Upgrading beginner blade and rubber... advice needed!

Beastwood · Jan 14, 2019

Hi everyone. Long time lurker first time posting.
I'm currently playing my first season in a local league (UK). My current set up was a premade bat from Amazon that cost about 23 pounds. It is an unknown blade with palio cj8000 rubbers both sides.
I've been practicing several times a week and have learnt all the basic strokes. I'm looking to get a bit extra kick in my strokes whilst keeping the control.
My playstyle is mainly hitting hard forehand and backhand topspins at my opponent though I rely on my backhand push a lot to play against backspin.
I don't want to break the bank here or go for something too advanced for my level.
In terms of blades I'm thinking the yasaka Sweden extra or the xiom allround S.
Rubber wise Most forums recommend mark V but these are around 30 pounds a sheet in the UK. I was wondering what kind of rubbers would complement someone like me on a blade like that and allow me to compete more with players in my league.
Many thanks.

thekleifheit13 · Jan 14, 2019

For blade you're making the right choice with ALL+/OFF- speed. The Yasaka gets great reviews but I have never played with it personally. If you're interested in Mark V you could use Dawei 2008. It's the same class of rubber as Mark V but ever so slightly more powerful. You can get it for about 8 USD from Eacheng. If you end up ordering from Eacheng you can get the Sanwei M8 blade for very cheap as well, it is the same class of blade as the Sweden Extra but about 1/3 the price.

jammmail · Jan 14, 2019

Where are you playing Beastwood? Good stuff on your first season, Im halfway through my first season back after a long break!
Have you had chance to play with other bats? That would be my first idea, at training, or practice with your teammates, see if you can have a go with there bats first to give an idea for what you like. The suggestions you make are solid but after playing with the YSE for a bit I've gone back to my BTY Primorac as just wasn't getting on with it. Its a bit bouncy and plays a certain way, I much prefer my Primorac but we're all different, it might be perfect for you. Buying without trying can be an expensive game of roulette!

Beastwood · Jan 14, 2019

Thanks for the advice pal. I've looked at blades and don't want to go too fast. I've heard a few dodgy things about AliExpress is eacheng reliable?

Beastwood · Jan 14, 2019

Jammmail I'm in Blackpool mate. I've played a few different bats but not long enough to fall in love with anything. I tried a pimpled rubber set up and deffo don't like that!
I've been weighing it up for a few weeks now. Read stuff on revspin about what to go for but it really is a maze of statistics that don't all make sense to me.
Was the yasaka Sweden extra too stiff feeling as I've read it's supposed to have some flexibility in it?

thekleifheit13 · Jan 14, 2019

Beastwood said:
Thanks for the advice pal. I've looked at blades and don't want to go too fast. I've heard a few dodgy things about AliExpress is eacheng reliable?

I've ordered from Eacheng about 4 times and have never had any trouble. I've never ordered from Aliexpress because I've heard a lot of the same things you probably have.

Also, it's smart to stay very slow with blades (not DEF-level slow, but slow). It'll help your development.

Der_Echte · Jan 14, 2019

Every time one of these "What should I get for new bat?" threads come up, I wanna link a vid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8Fzgkk7r1I

... but then again, no one really does a search let alone look at the same thread we had just last week on the same subject.

We over analyze stuff so much and also recommend the same outdated stuff so much.

Go for middle of the road speed/spin and high control for your first couple years and then you know enough to go from there.

Typical setup ALL to OFF- blade and modern control rubbers... you will be fine with any of the 1,928,361 possible combinations... every company makes several.

Loopadoop · Jan 14, 2019

Palio Cat blade

Inexpensive at AliExpress

ttdad · Jan 14, 2019

I appreciate all the help and input from the experienced players. My confusion is do all ALL blades play the same way, or all OFF- blades play the same way. I think logically the answer is no because the composition of the blades is different. If this is the case then the composition of the blade has to be considered. This is hard to figure out for beginner/intermediate level player, and this is the reason for same question again and again IMO. The way the ball bounces off the blade like I have read some blades give a linear trajectory, some give a high arc, and to make things more confusing there are other descriptions like catapult, trampoline effect, dwell, flex, hardness/softness and so on.

