Help with Jpen and short pips for attack

[hiquema]

Hi everyone! I have a client (a 65-year-old man) who wants to build a JPen racket with a short pimple. His playing style is long serves with a bit of spin, hitting and smashing from medium to long distances. He wants to be able to better receive serves and spin shots from his opponents and counterattack. He currently uses a JPen Yinhe blade (I don't know the model) and a Mark V HPS rubber. His budget is a bit limited, so I'm thinking about another Yinhe JPen blade and a Uranus Pro Medium. I'm considering the Yinhe 985 or 988 blades. Do you think the 988 would be too fast for him or 985 too slow? I'm open to other combination suggestions with a similar budget in mind. Tks !

 

[PenHoldSandro]

Hi! Before becoming a Chinese Penholder, I was a Japanese Penholder with short pips. Therefore, I have looked into the Yinhe Penhold blades. Not that I've tried them, so please take this as a grain of salt

Both 985 and 988 are decent choices, but my preference is 985. 985 I heard has more control. 982 is Hinoki, which could match your client's wishes.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

If the budget is limited, why bother buying a new blade when the subject already has one? All the Yinhe jpen blades are thick and stiff and good for smashing already, just get him a short pips rubber so he can save and also not have to adjust to a new blade while he learns how to use the pips

 

[hiquema]

If the budget is limited, why bother buying a new blade when the subject already has one? All the Yinhe jpen blades are thick and stiff and good for smashing already, just get him a short pips rubber so he can save and also not have to adjust to a new blade while he learns how to use the pips

The subject want to keep his current blade configuration and buy a new one, better for me, I can make more money.

 

[hiquema]

Hi! Before becoming a Chinese Penholder, I was a Japanese Penholder with short pips. Therefore, I have looked into the Yinhe Penhold blades. Not that I've tried them, so please take this as a grain of salt

Both 985 and 988 are decent choices, but my preference is 985. 985 I heard has more control. 982 is Hinoki, which could match your client's wishes.

Tks !

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

For short pips hitting I recommend the round head 987, it reduces power because the head is not as long as the traditional square style head but it increases maneuverability close to the table. The 982 I tried was extremely hard feeling and very heavy, nothing like real Hinoki, but it was really good for smashing. I havent tried the 988 or 985

 

[suds79]

I'll just be real because I used to play Jpen back in the day.

I don't know why anybody in their right mind who is a single wing traditional backhand user naturally with their Jpen wouldn't just move to Cpen and play the same way but throw either an Anti or LPs on the other side for the occasional chop/change of pace tricky rubber. Just give you more options.

That's what I do but to each their own.

But suds maybe they like that really thick crazy power a jpen gives. No problem. There are plenty of cpens of varying thickness & flex you can pick to your style. You want something with silly power & like a jpen in terms of thickness & power? Gambler Balsa Knight. 8.1mm and an absolute rocket.

 

[YELLOWCLAM]

Hi guys, I'm sorry if this is slightly off topic, but my dad is a Chinese penholder and he doesn't use reverse penhold backhand so I'm thinking of getting him a Japanese penhold but I don't know much about Japanese penhold. Could someone give me some insight about what could be some good recommendations and the advantage and cons of each? Thanks

 

[PenHoldSandro]

Hi guys, I'm sorry if this is slightly off topic, but my dad is a Chinese penholder and he doesn't use reverse penhold backhand so I'm thinking of getting him a Japanese penhold but I don't know much about Japanese penhold. Could someone give me some insight about what could be some good recommendations and the advantage and cons of each? Thanks

Firstly, does he even WANT a Jpen racket? Even though they both only have 1 side, the feeling can be much different. This is due to the head shape (square vs circle) and the bit fat cork on the handle for Jpen users. A prime example is Ryu Seung Min's or Kaii Yoshida's grip, in which they both are fundamentally the same, just that one prefers the Jpen and the other the Cpen.

Now for the PROS and CONS of Jpen:
Pros
- Much stronger smashing attack than BOTH Shakehand and Chinese Penhold, due to the head shape, cork, and commonly used Kiso Hinoki wood that makes up the one ply of the racket
- You can hold it better than Cpen
- 1 ply Hinoki wood feels very good, especially on Jpen
Cons
- No backhand (unless you wanna ruin the feeling)
- Needs FANTASTIC footwork
- Less spin than Cpen (Jpen is more on speed)

With that out of the way, I do have recommendations for your dad!

