Controlling EJ

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I need help in controlling my EJ syndrome! I keep wanting to buy new equipment. How do you people stop yourselves from buying stuff constantly
Utilise that fund to pay for private one to one coaching lesson. I am not kidding nor trolling you. This is the one and only cure for your EJ.
 
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By knowing that it hardly makes any difference to my playing level. Switching often makes makes it more difficult to get used to it and each time you'll have to recalibrate your strokes slightly. I've been switching a lot lately been carbon and all wood to try to figure out which works best for me. I'm starting to reach the conclusion that it makes almost no difference to my playing level and that each have their advantages and disadvantages with different things. Even there, they are relatively small.

So, figure out why you want new equipment all the time. Is it because you get a rush from new shiny things? If it's for improvement then know that it's not the way to go (usually). If it's for fun and you like trying new things, fair enough. In some cases you do need to update your equipment around your playing level, but I feel like that's a different discussion compared to the feeling of wanting to buy new stuff all the time.
 

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says Spin to win!
I need help in controlling my EJ syndrome! I keep wanting to buy new equipment. How do you people stop yourselves from buying stuff constantly?

To echo some other points, it very much depends what you are looking for.

I think a lot of people simply get enjoyment from EJ’ing and a big part of their table tennis experience is buying and trying the new equipment, without as much of a desire to improve in the actual sport itself.

If this is you, then don’t feel guilty! Buy it, try it, and let us all know what you think of the different equipment.

If you aren’t as bothered by that, and actually want to improve in the sport, I would always try to remember that changing your equipment regularly will not help you improve, and probably make you worse.

Online forums across all hobbies generally have a way of “enabling” people to spend money on the hobby. Be that new rubbers/blades, or whatever the hobby may be.

I would find a way to contribute to the forum in other ways that don’t involve new equipment. Be that videos, the pro game/equipment, or anything else you can think of.

This forum will always be dominated by people asking about equipment, which can make it hard to contribute consistently in other ways - But it’ll be worth it if you can!

 

Brs

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This may be too obvious, but finding a blade you really like helps. If you can settle on a blade and use it for a few years then any other blade you try will feel kind of wrong. And if you borrow someone else's bat at a club don't just hit with it for five minutes. You will do great because you are paying much closer attention during the short test than you do with your own bat. Play a match with it. When you still play the same some of the excitement drains away.

If you keep blades out of it then imo ejing with rubbers is pretty harmless. It's better to stick with something, but they do have to be replaced regularly anyway. One thing I do to avoid rubber ejing is buy multiples. Like TT11 had a sale on Moristo SP for Christmas and I bought six sheets. That's at least a year's worth. So there's no point in me thinking about trying any other pips when I have now five unopened sheets of mine on the shelf.
 
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This may be too obvious, but finding a blade you really like helps. If you can settle on a blade and use it for a few years then any other blade you try will feel kind of wrong. And if you borrow someone else's bat at a club don't just hit with it for five minutes. You will do great because you are paying much closer attention during the short test than you do with your own bat. Play a match with it. When you still play the same some of the excitement drains away.

If you keep blades out of it then imo ejing with rubbers is pretty harmless. It's better to stick with something, but they do have to be replaced regularly anyway. One thing I do to avoid rubber ejing is buy multiples. Like TT11 had a sale on Moristo SP for Christmas and I bought six sheets. That's at least a year's worth. So there's no point in me thinking about trying any other pips when I have now five unopened sheets of mine on the shelf.
I have a set blade and rubbers I intend on using for a long time: Timo Boll ALC and H3+ Xiom VA(tensor). I use it when I practice and play matches. The reason I like to EJ is not to change my equipment, but to try out as much as possible, and to get a feeling of as many blades and rubbers as I can. I do this so I can know how my opponents equipment plays, and avoid his strengths( not playing a lot of touch game against a 5 ply wood). Also, it helps a lot when recommending equipment to my friends.

I do get a dopamine rush when I get new stuff though.

 
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I do get a dopamine rush when I get new stuff though.

We all do.

