Help choosing a custom racket

I went to university today, but to my bad luck or unfortunately, i didn't see students playing and they won't, because it was exams weeks, but i met the coach i know and we talked about life in general.

He told me, he knows a store where they sell blades and rubbers, including Butterfly, Donic, Yasaka,...etc, so i am looking for to give that store or the shot whatever you call it a visit and see if i can find those Butterfly blades i mentioned and handle them and see how they are in my hands, but i can't resume any just by blade alone, but i will go to check out anyway and check out the prices too.

Also while i was talking with the coach, i saw few blades thrown on tables and chair in his small office, some of them are Butterfly but i think old models, i will post the pics of those later, and pity i couldn't test that even with him as he wasn't in mood and was thinking to leave, but i hope i can visit again later when students are studying and no exams so they play and i can join.

I wish i can find some rackets there ready of what i look for and see the handle and weight, but i really need to test them in real game or even practice, but at the end, i have to choose/pick one at the end, will see which one it will be.

UpSideDownCarl said:

Nothing against you Der_Echte, I think you are making some valid points about more dwell time, faster/slower blades, and your points about blocking are great. But I think those comments may miss the point about why the OP and many newer players like those faster blades.

When you take a full swing and blast the ball against someone who is giving you block or drive level spin, and not trying to mess you up, those faster blades have this great, crisp snap that makes you want to blast the ball over and over. It feels much more enticing than the dull, soft crunch or worse, thud, of most Off- or All+ blades. It feels great to smack the hell out of he ball. It feels better with an ALC than with a Primorac Off-. Much better.

But those blades do make you want to keep crushing the ball with drive contact so you keep getting that snap on each hit.

I remember giving one of my faster blades to a friend to hit, way back when I was starting, he hit with it for 3 min and gave it back. He said it was good but that he did not want to use it any more because it made him just want to hit and he needed to work on loop contact.

That feeling of a good smack where you crush the ball is addictive and can keep a lower level player from finding what happens when you brush and dig into the ball so that you get a powerful loop instead of a drive.

That being said, if this is about the sport growing, someone who has not figured that stuff out, and wants an Off ALC blade, they are fun. They feel great. They will make him want to play more.

Of the blades Tareq has picked I would say he really could throw a dart at the wall and whichever one he hits would be fine. Of the ones he chose I would say TB ZLF is best for him. But one step better is one he almost listed but didn't: Innerforce ZLF (not ALC but ZLF). He might not be good enough to know why that one is the best one, but he will grow into it and one day he will get why that blade, which is too advanced is better than the others.

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UpSideDownCarl said:

It might be too advanced for him, it probably is. But he wants a top flight blade. Not the most expensive or the fastest but the best. And that is the best of the ones he is looking at. Innerforce ZLF. (Not ALC, not ZLC but ZLF). That one would be THE BLADE in my opinion.

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True, i want the best regardless it is fast or slow or expensive or a combo of them all.

But, enlighten me a bit about why you choose that Innerforce ZLF? I did put it first in the list, and i really can add it, because i was thinking about ALC first, if not then ZLF and IneerForce in fact was my first choice over Timo Boll one, but that yellow color made me to ignore it, but i shouldn't because of color.

Ok, i can go with this InnZLF if you think it will be better for me, doesn't matter of advanced, when i talked with this coach about that i am planning to buy a blade and rubber, he never told me to buy something according to my level, because he knew my level or style, he still has my pic with others as winners on the wall there and what a memories, so he knows that any blade can help me to grow or play better, and i like the idea to go there and look at different blades if they have and see how those Butterfly blades in front of me if they are available of models i picked and the one you recommended.

NextLevel said:

IF you are getting coaching, it is always best to get whatever your coach recommends, or at least APPROVES of, since he is the one going to be responsible for your results.

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No, i will not have any coach, i did mention that earlier, and coach to coach are different, some coaches don't care of which blade i use and some others will tell/recommend me one, but at all i am not doing with any coaching at all.

UpSideDownCarl said:

Innerforce has Limba wood as top ply which is very good for spin and speed combination. And Zylon is a newer material than Arylate. Butterfly developed it after Arylate. It is a bit faster but it has similar dwell time. So Innerforce ZLF, of the blades you are considering, is probably the best one. It is not as known because it doesn't have the name of a player. But it is top of the line.

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I see, great to know that, thanks!

Well, i really don't care to buy a blade of one of top players, i did include InnerForce but ALC and it was almost the second one i will choose after ZJ ALC because this ZK ALC has a better control and higher speed than InnerForce ALC, but now you recmmend me that InnerForce ZLF so i will consider it again too, and it is really nice and i don't mind to get it rather than other models whether of players name or not.

So, let's say, if i may go with InnZLF, which rubbers i should look for? i said i would like to have Tenergy 05 on BH and anything for FH, but will you recommend me something else?

UpSideDownCarl said:

Arylate is slower than Zylon so it works well with Carbon. Zylon alone is about the same speed as Carbon and Zylon. But without the carbon you have more feeling and the same speed. Zylon with Carbon is a bit weird. In my opinion with the regular ZLC blades it doesn't work as well because there is too much carbon and not enough Zylon. With the Super ZLC blades there is a good amount of Zylon with the carbon. But the ZJK Super ZLC they somehow did not make that well. The Jun Mizutani Super ZLC from what I have heard is better.

