Buying a 2nd or back up blade and rubber

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In returning to play TT after many years away, it's unbelievable how much has changed with availability of blades and rubbers. After 37 year absence, and now being 66 years old, I had these questions. Are my reflexes sufficient to still play? Can my body take the physical demand?

In my first time playing since the 1980's, two months ago, I played at a local club, and played at best okay with an old paddle, an old rubber club rental. I still had good enough reflexes to play. Step two was purchasing a $20 Stiga combo paddle from a local sports store. I played a little better but after a couple of weeks of play, and continued reading here, online, and watching YouTube videos, I realized I had gone from a ratty club paddle, to a mushy mass produced recreational setup, a small improvement.

I saw fairly rapid improvements in my game, and then I reached a peak. I noticed when using my mushy, mass-produced inexpensive Stiga how I had to hit the ball harder than others. And I still did not know the type of paddle to buy and rubber to add. So the decision was made, I know to the angst to some here, to purchase a used combo racquet on eBay, that would be inexpensive. The key for me was finding the right circumstance.

I purchased a Sanwei Fextra paddle with MX-P on both sides. The seller had purchased it for his daughter a couple of month ago, it had very little play and he now wanted to sell it. After the exchange of several emails, I made the purchase. The logic on the Fextra was that it was all round blade and not a faster carbon blade and would be a good blade for me at my stage of play. The Tibhar MX-P reviews were favorable and I thought a good mix. The combo arrived just as described and both the paddle and rubbers were in excellent condition.

So here's where I am asking for advice. What critique does one use on a back-up or second setup? Does one purchase a different setup to work on different parts of one's game or closely resembling, or identical to the first setup? Does one use one setup for certain players and a different one for others? Is the back-up setup significantly different or similar from the primary setup?

I realize these questions are more related to players like myself entering or re-entering game, and making larger improvements rather than accomplished players making smaller incremental advancements.
 
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Hi NewTimes,

The setup seems reasonable enough to me, not excessively fast, and I would say a solid OFF combo.

If you are curious, stary EJ'ing, its fun and not shameful at all. If you just want a "backup" in case of accidents, then get the exact same thing.

For me, trying new equipment is part of the fun, and honestly, you have to feel for yourself to know if you like something. After 4-5 blades/rubbers, you start to get preferences, after 9-10 you start understanding the characteristics of difference compositions, after 15 you start dialing-in incremental small details, and after 30 you realize that all the dialing-in was useless because there is no such thing as perfection.

If you accept that EJ'ing is part of the fun, then go out and try all different "categories" of setups.

If as you said, would rather focus on getting back in form, then play with what you have until you reach a point where your base game is solid and you start thinking about what kind of "new characeristic" from equipment would help your strong points. By that time, you will know exactly what you need, or at least the exact questions you would ask in terms of recommendations.

Cheers,
 
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Oh, another option is to forget about backups. That way, when it gets broken, you are forced to try something new ;).

Sooner or later, you will get to the point of having something "good enough". Stick with it for at least a year and watch your techniques skyrocket.

Take it from my experience, your setup is good enough.
 
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Just to reinforce what lasta already said: Trying stuff is fun! BUT, if you want to focus on improving, avoid having different setups. It will have different angles, different timings, different speed and all of that. It is incredible how you get used to lots of subtle details that you will only notice when you change the setup.

I love trying all my clubmates materials, but just for fun. For training I only use mine.
 
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Just to reinforce what lasta already said: Trying stuff is fun! BUT, if you want to focus on improving, avoid having different setups. It will have different angles, different timings, different speed and all of that. It is incredible how you get used to lots of subtle details that you will only notice when you change the setup.


I agree.
And if you want to be able to adjust according to your opponent you would have to be able to play identically well with both setups. That means double the practice time, or you´ll end up half way with both setups, and you´d also need two game plans. Many people struggle to keep to one.

So again, this makes little sense for most.
 
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