The Pro's Equipment - Discussion!

[qvoliszz]

I thought he had been using Tenergy for a loooong time, prior to the introduction of plastic.

It's very possible that he's using a butterfly blade with donic handles, but there isn't conclusive evidence IMO.

As far as I know, the T05 on backhand was clearly visible during the 2012 London Olympics, then the FH T05 was at some Wotld tour event more than a year ago, when he had some stomach problems. After his recovery I noticed, that his FH drives and loops become very unreliable, most of them went to the net or over the table. Nowdays it is good as old, but with more spin and his shortgame developed aswell.

Yes the specification of blade type is just speculation.

 

[qvoliszz]

I thought he had been using Tenergy for a loooong time, prior to the introduction of plastic.

It's very possible that he's using a butterfly blade with donic handles, but there isn't conclusive evidence IMO.

As far as I know, the T05 on backhand was clearly visible during the 2012 London Olympics, then the FH T05 was at some Wotld tour event more than a year ago, when he had some stomach problems. After his recovery I noticed, that his FH drives and loops become very unreliable, most of them went to the net or over the table. Nowdays it is good as old, but with more spin and his shortgame developed aswell.

Yes the specification of blade type is just speculation.

 

[TurboZ]

So Dima has changed his blade to innerforce of some sort in Rio.

On closer look, probably just adding extra layer to make the handle thicker.

 

[Mardosta]

I have been watching Dyjas Jakub matches and i like very much this player.
It seems the blade is a Donic Waldner Dicon. But in other forum people say is a Timo boll Zlf with Dicon handle.
Does anyone what he use ?

Thanks !

Hi

Jakimi sprz?tem grasz?
Dyjas: Deska Donic Waldner Legend Carbon, a ok?adziny Donic Bluefire M1.

 

[Giangt]

Patrick Franziska changed back from JM ZLC to Mazunov blade again.


Courtesy of ITTF Flickr

 

[FloKing]

Vladi's not playing with Force Pro Black Edition at ETTC, neither CCA Unlimited.
The blade looks like CCA blades though, with some pink/purple on the handle. Maybe the new Samsonov blade we were talking about on the forum?

 

[septyan toni]

guys,,why zhang jike don't use his branded blade???but he use viscaria blade..

Sent from my EVERCOSS-A75L using Tapatalk

 

[qvoliszz]

Vladi's not playing with Force Pro Black Edition at ETTC, neither CCA Unlimited.
The blade looks like CCA blades though, with some pink/purple on the handle. Maybe the new Samsonov blade we were talking about on the forum?

I was at racket control on ETTC2016

Samsonow: Fh: MXP, Bh: MXS, blade: n/a
Ovtcharow: Fh,Bh: T05, Blade: O. senso carbon
Drinkhall: Fh,Bh: MXP, Blade: signature blade (viscaria replica)
Dyjas Jakub: Fh,Bh: M1, Blade: Waldner senso V1

 

[Yecats Encerwal]

guys,,why zhang jike don't use his branded blade???but he use viscaria blade..

Sent from my EVERCOSS-A75L using Tapatalk

He has used the Viscaria for as long as I can remember and so he is confident with it. To him it probably feels like home when he is holding it and nothing else can compare. Sure, he has his own branded blade too, but it uses different technology to the Viscaria (Super ZLC Carbon) and is a different weight too. Why would he change to it? It is there for the fans really, although I have seen some pro's using it too To put it simply, he is so used to using the Viscaria that changing would probably be a disaster in the short term. Table Tennis is a sport with the smallest margins for error and so changing blade would mean all of his automatic shots/reflexes would be thrown off.

 

[qvoliszz]

He has used the Viscaria for as long as I can remember and so he is confident with it. To him it probably feels like home when he is holding it and nothing else can compare. Sure, he has his own branded blade too, but it uses different technology to the Viscaria (Super ZLC Carbon) and is a different weight too. Why would he change to it? It is there for the fans really, although I have seen some pro's using it too To put it simply, he is so used to using the Viscaria that changing would probably be a disaster in the short term. Table Tennis is a sport with the smallest margins for error and so changing blade would mean all of his automatic shots/reflexes would be thrown off.

