Recommend a blade/rubber combo to a beginner

Hank, if you are in the USA, colestt.com is absolutely the best place to buy the W6. Cole is out to serve tt and make in impact, not make money. He will do you right.

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All over good tips, I would also say any all or all+ blade can be considered, and Carl gave specific recommendations.
http://www.tabletennis11.com/other_eng/ <- I would recommend this page.
But http://www.colestt.com/ is also great, I've ordered from both.
Off- I would try to stay away from, since you've only played for 4 months.
I also disagree with Tareq, get rubbers renowned to have good spin and control (but not advanced like Tenergy or Rakza). For a first racket I would recomend just going with a good cheap rubber. (like the once Coles recommend) LKT, friendship, Dawei, tacky chinese are also not so bad for learning a good technique although I would not recommend to keep using them.
If you really want an expensive rubber you could go for something like Evo FX-P or Acuda Blue P2/P3.
But it's not necessary this early.

hank15 said:

Ok, so I looked through the list, and due to convenience and availability, this is what I've narrowed it down to per members' recommendations:

https://www.amazon.com/STIGA-Evolut...id=1479669389&sr=8-1&keywords=stiga+evolution


Galaxy W6 from Coles: http://colestt.com/wood-blades.php
Which rubber would you guys recommend from Coles? http://colestt.com/inverted.php http://colestt.com/topsheets.php

I did try to stay away from OFF- per Kaizoku, but the ALL were out of stock, and Coles seem to favor OFF blades.

And I did a brief research, supposedly the Yinhe W6 is similar in construction to the Yasaka classic?

Which combination would you guys recommend between the 2? And if you recommend the Yinhe W6, what rubber would you recommend?

Thanks a bunch guys! I am excited to be playing more seriously now.

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Whatever you do, don't go for a pre-made like the one on amazon... I've personally owned a Stiga Evolution myself and it's bad imo. Any Stiga pre made tbh, as well as most other pre-mades, although some can be pretty decent I recommend a custom made.
What I sugest you do, is you order either from tt11 or Colestt and get them to assemble the racket for you.
Personally, I would first look at blades in the Weekly specials on TT11 and get the best I could find from there. (that fits your needs)
From the current listing, I would say either
http://www.tabletennis11.com/other_eng/donic-world-champion-89-appelgren-all
or
http://www.tabletennis11.com/other_eng/donic-waldner-allplay-jo-shape
Idk about you budget, but I would get 89 Appelgren all+ If I were you. Although I have not used it I believe from the reviews that it's a great blade.

When it comes to the rubbers on sale, I have not tried any of the current once, but you'd might want to consider
http://www.tabletennis11.com/other_eng/tibhar-nimbus-soft

Otherwise, there are plenty of rubbers you could go with:
1. If you want a chinese tacky http://www.tabletennis11.com/other_eng/dhs-hurricane-3-neo (try to get the black version for this, and I don't recomend it on both sides if you want to try it)
2. http://www.tabletennis11.com/other_eng/friendship-729-08-es
3. Friendship KTL Red/black Diamond
if you want to go expensive.. as I said, Evolution FX-P or Acuda Blue P2/P3.
A lot of other options too... this is just a few suggestions.

If you order from colestt, W6 (great blade, I have one myself) -> with... any of these:
Battle I (I've tried a few cheaper rubbers, of the rubbers below 20 usd this was my fav, highly recommended)
Geospin
Focus 3 Snipe
Gambler Outlaw Classic/Golden Cake/Soft
Galaxy Moon
Dawei Inspirit
Air Assassin

I think any of these combo's would work for you. Which one would be the most perfect I wouldn't know...

Hank, you want an allround Offensive rubber that is not to hard for the W6. Cole's custom glued 999 on an 2.2 Air sponge that is mid firm is a good one. So is Inspirit Quattro UL in 2.2 in a mid firm. If the W6 is too fast, it really isn't, but if you you think so, the 896 is All+ to Off- and a very good blade to start with. DOn't get a hard sponge with W6

UpSideDownCarl said:

Thanks Suga D.

