Coming back after 15+ yrs, some help/advice needed

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Hello people,

As the title says last time I've played I was a kid, and I've seen by some minor researching that blades, rubbers and balls evolved over time, leaving me without a clue at what type of blade and rubber I'd want to get. I was using FH tibhar rapid and BH butterly sriver when I was training actively (both were 2.0mm or a bit more maybe not sure) on a paddle that was from a premade stiga racket that I can't remember the name of. Recently I've tried FH DHS Hurricane 3 Neo and BH DHS Skyline 3-60 on a tibhar vladimir samsonov alpha blade, and it was a bit to much especially when trying to chop the ball, hand movement is completely different when trying to hit that. With all that said what I'm looking for is an allround racket that isn't to fast but can do everything decently enough so I can get rust off my techniques, but main thing is to get back in shape and change it up as I progress. I was mainly looking at yasaka since I can get a decent deal, so I would like recommendations from that brand if possible.

Cheers
 
This user has no status.
Hello people,

As the title says last time I've played I was a kid, and I've seen by some minor researching that blades, rubbers and balls evolved over time, leaving me without a clue at what type of blade and rubber I'd want to get. I was using FH tibhar rapid and BH butterly sriver when I was training actively (both were 2.0mm or a bit more maybe not sure) on a paddle that was from a premade stiga racket that I can't remember the name of. Recently I've tried FH DHS Hurricane 3 Neo and BH DHS Skyline 3-60 on a tibhar vladimir samsonov alpha blade, and it was a bit to much especially when trying to chop the ball, hand movement is completely different when trying to hit that. With all that said what I'm looking for is an allround racket that isn't to fast but can do everything decently enough so I can get rust off my techniques, but main thing is to get back in shape and change it up as I progress. I was mainly looking at yasaka since I can get a decent deal, so I would like recommendations from that brand if possible.

Cheers
Try Stiga Xu Xin Golden with Butterfly D09C on both sides…
Just kidding.
but look into Stiga, their wooden blades are great. Try slower rubbers, and if you really like chopping, get long pimples.

 
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Look at:

Blade: Yasaka Sweden Extra
Rubbers: Yasaka Rakza 7 (for FH) and Yasaka Rakza 7 Soft (for BH)

If you wanted more conservative rubbers from Yasaka: Mark V is still quite a decent rubber, particularly for someone who has not played in a long time. You could go with Mark V on both sides or Mark V on FH and Mark V 30-degrees on BH which is the softer version.

==

Welcome back. The story of the person who is coming back to TT after over a decade of not playing is a common one. It happens quite regularly since TT is amazing fun and as an adult, often people who played when they were younger, remember how much they enjoyed playing and take it back up. At some point in the future, you will be able to help out someone else who is in a similar situation to the one you are finding yourself in now.
 
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Look at:

Blade: Yasaka Sweden Extra
Rubbers: Yasaka Rakza 7 (for FH) and Yasaka Rakza 7 Soft (for BH)

If you wanted more conservative rubbers from Yasaka: Mark V is still quite a decent rubber, particularly for someone who has not played in a long time. You could go with Mark V on both sides or Mark V on FH and Mark V 30-degrees on BH which is the softer version.

==

Welcome back. The story of the person who is coming back to TT after over a decade of not playing is a common one. It happens quite regularly since TT is amazing fun and as an adult, often people who played when they were younger, remember how much they enjoyed playing and take it back up. At some point in the future, you will be able to help out someone else who is in a similar situation to the one you are finding yourself in now.

I second this recommendation. As someone who is one year into a comeback after 25 years away, I can't think of a better setup than a Sweden Extra with Razka 7. I tried to go back to Mark V and found it a little too tame. I think the "entry-level" tension sponge like Razka is a great way to start.

 
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That tibhar samsonov alpha should also do the job.
WIth Rakza 7 it was a good controlled setup. Admittedly it was years ago with old ball.
 
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Look at:

Blade: Yasaka Sweden Extra
Rubbers: Yasaka Rakza 7 (for FH) and Yasaka Rakza 7 Soft (for BH)

If you wanted more conservative rubbers from Yasaka: Mark V is still quite a decent rubber, particularly for someone who has not played in a long time. You could go with Mark V on both sides or Mark V on FH and Mark V 30-degrees on BH which is the softer version.

==

Welcome back. The story of the person who is coming back to TT after over a decade of not playing is a common one. It happens quite regularly since TT is amazing fun and as an adult, often people who played when they were younger, remember how much they enjoyed playing and take it back up. At some point in the future, you will be able to help out someone else who is in a similar situation to the one you are finding yourself in now.

For some reason when I looked at Rakza 7 yesterday I thought instinctively that it's for me, now I'm most definitely gonna get that, you just cleared all my dilemmas. Since I want to "catch up" to the racket in a sense of my skill/speed around the table so I get to use it properly in time, I guess it's a better choice. I don't have Mark V 30 degrees available here unfortunately, Mark V, GPS, XS and M2 are here though or does it have something to do with naming in different parts of the world ?


Thank you very much, I hope I'll get enough knowledge along the way to be helpful to others.

 
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For some reason when I looked at Rakza 7 yesterday I thought instinctively that it's for me, now I'm most definitely gonna get that, you just cleared all my dilemmas. Since I want to "catch up" to the racket in a sense of my skill/speed around the table so I get to use it properly in time, I guess it's a better choice. I don't have Mark V 30 degrees available here unfortunately, Mark V, GPS, XS and M2 are here though or does it have something to do with naming in different parts of the world ?


Thank you very much, I hope I'll get enough knowledge along the way to be helpful to others.

Those other variations with the extra letters, you may be bettor off with Rakza 7 over them. But, if you were tending towards Mark V, there is no reason why you can't just use regular Mark V on both sides. The 30-degree version was just in case you wanted an option of softer for BH.

Sponge thickness: people have a lot of different opinions. There are a lot of people who will say go thinner. Schlager was know to say that you should only use Max thickness. I sort of agree with him.....with some qualifications. If you are looking to loop, to spin, to loop on both sides, there is no real reason to go thinner than Max. If you are skilled at looping, you can choose what ever thickness you want. If you do more flat hitting than spinning and are happy driving and making direct contact, thinner sponge is fine. But if you want to loop and spin the hell out of the ball as the main thing you do, then there is no reason to use anything other than Max....even if, you don't always do that. Thicker sponge helps you develop the contact for looping and gives you more control when you actually spin and make spin contact. Thinner sponge gives you more control when you hit flat and so, can encourage you not to learn the precision for spin contact.

And if you already are skilled at spinning the hell out of the ball, you can do it with thicker or thinner sponge even though it takes more precision with thinner sponge....that is why, when that skill is already there, the person can choose whatever he/she wants to use. :)

You have enough info that you can decide for yourself what you want to use.

 
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But what is your current level? How much have you played before? I also think Rakza and MarkV, but if you have not played much maybe MarkV is a better alternative. Rakza have in built speed glue effect so will be faster than MarkV.
 
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But what is your current level? How much have you played before? I also think Rakza and MarkV, but if you have not played much maybe MarkV is a better alternative. Rakza have in built speed glue effect so will be faster than MarkV.

Can't say about my current lvl since I've only played for about hour and half, if it means anything I needed about half an hour to hit the table consistently with those DHS rubbers I've mentioned above, for flatout hitting and spinning the ball it felt great, but chopping was a no go. I've played in a local club for around ~2 yrs more or less

 
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