Help deciding on parts for a new bat

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Hi
I've been playing for about 2 years now so am a low intermediate player and have been using Mark V rubbers and a Stiga Offensive Classic Blade. I figured it was about time I changed to a new bat (mainly because my rubbers are wearing out- and im thinking of changing my blade too).

I needed some help deciding on rubbers and blades as I'm still quite new to this (and my original bat was purely off recommendation)

Playstyle:
Forehand- I tend to play allot of Sidespin loops on my forehand- or simply a close the table chopper when being pressured against, with the occasional smash.
Backhand- I like to play allot of Sidespin/Backspin chops, but also enjoy driving the ball.

Given my style- i would say i'm more of a spin-oriented player; though I notice that I lack in speed behind my loops a little too much-

I feel like i'd prefer a slightly faster rubber than my Mark V, and also hold some more spin- however do not mind entirely if the speed is kept the same as before; as Spin is still the priority -- given I tend to put sidespin into all of my forehand hits.
I wouldnt really know of any specifics, and though I havent tried, the Tenergy series seems a little out of reach in terms of my playing ability, but the Rakza 7/9 or Mantra H seem nice- Recommendations?

Blade:
In terms of blades, my current blade is flared, with decent speed, and at 85g.
I want to stick with an overall weight around the one I'm using now as it's so far been much better than my previous bats- but I tend to have issues gripping the blade. I suppose it'd be easier if I showed a picture of how I normally grip the blade while playing:
22118998_1714561695220696_1156979263_n.jpg22119110_1714561835220682_436508019_n.jpg22127470_1714561725220693_1480421243_n.jpgIts quite different to the standard firm grip offensive players that I see around- but in gripping as such, my middle finger is shoved into an uncomfortable position while playing. For such, I've been introduced to the Donic Dotec series, and it really feels quite comfortable. Preferably, I would like to use one of those blades, unless recommended against such (Ive seen how they are quite stiff compared to my current blade). However essentially, I'm looking for a blade with relatively similar characteristics to my current one, but just a tad bit faster (If i were to go by numbers, Sites tend to put my blade at 7.5-8 speed, would like one around the 9 mark) -- again, would probably prefer one of the Donic Dotecs, and which would you recommend?

In terms of Budget; I personally dont want to go too high- but given it's not that common of a change, for a good final result, I'd be willing to pay higher.

Sorry for the long post.
Thankyou
 
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As I'm a Xiom fan I'd suggest Xiom Ignito - hinoki, energy carbon, kiri. Speed 9, control 9, 84 gr. /have to ask provider for the exact weight/. Enough speed /for me near OFF-/, excellent feel. Pair it with Xiom Vega Asia DF, not the original Vega Asia, but the new Dynamic Friction version - it is a little bit softer, but with more spin and which is more important for your style - it chops very well over and close to the table and has similar bounce borh for chops and loops. Its around 45 gr. cut on the blade and the bat will be around 177 gr. total glued and taped. Very good allaround, safe passives and effective attack with a lot of spin.
 
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I think you have to figure out what would be more important to you regarding the blade - middle finger comfort, or play and style developement. With Dotec you'll have the comfort, but may be just for now. With your progres you'll find out that different techniques require different grip and different finger position. The Dotec structure would hamper that. And with strictly left/right handed handle you can not change sides. For me and for lot of players the same position of the middle finger gives a lot of information about the exact blade angle and helps control. If the edges are too sharp, you may sand them.
 
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I think you have to figure out what would be more important to you regarding the blade - middle finger comfort, or play and style developement. With Dotec you'll have the comfort, but may be just for now. With your progres you'll find out that different techniques require different grip and different finger position. The Dotec structure would hamper that. And with strictly left/right handed handle you can not change sides. For me and for lot of players the same position of the middle finger gives a lot of information about the exact blade angle and helps control. If the edges are too sharp, you may sand them.

Hmm understandable- and yes that position is what I keep so I can finetune my angles as to how I wish- thus not changing to a firm grip; and I have been told by many to sand out the endges given how uncomfortable they are- just confirming is that allowed? Never heard of such elsewhere so unsure. And if that is the case then it would probaly be best for me to stick to a flared/straight handle- though I'll have to look into that a bit further.
 

Brs

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Brs

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Don't change the rubbers and blade at the same time. You will not know which one contributed what to the different feel of the new bat. You can put new rubbers on your OC, see how you like them compared to MkV, and then move them to another blade if you decide to buy one. All you need is some water based glue.
 
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Have you tried chinese rubbers? They are great in doing what you do: they are very spinny, so easy to do sidespin shots and they lack catapult, easy to chop with them. For chopping something soft and slow might be good, like the Butterfly Tackiness or Tackifire series, but these are slower than the Mark V.
During training try to avoid doing sidespin loops and practice them only as the last shot in drills. This is true for chops too.
Personally I don't like the Dotec handle because it dampens the feeling of the blade.
 
