#control (science / ability / perception / reality/ circumstanses) )

says toooooo much choice!!
says toooooo much choice!!
Well-Known Member
Jul 2020
1,755
1,192
4,409
Read 11 reviews
Having caught up on the TTD D09C v H3 thread, where the last few posts have been discussing 'CONTROL' of equipment.
Where some excellent posts have been made by BB, USDC and DE to name a few.
I just had to start the thread mentioned as #CONTROL !!!
So apologies for hijacking the start of the thread !!
Additional apologies if I have not been specific enough or too specific, complicating the discussion!!!

I have added some additional headings in brackets (these can be expanded on if you feel some more 'sections' are necessary or removed if they over complicate,)

SCIENCE - How does the science dictate the 'control' a rubber has without human interference? What scientific tests would be required to 'prove' that the science theory / equations etc are correct, or can establish what a rubbers 'characteristics' or 'behaviour' will be. How can science assist in

ABILITY - In general terms how does a players ability effect their 'CONTROL' of a rubber/blades characteristics?

PERCEPTION - How we as players 'perceive' CONTROL / performance of a product / rubber etc

REALITY - what actually happens when we use said equipment !!! HAHA down to earth with a resounding jolt!!

CIRCUMSTANCES - type of stroke being played, how do the different strokes relate to control? What stroke mechanics / techniques (mental and physical) can assist with a player having better control.

From reading Der's. Carl's & BB's posts there's generally a lot more to the subject of '#CONTROL' than first meets the eye!!!

It may be a good idea to start off with the initial 'SCIENCE' side of things to start with, but I think that getting too deep into complicated equations etc may go straight over many of our heads!!! So how best to simplify things? I'll leave that up to those more qualified to decide !!! (total cop out on my part!!!)

Lets hope that this thread will be interesting, informative , educational and good fun!!!
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Jul 2017
1,763
835
2,918
I was going to start by talking about a player's consistency. Although rubbers can get dirty or old, rubbers are consistent. It is the players that aren't. Good players like Dan are more consistent than the average club player like me. The real question is how does rubber with high spin and speed ( tangential and normal COR ) adversely affect the more inconsistent players. I started to write an articles about this months ago but my explanations became too geeky and long.

Another issue is that most reviews are opinions. I know that they are often wrong when it comes to motion control and things that happen at the millisecond level.

What would be good is to record Dan's swing while hitting balls thrown by a robot and compare his swing consistency with average club players.
I know how to do this but explaining it simply is difficult because it is beyond what most engineers learn.

The next step is to see how inconsistency in the stroke is magnified by equipment with higher spin and speed ratings.
This what I am thinking about now. I am trying to find the right words. It isn't easy.
 
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
Dec 2010
16,146
17,685
54,747
Read 11 reviews
I was going to start by talking about a player's consistency. Although rubbers can get dirty or old, rubbers are consistent. It is the players that aren't. Good players like Dan are more consistent than the average club player like me. The real question is how does rubber with high spin and speed ( tangential and normal COR ) adversely affect the more inconsistent players. I started to write an articles about this months ago but my explanations became too geeky and long.

Another issue is that most reviews are opinions. I know that they are often wrong when it comes to motion control and things that happen at the millisecond level.

What would be good is to record Dan's swing while hitting balls thrown by a robot and compare his swing consistency with average club players.
I know how to do this but explaining it simply is difficult because it is beyond what most engineers learn.

The next step is to see how inconsistency in the stroke is magnified by equipment with higher spin and speed ratings.
This what I am thinking about now. I am trying to find the right words. It isn't easy.

I, for one, am looking forward to what you put together, whether it goes into a thread like this or whether you create a new thread for posting.

It is a subject worth examining from many perspectives.

 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Jul 2019
424
305
1,364
A complicated area to discuss::

terms need to be defined and given consistent meaning

Control
quality of rubber or racket while striking the ball
for instance i for a long time always thought of it referring to not reacting to spin very much as in ease of returning spin serves for example, but in the last few years I think of it more as a linear response for my effort. so that whether I aim to push short with backspin or fast and deep to the endline i get a precise result,

for the first option I would require a slow racket
but for the second I want a stiff racket with a responsive rubber


which is right?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: IB66 and Richie

Brs

This user has no status.

