Too many table tennis rubbers. PLEASE HELP!

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Hi everyone, I’m sorry if this topic has been talked about before, but I couldn’t find any thread on this topic.
I’m making my best attempt at playing professional table tennis.
My equipment count is a little high.
Blades:
‘Joola air carbon
timo boll alc
butterfly Primorac carbon x2
joola Rossi emotion
stiga carbonado 190 (94g :/)
Donic persson power (100g :/)

Rubbers
Tenergy 05 black used
tenergy 05 red used
tenergy 64 red used x2 (1 has sponge damage)
tenergy 25 fx red used 1.7 mm
donic bluefire jp01 red used
donic bluefire jp01 black used
Dhs hurricane 3 black used
dhs tg2 neo red used
xiom vega pro black used (very good condition)
xiom vega elite red used (very good condition)
stiga boost tc red used
stiga boost tc black used
joola x-plode black used
tibhar evolution mxp black used (good condition)
joola Rhyzm red used
tibhar evolution mxp red used
tibhar evolution mxp black used
tibhar evolution elp black used
donic barracuda big slam red used
andro rasant powersponge black used (good condition)
Andro Rasant grip black (new)
tenergy 05 fx black (used once)
tenergy 05 fx red(brand new)
tenergy 05 black (brand new)
donic acuda blue p2 black used
andro Rasanter r50 (quite dead, wasn’t happy with the lifetime of the rubber)
andro hexer black 1.9 used
xiom omega Europe red used
tibhar nimbus black used
friendship 729 fx used
tenergy 80 black used 1.9 (pretty good condition)

im still developing my technique, but it’s good overall.
chinese rubbers give me injuries :( maybe not if I stretch.


I enjoy playing offensive, good spin, but not dead speed on loop
currently I’m using timo boll alc, red Tenergy 64bh, Andro Rasant powersponge black fh.
all opinions are welcome. Thank you.
 
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says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
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Do you have a USATT rating? If you have some sort of rating from playing tournaments, what is it?

How long have you been playing?

From your description it sounds like you have the fundamental skills like looping from both wings, looping against backspin, counterlooping. Is that right?

Are you stronger on one wing than the other?

If the assumptions I made above are accurate, the blade sounds like a fine choice.

Of all those rubbers you have tried, which do you like best? Why?

Is there a reason you have chosen different rubbers for FH and BH? If so, what are they?

The rubbers sound fine too. I just think it is worth having a sense of why you have made the equipment choices you have made so far.

Last thing. Chinese rubbers like H3 are not for everyone. And the rubbers the top pros from China are using—especially if you add how they boost them—are really nothing like anything you are likely to get your hands on. Well....unless you have a very good source for DHS National equipment.


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Hi Carl, I do possess all the skills, my rating in Canada would be around 1000+ I really like tensor rubbers, the problem with my current rubber (rasant power sponge) is that it has a kick on the passive shots, yet has strange slow/still effect on loops.
possibly a little too soft and mushy for me, although I’m getting used to it.
i like Tenergy 05,64,and 80.
64 has a really nice catapult on the backhand, and backhand loops and passive shots fell amazing.
05 has a nice margin for error on loops, and 80 is a mix of both(which I like).
I have good spin on servers, Tenergy 05 and tibhar evolution mxp both give me the right amount of grip to spin the ball.
my forehand is much stronger than backhand in terms of control, and spin.
my loops are very powerful, mxp also fits nicely but feels a little hard, and the feeling doesn’t seem strong enough for me.
xiom vega pro is not too bad, but has not enough catapult. I’ve been playing for over 5 years.
 
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I also like Donic bluefire series which is also more affordable, but it doesn’t have that “TENERGY feeling”.
joola Rhyzer is also pretty good.
its just annoying that I know if I want to improve, I’ll have to stick To just one rubber.

I know that it is good to use the same rubber for as long as possible (not the same sheet but model).
I was thinking about using the two 05fx rubbers, or use 05 fx fh and 64 for backhand.
the two 05fx rubbers are old packaging, so they might not play as well.
the 05 was purchased brand new (fresh stock about a month ago).
shelflife is also a big concern for me.
 
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I was thinking about boosting the two old 05s with paraffin or baby oil. I’d use it on my Primorac carbon.
my concern is whether to use the fresh 05 now, or 05 fx, or rasant grip.
I’m playing well. I take coaching and I’m thinking about improving before using the 05 so that I could fully appreciate it.
i\I would switch to the old 05, then 05 fx and then to the new 05. Or if I should use the mxp or the bluefire.
I think that I should sell some rubbers except of mxp, and Tenergies, bluefire and vega pro.
thank you very much for your reply.
 
says Spin and more spin.
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Is there any way you can make a short video of anywhere between 15 seconds and 2 min of your training.

I am not sure what 1000+ rating in Canada is equivalent to. But something seems off in how you are going about EJing.

There are so many things that could be good for you. But this game is really much more about technique than equipment. Any of what you list could be (should be) fine. But changing things on such a regular basis in itself could be damaging to your improvement.

And if the Rasant rubber was too soft, what would make you switch it out for a soft FX rubber?


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Hi, I’m sorry but I don’t know what EJing means.
im switching from a soft sponge to an fx as the Tenergy series has its properties.
its like the speed on the loops is there, and so is the spin, the right throw angle, and other aspects.
I don’t want to sound strange, but I got used to the Tenergy and tibhar evolution series.
I was thinking about experimenting with rubbers until I find the right one. I haven’t had all the rubbers on my all blade.
I have a coaching lesson on Thursday, and I could take a video that I can upload.
 
