Advice for a new bat

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Hi,

Going to revisit this again after chatting to some friendly players at a local(ish) club I found. Just after a tiny bit more help.

FH: Donic Baracuda 2.0mm
BH: Donic Acuda S2 (Not sure if i should go for 1.8mm or 2.0mm, some advice is appreciated)
Blade: Would any of the suggestions above still be OK or should I look to be paring these rubbers with a Donic blade?

Thanks,

Seems alright. 2.0mm should also be ok on the backhand. If you hit more with the backhand, then go for 1.8 mm, if you loop more, then go for 2.0mm. Either way, it doesn't really matter. You only have to be really careful with blades on both extremes (either extremely fast or extremely slow as they are used by players who have specialized in a particular style) however, every blade mentioned so far can support pretty much any stroke.

Yes, all the blades above should be fine, except for the Stiga Allround Classic as I just read that you used to have a decent level. In that case go for something in the Off- category as you basically have the fundamentals down. Primorac Off-, Tibhar Stratus etc. are all pretty good.
 
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Someone at that level OUGHT to know what does what, but one will be surprised to discover that even a lot of pros don't know a whole lot about different gear. Make no mistake, they are super expert where the tire hits the road, within seconds they will tell you if the gear is right or not for what they do.

That is the big reason I support those who say to sample as much as you can from other players' gear and feel for yourself.

Being in UK both limits and opens up your choices.

For the absoulute lowest cost you can still function, get a Stiga Allround Evolution new and inexpensive, get an not so expensive modern FH rubber you like, and get an Allround Control Rubber for your BH. Every company makes one or more rubbers in these classes. If you buy say Tibhar, try out MX-P on FH and Genius or Aurus soft on BH. All those rubbers can be found on sale somewhere in Europe at all times from some vendor.

Try to buy all your stuff from same shop to save on shipping.

EDIT: Go for the Beast Mod, to turn the bat into Beast Mode. Search for a thread called "re-bulding the beast"
 
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This user has no status.
Hi,

Going to revisit this again after chatting to some friendly players at a local(ish) club I found. Just after a tiny bit more help.

FH: Donic Baracuda 2.0mm
BH: Donic Acuda S2 (Not sure if i should go for 1.8mm or 2.0mm, some advice is appreciated)
Blade: Would any of the suggestions above still be OK or should I look to be paring these rubbers with a Donic blade?

Thanks,

I will recommend the Donic World Champion 89 Appelgren all+, solid blade that is good for beginners up to top players. I recently played a coach that used this blade and he showed me what a good blade can do in the hands of a good player.

Rubbers I would not recommend the S2, I have played with it and there are much better rubbers out there. I would go with a Xiom Euro rubber like Sigma 2 Euro Omega 4 or 5 Euro. You can play these on both FH and BH.
 
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I would go with the 2.0 on your backhand as well (personally, I would go max on both sponges, but that's a matter of preference). And as far as blades go, there's no need to match the brand of the rubber. Just pick one in the weight range and speed range you want and let it rip. Are you wanting to progress your backhand to be more offensive as you get back into the game?

Yes, absolutely want to get the BH more offensive. I can already feel it coming back the more i play.

Someone at that level OUGHT to know what does what, but one will be surprised to discover that even a lot of pros don't know a whole lot about different gear. Make no mistake, they are super expert where the tire hits the road, within seconds they will tell you if the gear is right or not for what they do.

Its a good point that i was surprised no one brought up previously. When i was playing at school, i had absolutely no input into the equipment i was using. It was all chosen by the coaches. All i knew that was the rubber chosen for my BH was black and my FH was red so don't reall yhave any knowledge on the subject of what works best for my type of play.

I will recommend the Donic World Champion 89 Appelgren all+, solid blade that is good for beginners up to top players. I recently played a coach that used this blade and he showed me what a good blade can do in the hands of a good player.

Rubbers I would not recommend the S2, I have played with it and there are much better rubbers out there. I would go with a Xiom Euro rubber like Sigma 2 Euro Omega 4 or 5 Euro. You can play these on both FH and BH.

I'll have a look at those rubbers, thanks.
 
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any blade, the one you like more.
decent euro rubbers like donic bluefire.
you can even go with tenergy if you want.
that's all.
 
says Spin and more spin.
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Its a good point that i was surprised no one brought up previously. When i was playing at school, i had absolutely no input into the equipment i was using. It was all chosen by the coaches. All i knew that was the rubber chosen for my BH was black and my FH was red so don't reall yhave any knowledge on the subject of what works best for my type of play.

Do you have any way of looking at one of your rackets from back then to see what it is? That would tell you a lot and probably not be a bad setup.

In one sense, any blade in the All+, Off- or Off category will probably be fine. My friends who played in junior national teams from Europe told me that as kids they were given an all wood, All+ or Off- 5 ply blade and basic rubbers that were on the softer side like Sriver FX or Mark V.

You would probably be fine with that but you also can probably handle more.