Brs

This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Oct 2015
1,107
1,376
2,608
Control is like pornography, you know it when you see it.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Kuba Hajto
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Dec 2014
473
950
2,869
Read 3 reviews
My guess is that players with faster swing speeds will have better control with harder setups, to get that swing speed and consistency they have to use the body efficiently. It's quite hard to get a fast swing, consistent by just using the arm.

In my experience harder rubbers/sponges are less reactive/shoot off less against slower balls - like the ones you'd be dealing with for serve/receive as the ball doesn't dig into the sponge as much compared to softer rubbers/sponges. For harder rubbers it feels like you have slightly more options against faster and spinnier balls, but those options are dependent on your technique which allows you to achieve fast racket speed.

Softer setups are more forgiving in the sense that you don't need to reach very high swing speeds to dig into the sponge/rubber. The problem is that the ball might dig into the sponge more on pushes, serves etc, than you wanted to resulting in accidental long pushes or serves. For softer equipment can do less and still get quite a bit out of it. Because you don't have to reach as high swing speeds you can get away more with being out of position, reaching for the ball and doing other things that rely on just the hand/arm.. often people call those kind of shots "feeling". Maybe people think they have more feeling with softer rubbers, which in general has been my observation, is because they rely more on their arm to let the ball sink into the sponge and they feel like they have more time.. which people often call dwell time, again - because the ball sinks into the rubber/sponge for a fraction of time more than a harder sponge/rubber, which will rebound off quicker.

I think you'll have optimal control when using equipment that suits your style of play. All the top players have similar technique and they all reach high swing speeds, therefore they choose harder equipment. I bet they feel they have more control of that equipment than super soft rubbers and flexier blades. But control in the sense of the options they have and what they can do with the ball.
And I bet that a beginner or amateur feels they have less control of a pros setup/harder setup, because they don't know how to utilise it.

Harder equipment, will in general have higher top end speed, but be less reactive for slower balls, like when softly receiving a push
Softer equipment, will in general have lower top end speed and be more reactive to slower balls.

You'll have more control with the equipment that suits your abilities the most. Pros can reach the racket speeds necessary to use the top speed of harder rubbers and they benefit from the lower reactivity in the receive area. Many amateur players can't reach those swing speeds and many might "feel" the ball in with their hands and arms - leading them to believe softer type setups give them more control. Serve/receive is important for amateurs too, but in my opinion not as important as for the pros, because the pros are so steady that they'll kill poor receives.
 
Last edited:
says toooooo much choice!!
says toooooo much choice!!
Well-Known Member
Jul 2020
1,755
1,192
4,409
Read 11 reviews
Hi BB,

I have a few questions about how COR and COF effects things and their relationship with each other.

A basic explanation of how the ‘normal’ COR, Tangential COR, COF ( is there a tangential COF??) are tested / measured.

As a guide, ball park-ish, how much of a difference in COR and COF figures would be noticeable when playing and comparing 2 different rubbers? Is there a term used for the relationship of COR and COF

A COR value of 1 equates to no loss of energy after an impact? A perfect elastic impact?
COF value of 1 means what???

Can the differing COR / COF values of different rubbers affect the effective bat angle to return, for example a back spin ball with a push?

Because a typical inverted sheet of TT rubber usually consists of 2 layers, rubber top sheet and sponge, can the COR and COF values vary?
For example the bat is stationary, the incoming ball velocity initially is low, only enough to compress the rubber top sheet slightly, then as the incoming ball velocity increases to a level where the sponge is being compressed as well as the rubber top sheet is the COR value different?

Cheers.
 
says toooooo much choice!!
says toooooo much choice!!
Well-Known Member
Jul 2020
1,755
1,192
4,409
Read 11 reviews
My guess is that players with faster swing speeds will have better control with harder setups, to get that swing speed and consistency they have to use the body efficiently. It's quite hard to get a fast swing, consistent by just using the arm.

In my experience harder rubbers/sponges are less reactive/shoot off less against slower balls - like the ones you'd be dealing with for serve/receive as the ball doesn't dig into the sponge as much compared to softer rubbers/sponges. For harder rubbers it feels like you have slightly more options against faster and spinnier balls, but those options are dependent on your technique which allows you to achieve fast racket speed.

