Der Echte suggested a few weeks ago that.....

[brokenball]

Someone should use a Tony Hold White Spot (THWS) Blade with Reflectoid on the FH and Yasaka Anti Power on the BH.
I have two THWS blades and one had Reflectoid on the FH and 1.3 mm Best Anti on the BH. I exchanged the Best Anti with Yasaka Anti Power ( YAP ) and this was the result.

First, a THWS blade is stiff and slow. It is made by Joola in Hungary and is intended for use with Anti rubbers.

YAP is too thick. It is 2mm thick
YAP was way too slow on a THWS.
I couldn't attack serves. Yet the YAP wasn't frictionless so that it was immune to the spin on opponent's serve.
The combination of the relatively slow Reflectoid on the THSW was way too flow. Yes I have these paddle but I haven't played with them for about 6 years. The problem I had with Reflectoid on the THWS appeared when trying to loop underspin balls. Normally I would say it makes no difference what rubber you uses to return underspin balls, you simply need the upstroke to match the back spin but that is exactly where I failed using the Reflectoid and THWS. Since the paddle was so slow I had to modify my stroke to be more forward than up. Since my stroke often wasn't up enough sometimes the ball would go into the net.

The second problem was attacking with loops. Unless I made slow loops at extreme angles where my opponent couldn't get to the ball I was in deep trouble. The lack of speed allowed counter hits that would often score points.

The three things I took away is that
YAP was awful. I couldn't do anything aggressive with it except to slap hit a high ball.
I replace the YAP with 1.5 mm Reflectoid on the BH so now the paddle has 2mm reflectoid on the FH and 1.5mm on the BH.

The 2mm Reflectoid on the FH is still way to slow.

Conclusion.
The THWS is slow. It may be OK for beginners play against beginners but I was getting killed by more experience players. Normally I would use my TBS or TB ALC against them and loop for winners but not with the THWS and Reflectoid.

I have Super Anti, Best Anti and YAP. Best Anti is OK if you want to chop a bit but I see know place for Japanese Antis in competitive play. I have played with DR N Buffalo and DMS Megablock which I like better but neither one allows for offensive play,

When playing with Anti you must learn to twiddle and be patient.

Now I have stored my two THWS away again. I see know need for them because my opponents have gotten to be too good for them.


I knew Der Echte was not serious. I just happen to have the THWS blades and the Reflectoid and Anti Power rubbers.

[Der_Echte]

Of course I was a jokester suggesting someone to use the absolute slowest blade in the world by a wide margin... but... if I remember the situation that caused me to make my comment, I think the guy or gal needed a setup that could handle in incoming artillery barrage, and also have some specialized ability to attack (If I remember right, the priority was get the ball on the table with spin and placement).

I was a recreational player in Iraq when a US Army guy in my unit from Germany had such a setup he gave to me as he saw me play in rec center with OK results. The blade Joola Tony Hold White Spot, FH Rubber ancient 2.0 729 and a BTY black anti. I actually learned to loop with that setup. I ordered a sheet of Sriver to replace the anti, read Larry Hodges Steps to Success TT book, and learned BH loop vs underspin.

That setup wasn't a rocket, but I could play 1500 USATT level using it... which is center of mass for average USATT club level. One could generate decent topspin so easily... the blade face was massive, you almost couldn't miss the sweet spot, it was bigger than most peoples' bats. The spin was safe, heavy, and slow. Just what you need vs underspin. If you wanted to loosen up a bit, you could re-loop with it. Wouldn't overpower anything, but it would keep you in the rally and still trouble opponent - the timing would be a negative time warp.

A rubber like reflectoid can do several tasks - could defend by bump, push or chop... but do topspin if you engage the sponge. That can wreck timing if you can avoid putting it up in the meatball range... even then, you get misses, the timing can be awkward to even some vets.

I joke about that setup, but realize there is still value in playing a super slow setup to learn a topspin stroke. You definitely had to add you own power to the thing, it was an energy sapper.