Help with a downgrade from Timo Boll ALC to an All wood blade

From what I've read/heard/understand...

Butterfly Korbel or Primorac
Yasaka Sweden Extra
Don't have much experience with Joola
Donic (Name a player) Senso

For what it's worth, I did the same thing almost a year ago. Switched from a carbon blade to all wood, for the exact same reasons. Not only did my feeling get better, my play, in all areas, really improved. Better short game, better attack, better block. More consistency and better placement. I've learned to create my own power rather than rely on the blade. I've even just switched to a Fang Bo B2 (Inner carbon) and while there isn't as much feedback and vibration, my hands have gotten better and I can still feel enough with this blade to get feedback on ball contact. I actually think the blade is slower than the Offensive S I was playing with even though it's supposed to be super fast. I don't find it that fast at all.

amoc said:

If you want to downgrade, you always have to make compromises.
Slower rubbers are usually softer. So this will also affect your feeling.

I'm in the same situation actually and have ordered a Donic Waldner Off (coming from Viscaria-clone) blade. Will see how this works...

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Not always. And maybe the issue is not so much slower as more linear. Something like Stiga Mamba. In general you will make more progress with changing rubber than blade. T05 is a lot to handle on an ALC blade for someone relatively new to the sport.

Muhammad Saim said:

I'm really enjoying Tenergy 05

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Well at the end of the day you are playing for fun. So if you enjoy the rubber? Ok. But understand that there are tradeoffs using T05 with any blade because of its explosiveness. I know, I used it for ten years, and played many years in speed glue era before thst. This will certainly affect your serve control. Without seeing you play its hard to say. It is equally likely you just need more tournaments to learn to control your adrenaline. Experience shows it is often (not always) a better course to change rubber than blade. Know that no wood blade will give you the vibration reduction that ALC or ZLC blades provide.

Korbel is a great blade but handle will feel weird to you after a TB ALC. One you might condider 1his a Tibhar Stratus Power Wood. Slightly faster than a Korbel, handle more like a TB ALC.

You can keep the blade you have. You can change the blade. Korbel is a pretty good choice. You could keep the blade and change the rubbers.

And regardless of which you choose, you can also do some exercises to increase your touch and feel.

Any of the exercises in this video are great to try and practice, or simpler versions of them.

If you practiced the first exercise with a wall for a while, it would definitely help you be able to touch the ball softly and feel the ball better. But again, all of these will help with touch and feel:


Best of luck with your adventures.

Joola rossi emotion

Stiga infinity vps V? I feel like it is very similar to viscaria feeling wise, its just the vps is slower and all wood blade.

I understand what you wnat to say but going from a carbon blade to an all wood one doesn’t mean a downgrade. Top players like Calderano, Niwa, Samsonov, Gauzy and Lebesson uses only all wood.

Muhammad Saim said:

A little background about myself, I've been playing for about 6 years. I transitioned from Yinhe T-11+ to Timo Boll ALC a year ago. My current setup is TB ALC with T05 FH and Mantra M BH.

After a year, sometimee I feel in pressure matches and in very crucial moments in matches, my underspin serves which are ghost serves in normal circumstances drift so long that opponents easily attack and put me on the defensive. Exactly the same goes for pushes and drop shots.

I feel that moving to an all wood blade would help alleviate this issue.

Due to lack of availability of extensive TT equipment where I live (Karachi, Pakistan), there are not too many options. Some of the options are:

Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive
Donic Ovtcharov Feat (other Donic blades)
Stiga infinity/Intensity nct (not preferred due to splintering issues)
Joola blades

My ultimate goal is to slow down the speed of my blade for the time it will take to develop the touch needed and learn to hold the racket a little softly so that these touch shots don't drift long, while the slow blade will give me safety I need in the tournaments that come during this time.

After the time needed, if I feel I have developed the touch, I'll switch back to the TB ALC, hopefully keeping the shots under control during pressure situations.

Please let me know if I should even switch or not OR if the switch will be beneficial?

Thank you.

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Have you tried just changing fh rubber to Mayb Tenergy 05FX. You are currently using a pretty quick set up, BOLL ALC with T05 is pretty quick. TB ALC has outer carbon and outer wood is koto which is a harder wood.

Maybe try T05fx or slightly slower controlled rubber on FH first before changing blade.

Alternatively if changing blade then something with limba. Ie Korbel if u want all wood or a inner layer carbon one like innerforce or harimoto blade.

There’s no end to trying different equipment and there’s no perfect set up (wish there was) it’s what suits you.

Muhammad Saim said:

Butterfly, yasaka, joola, donic but limited products, not their entire catalog

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Butterfly and Yasaka are 2 of the best brands and should cover all your TT needs.

Also, pretty sure TableTennis11.com will deliver to you for all other brands too.

UpSideDownCarl said:

You can keep the blade you have. You can change the blade. Korbel is a pretty good choice. You could keep the blade and change the rubbers.

And regardless of which you choose, you can also do some exercises to increase your touch and feel.

Any of the exercises in this video are great to try and practice, or simpler versions of them.

If you practiced the first exercise with a wall for a while, it would definitely help you be able to touch the ball softly and feel the ball better. But again, all of these will help with touch and feel:

Best of luck with your adventures.