Softer setups are more forgiving in the sense that you don't need to reach very high swing speeds to dig into the sponge/rubber. The problem is that the ball might dig into the sponge more on pushes, serves etc, than you wanted to resulting in accidental long pushes or serves. For softer equipment can do less and still get quite a bit out of it. Because you don't have to reach as high swing speeds you can get away more with being out of position, reaching for the ball and doing other things that rely on just the hand/arm.. often people call those kind of shots "feeling". Maybe people think they have more feeling with softer rubbers, which in general has been my observation, is because they rely more on their arm to let the ball sink into the sponge and they feel like they have more time.. which people often call dwell time, again - because the ball sinks into the rubber/sponge for a fraction of time more than a harder sponge/rubber, which will rebound off quicker.

I think you'll have optimal control when using equipment that suits your style of play. All the top players have similar technique and they all reach high swing speeds, therefore they choose harder equipment. I bet they feel they have more control of that equipment than super soft rubbers and flexier blades. But control in the sense of the options they have and what they can do with the ball.
And I bet that a beginner or amateur feels they have less control of a pros setup/harder setup, because they don't know how to utilise it.

Harder equipment, will in general have higher top end speed, but be less reactive for slower balls, like when softly receiving a push
Softer equipment, will in general have lower top end speed and be more reactive to slower balls.

You'll have more control with the equipment that suits your abilities the most. Pros can reach the racket speeds necessary to use the top speed of harder rubbers and they benefit from the lower reactivity in the receive area. Many amateur players can't reach those swing speeds and many might "feel" the ball in with their hands and arms - leading them to believe softer type setups give them more control. Serve/receive is important for amateurs too, but in my opinion not as important as for the pros, because the pros are so steady that they'll kill poor receives.
I think that maybe it’s not only the hardness of the set up, because the frictional properties are equally or more important. You could have a hard inverted anti spin rubber, would a pro be able to play high spin loops and be able to control them??
There seems to be, to a certain extent for some manufacturers an increase in sponge hardness, but also an increase in tackiness / grippyness & or a softer thinner more elastic top sheet to assist in the ‘feel’ and probably ‘control’ that may be imparted and experienced by a player.
In many countries a rubber such as standard H3 or a hard sponge tacky top sheet combo is used by learners, which has a pretty hard and dead feel, but is considered an excellent rubber to use whilst learning,

 
  • Like
Reactions: Richie
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Dec 2014
473
950
2,869
Read 3 reviews
I forgot to mention I was referring to inverted grippy rubbers. Most recent modern rubbers are grippier, this is of course important. You don't want any risk of slippage.

Another new thing seems to be softer top sheets with harder sponges. Regardless, I agree with BB that of course the player has the control and I believe the control they have depends on their abilities and which type of equipment is best suited for those abilities.
 
This user has no status.
Control is impossible to quatify specifically in the way we use it. Peter is right and we need to focus more on how change of equipment affects intended outcomes.
For me control defined as best as possible is: The ability of a rubber to facilitate the style of play intended and received by the player.

I think we often forget the received part as if it was me playing my own game against a ball feeder then T05 would be the best BH control rubber for me, but once you factor in that you need a variety of responses and blocking it changes to things more likely to be JP-03.
 
  • Like
Reactions: UpSideDownCarl
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Sep 2020
125
86
468
Read 3 reviews
A complicated area to discuss::

terms need to be defined and given consistent meaning

Control
quality of rubber or racket while striking the ball
for instance i for a long time always thought of it referring to not reacting to spin very much as in ease of returning spin serves for example, but in the last few years I think of it more as a linear response for my effort. so that whether I aim to push short with backspin or fast and deep to the endline i get a precise result,

for the first option I would require a slow racket
but for the second I want a stiff racket with a responsive rubber


which is right?

For me control is when I can actually hit the table. So for a player it should be about consistency. Giving incoming ball is always exactly the same and I'm trying to hit it exactly the same, what types of parameters racket can have? Velocity, angle, maybe acceleration. I'm human and not a professional player, that means that my strokes differs even when I'm trying to perform exactly the same stroke. But I still want to hit the table = want some "control". This way I come to conclusion that control for me is that if I produce strokes inside some not very big range in velocity, angle and acceleration, racket will produce similar ball trajectory, of course not exactly the same, but in some range. And that should be valid for all types of strokes that I usually use and on types of balls I usually get from opponents of my level.