But after trying about 12 combinations of wood and rubber in less than a year, I know that each combination makes you feel better in some way, although the only thing that makes you improve in everything is training.

Although I can play with any of the combinations that I have tried, I have also realized that in my case feeling is more important than spin and speed, that technique only develops with a good feeling and that technique is more important than precision.

 
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1. If I train more, I think about equipment less. If I play more tournaments, I also think about equipment less.
2. Reading tt forums less (at least equipment part) , helps holding away from buying a new rubber/blade easier
3. When all that doesn't help, then I start realizing that I actually looking for something similar to what I already have just different, and that changing equipment won't help me play better and actually won't change anything at all
4. Calculating amout of money required for regular equipment change also some what helps
 
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I am going through a similar phase. What slowed me down was buying the most expensive highest rated equipment.

My thought process is knowing I have the best I can buy there is no need to compromise. So I’ve shrunk my collection of blades to a select few. Rubbers I’m still experimenting but at least with blades I’ve settled down to 6 lol.

W968
K161
Harimoto SZLC
LYJ SZLC
LSW ZLF
ZJK ALC (the most prominent fish scale with huge sweet spot)
 
says Spin and more spin.
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Okay. Good posts so far. It has been a loooooong time since I had the EJ virus. The only new blade I have had since 2015 is a blade that Nate made for me to see how close he could get to the feeling of a Virtuoso Plus with a different Core ply than the V+.

The blade Nate made me is slightly different than my V+. I can use them interchangeably without any change in technique even though they have different rubbers on them. Both feel nice. The V+ is a little faster and a little crisper. The Nate blade (I call it The Vortex Spin Machine) is a little slower, a little softer, has nice touch, perhaps a little more flex, and I can really create massive amounts of spin with it.

I like them both. But I would not have looked for a new blade if it had not been made specifically for me. I was happy with the V+. And now I am happy with the Spin Machine as my main weapon of choice.

The stuff about training and playing matches being where improvement happens is a good place to start.

But here is something: I think it is fine to ask people if you can try their racket and feel it and see how it plays. I still like doing that. I really like feeling ball contact with different woods, seeing what I can feel. One combination that I love how it feels but would not want to use because I don't love how it plays is blades that are Limba-Spruce-Ayous-Spruce-Limba. I love the way those blades feel. Spruce as a medial ply has a really nice feeling. But I don't like how you contact to spin the ball with the blades I have tried with that wood combination. I feel I generate more with the blades I like that have Limba-Limba.....as top and medial ply.

But, as I said, I do like trying and seeing how other people's rackets feel. I would not consider that EJing. And doing that does not make me want something else. I guess, for me, part of why is because, I know what I use really fits how I play and since I value spin over speed, and I know I can supply the speed even with a blade slower than the ones I use, trying different things never makes me feel, "I want that."

AND I THINK THAT IS A STATE OF MIND, rather than something else. I want what I already have. So, I don't need anything else even if it is fun to test out different things for comparison.

If I ever was going to change to something different, it would likely be some version of an ALL HINOKI blade. But, I don't think it will happen. I am really happy with what I have and that does not stop me from liking trying other things.

I think some of where I got to that place is, I used to go to a club in NYC's Chinatown and I would help out, and a long time friend worked at the club. He would get everyone to lend him their blades to try and we would train and he would make me try everything. Over time I got to really feel the differences in different setups. But trying hundreds of rackets without having to buy them, I started to get a better understanding of the things that really did work for me. Seeing how things work in serve and receive or in match situations does help though. You could try a racket and think it is amazing while looping, and play a match and realize how hard it is to control in matchplay even though it feels amazing while looping.

So.....bottom line of what I am saying, and I am not sure this is different than many of the other comments, it is fine to try stuff to feel and see how things feel.....what the unique feel of rubber and blade are for a particular setup.....but you don't have to buy to try.

And, as has also been said, if you really like buying and trying lots of stuff, if you can afford it, that is fine.