All in all, I would say Innerforce ZLF is the best one.

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Good, then i will look at this blade over the others, and hope i can find this one in that store, otherwise i just buy it online.

Thanks!!!

Well, i did print a 2 pages word i made for Butterfly blades so when i will go to that store i will check out what is available and then check the prices and compare it later with online prices.

But, i would like to know about rubbers to look at there, something telling me that they don't sell Chinese rubbers, so i think the 4 or 5 brands they are selling of rubbers or even blades will be as following:

- Butterfly
- Donic
- Stiga
- Yasaka
- Maybe Joola or Tibhar

So, if i couldn't find another brands rubbers of above, which from above i should look at? I may buy rubbers [or maybe blades] from the internet if the items i look for is not available locally, but i don't lose anything to go and check out, so if you have the above 4-6 names, can you recommend something from all or some of them? Ignore or pass that of Tenergy because i have the prices already and i know about them.

UpSideDownCarl said:

I would actually say, if you want top quality, Tenergy is really a notch better than everything else and you know the price so you may as well get the best. I personally feel that it is worth not messing around with rubbers. When you really know equipment you will be able to make more subtle decisions for yourself. But Tenergy does everything a little better than anything else. There are rubbers that do certain things better but none that do everything better.

A standard setup for a player would be T05 on FH and T64 or T05FX on BH.

But earlier you said that FH too fast and BH not fast enough on one of the setups you tried.

So maybe T05FX for FH and T64 for BH. 05FX is a little slower T64 is faster.

By the way, one of the reasons the top Chinese players use Black for FH is that it makes it a tiny bit harder to see the contact on the serve. There are other reasons but that may make it worth having the black rubber the FH rubber even if you are not using DHS rubber.

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Cool, then let's discuss those rubbers things a bit too.

First of all, i always or get used to use black for FH, i used 4 blades from so cheap to normal or good and i always use black side for FH, so i want to stay this way.

Second, i remember when i tested that blade and i can't remember which rubbers are against the coach, he asked me to use red for FH and black for BH, so if that Tenergy was used for both sides, then both weren't good for me, unless i use Tenergy 05 on BH so i can give it more speed, but it was Tenergy 05 black on that BH anyway, but in general, the blade i didn't like, and the racket was almost used to death, so maybe it wasn't good for me that time and i can't base any judgement on that test practice as i said.

3. If i still remember very well, in the past most of my winner shots were from my BH more than my FH, and i do slice a lot and here i also depend on the BH for that more than FH, and for FH i try to use it for med-long distance because sometimes i lose more points with FH when i am close to the table, so i go back to adjust the speed or long loop or whatever with FH, but i do slice with FH when needed.

4. Thickness of sponge, does it matter? maybe the blade i tested was a bit heavy and it was, so that i couldn't control it or even i wasn't happy ot comfortable to use it even for 1 minute or less, at the end it was belong to one of national team players and he must prefer heavy for reasons, but is that heavy came from the rubbers or the blade?

I wouldn't mind to stick with Tenergy, there are 3 models you and i look at, 05, 05FX and 64, i wouldn't mind to use any.

Also, i still can buy from online, so if Tenergy isn't recommended for FH or BH then i can look for rubbers online, but i think Tenergy are high recommended after all, and sure quality is always most wanted.

I said Tenergy 05 for BH because it sounds it is really suitable for most strong fast BH strokes, and i do that frequently, so i don't want to look anything less, and i thought about black Chinese specially DHS rubber for FH because major of top players are using that on their FH, so they know it is good after long time or run and they experience and level, so i have to put those rubbers at best use if i can use it, but if those Chinese rubbers are not that much recommended i can easily ignore or pass it and look for something else.

Great, so i will pass those Chinese rubbers, and i too heard that commercial versions of DHS is different than the actual one of Chinese players using, and they boost it and i don't think i will, so no need to think about it that much, i just wanted to have more information or details about it and you did, thank you very much.

Ok, so if i combine that T64 on BH with 05FX on FH then i will have better speed on BH and better control on FH, so this will give my playing more stability.

By the way, i think i can change rubbers later if i decide something or can't? and if i do will that affect the blade itself?

Also forgot to add, i saw that Yasaka Mark V has many feedback or review or popular, how do you rate this rubber?

UpSideDownCarl said:

That is one of the old Classic rubbers that TTTony recommended you get. It was designed for Speed Glue but has excellent control for beginners. Go for it.

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I see, thanks!

Well, it depends on what i will get, if i will have high budget i may end up with 2 rackets, i will keep one for fast attack/Off, and the other i keep for practice and better control slower things, so i can use both when necessary, but that is not confirmed or sure yet, i keep opened to all recommendations and posibilities until i have the budget then i know what to get without doubts.

I have a stupid question and sorry for that, now if i choose any rubber, is the red and black color of the same rubber have the same characteristics as well? or if let's say i choose T64 black will be different than T64 red?

I know one should be red and one should be black, all rackets i used in the past has one red side and one black and i am not planning to use same color on both sides even if one color is so perfect one for everything.

Good to know, that will open possibilities of me to buy many rackets in the future, if i will get a job, once i have budget and i get into TT more and more i may think about having coaching too, it is all coming to the budget and the purpose i do play TT, if only fun then i don't need a coach unless or until i find one will do me free, but if i want to get into it seriously and compete or for ranks then i will think about coach no doubt.