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says Spin and more spin.
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Yeah. I would keep that blade. That actually is an excellent blade. There are any number of good rubbers. Too many to list.

Vega Pro comes to mind as something that would be a good rubber after Mark V.

But I really agree with what Brs said about not changing everything at the same time.

Even if you ultimately change the blade also, start by changing just the rubbers.

But I still do say that blade is really a lot better than you may realize.


Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy
 
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As much as I absolutely hate the volcano earthquake shaking properties of your blade, I would say keep it and change the rubbers out to whatever mid-firm allround OFF rubber you can get.

Karis M+ such a rubber that will work, but there must be hundreds that will. Maybe you can find a deal on Aurus, maybe so with MX-P. (even if MX-P is more aggressive than allround OFF)

Look around and try stuff out if you can.
 
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says Spin and more spin.
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Yeah. I was going to mention:

Karis M

It would probably be perfect for you. But here are a few other ideas. However, Vega Pro (the rubber I recommended in my first post) would perform very similarly to Karis M.

Other choices:

1) Tibhar Evolution FX-P
2) Nittaku FastArc C1
3) Tibhar Aurus or Aurus Sound

I still think you are better off with Karis M or Vega Pro. Could be Vega Europe also.

If you wanted some fun, you could see what happens if you boost the Mark V. [emoji2]


Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy
 
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After reading up-
I will likely stick to my current blade- while keeping the previous suggestion in mind if I ever wish to change it in the future; as yes its a great blade- but not as comfortable as a Dotec (which i've clearly been recc'd against by people I know and responders here).

As for rubbers- im in a bundle now.
Personally from the suggestions, the Xiom Vega rubbers seem great, but should I go for Pro or Asia DF? The Pro has a harder sponge so I'm not sure of its implications.
But the MX-P and FX-P look great too; though the MX-P from reviews seems like too fast of a rubber?

From the ones I've singled down to, could you give recc'd for my Forehand/Backhand rubber, and sponge thickness accordingly- as per what I've said initially about my playstyle on either respective side?

As per costs; I can purchase at the following rates (AUD) (Will have to look elsewhere if I need a different sponge thickness)
- Vega Asia DF at 2.00mm or Max - $55
- Vega Pro at 2.00mm or Max - $45
- Tibhar Evolution MX-P at 2.1mm or 1.9mm - $55
- Tibhar Evolution FX-P at 2.1mm or 1.9mm - $55
- Spinlord Marder II at 1.8mm - $38
- Cant really find a distributor here in Aus for Karis M so...

Thanks.
 
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says Spin and more spin.
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After reading up-
I will likely stick to my current blade- while keeping the previous suggestion in mind if I ever wish to change it in the future; as yes its a great blade- but not as comfortable as a Dotec (which i've clearly been recc'd against by people I know and responders here).

As for rubbers- im in a bundle now.
Personally from the suggestions, the Xiom Vega rubbers seem great, but should I go for Pro or Asia DF? The Pro has a harder sponge so I'm not sure of its implications.
But the MX-P and FX-P look great too; though the MX-P from reviews seems like too fast of a rubber?

From the ones I've singled down to, could you give recc'd for my Forehand/Backhand rubber, and sponge thickness accordingly- as per what I've said initially about my playstyle on either respective side?

As per costs; I can purchase at the following rates (AUD) (Will have to look elsewhere if I need a different sponge thickness)
- Vega Asia DF at 2.00mm or Max - $55
- Vega Pro at 2.00mm or Max - $45
- Tibhar Evolution MX-P at 2.1mm or 1.9mm - $55
- Tibhar Evolution FX-P at 2.1mm or 1.9mm - $55
- Spinlord Marder II at 1.8mm - $38
- Cant really find a distributor here in Aus for Karis M so...

Thanks.

I think Vega Asia requires decent technique to unlock the potential of the rubber. I could be wrong. But I think that is not really what you want.

MX-P, it is pretty hard. If you had pretty high level technique, like semi-pro level, go for it. Otherwise you are better off with FX-P or Vega Pro. They are much more forgiving.

As a step upward from Classic rubbers like Mark V, Vega Pro or Vega Europe are really perfect rubbers for a first tensor rubber. FX-P is a little more of a rubber in certain ways. And I am sure it would be fine for you. FX-S may also be a good idea: a little less catapult. A little firmer. A little more spin. But Vega Pro is a really great choice for a first tensor.

I am not sure there is a reason for you to use different rubbers for FH and BH.

You have been using the same rubbers for both sides so far right? Did Mark V work markedly better for one side than the other? If you could use it equally well on both sides, you probably are better off with the same rubber on both sides.

Have you tried Spinlord Marder II? What does it play like?
 