EJing with TT equipment is much less expensive than EJing with bikes. I have a friend who has over 50 high end racing bikes! It is at least a quarter of a million $$$ in high end bikes. hahahaha. He has them hanging from the ceiling in a room in his building. It looks like the warehouse for a bike shop. He can afford it. But....I don't know if I want that for myself. 5-6 good bikes would be fine for me, that would only be 50-100,000 $$$ worth. :) Nah, All I need is a bike for commuting (beat up, old and not expensive), a bike for ROAD and a bike for GRAVEL. So, Only 30K. :)

Here is the bike I built last summer:

IMG%200255%20JPG.jpeg

IMG%200233%20jpg.jpeg

Riding slow for the photo. Old classic Steel Framed bike with Ultegra Groupset and Rim Brakes. :)
 
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Okay. Good posts so far. It has been a loooooong time since I had the EJ virus. The only new blade I have had since 2015 is a blade that Nate made for me to see how close he could get to the feeling of a Virtuoso Plus with a different Core ply than the V+.

The blade Nate made me is slightly different than my V+. I can use them interchangeably without any change in technique even though they have different rubbers on them. Both feel nice. The V+ is a little faster and a little crisper. The Nate blade (I call it The Vortex Spin Machine) is a little slower, a little softer, has nice touch, perhaps a little more flex, and I can really create massive amounts of spin with it.

I like them both. But I would not have looked for a new blade if it had not been made specifically for me. I was happy with the V+. And now I am happy with the Spin Machine as my main weapon of choice.

The stuff about training and playing matches being where improvement happens is a good place to start.

But here is something: I think it is fine to ask people if you can try their racket and feel it and see how it plays. I still like doing that. I really like feeling ball contact with different woods, seeing what I can feel. One combination that I love how it feels but would not want to use because I don't love how it plays is blades that are Limba-Spruce-Ayous-Spruce-Limba. I love the way those blades feel. Spruce as a medial ply has a really nice feeling. But I don't like how you contact to spin the ball with the blades I have tried with that wood combination. I feel I generate more with the blades I like that have Limba-Limba.....as top and medial ply.

But, as I said, I do like trying and seeing how other people's rackets feel. I would not consider that EJing. And doing that does not make me want something else. I guess, for me, part of why is because, I know what I use really fits how I play and since I value spin over speed, and I know I can supply the speed even with a blade slower than the ones I use, trying different things never makes me feel, "I want that."

AND I THINK THAT IS A STATE OF MIND, rather than something else. I want what I already have. So, I don't need anything else even if it is fun to test out different things for comparison.

If I ever was going to change to something different, it would likely be some version of an ALL HINOKI blade. But, I don't think it will happen. I am really happy with what I have and that does not stop me from liking trying other things.

I think some of where I got to that place is, I used to go to a club in NYC's Chinatown and I would help out, and a long time friend worked at the club. He would get everyone to lend him their blades to try and we would train and he would make me try everything. Over time I got to really feel the differences in different setups. But trying hundreds of rackets without having to buy them, I started to get a better understanding of the things that really did work for me. Seeing how things work in serve and receive or in match situations does help though. You could try a racket and think it is amazing while looping, and play a match and realize how hard it is to control in matchplay even though it feels amazing while looping.

So.....bottom line of what I am saying, and I am not sure this is different than many of the other comments, it is fine to try stuff to feel and see how things feel.....what the unique feel of rubber and blade are for a particular setup.....but you don't have to buy to try.

And, as has also been said, if you really like buying and trying lots of stuff, if you can afford it, that is fine.

EJing with TT equipment is much less expensive than EJing with bikes. I have a friend who has over 50 high end racing bikes! It is at least a quarter of a million $$$ in high end bikes. hahahaha. He has them hanging from the ceiling in a room in his building. It looks like the warehouse for a bike shop. He can afford it. But....I don't know if I want that for myself. 5-6 good bikes would be fine for me, that would only be 50-100,000 $$$ worth. :) Nah, All I need is a bike for commuting (beat up, old and not expensive), a bike for ROAD and a bike for GRAVEL. So, Only 30K. :)

Here is the bike I built last summer:

IMG%200255%20JPG.jpeg

IMG%200233%20jpg.jpeg

Riding slow for the photo. Old classic Steel Framed bike with Ultegra Groupset and Rim Brakes. :)
Coool bike!
updated EJing list:
1. Table tennis equipment
2. Bikes(newly added)
:)

 
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I accidently cure my EJ syndrome by not playing TT for quite a long time. And then when I started playing again, I picked up a blade that sit near to me and since I can play very well with it, I have not considered any other blades that I have.
 
