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A friend who played at a very high level 30 years ago had a great way of training his impact zone. Similar to the idea suggested by IB66, but what he did, on a spare bat, was he cut the rubbers (both FH and BH) to about the size of a coffee cup and stuck them where he wanted his impact (ie. just...

Well, then the Mantra Pro series sounds very promising!

I see there's a new Stiga Mantra Pro series listed on the ITTF website, as well as a Stiga Truls Moregard rubber. We'll have to wait and see where these new ones are made, but weren't the old Mantra series made in Japan (ie. non-ESN)?

It would be helpful if you could explain this comment. Thanks!

I was just looking at something on the Joola website and, out of curiosity, looked at the "Team Joola" page (https://joola.com/table-tennis/team-joola/). I was surprised to see that the majority of Joola sponsored players still use the Rhyzer Pro 50 and only a handful of them use the newer...

👍 100% correct! If the attribute in question is tackiness then I agree with you: Rakza Z is more tacky than most and, in that sense, is more Chinese-like. On the other hand, if the attribute is sponge-character, then I'd say Rakza Z is more ESN-like. The thread title here muddles the issue a...

Interesting how varied different peoples' perceptions of the same rubber can be. For example, I would say that Rakza Z belongs at, or close to, the bottom of this list (ie. the ESN-like side). I notice that the new Joola hybrids (Dynaryz ZGR and Rhyzen ZGR) haven't made it onto the list yet -...

Back to the original question ... Have you considered a straightforward 5-ply all-wood blade? Something like the Xiom Offensive S is a really good looping blade, and if you stuck a set of Xiom Vega X (or Pro) rubbers on it that would be a fair step up in power from what you're currently using...

Looks nice! Does the harder glue make it more of a hitting/blocking blade rather than a looping blade? Or are the differences so subtle that it doesn't really make any difference?

I've only played with the commercial version of H3 Neo, so my observations may not apply to other versions (ie. Provincial, National, boosted non-Neo, etc.). So, with that limitation in mind, my observations are that H3 Neo produces more spin than anything else IF you beat the living daylights...

Thanks Tipiak! It sounds like you're saying that the SK7 is more powerful than the SFP Blue - is that right?

Thanks Guys. I'd initially ruled out the Clipper for the same reason as the Samsonov Force Pro Black, i.e. that it's too fast. Am I wrong about that?

Hi All, I'm planning to get a 7-ply all-wood blade as a gift for my son and would be grateful for some advice please. He currently plays with a Xiom Offensive S and is looking for a step up from that in power, but he doesn't like the feel of blades with any synthetic fibres (eg. carbon, ALC...

If all you mean is that you need a bit more skill to produce good spin with a carbon blade, then I agree. But what many folks seem to mean is that top-level players cannot be competitive with all-wood blades. In other words, the popular myth has become that if you use an all-wood blade that...

Sounds to me like a good call. The fact is that you'll probably have better feel with an allwood blade than with a carbon, and the extra confidence you gain from the better feel means that, in time, you'll probably be hitting harder with the allwood than you would have with the carbon anyway...

I think sometimes what folks mean by comments like the OP's is that, with rubbers like D09C (i.e. Chinese-style, or hybrids along those lines) is that the greater control gives them more confidence to hit harder than they would with rubbers like T05 (i.e. bouncy/tensor rubbers) thus giving the...

Great to see Aruna looking so strong at the business-end of the competition! His next match against Jonghoon should be very entertaining - they're both such powerful hitters. Jonghoon probably has a more 'complete' game, but if Aruna is on form with his forehand he can take it.

I've heard a number of folks say that the Evolution MX-S feels like a slightly softer D05. I haven't tried either of them myself so can't offer a personal opinion, but maybe it's worth a try given that it's half the price and (reputedly) a pretty durable rubber?

I think it would be one of the "Pro" versions. Probably Vega Pro or Omega V Pro. Vega X, although similar on paper, is quite a bit bouncier than G-1. And the Omega Asia rubbers are harder than G-1 and require more effort to generate high spin with. G-1 makes easy spin. Vega Pro is probably...

Several well established alternatives come to mind: Yasaka Rakza 7 Xiom Vega Pro Xiom Vega X Victus Ventus Extra Stiga DNA Pro M Stiga Mantra M DHS Goldarc 8 Donic Baracuda Any of those will be close enough - and cheaper. Of course there are others (eg. Rasanter, DNA Platinum, Omega VII...