Search results

I've tried both blades, they're both very good options and you can't go wrong either way. YEO is not stiff -- actually it is quite flexible. But there is a difference between stiffness and hardness. Hardness refers to how difficult it is to penetrate the surface wood, while stiffness refers to...

Faster equipment can help, but if you can't make a complete twisting motion with it then it will feel very uncontrollable. A better solution would be to use short pips on your forehand, so that you don't have to make a big twisting stroke. Or maybe it will be better to use short pips on your...

Stratus Power Wood is a good intermediate blade if you're looking for something between YSE and carbon. Ma Lin Extra Offensive is also a good option. Like the others said, keep your rubbers the same. You don't wanna change too many variables. Personally I'd stick with Battle II if you're...

Fan Zhendong has a better forehand and he also takes it very quickly after the bounce. I would also say Wang Hao did a better job than Felix with his forehand, but it's hard to compare because Wang Hao played in a different era with a different ball. For Felix's playing style? I can't think of...

Yeah that's totally fair. I actually think penholders should learn to play one-sided for a while before they learn RPB -- being able to punch, block, and chop-block with TPB is an important part of the penhold game and I'm sad to see it fade away at the professional level. In the professional...

Penhold certainly gives an advantage to the forehand, but we are now living in an era where the best penholder in the world is backhand-dominant and lacks a strong forehand. Xu Xin's style of playing big swinging FH power-loops from behind the table was good in the celluloid ball era, but he...

1. Ma Lin 2. Wang Hao 3. Xu Xin 4. Felix Lebrun 5. Liu Guoliang 6. Ryu Seung Min 7. Kim Taek Soo 8. Kaii Yoshida It's hard to make these comparisons because of the differences in balls. If they were playing with the 38 celluloid ball then Liu Guoliang should come up to #1 or #2. Also, Liu...

Dude, you need to take a chill pill. I bowed out of this thread because I'm not interested in raising my blood pressure over an argument about rubber on the internet. You aren't the 100% infallible authority on this issue. There are people who are better than you who disagree with you. I play in...

I agree. 802-40 is light, and it's a good transition from inverted rubber. Spinfire is probably the most similar to inverted rubber, so you could start there as well. It's faster than 802-40 which will put less stress on your elbow. But it is 3x the price. Waran is very nice as well, but not...

Nowhere on the Butterfly page does it say that Rozena is "beginner-friendly" or "made for beginners", but it does say that Rozena is "recommended for players aiming for the top". What on earth are you talking about?? Did you even read what the page says? Nowhere did I say that Spring Sponge and...

You could do that, especially if you tend to return serves with your forehand. I personally think it's confusing as a beginner to have two different rubbers, and I would advise using the same rubber on both sides until you have a good reason not to.

According to the butterfly website, Rozena uses "high-tension" technology, which is the same thing as tensor technology. Andro has a patent on the name "tensor" but every EuroJap company uses the same technology on almost all of their rubbers, including Rozena...

I disagree. Sriver is perfectly fine and Rozena has far too much catapult for a beginner. Rozena will not make you learn how to create your own power, and it will be hard to control against slow spinny balls. There's a reason why Sriver has stayed in production after all these years, and it's...

Try changing rubbers -- T05 is already quite soft and boosting it must make it very mushy

I used to play jpen with Skyline 2 on a 1ply hinoki and I liked it a lot. It's really good for making spinny loops, and power-looping far from the table was incredible. Great for chop-blocking as well. Usually hinoki is better for driving than looping, but Skyline 2 helps even that out. I would...

I think this is somewhat correct -- for any fixed level of input power. If you counterloop with the same strength on both rubbers, Vega Europe will produce more "kick" effect than T05H. But you can still get a kick effect with T05H -- you just need to hit harder and feel more stable in your...

There are techniques for doing drop shots with the spin, and techniques for doing drop shots against the spin. There are also techniques for doing drop shots perpendicular to the spin. It's very hard to describe, you just kind of have to get a feel for it by playing. When going with the spin...

Mantra Pro is better and more durable than the original Mantra. I've had a pair of Mantra Pro for 8 months, they're still smooth and grippy and no tears. The boost wears off fairly quickly, if that's what you mean. But I like it like that.