The beginner who follows Tareq's advice will be in for a long slog. And look at the story. To save money on equipment Tareq wanted to buy the advanced equipment first to save money by not having to buy a beginner's blade first and then get a more advanced blade when he was an expert. So, to save money, he bought 10 blades including really expensive ones like Mizutani, Primorac Ex, Hurricane Hao III, Carbonado. Just those 4 blades there is about $700.00. So, good job saving money and thinking about the long run.


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I appreciate that you guys are trying to tell hank not to pay too much attention to tareqs advice but it's just his opinion.
Just sayin it's a pretty negative response to what seems to be a positive post.

Raylazyfo said:

I appreciate that you guys are trying to tell hank not to pay too much attention to tareqs advice but it's just his opinion.
Just sayin it's a pretty negative response to what seems to be a positive post.

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[Scratchin my head]

You know, there's a little "history" behind this, and you probably just haven't read too many of his posts yet.
[Emoji2]
Anyhow it's not about pickin' on him but rather make him "stay in his lane".

See, some of his posts even aren't that bad at all and his point of view can be quite interesting sometimes, but then there are other posts where he totally misses the point and purpose and actually doesn't get what it's about. [Maybe due to language barrier]
This might sound a bit harsh but confusing posts from a confused poster really don't help a lot in certain cases.

And since this is a public forum i feel free enough to point this out every once in a while.
And since the world isn't just black or white, i guess being negative can also sometimes be positive or at least have a positive effect!

Any combination recommend above except Tareq would be fine.
FYI, in my junior club, everyone start with Nittaku Sanalion with Yasaka Original then progress to Xiom Vega Europe(best selling rubber in Japan). Can't go wrong with that.

Der_Echte said:

Hank, you want an allround Offensive rubber that is not to hard for the W6. Cole's custom glued 999 on an 2.2 Air sponge that is mid firm is a good one. So is Inspirit Quattro UL in 2.2 in a mid firm. If the W6 is too fast, it really isn't, but if you you think so, the 896 is All+ to Off- and a very good blade to start with. DOn't get a hard sponge with W6

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The 999 or Air sponge and IQUL was what I first used on the W6. It's a really good setup with superb control. You can also get quite a bit of spin with it.

Hmmm.

W6 with Air Illumina Alpha Plus each side in 1.9

Short Answer: It will work for you well to start out all for the price of a sheet of Tenergy. I would recommend to buy immediately... and ask you to consider adding other needed things to your order... the shipping is $5 USD and Cole can fit a truck into a MED sized flat rate box.

Der_Echte's detailed breakdown:

I think Illumina could work. I think some of his other offerings are more balanced allround (and that is why I recommended those first - haha, you rarely see me agree with Pundit thinking, but I do)

Cole was very generous to hand me out a sheet of Illumina rubber on one of my orders back in the day (not to long ago) when I was in the military (Cole appreciates veterans... and not just on veterans day). Illumina was great topspin on Rambo strokes, but it wasn't as allround as my other favorite rubbers Cole sells. (and custom builds) (Right now, on my KJH I have glued on one of his 999 combos to my BH !) I value a control rubber on BH.

Overall, this is a good topspin attacking rubber (Cole also gave me a sheet of Assassin S that I liked better) It is lighter than the 999 or inspirit (one of the heaviest around) and it will harmonize with your blade. That part is VERY important with the W6, a sponge that is too hard will sound and FEEL like a BRICK at impact on that blade.

I would not get caught dead playing with 1.9 thickness or even recommending 1.9 to anyone except a chopper on the chopping side of the blade. I would say go max thickness right away and start learning. That is only my personal opinion and approach to teaching TT. My approach is in direct conflict with the prevailing "Pundit Coach" approach which is slow it down to middle ALL and THIN allround classic rubbers. The pundit approach works and it is time proven, but I am absolutely believing it isn't the only way and I see with my own eyes.