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Time is accelerating!! I rembered this video as if it came out a couple years ago not 6 years ago.

I'll share my experience about "downgrading":

I'm playing table tennis for about 15 years. I have no USATT-rating since I play in Belgium but it should be more than 2000 according to various sources.The last 5 years I have played with a Butterfly Liu Shiwen blade and a Xiom Vega Pro blade. I experimented with a Viscaria and a Timo Boll Spirit but I did not like the feeling of those blades. For rubbers I have used Mx-S, MX-P, rhyzm-p and Tenergy 05 every now and then.

Since I had read many good reviews about the Yasaka Sweden Extra I decided to buy one. It's a very cheap allround type all wood blade so I didn't have to feel guilty about squandering money on equipment that I did not really need. I tried it out yesterday in a league match paired with a mx-s 1.9 on forehand and a rhyzm-p 2.0 in backhand.

To be honest, I hardly felt any difference between the Yasaka Sweden Extra and my expensive Vega Pro en Liu Shiwen blades. I could generate more spin with the Yasaka Sweden Extra and I had no problem with generating speed. The feeling of the blade is very soft and it gives great feedback. One the other hand, I did not have the feeling that I gained control. It stayed more or less the same.

My conclusion is that "downgrading" didn't change a thing for my game. I still play at exactly the same level when using a 30 dollar blade and I can still do all the same strokes. At this moment, I don't think I will ever buy an expensive blade again. It seems completely pointless since I can hardly feel any difference between a 250 dollar Liu Shiwen blade and a 30 dollar all wood blade.

Tuppe said:

I
My conclusion is that "downgrading" didn't change a thing for my game. I still play at exactly the same level when using a 30 dollar blade and I can still do all the same strokes. At this moment, I don't think I will ever buy an expensive blade again. It seems completely pointless since I can hardly feel any difference between a 250 dollar Liu Shiwen blade and a 30 dollar all wood blade.

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For me, I did the same experiences.
I played a Viscaria Clone with H3Neo and Fastarc P-1 for a while and thought that I should downgrade to get more control. Yesterday, I had my first training session with my new blade (Doni Waldner OFF) and the same rubbers. The gain of control was eaten by harder strokes I had to play.
I don't know if the more of control will help me in league matches. But the wow-effect in the first impression just didn't come.

For me, the gain in control isn't in offensive shots. If we train, we can all probably play those with an Allround Classic or a Zhang Jike SZLC. For me, it's added control in blocking when I'm out of position or don't read the opponent the right way. It's added control if my blade angle isn't perfect. It's added control in the short game. To me, all of those were more beneficial and won me more points, thus games and matches than playing with a super offensive blade.

Put it this way, if The Captain (Garth) on TTD team can play with an Allround classic and his blistering shots, it's plenty good enough for me.

I used to have the same view but I changed my mind over time. With a reasonably fast blade, you don't have to do as much to aggressively block or counter topspin and that is one of the most important shots in the game. The key thing is how advanced your strokes are. Garth made a point, but I suspect that everyone needs to find the right balance between their own power and the speed of the equipment. And of course, faster equipment places greater demands on your timing but rewards you far more when your timing is on point.

Agreed, and I think that's the lure of faster blades and rubber (the reward of being in position to make that great shot). At the end of the day, it's all about skill level. I know I'm not at a level where the reward of the offensive blade is worth sacrificing the control and feedback of the 5-ply all wood. My goal is to be there, but now, I'm better off with the all wood.

I'm actually taking off the Dignics after using it for three months. I found a lot of good with it, but I'm punished way too much with it if I'm out of position. Going back to 05-fx.

jus10savestheday said:

Agreed, and I think that's the lure of faster blades and rubber (the reward of being in position to make that great shot). At the end of the day, it's all about skill level. I know I'm not at a level where the reward of the offensive blade is worth sacrificing the control and feedback of the 5-ply all wood. My goal is to be there, but now, I'm better off with the all wood.

I'm actually taking off the Dignics after using it for three months. I found a lot of good with it, but I'm punished way too much with it if I'm out of position. Going back to 05-fx.

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What I will say is get better and better at looping with the sweet spot of the racket (or closer to the tip of the head). It is an underrated skill that distinguishes amateurs from pros. That I think is the key to using a faster blade for looping.

Muhammad Saim said:

Some of the options are:

Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive
Donic Ovtcharov Feat (other Donic blades)
Stiga infinity/Intensity nct (not preferred due to splintering issues)
Joola blades

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If you want to dowgrade not by a lot and that's the choices you have, I'd say go for Intensity NCT. if you want to downgrade a little bit more, either Yasaka or Infinity will be of the same speed imho

First thing I would suggest is getting ride of T05. Even some high level pros do not play with T05 because it is difficult for them to control it.

About 8 months ago I switched from DHS Hurricane Long 3 (amazing all wood attacking blade) to Viscaria to slow down, and after a short adjustment period started getting better results. Then I switched FH rubber from... I think I had either Gewo or Rakza R47 rubber on my FH to MUCH slower Yinhe Big Dipper rubber on my FH, and my results improved tremendously! Just FYI, style wise I am an aggressive 2 side looper.
I would not hesitate slowing down if uncomfortable, I think you should hesitate speeding up (in general for all players)