Chinese rubbers in the modern TT era

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I have the impression, you guys are getting away too easily with this Vladi uniqueness ... ;)
If one was to search throughout the Europe, he/she still would find many over 30 yo wo/men whose performance didn't dropped cause of the 40+ change ...

tell me which agreessive attacker that focus on speed/spin that didn't loose performance or increase injury

Vladi was not really a full on offensive player
 
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I agree there are more injuries in TT but not because of the changes made to the game, but because it's the natural evolution of sports. Athletes are working harder than ever in every sport, if you want to be the best you have to train to be the best, relying on natural talent is no longer an option as it was in the past. Just look at football (soccer), there were a lot of chubby players that were great, you don't see that nowadays because the sport is physically more demanding.
 
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My whole reason for this post is that the newer balls call for shorter, compact, close to table strokes more so than ever before, and the Chinese style hard, tacky rubbers that require longer, fuller strokes are the antithesis of this.

FZD being the exception (for now) because he is built like a beast that can execute full, powerful strokes in the amount of time it takes to execute a compact quick stroke.. but that too is like fighting against the current rather than flowing with it the way Harimoto does.

As far as the physical injuries aspect of the game, many athletes start breaking down past 30, wether it’s basketball, American football, or possibly soccer. I think pervasive idea that you can’t put on to much lean muscle mass in TT because it will slow you down is finally being shed.
 
All that is right, but I think for now it still refers predominantly to the top players and especially to those who have to deal with Harimoto. We see them trying to keep closer to the table, but at the same time we see Harimoto going to mid and even longer distance together with his FH improvement and growing physical strength.
But for sure the chinese rubbers start to prove not so effective for the modern game at top level.
 
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Tony, but did he switched to yasaka in his fh rubber? Ma lin is spo sored by yasaka but he was using skyline or h3, right?

no, Liang Jangkun has been sponsored by Yasaka for almost 2 years now. He uses Rakza X on the back hand and still uses H3 on the FH

You get different type of contracts, Yasaka has the rights to LJK so Yasaka is the only one who can use him for marketing.
Just like Ma Lin etc
and same applies to the Stiga players of CNT/Jpn, Butterfly players, etc etc
It doesn't mean the rights contract = player will fully use said brand's equipment.
 
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As far as the physical injuries aspect of the game, many athletes start breaking down past 30, wether it’s basketball, American football, or possibly soccer. I think pervasive idea that you can’t put on to much lean muscle mass in TT because it will slow you down is finally being shed.

There is a lot of 25~30 year old in the process of breaking down - this age group is a lot earlier compared to before and mostly happened 2 to 3 years ago (when the new ball came out)

They may have not gone through surgery yet or declared injured, but they are seeking medical treatments and bandaged themselves like a zombie. With these new tapes - it is easier to see who.

But here is a womens top 10 player who has been in treatment for the past 2 years to her right shoulder

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I ask her old coach why she doesn't take few months off, he said the schedule doesn't allow it. The players life span is only so long.....

anyways, I feel i'm wasting my time debating world player's coaches view that the new ball is causing more injury than before.
choose to use it, choose to not use it, it doesn't really matter to me.
 
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no, Liang Jangkun has been sponsored by Yasaka for almost 2 years now. He uses Rakza X on the back hand and still uses H3 on the FH

You get different type of contracts, Yasaka has the rights to LJK so Yasaka is the only one who can use him for marketing.
Just like Ma Lin etc
and same applies to the Stiga players of CNT/Jpn, Butterfly players, etc etc
It doesn't mean the rights contract = player will fully use said brand's equipment.

In my humble opinion he uses orange sponge H3 on the backhand just like ML. I don't know for the fact but the picture that I saw suggest that because Rakza X's sponge is creamy white in colour if not mistaken. Just my 2 cents.
 
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I think you are correct that they are playing with less spin and power, but i feel the game is faster since in my opinion players play closer to the table and use more counterlooping, counterattacking compared to before. Feel that the men play a little more like the women now. I also feel that they are less finesse now and much more just pang pang all the time.
/Agree, thankfully not all men are playing like women - so there are still some impressive rallies to watch
 
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