The general principle, IF you are TRYING to IMPROVE your TECHNIQUE is that you start with a slower blade with good control, dwell time, flex and feeling, so that you can learn to hold the ball on the rubber for longer to develop the contact and touch for higher level spin.
As you improve, you increase the speed/spin of the RUBBER first. Then when you are comfortable and solid with top of the line rubbers like MXP or T05, you could upgrade the blade.
Starting with a blade like:
1) Stiga Allround Evolution
2) Yasaka Sweden Extra
Or even one class down:
1) Stiga Allround Classic
2) Donic Appelgren Allplay
Is actually something that WILL HELP your technique improve faster. Part of this is that:
1) the ball will go on the table much more consistently.
2) you will have to put more power into your stroke and have better technique for the power shots.
3) the flex, control, extra dwell time and added feeling help you learn how to make contact that gives you more spin.
I want to explain this concept. A faster carbon blade does a lot of the work for you. So you can do a lot wrong and make bad contact and it feels good and the ball goes fast as if you did everything RIGHT, even though YOU DIDN'T. This actually encourages your brain and your nervous system NOT TO CHANGE suboptimal technique.
A relatively slow (All, All+ or Off- at most), all wood, 5 ply, blade with decent flex, feel and dwell time, with a soft top ply like Limba, helps your technique improve in many ways:
1) you have to work harder to get good pace which forces you to use your legs and hips with your stroke more without you even realizing it.
2) when your contact is not quite what I ought to be, the shot will feel bad and your brain and nervous system will register this without you even realizing it.
3) when the contact is good, IT WILL FEEL GOOD. When what you do is technically sound, you will feel it. You will like it. And your brain and nervous system will register this and how you touch the ball on contact WILL IMPROVE without you even realizing it. THIS ADJUSTMENT AND IMPROVEMENT HAPPENS ON A SUBCONSCIOUS LEVEL. It will happen without you having to try to improve that subtle way in which you get the topsheet to grab the ball and the manner in which you let the ball sink into the topsheet and sponge without banging into the wood. With a fast carbon blade, this subtle precision can take months or even years longer. Because the carbon masks what you feel, makes everything feel good. And causes suboptimal technique to result in adequate shot production.
For someone who wants to play and have fun and let the equipment do the work and not learn to improve his/her technique faster, it doesn't matter. Go for the ZJK Super Duper ZLC and show your friends how you have the fastest, most expensive blade money can buy.
If you want your technique to improve, get something simple.
For a lot of beginners I would recommend a blade like the Stiga Allround Evolution paired with an older generation tensor type rubber like Vega Pro or Vega Europe. I think the Nexy Karis would probably be good here and so would Tibhar Aurus.
I feel like it is worth developing technique with the new style rubbers for many. But a classic rubber like Yasaka Mark V would also be a good rubber to start with. And for a player more control issues or, a player who is starting from a larger ground zero, like if hand-eye coordination starts off as a little more of an issue, then something like Mark V is a better rubber to start with. Butterfly Sriver is also decent. For some the Sriver rubber may have more control. But I love the spin of Mark V.
Anyway, whichever rubber is the starting point, the rubber can be progressed until you hit top of the line rubbers. And then, if the player wants to, they can upgrade blade.
However, I know this guy who uses a Stiga Allround Classic which is slow as a turtle. And he still is 2200-2300 and he has so much power he can blast the ball past 2500 players. If his handling of spin was as good as his strokes he would be 2500. Part of why he has so much power is that he is also a pro tennis player. So his stroke production is pretty amazing. But the point of the story is, with good technique, even a blade like an Allround Classic can produce rocket shots.
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