DHS 301 vs Stiga infinity VPS for a beginner

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Hi everyone,

I have been playing casually for about a year. I have been practicing basic strokes daily and will be joining a good club in the next few of months. I would love to get my own custom bat.

I was wondering how you all feel about these two bats. I understand that carbon blades aren't always recommended for beginners but it's my understanding that the DHS is extremely good and is considered an OFF and not an OFF +. What appeals to me is the gears the blade has, so placing short strokes would be down to my power and the blade just catapulting the ball uncontrollably like many other carbons (which is why I'd only go with this one if any).

Thats all I have to say about that really. All opinions welcome.

Thanks

Lee
 
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Hi everyone,

I have been playing casually for about a year. I have been practicing basic strokes daily and will be joining a good club in the next few of months. I would love to get my own custom bat.

I was wondering how you all feel about these two bats. I understand that carbon blades aren't always recommended for beginners but it's my understanding that the DHS is extremely good and is considered an OFF and not an OFF +. What appeals to me is the gears the blade has, so placing short strokes would be down to my power and the blade just catapulting the ball uncontrollably like many other carbons (which is why I'd only go with this one if any).

Thats all I have to say about that really. All opinions welcome.

Thanks

Lee
the first, you should find a blade that fits to your style, this is very multifarious. you can learn some pros in the world, their style and their bat =) the second, is that which wood you like, which composite you like.. for example: limba or koto outer? alc or zlc or not of them, kiri or ayous core.... you can know this by borrowing some from your friends, it's the best way or you can find them on forums - ttdaily is one of the best in my opinion :cool: . And the last, you chose a blade for you.
I have play with many blades in many different brands, also DHS and stiga. I see DHS is not extremely good like some reviews, especially mid-range products like H301 and B2, because the quality is not equal, and so easy to break, they are so hard to control and the speed is too fast, the vibration is so much. i think one of the reason is the low cost. Stiga is better in many ways, more feeling, more durable... you also can find some good brands, such as: butterfly, nitaku, yasaka...( Japan brands) for the high price, and the low price i think Yinhe is better then all. after a long time try many different blade, now i play with an all-wood blade, not too fast but so much feeling. Sorry for my bad english. hope you find a good choice ;):cool:
 
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My advice is going to be utterly boring I’m afraid: since you mention you’re joining a club in a few months just wait and ask the coach there what kind of bat you should get.

I don’t know about the DHS but the infinity is a fast blade that is not suitable for beginners. Sure you will be able to use it, but you will not make progress as fast as you would with a slower blade.

I still believe that the « all round blade + yasaka mark V / mark V GPS » that was all the rage when I was a kid works wonders for developing players and the coaches at my club seem to agree, so that’s what I would advice you to get :) as a matter of fact that’s exactly what I got when I returned to the game after 18 years last year :)

If you want to spoil yourself I’m sure you can find premium all round blades such as the « clipper » or the « all round classic » from Stiga.
 
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Yeah. Wait a bit, develop your game further borrow a few blades at the club to find direction, and then go for boring and reliable over spectacular.

If what you have is not suited at all to get going at the club, a safe(ish) allround setup to start and stick with for a good while is the sensible thing to do.

Some of these have been mentioned. If you search this forum you’ll find a few threads where the resident equipment gurus discuss exactly this and provide a range of good choices.

Me, I like the Gewo All+ blades, the Yasaka Sweden Extra, the Donic Appelgren Allplay. These blades already enable certain styles more than others but overthinking it by trying to reason from principle/axiom is one of the worst mistakes in TT.

The DHS N391 is a fine blade, and I like the play of the Infinity too. The build quality/durability of both could be better. I have seen both suffer too much under regular use - eg splintering too much or even plies giving away when changing rubbers. That I don’t care for.
 
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Both of these blades are very fast and not suited for a beginner. They would hinder your progress as a novice and developing player. I made the mistake of playing with equipment that was too fast for me the first 2 years I was playing at a club and even getting one-on-one coaching and it resulted in slower progress and results especially and key aspects of the game such as serving, pushing, blocking, serve returns, open-ups... that are often downplayed in training and require good touch/feel and technique.

If you're planning to get one-on-one coaching at least once or twice a week and training 2-3 times a week on top off that, a 5-ply all-wood OFF- blade would be ok to start. There are many to choose from and any would do: Butterfly Primorac, Korbel, Nittaku Acoustic, Stiga Offensive Classic, Azalea OFF, Tibhar Chila, Stratus Power Wood, Xiom Offensive S, Yasaka Sweden Extra...

If you're not planning to train as often or rigorously, an ALL+ blade would do you just fine: Stiga Allround Classic, Allround Evolution, Azalea ALL, Donic Appelgren Allplay.

You can pair these blades with rubbers that are not too hard/fast (40-43 deg) such as Xiom Vega Europe, Butterfly Rozena, Yasaka Rakza 7 Soft... in 1.9 or 2.0mm thickness, same rubber on both side and you'd be set for 4+ years with the blade, replacing rubbers every 6 months or so.
 
