Collecting blades .... good or bad?

[TareqPhoto]

Hi all,

Since i got back into table tennis in 2015 and i was thinking more about equipment than about playing really, and i felt like it is no longer about to play but how much more i can get or collect, so i don't know if this is good or bad thing as a human nature mostly like to have more and more for reason or no reason.

Ok, after that long introduction above, let me say this thing, i bought DHS Long 5x and i .......... HATE it very much.

I have this blade because it affected my mind and my hand, it made ALL my previous rackets like toys or rubbish, but i don't get used to it as it is still so new for me and i put an old rubber on it for time being until i can have new rubbers, and when i said old rubbers i means that the rubbers are still unused and not opened but i bought them like 2-3 years ago, and almost all told me it will wear off even if it wasn't used at all, so i call them old, they are Tenergy 80 both sides.

Now, because of this Long 5x i am planning to buy more, DHS because my top favorite brand no doubt, i was using or still using Hao III which is still amazing, but now with this long 5x i feel like that Hao3 will be my training blade while Long 5x is my main playing blade, so i don't know which another last blade i have to get, Long 5 non x or another 5x?

Both my DHS rackets sounds so fast that i have very difficult time to control, mainly in my backhand, before i was using Tenergy 05FX on my backhand and that racket was like a weapon in my hand for both FH and BH, but i changed the rubbers after long time and someone told me to try and put Victas 01 Stiff on the BH, now the racket became so fast and i somehow lost control with it, Hao 3 blade has more control for me than Long 5x maybe, and it suits me for far from table, and i am trying to balance in between as a coach told me i have to find the combination of using both blades when needed, he liked my Long 5x a lot, he took my Jun Mizutani blade in favor of giving me few training hours in same price of selling this JM blade.

I was playing with one of my backup blades which is Butterfly Primorac EX which has Yasaka Rakza 7 soft rubber, i didn't play with blade for long time as i felt like it is nthing special or just one of my many collecting by years, but for no reason and i don't know why it became a very nice touch in my hand lately, i mean my backhand with this blade became more reliable or consistent than with my DHS Hao III now, it has more feeling or vibration, it gave me better control to spins than my DHS rackets, but still not that much control to spin as my pimples rackets, so i don't know if i should keep this blade or sell it, and if i buy another DHS blade so maybe i should convert that Hao III to be slower more control with different BH rubber, many thinking about it.

Last but not least, i have new unused blades two which i bought just for fun, but sounds DSH is already controlled my mind so i feel like they are both have to go then, they are Nittaku [DHS] Ma Long 7 [FL] and Nittaku Barwell fleet [straight handle], what do you think?

All my playing is for fun really, not into competitions, and because i have a key for table tennis room in a local club and i managed to have few people to play with me so i feel like i can use whatever i want as i don't really focus on becoming a high level player or i must stuck with one racket forever, but i am trying now to stuck with one brand and almost closer level of blades from it, so Hao III and Long blades will be may main rackets definitely in training and playing, but i want to have like one more backup for slower the playing style or have more control over spins, my defensive blades with pimples doing this while sacrificing the attack with forehand, and no more backhand attack with them, so maybe something in between powerful DSH and slow defensive pimple rubbers rackets.

 

[chintanmashroo]

I loved reading every paragraph of your post.

umm, how many questions do you exactly have? happy to answer all

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6010 using Tapatalk

 

[Kuba Hajto]

I have same EJ disease. I keep collecting blades, but I only wound up using one of them which is neither fastest, not most control focused, not flexiest, nor stiffest. Blades can be work of art. I buy them, sell them and I even made few of my own. The problem is that as you mature as a player, as you improve your feel and technique (no player truly stays at single point in his life, skill fluctuates up and down) you will feel blades as if there were different. It is much easier to generalize rubbers, they behave very similar in their respective categories and hardnesses.

But blades are very much different. They are made from wood, they were living things at some point in their past. I had a longer experience with guitars, which are also tools made from wood. I am mentioning this because both of them share very similar behaviors. Both of them vibrate and both guitars and blades change their properties over time as they are played and as they absorb humidity. I am 100% sure that there will be a hard headed engineer which will explain this behavior technically, but from my experience is that older guitars will have better feeling which also corresponds to my very limited experience with older blades which also seem to feel better if they are seasoned in battle. That means that sticking with a single blade will not only make you feel it better, but it will get better properties.

