Thoughts on this setup?

latej said:

That was golden

Did you already try the tacky rubbers with dense sponge, like H3, Battle 2, Big Dipper, Bloom Power, which feel more or less dead on bounce? Why am I asking? I think the PG5 is not very fast blade. It doesn't feel special, but it doesn't feel wrong either. I know it is all relative, it's just my opinion. Also the R7 is not super fast rubber either, and the quality is good (again, just my opinion of Rakza rubbers). I think your current setup is pretty good. If you can't control it, and generally as a beginner, it's good to try a wide range of options. If you buy Palio AK47 (it is not bad), perhaps a bit slower than R7, cheaper but also worse in durability and quality, it will not be so very far from R7 and the range will not get wider much. Also if you buy a 5-ply, slightly slower blade, nothing wrong with it, but again the range of experiences will not get much wider against PG5 imo, to justify it now. Trying the rubbers mentioned above would be more significantly different experience. You may, and also you may not, like it. Imo, you could buy H3 Neo commercial, H39 on FH, H37 on BH, learn to glue it on PG5 yourself, play with it 1/2 year and see then.

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i have never thought of using tacky rubbers because of my inability to read spin on serves and because it requires a better technique

mightymouse said:

OK, I do not know DHS PG5 but I know Yasaka Gatien Extra, Yasaka Gatien Extra 3D, Yasaka Extra and now Yasaka Sweden Extra.

Yasaka Gatien Extra was used by Phillipe Gatien (TT World Champion '93), coming from his old Stiga Allround Evolution. Yasaka Extra was also used by Ma Lin and Wang Hao in their earlier career, before Ma Lin switched to Ma Lin Carbon (for a short time) and then to Yasaka Extra Offensive. Wang Hao switched to DHS Hurricane Hao.

My point of telling the above is Yasaka Extra is a good blade, once widely used by the pro.

Now in the era of 40+ ball, Yasaka Extra is considered an allround blade. It still can be used just fine. However, I need to mention one thing: Being a flexible all-wood blade, it is by no means a very slow blade. The characteristic of a flexy blade is : It is slow in short game but once you crank up your power it becomes fast due to trampoline effect (catapult effect). So the speed of flexible blade is not linear. This characteristic makes Yasaka Extra an excellent looping blade, HOWEVER due to the flex of the blade, it is harder to block. I don't say it is a bad blade for blocking. You can block with any blades, but stiffer blade makes blocking easier.

So it will be much easier for looping but it is harder for blocking. The technique for playing with flexible blade is a bit different compared to using stiff blade. You can try using Yasaka Extra and then try to use Clipper. You will notice the difference.

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my main purpose of getting a sweden extra is simply to try a flexy blade because i don’t enjoy how i have to get back from the table and block or just try to keep the ball on the table simply because i do not have the confidence to loop or topspin from close to the table. if i do not like it and still want to stick with my stiff blade, i might just ask for opinions here again and decide on a better stiff blade

Michael Zhuang said:

so what did you decide? I think both are fine setups.Â

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well like i’ve said, i’m currently using the pg5 with rakza7. now buying the sweden extra with ak47 for the flex and a little decrease in speed. if i don’t like it i’ll probably switch it up again

Kuba Hajto said:

BTW. The 5ply will not be that much more flexible than Yasaka SE. https://ttgearlab.com/2019/02/18/dhs-hurricane-long-5-3-overview-lab-test/ TT Gearlab tested the higher version of PG5 and it was pretty darn flexible (even more so than some of the 5plies).

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crap, have i been saying the wrong name for my own blade? DHS power g pg5.

Kuba Hajto said:

pg5 is lower quality version of hl5. They are pretty darn similar.

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revspin does say that the sweden extra is more flexy tho

Kuba Hajto said:

Revspin is driven by users which provide arbitrary numbers based on their current feelings. I would not get caught on numbers. The 5ply will be easier. I am just saying that it's not the flex you are chasing :|

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what do you mean by easier? and what type of flex am i chasing?

Gozo said:

Fast blade , slow blade....

The debate continues.

This is my take and is targeted at amateur / club level player like myself. If you are a state or national level then you are on a different league from me. This post is not for you.

Fast blade is only good on paper for the likes of us clubbies. You will, and I guarantee, will not love playing with it. I know as I have been there done that.

On of the biggest drawback of fast blade is; if you hit a winner, it is a winner outright alright. Yay! Joy!. However if you are up against a slightly higher level player or even a player of similar standard, a fast blade will give it fast and the return ball will be equally fast, if not even faster. Many a times I could not get into good position to return a quality ball and the rally just falls apart. I lose a lots points and make tonnes of unforced errors.

By using a much slower blade but learning how to spin properly, one can also put tonnes of pressure on your opponent as a ball loaded with topspin will kick out and make opponent that much more difficult to block. A slower but more spinny ball will come back more slowly and this gives you ample time to get back into a good position to hit a winner. Sometimes, you will get into good rally with you opponent and I find that playing a few very good rally within a set is much much more memorable than winning outright as we are playing for fun / social / exercise and not for money ( professional ).

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then i guess the sweden extra with ak47 will do a job on a slow blade?