I can agree that it might be about linear response, but not necessary on whole range of speed. So it might be liniar on a small speed (defensive, passive strokes), then there is huge non-linear behaviour on some speed range that I almost never use, and then again linear on a high speed (looping, counter-looping) and non-linear on a speed range that is higher than I can play. And I will still feel that it has control. But it might be not controllable for another person whose loop is either slower and faster than mine, because they will hit that non-linear range.

Hope that makes sense.

And if I go with those thoughts somewhat further than control depends on my consistency (how big is my error when trying to produce same speed, angle, acceleration), on type of strokes I use (their usual range of speed, angle, acceleration), on my opponents. That means that control for me, for Timo Boll and for some beginner will be completely different thing. And it even might be different for me when playing against Timo Boll, against beginner and against opponent of my level. So it is not a constant thing but some function depending on many arguments.

 
  • Like
Reactions: pingpongpaddy
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Jul 2017
1,763
835
2,918
So many factors, factored by too many variables.

Not too many. First determine what is constant and what is really variable. Does T05 change? Not within a short period of a match or a day as long as you keep the rubber clean. The blade doesn't change. The inconsistency, variability, is due to the player. Dan is more consistent with his strokes than most of us. That is why he is better.

If I play with T05 and Dan plays with Mark V, Dan would win. If we switched paddles Dan would still win. The paddles didn't change, only who is controlling them did. The "control" did not move with the paddle. It stayed with the player.

If I have a good day to do better is my control that is better. The paddle doesn't change.

This is my simple explanation without having to get into statistics and examples.

I don't agree with some of the comments above but I dont want to get bogged down on this thread refuting each of them.
I am 'camping' now and don't have access to all the resources I normally have.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pingpongpaddy
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Oct 2016
1,883
1,583
3,807
So many factors, factored by too many variables.

I agree. What is control and when do we mean? and when? I think many here do not have less control in forehand loop against block to one point than Waldner or Ma long. But in the actual game Waldner is so good at serve, return, placement, variation and reading the game so he will have much more control than us with the forehand loop in an actual match situation, partly since he get good balls to work with. And Ma long has so good footwork so he will have much more control than us in forehand loop in match situation since he moves much better than us.Also interesting to resonate if i have more control with say mark v compared to tenergy if i can put more balls on the table, but in a match situation maybe the quality will be to low so the opponent blast past me, do i still have control? With Tenergy maybe i miss more, but i have more quality so the opponent miss more aswell, or i get easier balls so i miss less.Edit: also feel like it depens on which stroke. With harder equipment i think have much more control in return and blocking but need to work much harder when doing mine own power so i think i have less control there, and vice versa with softer. I agree that the equipment factor of control is proably constant but feel like there are many factors regarding the player and what control actually is. Ramling on alot here and do not really if i had said anything usefull haha

 
Last edited:
says toooooo much choice!!
says toooooo much choice!!
Well-Known Member
Jul 2020
1,755
1,192
4,409
Read 11 reviews
There are circumstances when the characteristics of a rubber can drastically change, from what I’ve read on the forum, the tacky rubbers are very intolerant of humidity, high humidity and can become sort of unplayable!! I’ve never experienced this, but apparently it is an unwanted reality in venues without air con!!
Temperature could also have an effect, although this maybe pretty small, but when playing in cold conditions the rubber surface doesn’t feel as grippy as when warn, maybe this is just a misconstrued perception??
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Sep 2020
125
86
468
Read 3 reviews
I had (and still have) a feeling with my rubbers that they are harder when cold and softer when hot. So if it is true, then with harder rubber it is more difficult for ball to sink into it and that might produce less spin and it might fell like it is less grippy. Also if rubber is colder than air, then it would make it wet and less grippy too.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Jul 2017
1,763
835
2,918
Yes, rubber properties will change but not over the period of a match. If the rubber changes that much there should be a rating variability rating for the rubber but so far I haven't seen that. If the rubber changes drastically between games or matches then this is a big problem because the players may not be able to adapt that quickly to the changes. Still, rubbers do not have control. No one has refuted my example of Dan and another player switching paddles. Control does not move with the equipment.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Sep 2020
125
86
468
Read 3 reviews
Still, rubbers do not have control. No one has refuted my example of Dan and another player switching paddles. Control does not move with the equipment.
You should compare Dan to Dan in your example to leave paddle influence only. Also you should compare not game result but accuracy of each type of shots.

