Cheap Bats In Large Quantity

[agold]

Hi! I am trying to buy a lot of bats for a group of inexperienced players. I need no more than 15, and I need the bats to be good enough to put spin on the ball, so that people can learn how to really play, but not, well, not tenergy

Here is a checklist of things it needs to satisfy:

• Blade
• Sponge
• Rubber
  • Some spin
• About 15
  • I am thinking there might be a bulk discount for a quantity like that
• No more than $20 each
  • Better at about $10 each, but that might not be possible

Does killerspin do a good job? http://www.killerspin.com/review/product/list/id/212/category/43/ is $16 each, but could it maybe get cheaper at a larger quantity?

Thanks everyone!

 

[Der_Echte]

Those kind of premade bats, even if they are from a great company like say Stiga or Tibhar... Those $10 - $20 bats are not very good bats. Rubber is crappy, slower than a black hole, and feel is bad... and it is not designed to take off the rubber easily. You almost need an industrial sander to get the thick strong glue removed, although it does help to use a discarded sheet of rubber or a cut-out to rub and remove it.

The absolute cheapest blades you can find are around $10 a blade at the very low end. Sheets of rubber... well you can find 729FX for $5-$8 a sheet and XP 2008 around the high end of that price range per sheet.

You will not make serviceable bats for under $20 brand new. Maybe upper $20 range at the cheapest.

If you can score some of those super cheep Walmart OX pips out blades, remove the ox rubber and slap on some new rubber, you might bring your costs down to $20 a bat with new rubbers. Nothing wrong with those cheep Walmart bats if you can get rid of the rubber, they are mostly ALL speed class wood blades, Just be sure to seal the blade after you get the OX rubber off it or you'll be peeling apart the blade every time you change a rubber.

You can reduce your costs even more if you are around a club that has kept players' discarded rubbers. Some players like to change out the rubber, even though it still has some serviceable life left in it. In Korea, I played daily for hours and would change out my FH rubber at the 2 month mark. My friend at the club would take my rubber, save it, slap it on his FH, then use that thing another 6 months. He played daily as well.

Just do not expect to order a brand new bat that is usable to learn all the strokes to a decent level for $10-$20 unless you are able to score some used blades or rubbers. It is a LOT of work to recondition even ONE Walmart bat, imagine what it is like for a dozen or more! If you have a machine sander and the touch, maybe you can do it efficiently if you can make the blade smooth and seal it, with machine help, it wouldn't take a week to do a dozen bats changing them from $3 OX bats to the same blade with new sheet of a cheep allround rubber.

 

[Der_Echte]

In the 4 years I was in Korea, I prolly reconditions 20 bats like that for the rec centers in different camps and for recreational players. As long as you have time, patience, equipment, (and it helps to have a pile of serviceable used rubbers !!) you can make a serviceable bat on the cheap, but don't expect to construct an all new one for less than $25 with all your shipping costs and materials.

 

[agold]

Are we thinking in the same dollar value? Thanks a lot for the response

 

[gman4911]

The cheapest decent racket I've seen is the DHS X4002/A4002 for around $18 delivered. It uses Hurricane 3 and G888 rubbers.
http://www.amazon.com/DHS-Tennis-Racket-Paddle-Racquets/dp/B001IZXO4A/

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Are we thinking in the same dollar value? Thanks a lot for the response

Der_Echte is talking US dollars. He is in the USA. He knows what he is talking about.

That DHS racket that is $17.50 which gman4911 posted, might be the best you can get for under about $30.00.

 

[Dan]

Der_Echte is talking US dollars. He is in the USA. He knows what he is talking about.

That DHS racket that is $17.50 which gman4911 posted, might be the best you can get for under about $30.00.

Agreed, also that Amazon bat is a bargain for the price!

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

IMO, anything that cheap is a waste of money.
$30 is already so cheap, and you want to go cheaper....
Just tell each of the 15 players to save up on a weekend of entertainment, and they can have a beginner but decent bat for 6 to 12 month of usage.
But if the prority is different, you can just get a $5 bat

 

[Der_Echte]

I think USD $30 is a reasonable price for an acceptable ALL+ bat with control rubbers if you go the route of what I recommend for those thrifty souls who don't want to spend a lot of money.

I agree with Tony's sentiment that players shouldn't be so cheap to not be willing to cough up a measly $30 for a bat that will be appropriate and durable. Would these same players be demanding to use under $20 equipment if this was TENNIS?