As far as I understood the question, why is ZJK not using his signature ZJK alc blade, which has the blue dragon printed on it. As far as I know it is a very slight modification of the original viscaria blade. I tried the new ZJK ALC and it feels totally different, than both blades.

 

[road]

Yecats Encerwal 100% rightly says "Simply put, he was so used to using Viscaria, that the change is likely to be a disaster in the short term".

 

[panany]

if he want really... he can change just handdle.... use viscaria with handle Zhang jike blade ... ( same fan zhendong do ... )

just he dont want ^^

my friend is very good friend from Zhang jike ... and zhang jike say : for 1 year he uses 5 blades

1 blade for multiball
1 for training
1 for match
1 for very big competition ( olympic game ,world championship )
and last is if 1 have problem or broke ...

for his rubber ( h3 blue sponge ) if training he changes all week ( around 5 days )
if open all 2 days
and if big competition he changes for all matchs

 

[Yecats Encerwal]

Yecats Encerwal100% rightly says "Simply put, he was so used to using Viscaria, that the change is likely to be a disaster in the short term".

To add to this, unfortunately ZJK does not have much of a "long term" left at the top (maybe 4 years till 2020) and so the adjustment period required to take advantage of the "benefits" of using his own blade (benefits which may not really exist or be significant enough), wouldn't be worth his time overall.

 

[AndySmith]

Vladi's not playing with Force Pro Black Edition at ETTC, neither CCA Unlimited.
The blade looks like CCA blades though, with some pink/purple on the handle. Maybe the new Samsonov blade we were talking about on the forum?

The VS Unlimited has a lot of blue on the handle.

Any chance of a pic of what you've seen?

 

[qvoliszz]

The VS Unlimited has a lot of blue on the handle.

Any chance of a pic of what you've seen?

This was the blade, that Samsonov gave to the racket control, really hard to identify for sure.
Both rubbers seem to be boosted, because I use MX-P and I boost it also, notmally it looks different.
The blade handle is unknown to me, this colour setup is not present in the Tibhar catalogue. (2012-2016)
The upper layer of the wood looks koto, but Tibhar uses a darker shaded wood, Butterfly uses this kind of wood. If you inspect the edge of the blade, I might suspect a Viscaria, Timo Boll, ZJK ZLC, or a prototype. Head shape is also butterfly, but Tibhar uses the standard Butterfly head shape.

Hope someone can figure out...

Also the list of the used equipment of almost 200 ETTC 2016 participants was leaked. I will upload it to a site.

 

[Yecats Encerwal]

View attachment 11149View attachment 11150View attachment 11151View attachment 11152

This was the blade, that Samsonov gave to the racket control, really hard to identify for sure.
Both rubbers seem to be boosted, because I use MX-P and I boost it also, notmally it looks different.
The blade handle is unknown to me, this colour setup is not present in the Tibhar catalogue. (2012-2016)
The upper layer of the wood looks koto, but Tibhar uses a darker shaded wood, Butterfly uses this kind of wood. If you inspect the edge of the blade, I might suspect a Viscaria, Timo Boll, ZJK ALC. Head shape is also butterfly, but Tibhar uses the standard Butterfly head shape.

Hope someone can figure out...

Also the list of the used equipment of almost 200 ETTC 2016 participants was leaked. I will upload it to a site.

Is it just me or does the sponge look really thick?

Thank you for sharing this info it is really interesting!

Quick question, how can you tell the rubber Is boosted? And if it is illegal to boost, why was this not picked up at racket control? (I am aware that all pros boost I am just curious as to what racket control look for!)

 

[qvoliszz]

Hi!

