Equipment Advice

[Ash0210]

Hello guys, I have been a former USATT 2100 player. For context I have a powerful forehand opening loop and a very spinny backhand in general. Have used the viscaria and ovtcharov alc with dignics05 on both sides. However due to recent job commitments and overall responsibilities I dont compete regularly, playing just twice or thrice a week with good players mostly on weekends(1800-2100 sometimes 2200+) at my local clubs.Been thinking about moving to an all wood setup,its not a problem for me to perform my shots and flicks but due to limited time and lack of practice I find the passive game and blocks/counter topspins much more demanding and tougher with my carbon setups, preferably moving to a blade like the Korbel. NEED some advice on the rubber selection though.Been thinking about tenergy05 fh and Vega europe bh but would welcome suggestions from other players for any more easy to use alternatives whilst still being capable of generating good quality.
Cheers,

 

[K.K]

hey ash, i think you can switch to easier to play equipment if you don't find the time to practice anymore. but i would advise to only change one thing either rubber or blade.
option 1:
you can use your viscaria and instead of the dignics you can choose glayzer that is an softer and easier to play dignics 05. the pros: your feeling and most of the characteristics you are used to stay the same, it will just be easier to engage. cons: you would take the edge of the blade a lot. kind of like using city tires on a racing bike.
option 2:
get a new blade like korbel (or maybe better butterfly Falcima, because this is pretty similar to viscaria from headsize and weight) and put your normal dignics 05 on it. pros: you still have the better and more aggressive spin from dignics and maybe same speed as if you would use the glayzer on viscaria and still easier to angage and create arc. cons: changing blade takes a lot of time and you will have a lot of shots that will play a lot different, so it can take up to a month to get back to the same confidence you had with your old blade

if you change both together you will get all the cons together, especially if you change rubbers so drastically. like tenergy 05 is way more spin sensitive and will not help you at all, vega europe is a beginner rubber that takes to much edge off the offensive game

 

[sebi]

Have to agree with K.K
If you don´t have time to train a big set up change is not the way to go.
I would not recommend T05 if blocks and passiv game is hard for you it´s harder to control then D05. You could also try a innercarbon fibre blade like Innerforce ALC S. Very good touch but has more speed then corbel. I am not at your lvl at all but would stick with D05 in my opinion one of the best rubbers and for the spin and speed it has, it has good control.

 

[NextLevel]

Hello guys, I have been a former USATT 2100 player. For context I have a powerful forehand opening loop and a very spinny backhand in general. Have used the viscaria and ovtcharov alc with dignics05 on both sides. However due to recent job commitments and overall responsibilities I dont compete regularly, playing just twice or thrice a week with good players mostly on weekends(1800-2100 sometimes 2200+) at my local clubs.Been thinking about moving to an all wood setup,its not a problem for me to perform my shots and flicks but due to limited time and lack of practice I find the passive game and blocks/counter topspins much more demanding and tougher with my carbon setups, preferably moving to a blade like the Korbel. NEED some advice on the rubber selection though.Been thinking about tenergy05 fh and Vega europe bh but would welcome suggestions from other players for any more easy to use alternatives whilst still being capable of generating good quality.
Cheers,

If you are playing 3 times a week, Dignics 05 or 80 on both sides is more than fine. I think it is better if you play regularly to use what you usually use and gove yourself grace. At most if you block kore, I would recommend 80. That said, i could be wrong. Take some one else's advice and lets see hoe it goes. Hope you come back to update us because this is fascinating.

 

[Ash0210]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm not much of a blocker on the forehand side, tenergy05 and recently tested zyre03(on a friend's boll alc) ironically feel less demanding. By that I mean less physical effort, though technique still needs to be there.Also I think the major issue would be the backhand side, nowadays I tend to be lazier on the backhand side, blocking incoming loops trying to make the rally last longer 😆 and counterspinning only easy balls. Hence I think the combination of Viscaria(an outer alc blade) and Dignics05 feels overly responsive on slower, spinny balls and at times unnecessarily pingy if not not laser focused and playing actively. I myself couldn't have imagined that reduced play time(mostly 2 days a week, sometimes 3)would have such an effect, though mostly noticeably on passive aspects of the game.I did try a younger players Tibhar spw with xiom rubbers, I think Omega 7 and vega europe(forehand and backhand respectively) and it felt pretty good. I could just block and hold opponents with it all day though mid distance power was a bit of an issue.And yes @NextLevel I did try D80 on the backhand but of a DHS 301, felt quite nice.Not much of an arc but a pleasant experience, quite stable and a nice feel for the ball. I might be leaning more towards an inner carbon blade, just has that reserve power normal wood blades dont have.Will check out some other people's stuff and let you guys know.

