Is 10 weeks with a new blade long enough to start getting adjusted to it?

[MOG]

So I upgraded from a Yasaka Ma Lin carbon to an Innerforce Layer ALC on about 12th Feb.
Same weight same rubbers.

And I still feel like its too fast, too reactive on serve return and generally not right.
I hit quicker winners with it and it is better for my pips, but my fh is all over the place.

I have played a good 6 or 7 tournaments, about 6 league matches and Practised for between 5 and 10 hours a week.

Today last match of a tournament I switched back to MLC and felt like I played better instantly?

Have I given it long enough, I think I have TBH.

 

[lodro]

So I upgraded from a Yasaka Ma Lin carbon to an Innerforce Layer ALC on about 12th Feb.
Same weight same rubbers.

And I still feel like its too fast, too reactive on serve return and generally not right.
I hit quicker winners with it and it is better for my pips, but my fh is all over the place.

I have played a good 6 or 7 tournaments, about 6 league matches and Practised for between 5 and 10 hours a week.

Today last match of a tournament I switched back to MLC and felt like I played better instantly?

Have I given it long enough, I think I have TBH.

Got my newest blade yesterday and just gave it a coat of sealer this morning. I will glue on my standard rubbers in the afternoon and play it at the club on Wednesday. Then I can already make the decision " Keeper or bin".

 

[Archosaurus]

Well, if you instantly play better with the old blade, then maybe the new one's not for you? It should expand your capabilities in areas you felt were lacking.

The general idea I've gathered is that if you train for 40h/week or more and play tournaments regularly, it'll take you 6 months to truly understand a new setup. That probably doesn't apply to normal humans who aren't professionals, but it's something to think about. I wouldn't be surprised if it would take amateurs a year or two to actually understand a new setup.

 

[jk1980]

Have I given it long enough, I think I have TBH.

Yes you did. 10 weeks is plenty of enough time especially if you also play matches in that time range. You have experienced what the new blade with your old accustomed rubbers looks like and if you did not adjust to the additional speed on your fh by now, you probably wont at all with that setup. Now you said that the blade is better for your backhand, so it would be worth a shot downgrading the rubber on the forehand before dismissing the blade all together, but in terms of the setup you used, i think you gave it more than enough of a chance to get acustomed to it. If you are really playing with the T05 FX on the forehand the good news is, that there will be a wide variety of rubbers being way more reasonable in terms of bounciness and control.
I see two possible options for your forehand:

option a: go harder and less responsive by using a harder rubber that does less by itself (that would be the chinese route). You could go for Friendship Battle 3 with '38 hardness. The only question is if you can give enough acceleration to properly loop.

option b: stay as soft but go to something more tame like Donic Bluefire M3.

Good luck

 

[jonol]

Depends on whether you're getting coaching to work on the errors you're seeing, or at least taking note of them and practicing to adjust your technique to the new blade.

Could be that a more controlled rubber would help since you have a quicker blade now, or some coaching to see if you can iron out the FH mistakes.

But there's also no harm in reverting to your old setup if it was more comfortable and selling the blade either.

 

[Sedis]

From my experience, I have a reasonable idea if a set up has the potential to work after a couple of sessions and am normally pretty comfortable after about 6 weeks of playing 3 or 4 times a week. However, I would say it takes several months until it 100% feels like my set up.

 

[NetProphet]

So I upgraded from a Yasaka Ma Lin carbon to an Innerforce Layer ALC on about 12th Feb.
Same weight same rubbers.

And I still feel like its too fast, too reactive on serve return and generally not right.
I hit quicker winners with it and it is better for my pips, but my fh is all over the place.

I have played a good 6 or 7 tournaments, about 6 league matches and Practised for between 5 and 10 hours a week.

Today last match of a tournament I switched back to MLC and felt like I played better instantly?

Have I given it long enough, I think I have TBH.

What do you mean 'you upgraded'?
Why do you call it an upgrade?
If it's because you moved to a Butterfly product or because you spent $150 on a new blade I think that's the crux of the issue.
There is no upgrade unless the new equipment definitely suits your game, or facilitates the development of your game.
There would have to be identifiable things that the old blade doesn't give that the new blade absolutely will.
It sounds to me that the old blade was absolutely perfect for you but you (like so many of us) were attracted by the shiny new and expensive thing instead.
I've also been there, done that and wasted money while believing that the new equipment would somehow help me only to find that it really is not about the equipment.
Every penny I spent on equipment after my second blade would have been better spent on coaching 🙄
I think money on coaching is likely the only way you will actually upgrade your game.

But as much as I've said it's not about the equipment (looking at the blade) I think that T05fx on an inner carbon blade is going to be very difficult for anyone to control tbh, it is just extremely bouncy making short game and serve receive more challenging.
There's a trade off of course Vs the things it helps with but if you cannot control it, it may actually be time to choose a rubber that will help you achieve the control you are looking for?
I also play an Innerforce ALC and I personally think it's a blade that could work for beginner right through to advance intermediate but T05fx it certainly (imo) a challenging rubber with specific limited use.
Does it really suit your game style?

 

[TackyForehand]

No need to force yourself to adapt. Each player requires personalized equipment, and there's enough choice right now to select the best just for you. It's only an upgrade if you play better with it.

 

[MOG]

I tried Victas Sticky and Sticky Soft and they give control but affect my smashing and driving too much.
I only use 1.9 05fx on my fh so it's not that bouncy tbh. I have tried 05 loads of times but i find it too hard and limiting.

