Chinese or Japanese/European Forehand Rubber?

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Hey,
I first posted this in the technique section, but I feel like it fits better here since it is firstly about rubbers, secondly about the blade, and lastly about my technique. I need some advice concerning my choice of forehand rubber. In the short video I use two fairly slow 5-ply wooden blades with (1) Hurricane 3 and (2) Tenergy 05. What kind of rubber would pair best with my forehand technique (Chinese, European or some sort of hybrid like XIOM Vega China). Should I go for a more offensive and stiffer composite blade or stick with mine (I sometimes lack power in topspin to topspin rallies from a distance)?
Lastly, do you have any advice on how my techniqe can be improved?
Sorry for the short video - was kind of spontaneous. Feel free to ask any questions :)

​video deleted
 
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First of all, I like your stance, lower is better! If anything, try to put more weight forward and stand on the tip of your feet, and draw your left leg back more, helps transfer more of your lower body effort.

Its been a while since I played inverted, but I find H3 to have much more grip than T05 and if you can generate enough racket speed, has more arc and higher top end power. But not as bouncy on compact strokes (flicks/blocks etc), you really have to work for it. If you can work on your muscle group synergy or more "snap", I recommend staying with tacky rubbers. A faster blade would definitely help, but faster is correlated with harder/stiffer so might be detrimental to your touch game.

Viscaria types seems like the sweetspot for most people. If you want more direct/unfiltered feel, the Clipper would be great. 7-plies are not only for hitters.
 
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what 5-ply wood blades are you currently using? Maybe a 7-ply or an inner carbon blade might be good step-ups.
I am using the Primorac Off-, my first ever proper blade :D
I really like the idea of the Innerforce blades. However, I'm not sure whether a ZLF, ALC or ZLC would be best. Have not read much about 7-ply wooden blades, so I'm not as knowledgable.
 
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Great response by lasta!

The only thing I'd add regarding your FH technique is to be more relaxed, less stiff until impact to have more of a whip effect, but really your stance and motion are great.

The Primorac OFF- is a classic and great blade but is more of an ALL+ by today's standards. The Korbel is a bit harder and quite faster while still keeping a lot of control. lasta's Clipper suggestion is excellent, a classic 7-ply wood blade. Otherwise I'd say the Innerforce ALC which feels a lot like the Korbel to me but has that extra kick of carbon when you need it. The Viscaria feels too stiff to me personally with its koto outer, it just sends vibration all through my hand and wrist... but you should try it. The Innerforce ZLC is in the same vain as the ALC but more stiff, I don't like the feel as much. The ZLF's are a bit slow to be honest although they have a great feel.
 
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A lot has been said. I see decent strokes, and that switch from H3 and T05 is remarkably glitchless.

Short footage, but my impression is that the shot quality in the first part is higher.

There's room for improvement visible in recovery to basic/neutral position; it doesn't always follow naturally from the flow of the stroke movement, and this brings a measure of imbalance.

Another thing that strikes my eye has to do with grip and wrist. The grip seems lowish, and the wrist seems (to me) cocked in what should be the neutral position. I'm not sure how much of an issue this is, but I do recall having a similar habit and training hard to get rid of it, and gaining power and precision when I did.
 
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Thanks for all the input.
I think I am going to try to get a hold of the suggested blades to test them (Korbel, Clipper, Innerforce ALC, Viscaria/Boll)
As for the technique, I will work on my stance (lean forward, stand on my forefoot) to transfer more power from my legs into my stroke and try to relax and then explode when I strike the ball and relax in a proper neutral position.
Luckily I have a Butterfly store only 2 hours away from where I live. I will get a friend to come test all the blades with me at the 'local' store, so I will only need to get my hands on a Clipper blade.
Next step is pulling my backhand technique out of the gutter :rolleyes:
 
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Sounds good and it's nice you have that option to go test all these blades at the Butterfly store. Germany has so many TT stores adding to the rich TT culture there! You should be able to find the Stiga Clipper at a discount at many TT stores either physical or online such as tabletennis11.com and the likes. If I'm not mistaken, Butterfly's SK7 is similar to that blade. Cheers! :)
 
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