Beginner blade and rubbers

[saculo]

Hi,
I was playing for a while with a friends, only for fun after work. I was using Friendship C-5 + 2x Palio AK47 Blue, which probably wasn't the best idea for the beginner. Now I decided to take a part in group trainings with a coach. I'm looking for a replacement for current setup. What should I take?
I heard about blades like: Yasaka Sweden Extra, Butterfly Primorac, Stiga: Allround Classic. But I have no idea which will be the best, or even maybe something out of this list, I'm open to get all recommendations.
When talking about rubbers its even worse... Rakza 7/7Soft, Vega X, Vega Intro, Mercury 2/2 Soft, Rozena, 729 SuperFx. I have no idea what to choose, but maybe you have even better ideas than these.
What should be thickness of these rubbers? Should I take different rubber for bh and fh?

To explain, I'm very, very newbie. My backhand is kinda bad, when forehand is little bit better, but not that much. I want to learn technique and control of the ball.
Additional thing: I'm from Poland, so it would be great if it would be possible to buy these equipment in Poland or in EU.
Thanks for help.

 

[Silver Server]

Myriads of threads on this topic, but it can get confusing with multiple suggestions. Not sure of your budget

Classic pure beginner setup: YSE + Mark V (ask for assembled, not the premade from factory)
A more modern beginner setup: Nittaku + Factive

Difference being the Nittaku setup MAY be an easier transition into tensors in the next 6 months to a year (depending how often you play & progress).

 

[saculo]

So: probably up to 150 euro, soemthing around that. I heard that Mark V is kinda "old" and totally out of modern rubbers. I haven't heard about Nittaku, I have to read about that.
Do you have any other ideas?

+
What is tensor?

 

[U871247]

Here's my recommendation build.
Blade: DHS PG7
FH: Stiga mantra M (Medium)
BH: Stiga Mantra S (Soft)

Why? most coaches (not all) would recommend an all wood blade with soft rubber for better feeling. You can use this until intermediate to advanced lvl. Once you develop ur strokes u can transition to Stiga mantra H on FH and M on backhand. that way it won't cost u too much money to change rubbers.

You're welcome.

 

[Silver Server]

So: probably up to 150 euro, soemthing around that. I heard that Mark V is kinda "old" and totally out of modern rubbers. I haven't heard about Nittaku, I have to read about that.
Do you have any other ideas?

+
What is tensor?

It is old, but a classic that is easy to play and will help you develop your strokes & game. As an update to Mark V Yasaka also has Rigan & Rigan Spin is their modern introductory rubber to tensors. Tensor rubber is basically all the new rubber provided today that has prebuilt tension in the sponge to speed up the rubber. The main thing you want to stay away from is fast rubbers (and blades) that have too much catapult aka tension.

Whatever you pick just stick with the same set up for at least a year or two. You’ll develop faster if you don’t keep switching up your equipment as you’ll find out later it really doesn’t matter, and it all comes down to preference with what you’re comfortable with playing.

 

[saculo]

Ohh, I understand.

I heard about tacky vs non-tacky rubbers - what is better for a beginner?

 

[latej]

I heard about blades like: Yasaka Sweden Extra, Butterfly Primorac, Stiga: Allround Classic. But I have no idea which will be the best, or even maybe something out of this list, I'm open to get all recommendations.

These are all OK. Also e.g. Donic Persson Powerplay is similarly good.

When talking about rubbers its even worse... Rakza 7/7Soft, Vega X, Vega Intro, Mercury 2/2 Soft, Rozena, 729 SuperFx. I have no idea what to choose, but maybe you have even better ideas than these.
What should be thickness of these rubbers? Should I take different rubber for bh and fh?

Many options, e.g. from Yasaka: R7 on FH, R7 soft on BH, or from Xiom: Vega Pro or X on FH, Vega Europe on BH. But I'd suggest Nittaku FastArc G1 on FH and FastArc C1 on BH. These are a bit slower than the above mentioned Yasaka and Xiom combinations.

Whether or not you take the same on the FH and BH - as long as the rubbers are not overly hard, it is also OK to take the same rubbers. You could take slightly harder on the FH, which means G1 on FH, just so that you recognize the difference.

In another words, I'd suggest to take FastArc C1 on both sides, or FastArc C1 on BH and G1 on FH, rather than taking G1 on both the FH and BH - that I'd not recommend now, even though it is also doable.