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After reading up-
I will likely stick to my current blade- while keeping the previous suggestion in mind if I ever wish to change it in the future; as yes its a great blade- but not as comfortable as a Dotec (which i've clearly been recc'd against by people I know and responders here).

As for rubbers- im in a bundle now.
Personally from the suggestions, the Xiom Vega rubbers seem great, but should I go for Pro or Asia DF? The Pro has a harder sponge so I'm not sure of its implications.
But the MX-P and FX-P look great too; though the MX-P from reviews seems like too fast of a rubber?

From the ones I've singled down to, could you give recc'd for my Forehand/Backhand rubber, and sponge thickness accordingly- as per what I've said initially about my playstyle on either respective side?

As per costs; I can purchase at the following rates (AUD) (Will have to look elsewhere if I need a different sponge thickness)
- Vega Asia DF at 2.00mm or Max - $55
- Vega Pro at 2.00mm or Max - $45
- Tibhar Evolution MX-P at 2.1mm or 1.9mm - $55
- Tibhar Evolution FX-P at 2.1mm or 1.9mm - $55
- Spinlord Marder II at 1.8mm - $38
- Cant really find a distributor here in Aus for Karis M so...

Thanks.

I think MX-P would be too fast for your needs.
I haven't tried the Asia DF, neither Marder II, I can't say anything about them.
Probably Karis would be the best for you, but if you can't get one, go for either FX-P/FX-S or Vega Pro. I played with Vega Pro for nearly 2 years, it's a great rubber. I played with FX-P only briefly, but it felt good too (the whole Evolution range is good). I would say if you use smaller, compact loops, choose FX-P, if you use bigger swing, choose Vega Pro. If you can't decide, choose FX-S. If you play, choo! :D
 
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I think Vega Asia requires decent technique to unlock the potential of the rubber. I could be wrong. But I think that is not really what you want.

MX-P, it is pretty hard. If you had pretty high level technique, like semi-pro level, go for it. Otherwise you are better off with FX-P or Vega Pro. They are much more forgiving.

As a step upward from Classic rubbers like Mark V, Vega Pro or Vega Europe are really perfect rubbers for a first tensor rubber. FX-P is a little more of a rubber in certain ways. And I am sure it would be fine for you. FX-S may also be a good idea: a little less catapult. A little firmer. A little more spin. But Vega Pro is a really great choice for a first tensor.

I am not sure there is a reason for you to use different rubbers for FH and BH.

You have been using the same rubbers for both sides so far right? Did Mark V work markedly better for one side than the other? If you could use it equally well on both sides, you probably are better off with the same rubber on both sides.

Have you tried Spinlord Marder II? What does it play like?

I havent used Marder II, simply recommended it as its supposedly "Mark V with more Spin"
And yes ive kept Mark V on both sides as it was my first bat from scrach, as opposed to premade bats- and simply wanted to go for an allrounder bat.

With further talks, vega Pro or FX-P seem like the best choice- of which I personally want to choose the Vega Pro; but im told its sponge is much harder? as per google that means more speed and less spin. Given the rubber itself- would it really make that noticeable of a difference?

In terms of the sponge sizes available;
Vega Pro- 2mm or Max
FX-P - 1.9 or 2.1mm

which would be best? With the Mark 5 at 2.1mm I felt it lacked Speed and Spin a tad bit; so accordingly...
 
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I think MX-P would be too fast for your needs.
I haven't tried the Asia DF, neither Marder II, I can't say anything about them.
Probably Karis would be the best for you, but if you can't get one, go for either FX-P/FX-S or Vega Pro. I played with Vega Pro for nearly 2 years, it's a great rubber. I played with FX-P only briefly, but it felt good too (the whole Evolution range is good). I would say if you use smaller, compact loops, choose FX-P, if you use bigger swing, choose Vega Pro. If you can't decide, choose FX-S. If you play, choo! :D

Could I ask for some background on as to why FX-P would be better for a compact looper and the latter with Vega Pro?
 
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I am not sure there is a reason for you to use different rubbers for FH and BH.

You have been using the same rubbers for both sides so far right? Did Mark V work markedly better for one side than the other? If you could use it equally well on both sides, you probably are better off with the same rubber on both sides.

My forehand seemed like it had enough spin to manae for chops; but lacked speed to help push my sidespin loops; whereas my backhand purely lacked spin.
 
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Could I ask for some background on as to why FX-P would be better for a compact looper and the latter with Vega Pro?
Vega Pro and FX-P are both not too fast, but offensive rubbers. FX-P has a softer sponge and more catapult than Vega Pro. If you use bigger swing, you don't need the catapult effect that much, because you probably have enough power. The catapult helps you when you use use smaller shots to give sufficient pace your balls.
This concept works pretty well in general, but it's not the 'Only Real Way to Choose Rubbers'.
 
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