Racket control is a 2 step validation process:

1. The umpre and the assistant umpre inspect the racket for visible defects and shininess. Then they send it to instrumental control. Players must hand over their racket 60-30 min before their match, or right after their match.

2. The instrumental control is carried out by an "expert". They only measure thickness and VOC (volatile organic component) contamination in the racket. If they smell something, they can do nothing, because there is no measurement available to prove that at this time.
(Such process exists, but cannot be applied without taking a sample from the right part of the racket.)

The procedure looks like this exactly:

I only have these info, because one of my friend is a racket controller. Once (1-2 years ago) he mentioned to a still world top 10 player, that his racket smelled funny. The player asked: "Does your nose have a licence?". The controller can do nothing, because it is only cheating if you can prove that with a validated measurement the rubber was modified.

Additional info:
Umpres and inspectors are not permitted to remove the edgetape from the racket, they have to ask the player to do so. The player can refuse.
If the rubber surface looks a bit different, the player can claim, that he uses custom made rubbers as many other players. It is known that players are given slightly modified rubbers from their sponsor factory, that suits them more.

 

[Yecats Encerwal]

Hi!

Racket control is a 2 step validation process:

1. The umpre and the assistant umpre inspect the racket for visible defects and shininess. Then they send it to instrumental control. Players must hand over their racket 60-30 min before their match, or right after their match.

2. The instrumental control is carried out by an "expert". They only measure thickness and VOC (volatile organic component) contamination in the racket. If they smell something, they can do nothing, because there is no measurement available to prove that at this time.
(Such process exists, but cannot be applied without taking a sample from the right part of the racket.)

The procedure looks like this exactly:

I only have these info, because one of my friend is a racket controller. Once (1-2 years ago) he mentioned to a still world top 10 player, that his racket smelled funny. The player asked: "Does your nose have a licence?". The controller can do nothing, because it is only cheating if you can prove that with a validated measurement the rubber was modified.

Additional info:
Umpres and inspectors are not permitted to remove the edgetape from the racket, they have to ask the player to do so. The player can refuse.
If the rubber surface looks a bit different, the player can claim, that he uses custom made rubbers as many other players. It is known that players are given slightly modified rubbers from their sponsor factory, that suits them more.

Fantastic, thank you!

I had my racket taken away from me 30-60 mins before the matches at Tokyo 2014 and wandered what they checked for

 

[Baal]

He has used the Viscaria for as long as I can remember and so he is confident with it. To him it probably feels like home when he is holding it and nothing else can compare. Sure, he has his own branded blade too, but it uses different technology to the Viscaria (Super ZLC Carbon) and is a different weight too. Why would he change to it? It is there for the fans really, although I have seen some pro's using it too To put it simply, he is so used to using the Viscaria that changing would probably be a disaster in the short term. Table Tennis is a sport with the smallest margins for error and so changing blade would mean all of his automatic shots/reflexes would be thrown off.

There is also a ZJK-ALC so he could use a blade with his name on it that is quite similar to a Viscaria and that does not use any sort of different technology at all (I have owned multiple copies of each and can attest to the similarity in how they play and the fact that they exist in exactly the same weight). I think your reason why he persists with Viscaria is the right one, he may be very particular about handle and weight (but he would have to be very picky the blades are pretty similar). But it is not because his only choice is a an sZLC version of his own blade.

 

[Yecats Encerwal]

There is also a ZJK-ALC so he could use a blade with his name on it that is quite similar to a Viscaria and that does not use any sort of different technology at all (I have owned multiple copies of each and can attest to the similarity in how they play and the fact that they exist in exactly the same weight). I think your reason why he persists with Viscaria is the right one, he may be very particular about handle and weight (but he would have to be very picky the blades are pretty similar). But it is not because his only choice is a an sZLC version of his own blade.

True, I had accidentally assumed that in the original post he was asking about why ZJK doesn't use the Super ZLC.

Good point!