Tibhar Force Pro Blue (Why are Stiff blades better for short pimples?)

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Don't give up yet!

After I swithced to short pips, I sucked for years. Picked up coaching 2 years ago and now I'm confident enough to play with single-sided penhold.

Spend the rest of your hobby budget on a coach. You'd be surprised how far 2 hours a week of coaching will take you.

P.S
If you have leftover coins, buy 1 more blade ;)(Clipper, Force Pro Black Edition etc), one of those "classic 7 ply attacking blades blades", they are cheap and can't go wrong.
 
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Whilst I am or have been an EJ, it's only slight.

EG - been trying in last 5 months force pro blue, OSP V+, Infinity and Waldner 2016. They are all Off wood blades with slight differences. I have also used spectol red short pimples for 95% of the time since Jan and I play a lot, almost every day.

I am not going from one extreme to the other.

Force Pro Blue definitely is not as easy to loop with as Infinity and OSP V+ for my limited shots, that could be me or the blade.

It is true that I often get new stuff euphoria when I try a new blade, maybe when one tries a new blade, one actually just concentrates more when training? I do not know?

I think I have been playing better with short pimples but looking at my video footage I am not so sure.

Might be time to accept my limitations, don't move, take the ball to late, block too much, serve badly, return badly and just enjoy the exercise and go back to reversed both sides. Either that or train myself to play proper short pimple shots.

Actually, the fact that all the blades are in the same speed range is highly symptomatic of EJing. Someone who is seriously testing equipment is trying Carbon vs all wood or All+/Off- vs Off vs Off+ or focusing on handle design to see what suits his grip (usually a custom handle is best). Trying 4 blades in the same speed range in 5 months is just a waste of money.
 

MOG

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Actually, the fact that all the blades are in the same speed range is highly symptomatic of EJing. Someone who is seriously testing equipment is trying Carbon vs all wood or All+/Off- vs Off vs Off+ or focusing on handle design to see what suits his grip (usually a custom handle is best). Trying 4 blades in the same speed range in 5 months is just a waste of money.

Next Level, I love your directness on the forums. It's great, we would get on really well if we ever met.
Your like that strict PE teacher from my children!!

Ha ha
 

Brs

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Fwiw i tried force pro black edition with spectol red and couldn't hit within five feet of the table. I think you are changing the wrong variable. Spectol red is so fast it's almost unplayable for someone who hasn't already mastered sp.

So if you want to ej, do it with rubber. The fp blue is probably a reasonable blade. Try a sheet of moristo sp in 1.8. or a sheet of 802-40. Or buy one each of all the popular SP. But spectol red is not for sp beginners, imo.
 

MOG

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BRS, I have tried spinpips red and blue, waran, waran II and Victas 102, of them all I liked the Spectol Red the best, I don't find it that quick myself, my main issue is is some days i have bad days and play a reversed shot too much and hit balls long, especially against float and especially with the OSP V+, I think this is better with the Donic and Force Pro, The Donic feels a bit slow though at times. Trouble is i tried Spinpips in 1.5 and found it dead and unforgiving.

Victas 102 was awesome but too much like normal rubbers I think.
Waran II also felt like it played too similar to a reversed rubber.
Opponents just counter my hits with ease with both of these rubbers.
I also find them a lot harder to open up with.
 
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Don't give up yet!

After I swithced to short pips, I sucked for years. Picked up coaching 2 years ago and now I'm confident enough to play with single-sided penhold.

Spend the rest of your hobby budget on a coach. You'd be surprised how far 2 hours a week of coaching will take you.

P.S
If you have leftover coins, buy 1 more blade ;)(Clipper, Force Pro Black Edition etc), one of those "classic 7 ply attacking blades blades", they are cheap and can't go wrong.

This is a great post.

MOG: coaching with someone who will help you understand HOW to use the SP will really help you. Even one or two lessons.

I think Lula has said that before. I know I have told you that before.

@ lasta: you should know. MOG already bought and sold a Clipper. I think he may have left at least a few blades he has tried, fell in love with and then became disillusioned with out here. [emoji2][emoji2]

He doesn’t want to EJ. But every 2-3 weeks, he does EJ. [emoji2]

I like to EJ too. But I never have thought the equipment would help me improve. I just like shiny new objects like most of us do.

I cannot tell you how jealous I am of rokphish and his 3,001 blades. [emoji2]
 
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How long have you used short pimple? Not really the same technique as inverted so need time.
 

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Lula this time I have used short pimples since Jan 3rd 2019. In that time I have played about 130 competitive matches and practised between 150 and 180 hours. But a lot of this has been casual and not proper practice. I find it easier to play 'proper' short pimple shots on short balls, but on longer balls i keep playing a weird loop shot which is very incorrect I know.
They definitely feel better v spinners and/or funny bat players.

Tonight as an experiment I trained with reversed on bh.
I used aurus sound first and looped everything but it is too fast for me and is one of the reasons i left reversed, my loops were awesome and my openers v serves. However I could only play fast fast with no real variation and i could not impart spin if my player played fast shots.
I then tried hurricane on my bh which was spinny and nuts on my bh but is not the correct way forward.

I have two choices, go back to lp and play a disgusting style but probably win more matches short term and maybe long term, but i won't enjoy how i play. I might post a video of me attacking with lp, I think it might surprise a few forum members.

However this is what I think I should do and I am going for a training day with some good coaches next weekend.
Persevere with the short pimples and develop the attacking shots and touch shots.
And learn the punch shot and when to use it.
I also think I should initially go back to the donic waldner or buy a new infinity because my fh is better with those and then I can hopefully work on the short pimples before moving to a faster blade at some point in the future.
 