I think Cole is somewhere in the middle between my view and the classic Pundit view and Cole isn't afraid to tell it like it is, even if prevailing protocol is otherwise, that is big time in my book. Of Course Cole knows he has a dozen different rubber combinations that would work super, but he has to tell a customer ONE when a customer asks for a recommendation, or the customer would be brain froze trying to compare and calculate/agonize over a decision. We see this on forums almost everyday when someone agonizes over what expensive BTY blade to buy and shares the grief with all of us, often on a member's first post.

Cole is in TT business to serve the TT world with very good equipment at prices way below mainstream brands, this is GREAT for new (and established) players and allows one to try and try and learn by oneself without spending more than one would on two setups in mainstream shops. Cole and his friend at zeropong are the only ones I know of doing it like this.

COLE has been doing it for YEARS and has helped literally countless players. I have only helped a handful so far.

Der_Echte is the US distributor for NEXY and in the same business, but really, I am in a different business as the Nexy brand is a blade specialist with premium pricing, yet I have the same goal with a different approach. I want to leverage my low position as Janitor of the outfit into getting children who are already developing players to be LEADERS at school (with USATT backing) to start and grow programs at school. This is where the real growth potential of TT is at, there is already a built-in infrastructure at schools, which is currently one of the largest obstacles to growth.

I didn't breakdown how the W6 works, but in one sentence, one could say that is one awesome continuous looping blade.

I gotta put in another plug for 999 but i put it on air lemon sponge. It's pretty good at everything you need to do. The blade from zeropong mentions graphite, i don't think you want that. If you don't want to pay for the W6, get a Dawei Matrix. It's decently soft and decently fast with limba outer plies so you'll learn to feel the ball well. Zeropong has good stuff but I'm partial to Cole, as are a lot of the members here. I second Der_Echte about getting max sponge though, anyone can learn to handle max sponge with a little focus.

hank15 said:

So max sponge = put max sponge in the space that says "thickness"? What would be the advantage/application of this?

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Advantage=More spin, more sponge for the ball to dive into, therefore more OP'ness.
Disadvantage?- tiny bit heavier, tiny bit Easier to use without max sponge?

Pundits recommend really thick sponge like 1.5 or 1.7 on grounds it helps control... and it does
.. for the direct impact stroke that isn't making much spin.

What Cole suggested will be fine, one can still loop a bit with 1.9 but I prefer 2.1 and higher, even if direct impact is more dufficult.

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Der Echte's post is on point.

I can tell from first hand experience that starting out with a thicker sponge can help improve your game quicker.

Here's what i've experienced.

My first coach made me Switch back to a 1.6 Rubber on FH and a 1.3 on the BH after i had 2mm preassembled from China.
Whereas my best friend's coach [he was in a different club] gave him a blade with Max rubbers on it. BTW. Max was 2.5mm back then.
After a while our games which were pretty equal at first started differing totally. Our Coach was a control freak (he was a chopper) whereas my friend's coach was a mid distance Spinner.
So while my friend had a rather modern based game with spin openings from both wings type, me and my teammates got good at pushing and flat hitting, which isn't a bad thing per se.
It's just not what people understand as a modern type of game.
After i got better and also had other coaches of course i changed to thicker rubbers, but it took a little while to adapt, 'cause i wasn't used to that springiness and that amount of spin sensitivity, whereas my friend and his teammates got good in all the aspects of the game, also pushing [which is a little harder to control with thicker rubbers]
They been hardly pushing anyway but rather spinning out the living daylights of that 38mm ball.
To make it short they were quite a bit ahead of us and i had quite a hard time catching up.

So in other words, a thicker rubber might be a little harder to control at first, but if you put in some work, you'll adapt easily and your spin ability can only profit from it.

The story got a little longer as planned, but I hope it can help.