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Hi, I’m sorry but I don’t know what EJing means.
im switching from a soft sponge to an fx as the Tenergy series has its properties.
its like the speed on the loops is there, and so is the spin, the right throw angle, and other aspects.
I don’t want to sound strange, but I got used to the Tenergy and tibhar evolution series.
I was thinking about experimenting with rubbers until I find the right one. I haven’t had all the rubbers on my all blade.
I have a coaching lesson on Thursday, and I could take a video that I can upload.

EJ is equipment junkie. And FX versions of butterfly rubbers are a few degree softer than the normal version. So that means FX is the soft version.
 
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I'm in agreement with UpsideDownCarl about the habit of changing things too often can be detrimental to your game. For me, it takes approximately 5 long playing sessions until I feel comfortable enough with the new equipment to want to use it in a match; re-calibrating to the effects of new equipment takes time (i.e., throw angle, blade angle for loops, block positioning, how linear is the rubber in terms of how your speed of hitting affects the flight of the ball, etc).

In the grand scheme of things, especially for people who aren't playing at the national level, I would argue that slight variations of sponge hardness, relatively arbitrary speed or spin ratings of the rubber or blade (subjectively defined by each company) are going to have little impact on your game. This would be especially true if areas of your form/technique have clear room for improvement. For example, a faster blade and rubber are only so fast if your stroke isn't proficient enough to actually utilize the potential of the equipment, and the setup may be too fast if the other aspects of your game are deficient (i.e., control, body positioning, reaction time, etc). Another way to think about it is that world-class players used to use Sriver and all wood blades just a few decades ago (now considered by many to be "too slow", "obsolete", etc). While table tennis technology is constantly improving, which allows those at the very top of the sport to squeeze out that little extra bit of advantage, those professionals could still play the game at unfathomably high levels with decades old equipment.

I think the best way to move forward with deciding on your equipment is to determine how you like to play and what you want to get out of the game. From there, it's doing a sufficient amount of research to find equipment would best support your interests, buying that equipment, and then sticking with it for months. Only after spending a significant amount of time with equipment would a person have a reasonable sense of what attributes they would like to change. This just happens to be my own personal opinion on the matter.
 
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Hi Nate, I also agree.
I was really stupid to buy all that equipment in the first place. Some I got from friends for cheap.
I also believe that equipment shouldn’t be changed that often.
the only blade I use is the tb alc, and occasionally the Primorac carbon.
The Tenergy 05 fx feels solid and I’ll keep it that way. Nice trajectory,speed, spin,and amazing for serves.
(Thank you Countrybread)
 
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Overall, my technique is good, the only mistake I make is that when I complete my loop, my arm goes straight down, and around. This gives me less time to recover, therefore I sometimes miss shots. My forehand counter, forehand loop, forehand smash, and all backhand techniques are otherwise correct. I play with some anti players that block, they struggle with my loops. All that I have to improve is recovery from forehand loop. I can control the timo boll alc with many different rubbers. I’ve spent a long time on a quest to find good equipment.

Ive been doing research for years, I just couldn’t decide on what to choose.
The Tenergy 05 fx seems very versatile and doesn’t seem to have any awkward characteristics. I’ll stick to it.
Today I traded a blade I don’t use (Joola air carbon) for another timo boll alc. It will be my backup.
My EJing started when I was playing with a family friend, he had been teaching me table tennis for two years.
(let’s say he wasn’t professional, but good) he was the best in the group.
I always played offensively.
i had a Joola drive bat, replaced the forehand rubber for a cheap milky way, then “POW!” I win my first game against him (ever).
The excitement had been there till recently, until I noticed that keeping the same setup was the way to go.
 
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says Spin and more spin.
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If T05fx is working for you, then I am sure it is okay.

It just is not a normal thing for someone to use a softer rubber for FH than BH because FH is the bigger stroke. The exception to that is when someone's FH is significantly worse than their BH, sometimes the person will use a slightly softer rubber on FH in that scenario. Otherwise, the normal thing is for FH and BH to use the same rubber or for BH to use a slightly softer rubber.

By the way, I don't think you answered why you would use a different rubber for FH and BH. And my guess is, if you are using the softer rubber on FH, and your FH is not significantly worse, than, probably you don't have a well thought out reason. And the reason is not based on the needs of either wing.

If that is the case, you should think about either using T05FX for both sides or what you have on BH for both sides.
 
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Too many rubbers indeed. For me EJing is not a bad thing, but provided a man can afford it with new stuff.
For me the problem here is that most of the rubbers are used and I don't think that with used rubbers the quest would be successful, because with used rubbers you can't judge the real rubber properties.
Usually the softer rubbers of a particular brand and family have shorter life span than the harder ones, but its different if you compare different brands. Usually, with time, you may feel the softer rubbers to lose properties at mid and longer distance, and not so much over the table. Harder rubbers tend to loose properties over the table and at longer distance, not so much at close-mid distance. Harder and stiffer blades may kill the sponge faster than the softer and more flexible ones. A hitter will kill the sponge faster, a brusher will kill faster the top sheet rubber. Depending on the player's stamp the rubber may look pretty good, but in fact to be exhausted, or it may look really bad, but with almost intact properties. Generally "used" is not a good enough creteria to estimate the loss of properties in quantity and quality.
All these may jeoperdise your judgment.
So, I would stick with the new rubbers and continue my research evaluating my feel with them.
 
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Hi, I feel that my backhand stroke is short, therefore I need more speed on the backhand side.
My coach also uses the same setup. (My setup is not based on his, but on my preference).
My forehand is stronger, therefore it’s easier for me to generate speed, plus the fx allows me to generate more spin.


Edit: I’m sorry, my coaching session had been rescheduled for Friday, I’ll post a video. Thanks.
 
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