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Lula this time I have used short pimples since Jan 3rd 2019. In that time I have played about 130 competitive matches and practised between 150 and 180 hours. But a lot of this has been casual and not proper practice. I find it easier to play 'proper' short pimple shots on short balls, but on longer balls i keep playing a weird loop shot which is very incorrect I know.
They definitely feel better v spinners and/or funny bat players.

Tonight as an experiment I trained with reversed on bh.
I used aurus sound first and looped everything but it is too fast for me and is one of the reasons i left reversed, my loops were awesome and my openers v serves. However I could only play fast fast with no real variation and i could not impart spin if my player played fast shots.
I then tried hurricane on my bh which was spinny and nuts on my bh but is not the correct way forward.

I have two choices, go back to lp and play a disgusting style but probably win more matches short term and maybe long term, but i won't enjoy how i play. I might post a video of me attacking with lp, I think it might surprise a few forum members.

However this is what I think I should do and I am going for a training day with some good coaches next weekend.
Persevere with the short pimples and develop the attacking shots and touch shots.
And learn the punch shot and when to use it.
I also think I should initially go back to the donic waldner or buy a new infinity because my fh is better with those and then I can hopefully work on the short pimples before moving to a faster blade at some point in the future.

My math is not very good, but if you have only used it since january this year it is not alot of time. I think you can now in a pretty short amount of time if it suits you, but it takes a much longer time to play well with it.

So my advice to you is tthis:
Try to train more with the short pimple. You need to give it longer time.

But also important to know that you are doing the correct stroke, othervise you are learning something bad.
So look at pros with short pimple bakchand like tang peng and mimo ito and try to copy them. Do alot of shadow training in front of the mirror and play way to soft with the ball and focus on doing the correct stroke.
Also upload a video here of you just countering backhand, blocking backhand, opening backhand and smashing backhand in separely videos and i think we have the knowledge here to help you on the right way.
You could also try to find a good coach or ask a good player, but make sure that they know how to play with short pimples.

I am pretty certain i have given you advice how to play with short pimple so will not do it now, need to go to bed haha. But the big difference in general in my opinion is this:
Flathit/smash the ball
have an open racket angle
have an short, explosive motion. Mostly with the wrist, maybe a little forearm. Very important to try to stop the stroke after contact. So need to be tense when you hit the ball and stop the motion.
Hit the ball at the highest point if you want to play hard. If you drop the ball down you can not do what i think you are refering to as short pimple strokes, you can not smash the ball.

From what i have read i would also stronlgy advice you to use a short pimple with little grip or try a medium pips rubber. Both with thin sponge for more effect. Do not seems to come to you naturally to smash the ball. It is better to focus on what you are good at. I think another rubber, like those i am advicing you will suit you better because you can control the tempo and placement well and also get some nasty deception. A little like long pimple but you are also able to smash the ball pretty well.
 
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MOG

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This is a video of me playing a very good young player. He is LP on bh. I am the one that looks a lot older and less fit. He is considerably higher ranked than me and I thought I had some good spells in this match.

Bonus point for the first one to name the umpire!!

 
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Post a video where you only play backhand to backhand. That would help you more. Or atleast a match against an offensive player.

We can not say much about your backhand from that video. Short pimple is not really suppose to be "good" against that playing style.
 
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Why the celebrity umpire haha?

I find it interesting Thomas uses LP as well. You don't see many young coached players doing that. Does his twin use double inverted?

Good you are getting coaching MOG. Honestly putting your spare money 100% into coaching rather than the EJ will be so much better for your TT. But it's not a magic bullet go and do 2 hours and you're cured. It's a continual process that needs specific practice after every session. As someone who films their matches and practices quite a lot of hours you will undoubtedly get a lot out of it. It should be your new season resolution! You can get an hour for £20 one to one. That's less than a sheet of rubber.
 
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Today I played with my old Samsonov Alpha with Rakza 7 1.8mm on the FH and 802 1.5mm on the BH.
I like this combo. I was killing my opponent this week.
I think that a stiffer blade may be better than the flexible blade for the SP but my Samsonov Alpha is a loop blade. It is thin with a small head. I think the SP works well enough but the FH is the killer. Today my 3rd ball attacks were deadly.
The SP was there for consistency. It blocks well and is almost like point and shoot. The flexible Samsonov Alpha has never seemed to hurt SP play even though I know that paddle was intended for double inverted rubbers.

I have a TBS and a TB ALC. I have tried 1.5 mm SP on the TBS and it didn't work. It was too fast. 802-40 1.8mm works well because the extra sponge slows down the impact when blocking. I have no idea whether people consider the TBS a flexible blade but it doesn't seem very flexible to me. My point is that faster blades should have thicker sponges under the SP.
My TBS with 802-40 1.8mm can generate a lot more spin than the Samsonov Alpha 802 1.5mm. The combinations are very different.
 
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I think you need to try to decide how you want to play.

Now it seems like you play pretty fast blocking game. I think that is easier with a fast hard tensor rubber. So if you want ro win more by a high tempo this would Maybe be the best option.

If you want to have a blocking game based more around deception and variation i still think you should try short pimple with less grip, medium pips and Maybe even an anti on the backhand. All of these Will give you good deception and variation. But it is not as easy to play fast.

I think it looks like you are making some spin ans coming over the ball with the backhand so Do not know really if you have a natural backhand for short pimples. More suited for those with thicker hit. But like i Said it depends a little on how you wants to play.

I Do think that you should try to base the game on blocking and counterattacking. Serve mostly long fast or half long and retur mostly long. Practice a lit of blocking ans counterattacking, counterlooping. Then try to search this in a game. But it looks like you Do already.

I think the grip looks okay. I think it is proably more important that when he use short pimple he need to learn to tense the grip.
 
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