Help with choosing racket

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Hi all,

Excited to join this forum. I need some help changing my equipment.
I'm currently using a Donic World Championship 89 Persson OFF + with Donic Baracuda FH and Tibhar MX-P BH.

I find it hard to keep my FH loops on the table as those are with low arc and goes off the table even with looping high. Probably the racket is too fast for me.
The BH arc is still a bit low for my liking. I'm planning to change the rubbers as they are dead already and thought of changing the grip as well for more control and high arc.

Was looking at the Innerforce ALC's (Harimoto) + Dignics 09 combos as replacements.

Any suggestions are warmly welcome.

P.S Haven't played for a couple of years and just getting back. I'm still recovering my form as well.

Thanks in advance!
 
says toooooo much choice!!
says toooooo much choice!!
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Hi Mamba,

Ahma's correct in regarding asking what sort of level you use to play at and where you are now, any footage would also be a help!!
Did you have the same issues 2 years ago?

there's a few options
keep blade, new rubbers
keep rubber choice (ie barracuda and MXP but maybe renew), new blade.
change both rubbers and blade. for 'new' types you've not used before.
Because the existing rubbers are a couple of years old, they are going to need to be changed anyway, MXP is quick, haven't used barracuda so not 100% now quick it is!!
Blade has an Off+ rating, so is fast.
Personally, it may be best to get a slower blade with some slower rubbers, however you may consider this as a non starter because you may feel it won't be quick enough, this is one of the reasons it's best to give as much info about your playing style and ability / level.

Please give us a little more info, as this will assist in giving better advice rather than people just throwing names and options at you!!
there are so many combinations. All wood blades, composite ALC / ZLC blades inner and outer fleece layer positions, type of veneers, flex, weight. soft, medium, hard, extra hard sponges, then there's the type of top sheet!!!!!
How do you like the 'feel' of your shots to be? no vibrations? some vibration? all of this sort of info is good to know for being able to give good advice (which is still limited because everyone is different!!)
 

Brs

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Brs

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Change one thing at a time. That way you can make a proper assessment of the new thing.

Baracuda is not particularly fast. It also does not last for several years and retain much quality. So possibly your forehand is going long because there is not enough topspin to bring it down on the table.

Why not replace that sheet with any new rubber you like. Could be another baracuda, or a newer (not necessarily better) rubber. That, and some more practice since you are coming back to TT after a few years, may solve the forehand problem.

If not you can always buy a Harimoto ALC and move the rubber over.
 
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keep bat but use a slow Ch rubber for FH and an entry-level JP/Eu/CH tensor clone rubber for BH
 
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Hi,

I used to play club level in US but haven't played in a while as mentioned.
It bothers me that my arc from both BH and FH is low even with a high spin loop.

Maybe my form or would there be any issues?

Have never played with Chinese rubbers (H3s ..etc) I can try it out.

I play relatively close to the table and don't go far. Loopy openers into counters is my play style if it makes sense. I'm having trouble keeping these loops on the table mainly I feel due to the arc of the shot. I like the feeling of ball sinking to the racket which I don't get with this combo.

I'm not sure about how I played the last time (few years ago) as I just changed the rubbers a year before the pandemic and had to stop playing immedietly after changing rubbers due to education reasons and then the pandemic :/

Thanks you for all your comments!
 
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Baracuda, the highest throw rubber in the world and mxp a fast, high throw rubber. Yet your shots go to long. Yes, I think you should change the extremely fast off+ carbon blade that you use. But changing to carbon off blade like the Harimoto will not make that big difference.

I would advice go for a wooden 5-ply blade. Korbel or slower if you want a big difference in arc. As for rubbers, go with double Baracuda, G-1, T05 or D09c.
 
says toooooo much choice!!
says toooooo much choice!!
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Hi,

I agree with Sam the Man!!
My initial thoughts were that the fast OFF+ blade combined with in the case of MXP, the ball will just leave the bat very quickly. Reducing the feel for the shots you are playing.
Again an ALC blade may be a little slower but the ball will still leave the bat quickly.
Generally, to get really good feel an ALL wood blade is advisable, and there’s loads to choose from!!
BTY Primorac, Korbel and the new Timo Boll ALL wood blades should be a sound choice, but all the manufacturers make some very good All wood blades.
Nittaku Acoustic, Violin etc are also excellent. The reason I’ve listed the BTY and Nittaku blades is because I’ve used some of them, specifically the Acoustic and Primorac (Japan version - different gluing method) both excellent blades.
Personally, I find that to get the feel of the ball ‘sinking into the rubber’ a softer top sheet helps, even with a hard sponge you can still get that sinking in feeling.

Chinese style Tacky rubbers (CTR) such as H3/H3Neo tend to have a lower throw angle, not always the case, but a good CTR will have a lowish throw angle and a fast dipping ball towards the opponents end of the table, so your stroke needs to be efficient, have good ‘brushing’ technique so high spin is imparted to drag that ball down when looping. CTR are usually slower speed wise and require more effort to get better speed.
Personally I found T05/D09C to be very good rubbers but I still didn’t get as much ‘sink’ feeling as I wanted. MXP and MXS had slightly better sink feeling.
some good rubbers are Andro R48 and I would think the newly released R45 would be good as well. Tibhar FXS or FXP, Joola Rhyzer 43. There’s a load of very highly rated rubbers that have good spin, speed and control, and I’m sure some other members will add to the list!!
 
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Thank you all!

I'll try with a different grip (OFF - or so) and figure out what's going wrong.
 
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