I think that being a little EJ is not a bad thing. Sooner or later one will find a blade the is not necessary the best for all players in the world, but is the best for that particular player. I think that blade must not be considered as something that must have the best parameters but must feel the best for a player. The same reason it's so hard for a musician to finds it's instrument applies to table tennis players and many different other paradigms of life. I actually think that smart EJing is actually good. The smart EJ meaning getting feel for different properties, understanding them and narrowing down your options (not sticking to a certain brand usually). You might also get lucky and try 5th blade and settle with it, I did XD I personally found it easier to find good feeling blade and regulate speed with rubbers.

 

[lasta]

Nothing bad about trying different blades. Satisfies curiosity. But try to have as detailed a thesis as you can before buying. Be objective, don't just stumble around.

I'm on blade 37 now. The first dozen were bought based on subjective internet reviews (pretty much crap-shoot). The rest are sequentially more objective: composition, thickness, weight, shape etc, how I think it would feel. Buy, confirm, think up potential improvements, screen, buy, confirm, repeat.

 

[Kuba Hajto]

Sequentially more objective: composition, thickness, weight, shape etc, how I think it would feel. Buy, confirm, think up potential improvements, screen, buy, confirm, repeat.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[TareqPhoto]

I loved reading every paragraph of your post.

umm, how many questions do you exactly have? happy to answer all

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6010 using Tapatalk

Well, it is up to you, answer whatever you want, or even don't answer anything, some others may answer it all or part of it, i just posted and i just watch and read.

Thank you very much!

 

[TareqPhoto]

I have same EJ disease. I keep collecting blades, but I only wound up using one of them which is neither fastest, not most control focused, not flexiest, nor stiffest. Blades can be work of art. I buy them, sell them and I even made few of my own. The problem is that as you mature as a player, as you improve your feel and technique (no player truly stays at single point in his life, skill fluctuates up and down) you will feel blades as if there were different. It is much easier to generalize rubbers, they behave very similar in their respective categories and hardnesses.

But blades are very much different. They are made from wood, they were living things at some point in their past. I had a longer experience with guitars, which are also tools made from wood. I am mentioning this because both of them share very similar behaviors. Both of them vibrate and both guitars and blades change their properties over time as they are played and as they absorb humidity. I am 100% sure that there will be a hard headed engineer which will explain this behavior technically, but from my experience is that older guitars will have better feeling which also corresponds to my very limited experience with older blades which also seem to feel better if they are seasoned in battle. That means that sticking with a single blade will not only make you feel it better, but it will get better properties.

I think that being a little EJ is not a bad thing. Sooner or later one will find a blade the is not necessary the best for all players in the world, but is the best for that particular player. I think that blade must not be considered as something that must have the best parameters but must feel the best for a player. The same reason it's so hard for a musician to finds it's instrument applies to table tennis players and many different other paradigms of life. I actually think that smart EJing is actually good. The smart EJ meaning getting feel for different properties, understanding them and narrowing down your options (not sticking to a certain brand usually). You might also get lucky and try 5th blade and settle with it, I did XD I personally found it easier to find good feeling blade and regulate speed with rubbers.

This talk about the origin of the wood is something touching really, i felt different now as i was also thinking in the past about why not make equipment from living even the rubber itself and the sponge beneath that rubber, so it is really interesting to read your words, mainly you mentioned about musical instruments there, so it is like to have kind of connection, bringing nature is not bad actually, so we can change our mental somehow.

