BTW, I'm using Yasaka Sweden Classic and Xiom Vega Europe on both sides and it has the right amount of speed and control for a returning player like me. You might want to consider this setup as well.
That is a great setup. That would be perfect for OP as well.
There are lots of recommendations on this thread. Some better than others. Der_Echte's recommendations are also top flight.
In the end, what you want is a setup that allows you to have control on all basic strokes. Not too fast. Not too slow. And something that will allow you to spin the ball well and help you learn to improve your ability to generate increasing amounts of spin on your offensive topspin strokes. There are lots of ways to go with this.
I am going to add two pieces of information before I start listing things a few things that would be good. I am not a Butterfly fan. I don't love the company and the equipment I am using, none of it is Butterfly. But, I want to give them their due as well. The all wood blades.....they are not better or worse than any of the others. The feeling is good but may be a little duller than some of the other brands. But I am going to give the information on what they do that is good. Butterfly's blades are more durable and stand up to more external force than other brands. They will not break at the handle as easily. They will not unglue or delaminate as easily. There is less need to seal the blades because of how solid the blades are. If you bang the tip or side of the blade into the edge of the table (happens all the time) they will sustain notably less damage than almost any other brand.
If this is not important to you, other brands may FEEL BETTER, even if they are more easily damaged (in fact, they may feel better precisely for the same reasons they are more easily damaged: the factors that makes them crisper and have clearer ball feeling are also what make them easier to break: the wood density).
Now I will say the same thing about the rubbers. There are other rubbers that, for the first 3-4 weeks of play, may perform as well or better than Butterfly rubbers. But often Butterfly rubbers don't begin to downgrade and feel less good, less alive, more dead, for months after some of those other rubbers already feel like they are lifeless and that it is time for new rubbers. So, if Der says there is a rubber he could use for 1 year, if you gave him a Butterfly equivalent (which he won't buy himself - he and I agree on many things) it could last him 3-4 years and he would be saying it still felt like new.
hahahaha.
So, if durability in blades or rubbers is an issue for you, even though Butterfly products cost more initially, in the long run, they can save some players money in the long run because of how durable what Butterfly makes turns out to be.
I am okay with buying new rubbers when I want them. So, I don't care about this. My OSP Vituoso Plus is more duable than any other blade I have used and I have done some serious slamming into tables with it where I dented the table and the blade showed hardly any damage. I don't know if any other OSP blade will be like that, but my V+ is a tank.
One more set of details: people seem to think 7 ply blades are faster than 5 ply blades. It is true and it is not true. 7 ply blades are stiffer than 5 ply blades because of the extra plies with grain changing directions: that makes the blade stiffer.
So, if you had a 7 ply blade and a 5 ply blade with the same wood plies and the same thickness and weight, the same head size and basic construction, the 7 ply blade would be stiffer. That means it would be better for direct hits than the 5 ply blade but it would be worse for spinning the ball. You can do either with either. But....Stiffer is better for hitting flat. A little extra flex lets you generate a little more spin but is not as good for direct impact.
Also worth noting: if you had a 5 ply and a 7 ply of the same thickness and weight made with the same basic wood construction, and head size, THE 5 PLY BLADE WOULD BE FASTER. Let me write that again: the five ply blade would be faster. If you had a 3 ply blade that was the same basic wood, head size, construction, thickness, weight, IT WOULD BE FASTER THAN THE 5 PLY. It would also have more flex. If you had a 1 ply: it would be faster than any of them (just much easier to break; which is why usually 1 plies are 9mm thick or thicker).
But the reason people associate 7 ply blade as faster is because they are stiffer and usually they are thicker and heavier.
Now that you have that information, you get to choose if you want stiffer or more flex.
Blades that may be good for you:
1) Butterfly Petr Korbel
2) Butterfly Primorac Off- (5 ply wood)
3) Tibhar Stratus Power Wood
4) Nittaku Acoustic
5) Xiom Offensive S
6) Yasaka Sweden Extra
7) Stiga Allround Evolution
8) Stiga Offensive Classic
9) Stiga Clipper (this is a 7 ply; the others are 5 ply)
There are a host of others. But I listed a bunch of 5 ply blades that would be good. I listed one 7 ply blade that would be fine. There are others. I like that one better than most of the others. But there are others. I could list OSP Virtuoso - and Virtuoso + as well. But.....like the Nittaku Acoustic it is more expensive than most of the other blades on that list.
Rubbers:
If you are used to Chinese rubbers already, there are tons. I am not going to list them. If you are starting out being used to European or Japanese rubbers (rubbers with springier sponge) it is, for a few weeks to months, a hard transition for some from springier sponge to Chinese rubbers. But, it is a choice that many find worth while. So, it is a choice. These are rubbers that are in the catapult sponge category that are easy enough to control and will help you improve your spin and your strokes.
1) Xiom Vega Europe and/or Pro
2) Tibhar Aurus (regular and/or soft)
3) Tibhar Evolution FXP
4) Of the Butterfly rubbers, I actually think Tenergy 05FX may fall into this category for some.
5) The other usual suspect Butterfly rubbers like Rozen and Glazer might be fine choices as well.
This is nowhere near an exhaustive list. And every major TT company makes good rubbers that are in that control category that would likely be excellent for you.
In the end, if you have enough information to make an intelligent choice, after that, all you have to do is get a dart board, make cue cards with the names of all the blades that fit your needs, put the cue cards on the dart board, get someone drunk, blindfold them, spin them around a few times, point them towards the dart board, and then have them throw darts until a dart hits the cue card for one of the blades.
After the blade is chosen, then follow the same procedure for the rubbers.
Sometimes we do too much thinking on this subject. If you have the important information and get something that falls into the category where it is not too fast or too slow (blade or rubbers) and it will help you generate spin but won't cause you to feel like you have no control when you are facing heavy or complex incoming spin, then IT WILL BE A GOOD CHOICE.
Hopefully this helps and gives you a broader overview of what you are looking for.