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I think USD $30 is a reasonable price for an acceptable ALL+ bat with control rubbers if you go the route of what I recommend for those thrifty souls who don't want to spend a lot of money.

I agree with Tony's sentiment that players shouldn't be so cheap to not be willing to cough up a measly $30 for a bat that will be appropriate and durable. Would these same players be demanding to use under $20 equipment if this was TENNIS?

I agree also. And the racket setup that Der_Echte recommends so often is really a great setup at a great price:

Galaxy 896 racktet: $16.00
Dawei 2008 XP Power Sponge: $7.00 a sheet (if bought in a racket combo at colestt.com)

Total price: $30.00.

After seeing Der_Echte talk about that setup so frequently when people asked for a setup for beginners that was a reasonable price, I got two for myself. They are good. For me, they are perfect for when a friend does not really play but wants to hit and start learning. I would go with the Galaxy/Dawei setup over the DHS preassembled setup that gman4911 recommended. The top of the line DHS products are good. The lower quality ones are not as good and when someone assembles a bat for you it is invariably higher quality than when a bat is preassembled. For an extra $12.50, you are getting something that you could really learn to play with and use to get to a higher level. A player at 1800-1900 USATT rating would be able to use a racket like that and still do everything he would do with a racket setup that cost 4 times as much.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

@ Der_Ecthe: what is the other website you also recommend for that racket setup besides colestt.com? colestt.com worked well for me but it is worth having options.

@ agold: I am not sure but, if you are buying 10-15 of the same setup, Cole might give you a wholesale price even though the original price is really so inexpensive and he does the work to assemble them and he will seal the blades before assembling them if you ask for that. You could always contact him and ask if you would get a discount for buying so many at once.

 

[agold]

Ok so I email him? Thanks for all this advice

 

[Der_Echte]

Carl i also have ordered chinese equipment from eacheng.net


Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Der_Echte]

I actually use that 896 setup (with a used modern fh rubber) as a match bat when i need a reliable setup that will not cost me money if the airline or someone steals my bag.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Der_Echte]

I last used it a week ago at the Korea tt club downtown los angelas no prob.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Bishop Rasta 27]

if i would ask, was the 896/dawei set up a beginners setup? or will it be also for experienced players?

i was just wondering, if i am an experienced player who started with an all Friendship 729 fx setup preassembled, which i believe also a good starter at Php350 (US $ 7.76) and i would like to upgrade my level but not abruptly, could i use the 896/dawei setup? although i have my tenergy 64 for fh right now, i still feel that my fh is not that consistent as compared when i still have the 729 superfx where control is essential to me.

by the way i bought my preassembled bat at a local store here way back maybe 15 years and i don't knw if there are stores out there that sell this premade bat at the same price like i had before...i could say this one is good cause i've used it for like more than 12 months as a starter before.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Bishop, that Galaxy 896 bat with Dawei 2008 XP rubbers is good for beginners, and as Der_Echte is saying, at the level of a strong intermediate player, it could still be used. That is a pretty decent allround setup.

 

[agold]

Thanks guys might go with the $30 on this. Maybe I can ask who is willing to spend some money on a good bat first

 

[Der_Echte]

Bishop, a used sheet of T64 for FH and a control rubber like 729FX or XP2008 (EDIT: On an 896 blade) is a bat that can be used by even amatures who are cracking top ten % in their club. It won't be a speed demon, but it will be sound enough to win enough points to succeed at that level without much drop-off in level. XP 2008 on both sides is even more control and less speed on FH. I crave my spin, feel, and touch on FH and I only get that with modern rubbers. ON BH wing, I can get it with XP 2008 or any modern rubber, whatever. My FH is picky, so for a backup bat, I like to have one of those 896 bats ready with a used sheet of a modern FH rubber, like Aurus or whatever I get my hands on. I even modify the handle to add 15 grams of weight or more to get the impact feel I LIKE.

 

[Der_Echte]

In my days of being around my old club in Korea, I would order 5 or 6 of these blades at a time and a LOT of XP 2008 rubber. If I wanted a bat for myself, I would surely get 3-4 other club players who wanted to make a slower bat for them with XP 2008 on BH and would re-use one of their FH rubbers they were about to throw away. The better of these players was the English teacher who liked to play aggressive attacking topspin game. He got one of those heavier 88g 896 and Aurus on FH / XP 2008 on BH, he won the same number of points as he did with the same rubbers using Jun Mizutani bat.

High costing items carry a prestige in Korea, but sometimes some not so expensive equipment can be perfectly serviceable.