Returning to the game - bat advice

Hi guys, looking for a bit of advice if possible.

I haven''t played TT properly in a couple of years but I've been asked to play as part of my new job so i've picked it back up again. I played at the weekend with the bat I had from when I previously played, it's a Joola Eagle Fast blade with Energy Xtra both sides. I picked it back up a lot quicker than I thought I would actually.

However, the big problem I felt was the rubbers just feel far too soft for me now. They didn't give me the response or the feeling I was after, and so I was finding a lot of the balls I hit were pinging straight off the table, and even my short game was pretty dyer because I was just putting the ball straight into the net. It just felt like I couldn't feel the ball at all.

I've been looking at the new Tibhar MX series, more specifically the MX-S. I just thought it'd be best to ask for a bit of advice first before jumping into anything. I'm obviously an offensive player, I like staying close to the table where possible and putting the opposition under pressure, so that's the sort of setup i'm after. I think being as I haven't played properly in a good while it'd be best to get a new set-up from the get go and completely start again.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Archosaurus said:

I can't give you any advice at all, but I'd like to know what kind of job you're doing that involves playing table tennis.

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That's a secret

UpSideDownCarl said:

A few more questions to add to the ones ttmonster asked:

How well do you loop backspin with FH? With BH?

How well do you counterloop?

How long of a break from the game did you take?

When you did play, how long had you been playing for before you stopped?

Did you play in a club or play league?

It is really hard to say what would be good for any given player and the general tendency is for us amateurs to use setups that are too fast and too hard to control for our needs. But it is hard to say anything without some idea of what skills you do well.

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Ok, yeah that would help haha. Tried writing it in a rush last night and was trying to cut it down as much as possible!

Ok well, when I used to play competitively I used to play county/regional and league, but I can't remember my ETTA ranking if i'm honest. I love my 3rd ball and 5th ball attacks, they're probably the shots I'd base my game off. Flicking, looping and driving are definitely my most played shots! I loop with both my BH and FH yeah, and I am decent at counter looping. I also block quite a bit when needs be.

I've been away from the competitive game about 2 years now, although I have played inbetween. I've picked up a lot of bad habits from giving people a knock with hard bats in the meantime, but i'm sure when I get back on a table properly for a couple of hours i'll be able to iron them out no problem.

I hope this helps!