I am trying to stick with one blade for sure, and that is why i kept buying or changing through years, but i have to admit that once i bought that DHS it made kind of "Pause" for my plan of collecting, and then i thought that maybe i can find something better than this DHS by sudden one day, but i have to admit that it will never happen if i keep having so many factors i want to include, it will be like i have to make that blade by myself then which is impossible really in my situation, and that made me to think about lowering my needs somehow and try to adjust with what i have so far, the coaches keep saying to stick with one blade as much as possible and that is for a reason, and i know that, but i already mention that i am not doing any kind of training where i want to challenge ot enter a tournament or any official games, in this matter i thought that sticking with one isn't necessary then, but i am kind of reaching that point already, i really love DHS blade the ones i have, and maybe if i buy one more and i am really done, i keep playing with this DHS Hao since 2016 and it is disappoint me, i bought 2 or 3 in between with this 5X i bought 3 weeks ago i think, so i am already slowing down.

 

[TareqPhoto]

Nothing bad about trying different blades. Satisfies curiosity. But try to have as detailed a thesis as you can before buying. Be objective, don't just stumble around.

I'm on blade 37 now. The first dozen were bought based on subjective internet reviews (pretty much crap-shoot). The rest are sequentially more objective: composition, thickness, weight, shape etc, how I think it would feel. Buy, confirm, think up potential improvements, screen, buy, confirm, repeat.

I think i am safe then, 37 is really more than too much, i think i didn't reach 15 or 20 yet and i will try not to, so i think i already tested enough rackets or blades and i almost got what i need, i just was thinking i like to have 3-4 to be my main all the time blades, i already getting rid of some which i have and i will sell more so i will have only few, and buy more like 1-2 that i know i am comfortable with, but i will not go that far as you to test over 25 blades, that is really too much and i don't see myself i have to do it, good for you anyway.

 

[TareqPhoto]

My thoughts exactly.

Some will think that this is a wrong idea, i mean coaches here keep telling me to not do it while they did it with an excuse of being coaches for experience, but i am not a regular player or trainee to really not do it, and i was training with one friend from Philippines i enjoy a lot to practice and play with him, he also has enough knowledge although he doesn't have blades, only one which he is trying to sell to get better one, he was looking for my Jun Mizutani, but that is now gone to a coach, so this friend told me about different characteristics of blades with my knowledge too so we already narrowed down to what we need really, and he already told me that this DHS is fitting my style perfectly, and i just can go with Long blade from DHS, he told me about 2 options but sounds i shouldn't, but good to have someone who can give me some reviews also and then we can reach to where i have to stop from looking for more.

 

[Kuba Hajto]

BTW Why do you hate your Long VX? I used to have a Long V clone blade and I hated bouncy rubbers on it (I am a brick hoarder though, I use 50degrees rubber on BH and 55 on FH). Maybe your issue is not the blade itself but the rubbers.. Maybe you should ask your playmates to let you try their setup. T05 is darn good rubber but it is not the only rubber on the market.

 

[TareqPhoto]

BTW Why do you hate your Long VX? I used to have a Long V clone blade and I hated bouncy rubbers on it (I am a brick hoarder though, I use 50degrees rubber on BH and 55 on FH). Maybe your issue is not the blade itself but the rubbers.. Maybe you should ask your playmates to let you try their setup. T05 is darn good rubber but it is not the only rubber on the market.

Ok, i failed to make the joke then, in fact i don't hate Long 5X, i LOVE it, i just wanted to say i hate it because it is making me to buy more and more, because it is that GOOD really, so i wasn't hating it actually but the idea of it persuading or pushing me to buy one more DHS, and that was my first question, should i buy another 5X or should i try to go with 5 as it is different and i don't want that much fast anyway, and then i can decide which i prefer more, so another 5X or just 5?

My another question is about rubber for backhand, as it sounds i put fast rubbers on both DHS blades for my BH and now it became like i must practice all over again to control the speed for BH, or i have to change the rubber and have something softer, nothing wrong about having all rubber fast but that will put me in BIG efforts to adjust and find a way to make working for me while with softer rubbers it was very easy for me to control my backhand effectively, and that will a BIG question about which that soft rubber for backhand that have soft touch and speed sufficient for attack to use on a fast blade.

 

[Kuba Hajto]

What is that you like about your 5X then :| If you will name the things that you like in the blade it will make it possible for YOU to decide. No one here can (or even should) make that decision for you.