Blade ideas:

Stiga Rosewood or Rosewood XO
Stiga Infinity (I don't like recommending this blade because there have been some quality control issues with plies de-laminating and it being a semi hard blade. But I think this actually might be a good fit for you)
OSP Virtuoso Plus
Nittaku Tenor
Butterfly Timo Boll ZLF, ALC or Spirit
Butterfly Viscaria
Stiga Tube Offensive
Stiga Clipper
Tibhar Paul Drinkhall Offensive Classic

For Rubbers I would get something decent but simple:

FH: Xiom Vega Japan or Omega V Pro
BH Xiom Vega Europe or Pro

Those would probably be good rubbers to start with and really, the blades I listed, there is a wide variety. I was listing things on the fast side of Off- and on the not so fast side of Off.

If you closed your eyes and pointed and chose one of the blades on that list and added either FH rubber and either BH rubber, you would end up having a pretty decent setup to start from.
 
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Do you have any way of looking at one of your rackets from back then to see what it is? That would tell you a lot and probably not be a bad setup.

In one sense, any blade in the All+, Off- or Off category will probably be fine. My friends who played in junior national teams from Europe told me that as kids they were given an all wood, All+ or Off- 5 ply blade and basic rubbers that were on the softer side like Sriver FX or Mark V.

You would probably be fine with that but you also can probably handle more.

I went to my parents house at the weekend to see if they had kept any of the bats or had forgotten about them in garage, no luck! I also spoke to my brother, a very good player back in his school days, who said he remembered using Mark V rubbers so was probably a similar setup to what your friend mentioned.

Blade ideas:

Stiga Rosewood or Rosewood XO
Stiga Infinity (I don't like recommending this blade because there have been some quality control issues with plies de-laminating and it being a semi hard blade. But I think this actually might be a good fit for you)
OSP Virtuoso Plus
Nittaku Tenor
Butterfly Timo Boll ZLF, ALC or Spirit
Butterfly Viscaria
Stiga Tube Offensive
Stiga Clipper
Tibhar Paul Drinkhall Offensive Classic

Thanks for this. The blade is what i am still struggling with. I'll check out the prices and reviews on tabletennisdb and make a decision.

For Rubbers I would get something decent but simple:

FH: Xiom Vega Japan or Omega V Pro
BH Xiom Vega Europe or Pro

Those would probably be good rubbers to start with and really, the blades I listed, there is a wide variety. I was listing things on the fast side of Off- and on the not so fast side of Off.

If you closed your eyes and pointed and chose one of the blades on that list and added either FH rubber and either BH rubber, you would end up having a pretty decent setup to start from.

It's funny you mention those two rubbers as I have just got a quote for similar. €64 for the Omega IV Pro and the Vega Europe shipped to the UK. A couple of questions. Is that a good price? Is there much difference between the Omega IV and V?

Thanks again for all your help
 
says Spin and more spin.
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Well, lots of people recommend Omega IV. However, it is one Xiom rubber I absolutely do not like and would not touch. I have a friend who sells Xiom products for a Xiom distributor so I have tried, owned and used SO MANY Xiom rubbers.

Omega IV is a bit more tacky. It is very spinny. But it is HUGELY reactive to incoming spin and does not have very good control. The edges of Omega IV crack, peel, and fall apart worse than any rubber I have ever seen. Several older ESN rubbers used to have that problem. None as bad as Omega IV.

But for me, the worst thing about Omega IV is the sponge is weird and dense and makes it really hard to feel the ball or the blade.

Whereas Vega Japan and Omega V Pro have a feeling that is closer to Tenergy 05 than anything else I can think of. And they feel very good.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying they play like, or as good as T05. But they feel similar even though they do not last as long or produce as much spin. But they are excellent rubbers.

The interesting thing is, they both get more spin than the Omega IV but they are less tacky, less reactive to incoming feel, they have better control and they do not have any of those issues with the topsheet splitting and falling apart (it is not just at the edges but that is where it happens most that the topsheet of Omega IV splits). Also the sponge allows for great feeling on both of those rubbers.

So, I actually would not get Omega IV Pro unless it was being given to me. And even if it was given I would not use it on my main racket.

That was the first Euro/Japanese rubber I used the last time I switched from H3 (hard, unforgiving, feelingless, tacky Chinese rubber) to Euro rubber. So, it was good for that transition. But, after being used to non-tacky, softer rubbers, I realized what I just wrote about it.

So, I would say, don't get Omega IV. When I recommend Omega V and hear someone else comment something like: "yeah, that's a great idea. I think you should get Omega IV!" I cringe. But I usually don't say anything. But since you asked the difference, you have my answer. :)


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says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
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BTW: I have Omega IV Pro/Europe on a Stiga Allround Evolution. That setup is pretty good because the blade has a ton of feeling and vibration so those rubbers that are hard to feel with, on a blade that has crazy feeling and a ton of control....that goes well. But the edges still chip like crazy. [emoji2]


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