Regarding thickness, I'd suggest 2.0 on the BH initially, on the FH you can take 2.0 or max. Perhaps 2.0 now is fine. Don't be afraid. If you keep playing, you'll change and things will sort out automatically.

Tacky vs Not - I think you can try tacky, but I'd suggest in the "next round". Tacky rubbers are usually also harder, so perhaps you wait 1 year... Cheers.

 

[mocker88]

What's wrong with your current setup? I mean, it could be really good for learning technique and it's not too fast, and not that spin sensitive...

 

[saculo]

The biggest problem that's the current setup is very old (probably about 5 years old). + I felt like this Palio AK47 is too soft (maybe I'm wrong). Sometimes it looked like I didn't do nothing and ball went automatically like from a catapult

So at the end what would be the best?
Rakza7 + Rakza7 Soft?
Nittaku FastArc G1 + C1?
Nittaku Factive x2?

 

[Sven7013]

The biggest problem that's the current setup is very old (probably about 5 years old). + I felt like this Palio AK47 is too soft (maybe I'm wrong). Sometimes it looked like I didn't do nothing and ball went automatically like from a catapult

So at the end what would be the best?
Rakza7 + Rakza7 Soft?
Nittaku FastArc G1 + C1?
Nittaku Factive x2?

I think that Rakza7 + Rakza7 Soft is the best rubber combenation from these 3

 

[Ultravisitor]

The biggest problem that's the current setup is very old (probably about 5 years old). + I felt like this Palio AK47 is too soft (maybe I'm wrong). Sometimes it looked like I didn't do nothing and ball went automatically like from a catapult

So at the end what would be the best?
Rakza7 + Rakza7 Soft?
Nittaku FastArc G1 + C1?
Nittaku Factive x2?

All them would work, if you put in the work if you know what i mean. But the first two will be faster and have more spin than ak47 blue.
If you want something harder you could try ak47 red. It's so cheap, it's hard to recommend the esn rubbers over them for a beginner, especially if you get them on sale for ca. 10 $.

 

[mightymouse]

Blades for beginners:

A. limba - limba - ayous - limba - limba composition -->
1. Butterfly Primorac Off- (Japanese version and European verson as well).
2. Gewo Zoom Pro Off- (this is "Primorac" clone), even the look is quite similar. But at a fraction of price.
3. Donic Waldner Senso v1 or v2

B. limba - ayous - ayous - ayous - limba composition -->
1. Stiga Allround Evolution
2. Donic Persson Powerallround (normal version, or v1 / v2 versions)
3. Tibhar Samsonov Premium Contact
These 3 are "basically" the same blades.

C. anegre - limba - ayous - limba - anegre -->
1. The one and only Yasaka Sweden Extra

Choose among those 3 categories based on:
1. Feeling (very subjective)
2. Handle shape

Performance wise, they are all excellent for beginners.

Rubbers?
For good value (i.e. cheap) rubbers, use Palio AK47. Red version (harder sponge), Yellow version (medium sponge) and Blue version (soft sponge). I don't know about Blue version, but for me, top sheet of Red version is less durable compared to Yellow version. If you want to be safe, choose the Yellow version.

You want to be more serious (more expensive rubbers but still good for beginners??) --> Yasaka Rakza 7 with 2.0 mm sponge.

 

[Chr75]

Is Yasaka Sweden Extra good for very small hands, almost like junior hands?

 

[Julzig]

My first self made bat was Xiom Allround S blade and Gewo Thunderball². Very controlled and was perfect for learning all the strokes. In my opinion this is a very forgiving setup, with enough spin and speed.
In general I would suggest to go for a more allround oriented racket until you find your playstyle and ajust based on that.
But if you have the right and frequent training you can go for almost anything, even yours. Just practise and not be afraid of missing your shots to improve.
Or go for something cheap that works and play alot aswell.
For example my old racket costed me like 80 bucks and had it for 5 years until it broke, or even some premade Joola stuff cost even less and works aswell.

 

[mightymouse]

Is Yasaka Sweden Extra good for very small hands, almost like junior hands?

I am not sure how small the hands that you refer to.

For Yasaka Sweden Extra FL (flared) handle, it is good for medium size hand (not sure for small hand). For larger hand, it is definitely small.

But for Sweden Extra ST (straight) handle, it is big and square, fitting for bigger hand.

For Tibhar Premium Contact, they offer the Junior size blade.