 

[Ash0210]

Hello guys, tested my setup for nearly a month. Went for the butterfly hadraw sr(7ply wood blade) with Dignics80 on the forehand and vega x on the backhand. After having tried the korbel, clipper and tibhar spw, the Hadraw SR is just something else. Got it for 80usd near my local store.even compared to a viscaria , it doesn't seem there is any lack of power with this blade away from the table. The short game, service recieve is fantastic.Best way to describe this blade is a medium hard blade with tons of feel and reserve power.been quite impressed with the vega x for its ease of spin and blocking. Dignics 80 was also pretty good, quite effortless on the forehand. Could even flat hit away from the table if caught unprepared. All in all a criminally underrated blade, if you can find one, dont hesitate to buy it.

 

[ripctt2]

Hello guys, tested my setup for nearly a month. Went for the butterfly hadraw sr(7ply wood blade) with Dignics80 on the forehand and vega x on the backhand. After having tried the korbel, clipper and tibhar spw, the Hadraw SR is just something else. Got it for 80usd near my local store.even compared to a viscaria , it doesn't seem there is any lack of power with this blade away from the table. The short game, service recieve is fantastic.Best way to describe this blade is a medium hard blade with tons of feel and reserve power.been quite impressed with the vega x for its ease of spin and blocking. Dignics 80 was also pretty good, quite effortless on the forehand. Could even flat hit away from the table if caught unprepared. All in all a criminally underrated blade, if you can find one, dont hesitate to buy it.

ive actually never heard of that blade before. i think its discontinued is it not? whre did you get it? aside from that 7 ply wood is faster than 5 and has more gears. ive never tried 7ply blades before tho.dignics 80 is good tho. its all around rubber and probably easiest to use in the dignics series. never tried vega x.

 

[Ash0210]

ive actually never heard of that blade before. i think its discontinued is it not? whre did you get it? aside from that 7 ply wood is faster than 5 and has more gears. ive never tried 7ply blades before tho.dignics 80 is good tho. its all around rubber and probably easiest to use in the dignics series. never tried vega x.

Yes its discontinued. Got it from Billiard Towne in New Jersey. Vega x was a surprisingly good rubber for the backhand. Easy to open up, block and counterspin. Coupled with this blade ,long distance backhand shots arent a problem either.D80 works well both sides, real difference between these is noticeable when going for maximum brushing contact or full power, Dignics has a lot more to offer. Could've gone with d80 both sides but wasn't too sure about the backhand, and vega costs nearly a third of a dignics. For playing 2-3 times a week, Vega X is a pretty good backhand rubber.

 

[ripctt2]

Yes its discontinued. Got it from Billiard Towne in New Jersey. Vega x was a surprisingly good rubber for the backhand. Easy to open up, block and counterspin. Coupled with this blade ,long distance backhand shots arent a problem either.D80 works well both sides, real difference between these is noticeable when going for maximum brushing contact or full power, Dignics has a lot more to offer. Could've gone with d80 both sides but wasn't too sure about the backhand, and vega costs nearly a third of a dignics. For 2-3 times a week, Vega X is a pretty good backhand rubber.

yeah i believe vega x is faster than the vega pro. i think it lacks some spin tho but i think if you arent at a level maybe semi-pro level you prob cant tell a differnece.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

Hello guys, I have been a former USATT 2100 player. For context I have a powerful forehand opening loop and a very spinny backhand in general. Have used the viscaria and ovtcharov alc with dignics05 on both sides. However due to recent job commitments and overall responsibilities I dont compete regularly, playing just twice or thrice a week with good players mostly on weekends(1800-2100 sometimes 2200+) at my local clubs.Been thinking about moving to an all wood setup,its not a problem for me to perform my shots and flicks but due to limited time and lack of practice I find the passive game and blocks/counter topspins much more demanding and tougher with my carbon setups, preferably moving to a blade like the Korbel. NEED some advice on the rubber selection though.Been thinking about tenergy05 fh and Vega europe bh but would welcome suggestions from other players for any more easy to use alternatives whilst still being capable of generating good quality.
Cheers,

Butterfly has a rubber meant for blocking and countering game: Tenergy 25 ( fh ) & t25fx ( bh ).

 

[Ash0210]

yeah i believe vega x is faster than the vega pro. i think it lacks some spin tho but i think if you arent at a level maybe semi-pro level you prob cant tell a differnece.

Never tried a vega pro, as far as I know X was supposed to be a newer version of the Pro?

 

[Ash0210]

Butterfly has a rubber meant for blocking and countering game: Tenergy 25 ( fh ) & t25fx ( bh ).

Never tried that nor met anyone using it