1. Yinhe 985
- This blade is very cheap, and has multiple plies of wood. It has decent control and speed, overall good choice is you lack a big budget.
2. Butterfly T-Max
- Basically, this plays like a high quality hinoki racket, but a tad cheaper than most. If you have a bigger budget, this'll be the best option.
3. Xiom Hinoki Seung JPEN
- An inbetween of the two, this Jpen is ALSO 1 ply hinoki.

As for rubber, any good European or Japanese works. Usually the likes of Tenergy 05. Chinese rubbers don't pair with Jpen, for a reason I genuinely don't really know. Just try to use Euro or Jap.

(Remember, I didn't actually play with any of these, thay are just very popular options +research on forums, if you want a better idea on the rackets, contact @greenbeanmachine )

 

[YELLOWCLAM]

Firstly, does he even WANT a Jpen racket? Even though they both only have 1 side, the feeling can be much different. This is due to the head shape (square vs circle) and the bit fat cork on the handle for Jpen users. A prime example is Ryu Seung Min's or Kaii Yoshida's grip, in which they both are fundamentally the same, just that one prefers the Jpen and the other the Cpen.

Now for the PROS and CONS of Jpen:
Pros
- Much stronger smashing attack than BOTH Shakehand and Chinese Penhold, due to the head shape, cork, and commonly used Kiso Hinoki wood that makes up the one ply of the racket
- You can hold it better than Cpen
- 1 ply Hinoki wood feels very good, especially on Jpen
Cons
- No backhand (unless you wanna ruin the feeling)
- Needs FANTASTIC footwork
- Less spin than Cpen (Jpen is more on speed)

With that out of the way, I do have recommendations for your dad!

1. Yinhe 985
- This blade is very cheap, and has multiple plies of wood. It has decent control and speed, overall good choice is you lack a big budget.
2. Butterfly T-Max
- Basically, this plays like a high quality hinoki racket, but a tad cheaper than most. If you have a bigger budget, this'll be the best option.
3. Xiom Hinoki Seung JPEN
- An inbetween of the two, this Jpen is ALSO 1 ply hinoki.

As for rubber, any good European or Japanese works. Usually the likes of Tenergy 05. Chinese rubbers don't pair with Jpen, for a reason I genuinely don't really know. Just try to use Euro or Jap.

(Remember, I didn't actually play with any of these, thay are just very popular options +research on forums, if you want a better idea on the rackets, contact @greenbeanmachine )

Yeah judging on what you said i think that would fit perfectly for him because he isn't a spin oriented player, he just "plays" and just hits the ball and his footwork is actually quite fast. would Hybrid rubbers work such as 09C or DNA Hybrid because he doesnt rlly like tensor rubbers, he like hybrid or chinese rubbers, but what you said chinese rubbers dont rlly pair with it so perhaps hybrid? thanks

 

[hiquema]

For short pips hitting I recommend the round head 987, it reduces power because the head is not as long as the traditional square style head but it increases maneuverability close to the table. The 982 I tried was extremely hard feeling and very heavy, nothing like real Hinoki, but it was really good for smashing. I havent tried the 988 or 985

Tks ! Have you tried Uranus Pro Medium ? If yes, do you think it is a good match with 987?

 

[PenHoldSandro]

Yeah judging on what you said i think that would fit perfectly for him because he isn't a spin oriented player, he just "plays" and just hits the ball and his footwork is actually quite fast. would Hybrid rubbers work such as 09C or DNA Hybrid because he doesnt rlly like tensor rubbers, he like hybrid or chinese rubbers, but what you said chinese rubbers dont rlly pair with it so perhaps hybrid? thanks

Well then that's perfect! Now all you need is the budget 😂

Hybrid rubbers would generally work, I suppose. 09c and DNA are great rubbers to go for anyway, so EJ away!

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

Tks ! Have you tried Uranus Pro Medium ? If yes, do you think it is a good match with 987?

Only tried it for a short time but it felt just fine for a short pips. I prefer more dynamic German pips for single sided penhold but thats just me

 

[Azku]

I'm a jpenholder player with SP too. So, here's what I think.

Traditional jpen blade with one ply hinoki doesn't really work that well with SP.

You want a jpen blade with round face instead of square.

Also, from my experience, multiply blades pair better with SP compared to one ply.

My current setup is Armstrong Val Attack, which is a 5 ply all hinoki blade. It's pretty cheap, probably still within his budget.

Armstrong Arm is another alternative. It's 5 ply hinoki outer layers. It's slightly cheaper than Val Attack.

They have multiple different versions. Traditional jpen, reversible, and Kase handle (which is my favourite).

I don't have much experience with Yinhe blade, but probably 987 is a good option, since it's multiply and round.