Best fit for old Banda Waldner

[PTA2004]

Hi all,

I used to play table tennis for a few years in the 1990s. After 30 years, I started to pick up table tennis again for leisure play few weeks ago. I found out my 2 old blades, Banda Waldner and Banda Allround. I used to play mainly with the Banda Waldner with both side Mark V rubber. I love my blade and would like to replace the rubbers only, though maybe they are too old and too slow for the 40+ ball nowadays. Any suggestions for the rubbers to match with my old Banda Waldner / Banda Allround?

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

Hi all,

I used to play table tennis for a few years in the 1990s. After 30 years, I started to pick up table tennis again for leisure play few weeks ago. I found out my 2 old blades, Banda Waldner and Banda Allround. I used to play mainly with the Banda Waldner with both side Mark V rubber. I love my blade and would like to replace the rubbers only, though maybe they are too old and too slow for the 40+ ball nowadays. Any suggestions for the rubbers to match with my old Banda Waldner / Banda Allround?

How big a step away from Mark V do you want to take? For a more conservative upgrade I'd suggest the Nittaku Factive, for a more aggressive option I'd recommend Nittaku Fastarc G1 (or C1 if you want a medium hardness rubber over medium hard)

 

[PTA2004]

How big a step away from Mark V do you want to take? For a more conservative upgrade I'd suggest the Nittaku Factive, for a more aggressive option I'd recommend Nittaku Fastarc G1 (or C1 if you want a medium hardness rubber over medium hard)

Thanks Scarfed. I'm very happy with Mark V during my old days 30 years ago. I love the control and the feeling by Mark V. Just the 30 years-old rubbers definitely not working now and I need replacement.

So, do you think the current Mark V is still a good choice with Banda Waldner blade now?

 

[Tyce]

Thanks Scarfed. I'm very happy with Mark V during my old days 30 years ago. I love the control and the feeling by Mark V. Just the 30 years-old rubbers definitely not working now and I need replacement.

So, do you think the current Mark V is still a good choice with Banda Waldner blade now?

I think it depends on your goals.

Do you want to have some fun play and relive the feeling from back then? Then I would stay close to Mark V.

Do you want to re-learn the game as it is now? Then it depends on your environment, too.

If you play in a club with a lot of tacky rubber use (Hurricane, PF4 etc) then you might be best off playing that, too, so the advice you can get there will fit your setup.

If your environment has more tensor rubbers, go with that.

Just a little sidenote, since the 90s the balls have grown bigger and changed in material. If you get the feeling something is off, especially in terms of sound, power and spin, you're correct.

I honestly don't know much about tacky rubbers except for Hurricane 3 and really intro level stuff, so I don't have specific advice here.

If you want to stay classic (Mark V) just get the thickest sponge option. It might sound like a loss of control but where that was true in the 90s, those differences are extremely small with today's balls. The thick sponge will give you the maximum possible spin and speed generation.

If you used to speed-glue Mark V, then tensor rubbers are basically the current analogue of that. The abovementioned Fastarc C1 is definitely a nice and capable rubber. For a little less speed I would suggest Xiom Vega Europe. It's also a very affordable option in most regions. Very easy rubber to get used to tensors.

 

[PTA2004]

I think it depends on your goals.

Do you want to have some fun play and relive the feeling from back then? Then I would stay close to Mark V.

Do you want to re-learn the game as it is now? Then it depends on your environment, too.

If you play in a club with a lot of tacky rubber use (Hurricane, PF4 etc) then you might be best off playing that, too, so the advice you can get there will fit your setup.

If your environment has more tensor rubbers, go with that.

Just a little sidenote, since the 90s the balls have grown bigger and changed in material. If you get the feeling something is off, especially in terms of sound, power and spin, you're correct.

I honestly don't know much about tacky rubbers except for Hurricane 3 and really intro level stuff, so I don't have specific advice here.

If you want to stay classic (Mark V) just get the thickest sponge option. It might sound like a loss of control but where that was true in the 90s, those differences are extremely small with today's balls. The thick sponge will give you the maximum possible spin and speed generation.

If you used to speed-glue Mark V, then tensor rubbers are basically the current analogue of that. The abovementioned Fastarc C1 is definitely a nice and capable rubber. For a little less speed I would suggest Xiom Vega Europe. It's also a very affordable option in most regions. Very easy rubber to get used to tensors.

Thanks Tyce.

After listening to you guys, I tend to stick to Mark V or Xiom Vega Europe, as I just started to picking up table tennis again after a long break. The key is to relive the feeling first. And I'm now just playing with friends, not a club aiming at competition anymore.