For example, looping with some tensor rubber and looping with long pips will definitely produce different results :)

Another example, when in 2010 (as far as I remember) Butterfly raised Tenergy price, I started looking for something different. And bought Palio Macro Era 47.5. Played it for 6 month (3 month one pair, and 3 month second pair), or maybe it was just 3 month with one and then I abandoned that rubber, don't really recall that thing well. But it wasn't like one training session and I remember well why I did that. There was one really bad thing for me, when performing loop or counter-loop at near maximum power, ball trajectory was uncontrollable for me. So it was like when I used T05, I could hit 90-95% of those where I want it to. When I used PME it was like 50%. I understand that probably there was some difference in either power or angle between my strokes that caused this. But Tenergy could handle those changes and land ball on a table and the same difference was crucial for PME (well, I was the same, training conditions were the same, I trained with the same guy, everything was the same, but just when I went above 75% of my power it was unpredictable for me). So it had bad control for my loops, for someone with less power it would be ok, for someone with the same power but with much more precision in their strokes it could be ok too, but for me it was really bad.

Also I had the similar story with Barracuda. Everyone says that it has great control, but when performing not very strong backhand opening loop, ball slipped from it and was hitting a net way too often. I understand that it is a problem with my stroke, that wasn't consistent enough, but I have never had anything near like that with any other rubber before and after it.

So I believe that rubber has control. It is not a number like one has 100 and that one has 85. It depends on a strokes, on a player, on an opponent and who knows on what else

 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Jul 2017
1,763
835
2,918
You should compare Dan to Dan in your example to leave paddle influence only. Also you should compare not game result but accuracy of each type of shots.
It impossible to compare Dan to Dan unless a robot was used and Dan had to hit a target using two different rubbers. Doubt the difference using two different rubbers would be statistically significant.

For example, looping with some tensor rubber and looping with long pips will definitely produce different results :)
Looping with long pips is not really possible. It is possible to generate top spin with LP but only if the incoming ball doesn't have much top spin. There isn't enough friction to stop the incoming spin so the ball usually goes back with back spin. If the incoming ball has back spin then it is easy enough to roll the ball a little more but it is rare to generate enough top spin to be noticeable.

Another example, when in 2010 (as far as I remember) Butterfly raised Tenergy price, I started looking for something different. And bought Palio Macro Era 47.5. Played it for 6 month (3 month one pair, and 3 month second pair), or maybe it was just 3 month with one and then I abandoned that rubber, don't really recall that thing well. But it wasn't like one training session and I remember well why I did that. There was one really bad thing for me, when performing loop or counter-loop at near maximum power, ball trajectory was uncontrollable for me. So it was like when I used T05, I could hit 90-95% of those where I want it to. When I used PME it was like 50%. I understand that probably there was some difference in either power or angle between my strokes that caused this. But Tenergy could handle those changes and land ball on a table and the same difference was crucial for PME (well, I was the same, training conditions were the same, I trained with the same guy, everything was the same, but just when I went above 75% of my power it was unpredictable for me). So it had bad control for my loops, for someone with less power it would be ok, for someone with the same power but with much more precision in their strokes it could be ok too, but for me it was really bad.
This is why I doubt reviews. I would trust a machine.

Also I had the similar story with Barracuda. Everyone says that it has great control, but when performing not very strong backhand opening loop, ball slipped from it and was hitting a net way too often. I understand that it is a problem with my stroke, that wasn't consistent enough, but I have never had anything near like that with any other rubber before and after it.
Baracuda is a good rubber but it doesn't have control. However, I currently have Baracuda mounted on one of my old Samsonov Alphas and it plays well.

So I believe that rubber has control. It is not a number like one has 100 and that one has 85. It depends on a strokes, on a player, on an opponent and who knows on what else
If your can't quantify it then how valid is your opinion.

One of my favorite quotes
William Thomason AKA Lord Kelvin said:
“When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarely, in your thoughts advanced to the stage of science.”

I am an engineer. One doesn't do engineering with opinions and feelings.
 
Top