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Utilise that fund to pay for private one to one coaching lesson. I am not kidding nor trolling you. This is the one and only cure for your EJ.

This, and playing often (just spar or play strokes with someone, really) so that you are engrossed in the feel of your current blade and reignite the love for her.
(...said someone who just posted a new thread about equipment LOL)

but seriously, I need a good advice myself, if you guys want to head on to the thread:
Innerforce viscaria!? (tabletennisdaily.com)


I do get a dopamine rush when I get new stuff though.

😉😋


Cheers

 
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Identify your playing style on forehand & backhand (which may be very different) , then try the equipment you already bought for that style.
Then analyze which combination of blade and rubber gives you the best possibility of beating most players (styles). No "racket" can conquewr all opponent styles. When I played in a league years ago, I used to best 5 out of 6 players on a a night. i woudl analyze why I lost to that one player A and change my racket. Then I would beat that player A the next week but lose to two others B & C. Then I would change again . Now I would beat players A, B & C but lose to a new player D. This went on for years

Resist tendency to order every week ( If you have a spouse, ask them to threaten to leave you for a player with a differnt playing style than you. A chopper or a frictionless blocker is an ideal candidates since everyone hates them)

All this is assuming you are a competitive playerwith some focused goals. But if you are someone who just plays for fun , then there is no cure for ECing.
(EJ > Equipment "junkie" is an offensive phrase. Use the phrase like "Equipment Connoisseur")

I have seen some ECs who carry a bagful of Tenergy unopened & ready to be boosted & disposed after 4 or 5 uses
I know someone who has bought rubbers & blades (some of them 2 each) & had never used them in years yet. I told him to have him buried with the blades, rubbers , shoes etc when time comes
 
says Currently in a dilemma between 5+2 or 7 ply allwood blade
says Currently in a dilemma between 5+2 or 7 ply allwood blade
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I have a set blade and rubbers I intend on using for a long time: Timo Boll ALC and H3+ Xiom VA(tensor). I use it when I practice and play matches. The reason I like to EJ is not to change my equipment, but to try out as much as possible, and to get a feeling of as many blades and rubbers as I can. I do this so I can know how my opponents equipment plays, and avoid his strengths( not playing a lot of touch game against a 5 ply wood). Also, it helps a lot when recommending equipment to my friends.

I do get a dopamine rush when I get new stuff though.

Well, it's not a total mistake if you want to try lots of blades and rubbers. But if you try to judge how one play based upon their equipment, that one is a big mistake 😉

What makes a good touches are not a 5-ply allwood blade with tacky rubbers

What makes a powerful loops are not a 7-ply composite blade with boosted hard chinese rubbers or tensors

It's the trainings and experiences

P.S. : if you want to try, don't buy. Just try one from anyone you know. If you want to buy, just buy an exact/idencital blade for your spare, buy rubbers when it's time to change it

 
says toooooo much choice!!
says toooooo much choice!!
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I've slowed down buying and testing new equipment (compared to the last couple of years!!!) but still get the occasional 'new' rubber, one that I haven't tried before.
Last week I gave a box of used rubbers to a coach, these rubbers were a mixture of types, some had been used for testing only maybe 8 -20 hours play time, some for general play 2 -4 months. the box had at about 40 sheets in it with maybe 6 sheets being the same rubber !!! I think there was even a sheet of H3 Nat blue sponge lurking in the bottom of the pile!!!
These rubbers will be used to make up bats for new players just starting in the sport, at least they will have a reasonable set up to use!!

If you want to buy and try/test new or existing products then go for it, this is something that really helped during the COVID lockdowns, and closure of leagues etc during that period. I was still able to play and test stuff out at home.
 
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