 

[lodro]

Being a devoted EJ I have several years ago come to the conclusion that there is " NO" blade that makes me a better player. I keep however buying blades and some rubbers because I am sometimes curious, sometimes intrigued and sometimes I just like the look .
Ever so often it DOES happen that the moon and all the stars are in alignment and well I'll be yucked : This one really does work better 😂 😂 😂

 

[Yurifi]

So I upgraded from a Yasaka Ma Lin carbon to an Innerforce Layer ALC on about 12th Feb.
Same weight same rubbers.

And I still feel like its too fast, too reactive on serve return and generally not right.
I hit quicker winners with it and it is better for my pips, but my fh is all over the place.

I have played a good 6 or 7 tournaments, about 6 league matches and Practised for between 5 and 10 hours a week.

Today last match of a tournament I switched back to MLC and felt like I played better instantly?

Have I given it long enough, I think I have TBH.

didn’t read all the comments but if I learned anything in past few years after getting back to table tennis is this. one of my “jobs” in the club is to test equipment. also one of my hobbies. so I often buy or get new blades and rubbers and test them so I can recommend them (or not) to our players then.

one big mistake we all to - table tennis racquet is a combination of wood and rubber. sometimes wood and rubber do not go well together. i.e.: Xiom Hugo HAL and Dignics 05 is a tough combination - blade has a lot of dwell as does the rubber and it might give you an impression of having the ball on blade for too long. on the other hand, Dignics 05 and Xiom Ice Cream AZXi - match made in heaven.

so, it’s not just the blade, it’s also the rubber.

 

[Grumms]

You should get used to your new blade after 2 hours. Then, if it's too fast or too anything, it depends on how hard you train, how far the blade was from your original capabilities and your potential to improvement. Thus, there is no definitive answer. I can play in competition with setup I only tested the day before, but I'm smart enough not to chose something that is not within my abilities.

 

[Tyce]

You should get used to your new blade after 2 hours. Then, if it's too fast or too anything, it depends on how hard you train, how far the blade was from your original capabilities and your potential to improvement. Thus, there is no definitive answer. I can play in competition with setup I only tested the day before, but I'm smart enough not to chose something that is not within my abilities.

I neither trust my abilities nor the manufacturers claims of what specific equipment is good for... So all I can do is test tons and tons of stuff and slowly narrow down the list.

didn’t read all the comments but if I learned anything in past few years after getting back to table tennis is this. one of my “jobs” in the club is to test equipment. also one of my hobbies. so I often buy or get new blades and rubbers and test them so I can recommend them (or not) to our players then.

one big mistake we all to - table tennis racquet is a combination of wood and rubber. sometimes wood and rubber do not go well together. i.e.: Xiom Hugo HAL and Dignics 05 is a tough combination - blade has a lot of dwell as does the rubber and it might give you an impression of having the ball on blade for too long. on the other hand, Dignics 05 and Xiom Ice Cream AZXi - match made in heaven.

so, it’s not just the blade, it’s also the rubber.

Agree. It helps if you have something specific, like say you want to play Hurricane on FH and you don't want too much vibration. Some blades are helpful, some are just too floppy, hollow etc.
The biggest problem is when you have a big difference in preference between your FH and BH. Putting a soft rubber on the BH side can make quite a difference for a hard FH rubber, and vice versa.

 

[Grumms]

I neither trust my abilities nor the manufacturers claims of what specific equipment is good for... So all I can do is test tons and tons of stuff and slowly narrow down the list.


Agree. It helps if you have something specific, like say you want to play Hurricane on FH and you don't want too much vibration. Some blades are helpful, some are just too floppy, hollow etc.
The biggest problem is when you have a big difference in preference between your FH and BH. Putting a soft rubber on the BH side can make quite a difference for a hard FH rubber, and vice versa.

In 4 tests you should already have something quite close to what you need. You test 2 extreme setup, to know what kind of speed/control you want. Then something in the middle. Then, something on the middle of the 3 setup and the slowest or the fastest one. And already you're in a the right spot. Any other adjustment will be for feeling tastes mostly.

I agree for the FH/BH, can multiply by 2 the tests.

 

[Tyce]

Hard v soft, wood, inner or outer, slow v fast, balance, tensor, tacky, stiff blade or flexible... I'm like that

 

[lodro]

Putting a soft rubber on the BH side can make quite a difference for a hard FH rubber, and vice versa.

Do you mean that different rubbers on one side will change the characteristics of the rubber on the other side ?

 

[Yurifi]

Do you mean that different rubbers on one side will change the characteristics of the rubber on the other side ?

believe it or not, it is possible. I was playing with Hurricane Ma Long 5 and had andro Rasanter C53 on FH and andro Nuzn50 on BH. loved the C53 so much I said I will put two of those on the blade. did that and the blade became this unresponsive, feelingless, dead beautiful piece of wood.

 

[Yuomay]

10 weeks is plenty in my opinion. It’s about the duration of the interseason.

Getting completely dialled in to a new blade might take longer though

 

[Tyce]

Do you mean that different rubbers on one side will change the characteristics of the rubber on the other side ?

Perhaps not as much the actual playing characteristics, but most definitely the feeling.

 

[vanjr]

10 weeks is plenty of time to give a blade a good trial, assuming you have your rubbers all set. Also assuming you are not playing once a week. That said, I think the longer you play with a certain set up that you continue to get more comfortable with a set up over time and even over a year or more.
Someone suggested that a blade may not make you better....maybe. But 100% a blade can make your game worse.