Looking for recommendations for new racket

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At the risk of being unpopular here, but if you played with the ZLF and Viscaria with those rubbers, that's fast enough for intermediates in most cases. I think it's important to know where power comes from in TT, and it's not about gear but technique, check this out: https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/fo...ower-really-comes-from-in-table-tennis.38784/

So what I would do is, if you like the ZLF, which is a good blade anyways, keep it, and do the H3N and 8-80 since you do not like bouncy rubbers, and done:)

And for technique improvements, have a look at this collection of videos to get more insights on the right fundamentals. Lots of details there that may escape the eye initially, I speak from experience here ;) https://www.tabletennisequipmenthelp.com/technique-videos

By the way, I will post here a very long amateur guide on H3N this weekend, have been working on it for a while so stay tuned!
I'm not going for a viscaria structure blade for the speed, I'm going for it for the feel, I have tried 2 viscaria and 3 stradvarius from people in the clubs I go to and they fell very good when playing like I can't miss when using them
 
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I'm not going for a viscaria structure blade for the speed, I'm going for it for the feel, I have tried 2 viscaria and 3 stradvarius from people in the clubs I go to and they fell very good when playing like I can't miss when using them
That's fine, just saying that you may love the feel of a blade, I love the feel on both my DHS WCQ and Viscaria as well, but I lose more points I win with them, they are too fast and I don't need so much power, 7 ply (for me PG7, which is a steal for 25 euros) or slower innerforce carbon blades are often enough for all regional players, national is a different story.
 
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Unfortunately don't have the money for that kind of blade it costs twice as much to buy a viscaria or fzd alc in my country ±350usd and my budget is ±100usd

Depending on preferences, playstyle, and the amount of training/coaching you can get there a enough options even on a tight budget:
Blades:
- Yinhe V14 Pro, holds the ball deeper than a Viscaria 1) would start with a blade between 87g and 90g. Mine came factory sealed.
- Yinhe Pro 01 afair livelier, catapultier than V14 Pro (only tried it briefly with different rubbers)
- Loki Telson Speed (new version which has Viscaria structure (koto, carbon, ayous, kiri), old version was koto, carbon, limba, kiri. Also factory sealed. Maybe closer to Pro 01 (couldn't test further 2)
- 729 Blue Arylate, if one either likes the longer than normal handle, steep thumb rest or is willing to file and sand. Slower than the other blades.
- no personal experience, just saw it recently: Yasaka Hunter Speed 3) Maybe someone can find reviews?

5-ply allwood: Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive. Seriously. This is still a fast enough blade especially close(r) to the table or in general for a more variable, more spin based game. Usually not as light as tested by TTGearLab 4) (more like 90g+) so a bit faster. Main advantage compared to most outer-carbon blades is the deep hold characteristic when looping/hitting hard with a full and/or long(er) stroke. Heavy spin but not the fastest mid-distance. The main problem a lot of people have when switching to outer-carbon blades is that they change their strokes from full strokes to lets say semi-full strokes to reduce the number of errors they make. Outer-carbon is for sure more efficient i.e. needs less power mid-distance but these blades need good footwork, fast acceleration and good ball contact/sponge compression to get sufficient spin on the ball.

FH:
- H3(N) BS. Maybe start with 39 2.1 mm otherwise provincial H3(N) OS 40 2.1 mm or if you can get it then Nittaku/DHS H3N OS (NR-8701) which can be cheaper 5). Be warned: H3(N) BS can be highly addictive ;)
- Battle 3: For me a serious alternative to H3(N) OS
When going for outer-carbon I would start with 39° instead of 40° to get a bit more dwell time.

BH:
- H8-80 only if you can get the provincial or Nittaku's version 6). Commercials varied a lot in sponge hardness (gave up on them before the provincals became available). Sponge #80 reacts less to booster so personally would prefer H8-20.
- Loki Rxton7 National: I only know the red versions with 37° and 38° (durability currently unknown). Might be to hybrid like, catapulty on FH even in 40°
- Battle 3 38
- a bit overlooked for BH: Glayzer 09C. Reacts very well to booster and very light for this sponge hardness. Some 1800 TTR (roughly 2100 USATT) players use it on BH instead of Dignics 09C because it is more user friendly.

1) https://ttgearlab.com/2024/03/15/performance-indices-db-outer-fiber-blades/
2) https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/fo...speed-or-telson-power-blade.34837/post-563104
3) aliexpress.com/item/1005010547384243.html
4) https://ttgearlab.com/2023/07/24/yasaka-ma-lin-carbon-ma-lin-extra-offensive-lab-test-report/
5) https://tt-japan.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_2&products_id=1152
6) https://tt-japan.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_2&products_id=6554
 
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I fully understand your point and if I feel that it's too fast for me I will switch to a slower blade and I really do appreciate your concern about this matter and hope that people use the best setup for their level with your help
Or just put more control focused rubbers on it. Strangely for me, I find I have better control with it the more aggressive my rubbers are. I seem to like the strong feedback I get in my hand from these rubbers more then rubbers designed to be less spin sensitive. But I might be just weird.
 
Thanks everyone, I will probably sell my current setup since I didn't like the ST handle very much and decide if I will go for a Timo Boll Spirit FL or Yinhe Pro 1 (probably ill go for the Yinhe) and will buy H3 non Neo BS and H8-80
yinhe pro 1 is very cheap so you can probably get both!
 
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