Advice for beginner/intermediate players (equipment, clubs, etc.)

Stiga Allaround Classic + 2x Sriver FX or Mark V should be enough for beginner.

This kind of request comes up all the time.

1) Doesn't matter, exact same or different one, just so long as the blade is ALL to OFF- and the rubbers are allround in the thickness you need.

2) For the exact equipment equipment, you could go the classic route and spend nearly GBP 100. Classic ALL+ to OFF- blade and ALLROUND rubbers are easily allowing someone to learn most any stroke and develop their preferred style. Way too many combos to even discuss. Use good judgment, just keep to something like ALL to OFF- blade and allround rubbers. You will be spending money on rubbers periodically anyway, so do not freak out at the cost.

If you want to save money, go for a Galaxy 896 ALL+ or Dawei Instinct with XP 2008 rubbers in whatever thickness (I like 2.2) you like. Pundits claim around 1.8 for better control, I say learning sponge looping is next to impossible without any sponge. That setup is ALL+ blade and allround rubbers for $30 USD before shipping. Comes with a bat case. Either setup will allow one to learn the game without going overboard on power.

http://www.colestt.com/combos.php

3) Playing only once a week will not cut it. You might be able to grow some, but any progress will be painfully slow. try to move around if needed and play at several places. try to get structured lessons. If lessons are absolutely not available, buy books, participate in forums, ask questions, post videos, and become a BUG. Why a bug? if you are not bugging and bothering people with questions, you will not get questions answered automatically without asking them, eh?

4) Robots are for practicing footwork (if the oscillation feature is used) and for grooving strokes as the robot gives pretty close to the same ball as programmed. There are conflicting views on robots for beginners unsupervised. If one uses poor form, all one is doing is grooving that poor form even more to make it much more difficult to change to a proper effective stroke later. That is the danger of a robot. To keep it real, which beginner uses proper strokes the first few months even under the supervision of a coach? So, one has to ask to themselves what they are going to get from it.

Personally, I think robots can be great. one can set the robot to give short underspin, by pointing the robot down to make first bounce on server's side of table. One can practice stepping in, impacting ball with light grip immediately off the bounce to return short or to make a fast push deep anywhere, preferably to wide corners or middle. One can practice the flick this way. One can use the robot to practice all those Middle Game shots (non-attacking shots) that require touch. Only some prior good instruction and a LOT of practice will allow one to develop any kind of touch. A robot is a great way to practice this touch, yet everyone uses them for grooving the macho attacking shots.

5) unless you want a TT table to clutter your house, why get one if there is no room to play? There is only room to practice short push. You could do that on your kitchen table by clearing the table and setting up a string net tied to two mason glass jars...

Cheers.

Buy a blade that you can have for a couple of years and change rubbers as you develop. http://www.thorntonstabletennis.co.uk
has some cheap blades at clearance sale Stiga allround oversize, Stiga kevtech and buy some cheap LKT rubbers that would be like 42£, and then you can change rubbers without destroying the blade.

I just bought a made up bat from Custom Table Tennis as my first proper bat two years ago as a beginner (played a little as a teenager but game was rather different then) - Blutenkirsche with Kokutaku. Still using it now but have changed the rubbers twice. Once you start playing regularly you'll have plenty of people to suggest or supply or fit new rubbers for you.

Honestly think it's best to get coaching input and then practice what you have been told between coaching sessions. I know one guy who is just doing coaching and practice/training for the first year with almost no matches. Probably not a bad idea to develop decent technique but too disciplined for me. There are so many layers to this game and they all have to be learned and internalised into your subconscious and muscle memory. Have been going to several different club sessions three times a week, plus training camp days. Totally addictive, especially as you start improving and get the pleasure of controlling the ball more and more.

Hey there and welcome, I have bought a few bats as I have progressed, nearly all of it from custom table tennis. I strongly recommend Xiom classic offensive s with xiom vega elite 1.8 or 2.0mm(personal choice I guess) on both sides. I too started back after many years away and trust me on the advice given by Steve Winnard who own's custom table tennis the xiom set-up was perfect( I used 1.8mm both sides).

I'm sure if you call him he will give you good advice as he did me.

Hope this helps.

Well, you had better follow up and post Ur results and talk about Ur TT journey, or I will fly to your country and hound you... haha, hope you like what you got and grow well in the fun sport!

Tenbor, the 896 is a great looping blade, simply nice at spinning up the ball with feel. That is what a lot of us like. SOME players like to hit htrough the ball and use more speed than spin. In such a case, a FAST/STIFF blade is preferred for those kinds. 896 is ALL+ speed and very flexy, so it is not the best blade for slapping the ball. What you can do however when hitting (not spinning the ball I mean) is to be close to the table and counter. 896 is GREAT at that, especially BH wing and gives nice conistancy for the BH counter vs a topspin. I can take a LOT more of an aggressive approach using this blade than when I used Timo Boll Spirit, a fast composite blade.

Unfortunately, one must try the equipment for themselves to really know it and what we say, so have at it, buy out the market and have your go.

The Blutenkirsch Tokyo is a nice OFF control rubber, so if you got an all wood balde and the Tokyo, it will work well for you during your initial learning phase That setup is capable of learning all the shots with the right coaching and training.

tenbor, unless you are in your 90s, you are NEVER too old to train and get results if you are starting out.

I started this sport in my 40s and became a much better than average club player in a few years of lessons and a LOT of match play in Korea.