PS: I really like this blog, https://ttgearlab.com/2019/02/18/dhs-hurricane-long-5-3-overview-lab-test/, it made it easier for me to understand how blades function (not mix up with feel).

 

[Kuba Hajto]

If you really love a blade then settle with it. I've been on a search for this type of blade for a long time, but I settled with Chinese Clone of W968-8 (both I, my fellow players and my coach really like the blade, no selling though ). If the Long 5 does not feel crisp enough, get H301/N301 (should be very similar, it has almost the same composition as 5, but with koto top ply, it will feel a little crispier, Yinhe 970xx-a has very very similar construction). There is also Yasaka Athletico Power which should have a similar construction as Long 5, but it has a thicker core.

As Lasta said. If you have a lot of blades examine their structure, thickness, and weight. Try to distill factors that make you like the blade. For me, for example, it's a hard top ply, a soft core, off- speed, thickness around 6mm and about 90-95g. There might be other factors that are key for you, for example, handle size and shape, particular weight distribution, etc.

 

[yogi_bear]

Wait til you reach about 200 blades and you will stop counting.

 

[TareqPhoto]

What is that you like about your 5X then :| If you will name the things that you like in the blade it will make it possible for YOU to decide. No one here can (or even should) make that decision for you.

PS: I really like this blog, https://ttgearlab.com/2019/02/18/dhs-hurricane-long-5-3-overview-lab-test/, it made it easier for me to understand how blades function (not mix up with feel).

I am still new with 5X, but it is DEFINITELY faster than Hao III i use, it is more for smashes and looping to be honest, but i tried it for far from table and i feel it is not same as Hao which is more suitable for me far from table, but that is the point, i don't need to play always far from table and also not always close to the table, the 5x is strong for forehand to me, so this is one thing i will keep using it for.

Thanks for the link, i will give it a look, i love to know the design and layers of the blades and knowing the characteristics and performance of each blade i use as possible, thank you.

 

[TareqPhoto]

If you really love a blade then settle with it. I've been on a search for this type of blade for a long time, but I settled with Chinese Clone of W968-8 (both I, my fellow players and my coach really like the blade, no selling though ). If the Long 5 does not feel crisp enough, get H301/N301 (should be very similar, it has almost the same composition as 5, but with koto top ply, it will feel a little crispier, Yinhe 970xx-a has very very similar construction). There is also Yasaka Athletico Power which should have a similar construction as Long 5, but it has a thicker core.

As Lasta said. If you have a lot of blades examine their structure, thickness, and weight. Try to distill factors that make you like the blade. For me, for example, it's a hard top ply, a soft core, off- speed, thickness around 6mm and about 90-95g. There might be other factors that are key for you, for example, handle size and shape, particular weight distribution, etc.

I already said i like DHS blades, and to make very specific reason, i love the handles shape, i feel it is smooth, not like Butterfly or Stiga, so i feel so comfortable with DHS blade, i bought that Nittako/DHS Ma Long 7 thinking they might use DHS handle with Nittaku head which will make it as a beast combination, but it was the opposite actually, DHS head isn't bad actually, but i didn't like the handle as i like from DHS, i never used it or play with it so i decided i will keep it in the box and stay with DHS only and i will sell this ML7, it is a wood only blade so it won't match DHS Hao/Long ones.

5X as it is mentioned in reviews has thicker core, slightly thicker handle too, so i was thinking maybe Long 5 could be a perfect one with less thicker core and handle, i tested once or twice only for returning and drive, sounds very nice, closer to my Hao III but faster and less control in my hand, now i have 5x as fastest then maybe Long 5 can fit my style later between Hao III and 5X, but i can't confirm that until i have or play with Long 5 more and also play with 5X for enough time, it is just i can buy one more blade later either 5X again or Long 5, and even with Long 5 there are versions out there.

 

[TareqPhoto]

Wait til you reach about 200 blades and you will stop counting.

Did you reach 100 already?

 

[Kuba Hajto]

Did you reach 100 already?

I think he reached more than 300

 

[yogi_bear]

Did you reach 100 already?

I stopped counting at 200.

 

[TareqPhoto]

I think he reached more than 300

Oh My......... Unsubscribing!!! lol