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There is a lot of rose tinted views of the Rakza 7. It is outdated and was released before the advent of plastic balls and is also probably being touted by former Mark V cultists as they realize how crazy it sounds to recommend Mark V to developing players nowadays. You are completely right that...

183 grams is not considered heavy although I would tend to go with blades less than 90 grams, maybe 85 or so. If you cannot handle 183 grams maybe look for an even lighter blade. Another thing to consider is if you are using the Harimoto Innerforce ALC, the head size the slightly larger at...

What if I told you what some people who think their rubber is too fast is misinterpretting the rubbers lack of control/predictability at higher ball impact speeds as being too fast and a harder rubber with a more linear and predictable response at those speed makes it all good again? Have none...

WTF gasoline? That is a ghetto solution to cleaning glue residue. Not much you can do except to let it air out and give the seller have a piece of your mind.

The reason you don't want the Acuda S2 on the Viscaria is because it is an outdated rubber that is too soft for modern offensive techniques with the plastic ball. The Donic J2 works really well for me on the BH and so does the Zyre 03 but Zyre is very expensive.

Not sure the varnish in your amazon link is the wipe on type as it might be too thick. The one I am using is this: Minwax Wipe on Poly It is thin enough that you can easily use 2 or 3 layers and not worry about it affecting the feel of the blade.

Why do I get the distinct feeling that these penalty matches are fixed so that the welts gets distributed so they don't all fall on Dan?

For me above 190g is a no go as I'm not young anymore and cannot handle the fatigue of swinging heavy setups. There is no advantage whatsoever to having a heavy racket for me as my set up is fast enough and feels good. In fact with the addition of Zyre 03 on the back hand on my alternate blade...

I wear a sports (thin) beanie and 2 merino shirts whenever I play, a merino t-shirt underneath and a cut down to short sleeve half zip merino heavy base layer outer. I lose body heat too quickly and gas out if I don't. The merino is magic, it insulates even when wet and they don't smell bad and...

I would question the assumption that the Rozena tha Zhu Yuling used to reach WR #1 is the same Rozena that you can buy on the streets. She also mentions it could have been a psychological factor to using a different performing rubber against her team mate opponents who were used to her equipment...

I hear Sanwei has a bunch of new Surge ALC blades at around $50. If you can save up a bit, those might be some of the best performance to price ratio blades around. I have tried the Paramid and Hynover and they have incredible performance for the price.

It would be the one Butterfly customizes for me, like how they do with the top pros. Probably a light fast ALC type blade that is oversized 158-159mm and a little less than 6mm thick.

In my opinion, fast or slow gear is a matter of personal preference, not whether someone is a beginner or amateur. What is considered fast back in the day such as ALC blades is not "too fast" anymore in the context of the plastic ball and classic 5 ply allwoods in my opinion is just way too...

I see the Chinese have started doing the Ken Block stuff. It's not that unusual for top level athletes to be able to parlay their natural athletic abilities, reflexes and feel into other endeavours and succeed at it. Drifting isn't more difficult than top level table tennis if you have the...

If you likes the BTY Inner ALC and expect a substitute to play the same, you may be disappointed. You probably want to just find the official BTY online retailer in your region or better yet, a local club with BTY sponsorship that can sell you BTY gear at some discount. The best solution...

But also be aware that there is no free lunch. You may end up with a dud due to QA. The one Yinhe Pro 01 I tried felt inconsistent. Cheaper blades carry more of a gamble.

Rakza 7 is a bit soft and outdated and X5-M was a disappointment when it came to spin and feel. If you want a non Chinese rubber with a good price to performance ratio, get the Stiga Mantra Pro H or M from aliexpress. If you don't mind older tech but something proven and better than the Rakza 7...

If you are able to hit the ball hard and fast, I would suggest not going with Tenergy 05 but something more modern and harder. The D05 works great for the BH and D09C for the FH. Harder rubbers give you better control when you are able to hit hard.

For a budget setup, I would not be able to go back to all wood blades so it would have to be one of the Sanwei Paramid or Hynover blades that I tried, and Loki Arthur China FH and Yinhe Jupiter 3 Asia BH. The Paramid is still available from Megaspin for less than $40.

I like how people assume the rubbers the very top players use are the same as what you or I can buy at the store. So besides Mima Ito, how may other top players men or women are using G1 on their forehand again? She also has a close to the table more or less flat hitting style of attack. This...