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the first, you should find a blade that fits to your style, this is very multifarious. you can learn some pros in the world, their style and their bat =) the second, is that which wood you like, which composite you like.. for example: limba or koto outer? alc or zlc or not of them, kiri or ayous core.... you can know this by borrowing some from your friends, it's the best way or you can find them on forums - ttdaily is one of the best in my opinion :cool: . And the last, you chose a blade for you.
I have play with many blades in many different brands, also DHS and stiga. I see DHS is not extremely good like some reviews, especially mid-range products like H301 and B2, because the quality is not equal, and so easy to break, they are so hard to control and the speed is too fast, the vibration is so much. i think one of the reason is the low cost. Stiga is better in many ways, more feeling, more durable... you also can find some good brands, such as: butterfly, nitaku, yasaka...( Japan brands) for the high price, and the low price i think Yinhe is better then all. after a long time try many different blade, now i play with an all-wood blade, not too fast but so much feeling. Sorry for my bad english. hope you find a good choice ;):cool:

We're talking about a true beginner here, not even a club beginner, he hasn't tried anything and won't for a while until he gets to hit around at his club and try other clubmembers' setup down the road. And even then, what he needs is a true and trusted setup that anyone could hit with, beginner or advanced, like the one I and others have mentioned on this thread, no OFF or OFF+, no ALC or ZLC... ; )
 
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the first, you should find a blade that fits to your style, this is very multifarious. you can learn some pros in the world, their style and their bat =) the second, is that which wood you like, which composite you like.. for example: limba or koto outer? alc or zlc or not of them, kiri or ayous core.... you can know this by borrowing some from your friends, it's the best way or you can find them on forums - ttdaily is one of the best in my opinion :cool: . And the last, you chose a blade for you.
I have play with many blades in many different brands, also DHS and stiga. I see DHS is not extremely good like some reviews, especially mid-range products like H301 and B2, because the quality is not equal, and so easy to break, they are so hard to control and the speed is too fast, the vibration is so much. i think one of the reason is the low cost. Stiga is better in many ways, more feeling, more durable... you also can find some good brands, such as: butterfly, nitaku, yasaka...( Japan brands) for the high price, and the low price i think Yinhe is better then all. after a long time try many different blade, now i play with an all-wood blade, not too fast but so much feeling. Sorry for my bad english. hope you find a good choice ;):cool:

Thank you
 
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Where abouts in the UK are you? I started playing in the local league last year and I've got an all round bat with a fast rubber on forehand. The most important factor is your play style. It took me a while to find something that suits me. I've tried tenergy and other fast bats and they are far to hard to control when you are learning. I would recommend the DHS pg7. It's a relatively cheap carbon contollable blade. Either that or the xiom all-round classic or yasaka Sweden extra. Pair that with some mark v or even friendship rubbers you'll have a cheap and effective beginner set up.
 
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I have been playing for 3 years and switched to a H301 6 months ago. I don't think that it is a particularly fast blade and, with Rozena on both sides, I find short play very easy. Many people say that the blade is fast when hitting hard but slow when being gentle- presumably what you call gears. I find touch play reasonably easy and in matches I sometimes revert to pushing rallies which upsets attacking players. A lot of this is due to the good control of Rozena rubbers though when I rip through the ball the blade/rubber combination can be exciting.
I think that this would be a decent purchase for a beginner who aims to improve. It is a quality blade without the big name premium. With safe rubbers it will easy to use and, as your skills improve, it is easy to move up through the range of rubbers knowing that the blade will support top quality rubbers.
 
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I have been playing for 3 years and switched to a H301 6 months ago. I don't think that it is a particularly fast blade and, with Rozena on both sides, I find short play very easy. Many people say that the blade is fast when hitting hard but slow when being gentle- presumably what you call gears. I find touch play reasonably easy and in matches I sometimes revert to pushing rallies which upsets attacking players. A lot of this is due to the good control of Rozena rubbers though when I rip through the ball the blade/rubber combination can be exciting.
I think that this would be a decent purchase for a beginner who aims to improve. It is a quality blade without the big name premium. With safe rubbers it will easy to use and, as your skills improve, it is easy to move up through the range of rubbers knowing that the blade will support top quality rubbers.

I think it's easy to use because you've been playing for 3+ years and have a good combination of rubbers.

A fresh beginner would struggle quite a bit and would benefit far more from the stability of a 5-ply all-wood.
 
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I have been playing for 3 years and switched to a H301 6 months ago. I don't think that it is a particularly fast blade and, with Rozena on both sides, I find short play very easy. Many people say that the blade is fast when hitting hard but slow when being gentle- presumably what you call gears. I find touch play reasonably easy and in matches I sometimes revert to pushing rallies which upsets attacking players. A lot of this is due to the good control of Rozena rubbers though when I rip through the ball the blade/rubber combination can be exciting.
I think that this would be a decent purchase for a beginner who aims to improve. It is a quality blade without the big name premium. With safe rubbers it will easy to use and, as your skills improve, it is easy to move up through the range of rubbers knowing that the blade will support top quality rubbers.

I actually got in touch with a coach and he said with Chinese rubbers the blade would be good for a long term set up from a years experience onwards.
 
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