I have seen recommendations to pick a decent setup and develop your game based on it but when you want to change the setup should you relearn everything. Then I see make small adjustments each time so that you dont have to adjust a lot but then you have to make several choices each time you make a small adjustment. I dont even know now if I am making any sense, maybe I am making it too complex than it needs to be.

thekleifheit13 · Jan 14, 2019

ttdad said:
I appreciate all the help and input from the experienced players. My confusion is do all ALL blades play the same way, or all OFF- blades play the same way. I think logically the answer is no because the composition of the blades is different. If this is the case then the composition of the blade has to be considered. This is hard to figure out for beginner/intermediate level player, and this is the reason for same question again and again IMO. The way the ball bounces off the blade like I have read some blades give a linear trajectory, some give a high arc, and to make things more confusing there are other descriptions like catapult, trampoline effect, dwell, flex, hardness/softness and so on. I have seen recommendations to pick a decent setup and develop your game based on it but when you want to change the setup should you relearn everything. Then I see make small adjustments each time so that you dont have to adjust a lot but then you have to make several choices each time you make a small adjustment. I dont even know now if I am making any sense, maybe I am making it too complex than it needs to be.

You're barking up the right tree here I think, but you're overplaying the effects. For beginners, 5-ply All/Off- blade, not super thick (<6mm is usually good) and preferably limba outer plies to help with ball feel. There are exceptions to this, like super thin 7-ply blades or thin, flexy blades with harder outer layers, but you really can't go wrong with the above.

Lightzy · Jan 14, 2019

Blades in similar class definitely do not play the same.
There are huge differences, in fact.

That said, the best 5 ply blade I know of to start with (and climb to the top of your club rating also, it's good enough) is the Samsonov Alpha SGS

chintanmashroo · Jan 14, 2019

If money is not a problem, go with OSP Virtuoso off-

Otherwise, go with any of the below
- Tibhar Stratus Power Wood
- Yasaka extra offensive
- Stiga Nostalgic Allround
- Infinity VPS

Rubbers:
Vega Pro (med hard)
Vega Europe DF (soft)
Victas v01 limber (med soft)
Joola energy xtra (soft)

There are cheaper blades and rubbers out there in market, but the list above is widely popular and will last long as compared to others; ofcourse there are exceptions; but, there are reasons why these blades are popular.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6010 using Tapatalk

usualsuspect · Jan 14, 2019

If you want something economical, I suggest ordering a DHS (PG7 is great), Sanwei, or Yinhe (V14 is a decent carbon blade) blade from Aliexpress. Chinese Pingpong, playa, and xvt are all credible sellers on Aliexpress. I have bought stuff from all of them before. For rubbers, I suggest Palio AK47 red sponge for FH and AK47 yellow sponge for BH. The whole order should cost you less than $50 (shipping included).

Der_Echte · Jan 14, 2019

For the EXTREE FRUGAL, one can dig up the threads on the Der_Echte Special... New 896 blade + new Dawei 2008 rubber + reuse Ur FH rubber. (or get a cast-off fro a player - players are always changing rubbers)

yogi_bear · Jan 14, 2019

Stiga Azalea Off- with Xiom Vega Pro both sides 2.0mm

usualsuspect · Jan 14, 2019

I already posted my suggestion above, but I can't help adding this to the thread. The best decision I made when switching from pre-made racket to custom-built ones was getting a slower blade in the beginning. I took advise from experienced players and got myself a stiga offensive cr with hurricane 8 on FH and andro rasant powergrip (2mm) on BH. This racket felt super fast and spinning when I first started using it. I tried playing with this racket last week for fun and it felt super slow

yogi_bear · Jan 15, 2019

Which blade usualsuspect?

usualsuspect · Jan 15, 2019

yogi_bear said:
Which blade usualsuspect?

My pre-made racket was a DHS 6002, then I switched to stiga offensive cr with H8 on FH and andro powergrip (2mm) on BH. Like I said, it felt like a huge speed boost back then.

Lightzy · Jan 15, 2019

I actually wouldn't recommend AK47 to an absolute beginner even though it's pretty good and has a good price point.

It's topsheet is not very high quality and lifting backspin with the backhand can be too difficult.
It's more a 'spongey' rubber where if you know how to maximize sponge compression u get great spin and good speed, but for brushing strokes it doesn't work.

FruitLoop · Jan 15, 2019

Get a Primorac or the like and a couple of sheets of Vega Intro or like rubber from other company.

Basically 5 ply all wood, control blade.
Control offensive rubber. It really doesn't matter which. Best thing to do is test peoples equipment in real life to get the one that feels the best. Whichever set up you choose will be fine for next year or even longer. In fact, most players never come close to out growing that sort of set up. But the joy is in trying to.

Upgrading beginner blade and rubber... advice needed!

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