New paddle suggestions

[sai1w]

A bit about me:

• Playing for many years for fun, recently joined a club to improve my technique and game

• Rating: Don't have an official one, consider myself an intermediate player (maybe ~1400 USATT)

• Style: All round, but want to develop a more offensive style.

Current setup (This one I got from the club, was suggested by staff over there.)

• Blade: Rosewood NCT VII

• FH: Sriver - D13-L (black)

• BH: Sriver - D13-L (red)

I like this current setup and have good control overall and very good short table control, good chop, and decent backhand (my bh is weak, but I could see some improvement working with a robot). But I am working on improving my forehand loop (& bh loop), this feels a bit on the slower side especially if I step back 1-2 meters, needs more effort for both spin and speed. Also, one thing to note is I got this used rubber, maybe it got much slower because of that too.

I wanted to upgrade a bit to a paddle with a bit more speed + spin. After a bit of research I was thinking of this setup:

New setup:

• Blade: Yasaka Sweden extra (or Timo bell ALC blade)

• FH: Yasaka Razka 7 2.0 mm

• BH: Yasaka Razka 7 soft 2.0 mm

1. Is this a good setup? I plan to use this long-term until I improve my technique and game rating by a lot.

2. Given I was using a Rosewood blade which seems a bit faster than Yasaka Sweden extra, does it makes sense to switch to it or Timo bell ALC is much better here? I am okay with the extra price.

3. Any alternate suggestions for rubbers are welcome.

 

[Lazer]

It's a good setup except for BH rakza 7 soft. I think that the blade You already have is better, definitely faster. If You like it why not stay with it. Sriver is a pretty slow rubber so it may be a good match.

Yasaka Sweden Extra is a good blade and Rakza 7 is a good match. But instead of soft on BH, try a little thinner sponge i.e. 1.5mm or so.
Its always better that Your setup is a little too slow than a little too fast...

Cheers
L-zr

 

[jk1980]

New setup:

• Blade: Yasaka Sweden extra (or Timo bell ALC blade)

• FH: Yasaka Razka 7 2.0 mm

• BH: Yasaka Razka 7 soft 2.0 mm

1. Is this a good setup? I plan to use this long-term until I improve my technique and game rating by a lot.

2. Given I was using a Rosewood blade which seems a bit faster than Yasaka Sweden extra, does it makes sense to switch to it or Timo bell ALC is much better here? I am okay with the extra price.

3. Any alternate suggestions for rubbers are welcome.

1. It is a decent setup, but you are basically moving backwards with the blade (from a faster blade to a slower one with the YSE) and then you use faster Rubbers. If you think you have good control and just want to have something faster, i would suggest you stick with the blade and just try the Rakza on your current blade (if you like the blade). That would be much less of a change and less need for accomodation. I did play the Rakza 7 and the Rakza 7 Soft. The latter was a bit slow for me (for the FH at least), but it is definitely a controlled rubber. The Rakza 7 grants you good allround capabilities and i think it might already be enough of a change if you just pick these rubbers.
The Timo Boll ALC blade is a totally different beast that the YSE and i would recommend not to play it. You would basically use faster Rubbers and a faster Blade which will probably take ages to get used to and probably be too hard to control.
2. If you think your current blade itself is lacking something, better check for different blades in the same speed category but probably better feel. If you got the chance to test blades at a shop or from people in your club i suggest to do so

 

[turbozed]

Your blade already is very fast (maybe even too fast) for your level. If you feel it's too slow, it's probably because you're using rubber tech developed 30 years ago.

Check out this bounce test on Sriver rubber:

versus Rakza 7 rubber:

15.5 cm vs 27.5 cm. That's almost double the bounce height. If you slap on Rakza 7 or any equivalent tensor rubber, you're going to find it very hard to control in comparison. Your used rubber might also be completely dead depending on how much wear you've put on it and how you've stored it. So that's another issue.

You can try a cheap experiment and glue on something like Yinhe Mercury 2 soft (sells for about $5 a sheet) and see how that plays. Even though it's not as bouncy as a tensor rubber, I imagine it'll be a step or two livelier than your current used Srivers.

BTW, maybe you should try out a 5 ply wood like the Yasaka Sweden Extra anyway. I'm not sure if a 7 ply, nearly 7mm thick and stiff/hard blade is the best choice to develop a FH loop. More experienced members can chime in with their opinion on this.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Your blade already is very fast (maybe even too fast) for your level. If you feel it's too slow, it's probably because you're using rubber tech developed 30 years ago.

Check out this bounce test on Sriver rubber:

versus Rakza 7 rubber:

15.5 cm vs 27.5 cm. That's almost double the bounce height. If you slap on Rakza 7 or any equivalent tensor rubber, you're going to find it very hard to control in comparison. Your used rubber might also be completely dead depending on how much wear you've put on it and how you've stored it. So that's another issue.

You can try a cheap experiment and glue on something like Yinhe Mercury 2 soft (sells for about $5 a sheet) and see how that plays. Even though it's not as bouncy as a tensor rubber, I imagine it'll be a step or two livelier than your current used Srivers.

BTW, maybe you should try out a 5 ply wood like the Yasaka Sweden Extra anyway. I'm not sure if a 7 ply, nearly 7mm thick and stiff/hard blade is the best choice to develop a FH loop. More experienced members can chime in with their opinion on this.

Just making sure you know this thread is old and dead and was woken up by what looks like it may be a bot this morning.

 

[turbozed]

Just making sure you know this thread is old and dead and was woken up by what looks like it may be a bot this morning.

I didn't know! I'll be sure to check out the dates next time so I'm not talking to phantoms.

 

[Mionixxd]

A bit about me:

• Playing for many years for fun, recently joined a club to improve my technique and game

• Rating: Don't have an official one, consider myself an intermediate player (maybe ~1400 USATT)

• Style: All round, but want to develop a more offensive style.

Current setup (This one I got from the club, was suggested by staff over there.)

• Blade: Rosewood NCT VII

• FH: Sriver - D13-L (black)

• BH: Sriver - D13-L (red)

I like this current setup and have good control overall and very good short table control, good chop, and decent backhand (my bh is weak, but I could see some improvement working with a robot). But I am working on improving my forehand loop (& bh loop), this feels a bit on the slower side especially if I step back 1-2 meters, needs more effort for both spin and speed. Also, one thing to note is I got this used rubber, maybe it got much slower because of that too.

I wanted to upgrade a bit to a paddle with a bit more speed + spin. After a bit of research I was thinking of this setup:

New setup:

• Blade: Yasaka Sweden extra (or Timo bell ALC blade)

• FH: Yasaka Razka 7 2.0 mm

• BH: Yasaka Razka 7 soft 2.0 mm

1. Is this a good setup? I plan to use this long-term until I improve my technique and game rating by a lot.

2. Given I was using a Rosewood blade which seems a bit faster than Yasaka Sweden extra, does it makes sense to switch to it or Timo bell ALC is much better here? I am okay with the extra price.

3. Any alternate suggestions for rubbers are welcome.

I have used this exact setup and still use rakza 7 and 7 soft, it's a great setup and I can 100% recommend it for technique improvement.

Edit: oh wow I did not realize that this thread is dead