if they are playing tournaments).

All the rating estimates are based on what they see you do, they cannot see you adjust to pressure or weaker players so take the estimates with a grain of salt, competitive TT reveals a lot about people that ratings estimates do not. The desire to win a point by pushing or keeping the ball on the table vs taking a risk to make an offensive shot often separates the men from the boys. And being able to do so when the score is 0-1 and when the score is 9-10 is another separator.

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Well said.

UpSideDownCarl said:

To me it sounds like you may do well with something sort of in between. Something like a Butterfly Petr Korbel or a Tibhar Stratus Power Wood or an OSP Virtuoso Plus. Those are at the high end of Off- or the low end of Off. You could also try a 7 ply all wood blades like a Stiga Clipper or a Xiom Extreme S. Those are kind of thick though and that may feel weird after a blade like the ZJK SZLC.

One thing to know and understand: If your technique is good, you can use anything. But if your technique is not flawless a blade like the ZJK SZLC can cause you to cut down your stroke and not have as complete stroke as you would want. So it can mess with the technique a little. Whereas a blade that is slightly slower, like the Off- blades you are thinking about, will make you work a little harder and force you to have a complete stroke.

As you improve you start being able to get a lot of pace on the ball and a lot of power even though the blade you are using is sort of slow. This is because the slower blade forces you to complete the stroke and use more body. So the slower blade could help your technique to improve.

Which also means, that if you wanted to go fully with something that is a true Off- instead of the blades I mentioned which are a little faster and verging on Off speed rating, it still would actually be a win win scenario.

Blades like Nittaku Acoustic or Violin, OSP Virtuoso, Stiga Offensive Classic, Yasaka Sweden Extra. There are many more.

Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. That's exactly my point of view.
I switched from a Timo Boll ALC to an old-all-wood blade ALL+.
It is a bit slower and it flexes a lot more.With soft rubbers provides enough control and spin. Speed and brutal power are not there, but I don't need them.

I need to feel the ball, use my body more and improve my technique. And it is actually happening.
High percentage of my strokes now lands on the other side of the table.

So if you are not an expert, I strongly suggest to avoid fancy-high-end equipment. Basic stuff is more than enough.
At least it works for me.

Can we not circle jerk our rating too hard. His official rating is 954, if we give advice off that it's useless to him as it will be, work on pushing and stroke work as you can't loop.
If anyone thinks he might be 1800-2100 and by his admission doesn't take tournaments then his rating is pointless.
We are happy to accept estimations of usatt from non US as they can't do usatt tournaments but if a us player doesn't do them but still plays a high level then with respect estimates is better than obviously wrong

I (1219 USATT rating after ~1 year) find that the outermost wood type seems to matter. a 7-ply Sanwei Fextra (Limba x2, Ayous x3, Limba x2) seems to have a better touch than say a Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive (Walnut outer, 5 ply). So there are very fast 5-ply rackets (also rosewood outer layer) which create touch challenges compared to the softer wood outer layer.

This guy asked this question 3 years or so ago, so I believe he already applied his answer :| Also If he played like 2100, he probably already has his rating by now.

Old dead thread. No need to give advice to the OP who opened this thread in 2017.

Necromancy can create confusion. Not always. Sometimes there is a good reason to wake a thread. But this one....I am not sure I see a reason.

Send out the GOON SQUAD !!!

Raising these threads would be really interesting if any OP ever came back to say what they decided and how it worked out. But despite spending far too much time reading TT forums, I don't ever recall seeing that.

It would be even better if Greg Letts suddenly revived the thread, then make the comment that J.O Waldner is standing nearby and gotta go...