Blade choice for combination play

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I have a DMS Wizard blade with Dynaryz ACC on the forehand and Grass D.Techs 0.9mm on the backhand for classic combination play to achieve set ups for power loops on the forehand by strategic blocking and pushing on the backhand. I use sponge on the D.Techs to also be able to play backhand topspin.

I am considering a blade upgrade so can anyone advise me on a recommended blade for this style of play based on you experiences and also what if any benefit I would gain from say one of the relatively expensive Re-Impact blades such as Tachi or Turbo compared with the Wizard.

I realise that this style of play is frowned upon by purists but it is forced upon me by physical limitations.
 
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Stiff Hardwood or 7 ply pips to push/block on BH
and FH to smash/drive using pips to setup shot. From experience flexibility is not your friend in pips, and when blocking with pips opponents shot usually short or high and forced as to why I say smash and drive instead of looping
Rosewood 7
Ebenholtz 7
Yasaka ebony carbon
Clipper
Yasaka extra special
Acoustic carbon
Avalox p700
Something along these lines shud work perfectly fine stiff is the way to go with pips any day! Price don't make a difference don't have to be expensive
 
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Stiff Hardwood or 7 ply pips to push/block on BH
and FH to smash/drive using pips to setup shot. From experience flexibility is not your friend in pips, and when blocking with pips opponents shot usually short or high and forced as to why I say smash and drive instead of looping
Rosewood 7
Ebenholtz 7
Yasaka ebony carbon
Clipper
Yasaka extra special
Acoustic carbon
Avalox p700
Something along these lines shud work perfectly fine stiff is the way to go with pips any day! Price don't make a difference don't have to be expensive

Thanks ChinaMonDon, interesting to hear your suggestion.
 
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My favorite combo blade is the Neubauer Titan. I have one set up with short pips on the one side, and Grass D.TecS on the other side, with a second Titan with Calibra LT (inverted) on the one side and Grass D.Tec'S on the other. I personally don't like it with the inverted, as it feels like I've lost a lot of power compared to my normal setup (Darker 1 ply), with minimal gain in having the slower side for the long pips. Having said that, for me it's the perfect blade for a short pips / long pips combination. For what it's worth, I have read that the Titan is significantly faster than the Tachi on both forehand and backhand.
 
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Thank you all for your contributions - much appreciated.

I should correct my first post to say that I have not fitted the Dynaryz or D.Techs rubbers to the Wizard blade yet. I wanted to consult the forum first.
My latest blades for conventional play have been:
TSP 6.5 Balsa with Rhyzer 43 and Rhyzer Pro 45
SDC custom blade (Innerforce Layer clone) with Tenergy 05 and Tenergy 05FX
I am therefore reasonably comfortable with what I need from a blade for my forehand.
The dilemma is the blade requirements for playing the D.Techs with the intended 0.9mm sponge to achieve some ability to topspin. The primary reason for the long pips, with my current physical situation, is to maintain my level of competitiveness by playing aggressive blocks, chop blocks, and pushes with my backhand to set up the forehand smash, kill, loop drive etc.
I have played briefly with a friends setup of a Neubauer Phenomenon blade with Grass D.Techs OX and Joola Energy on the forehand and quite liked it. I am however confused regarding best setup because my original thoughts were that the requirement is a normal forehand side to the blade, to achieve the characteristics that I am used to, but with a slower more controllable backhand side to the blade so that I can play short blocks etc to work the opposing player in and out plus play aggressive long pushes as necessary. IE. do pretty much do whatever I like on the backhand to control the opposition - sounds good doesn't it :)
However it appears that in some quarters I read that moderately stiff and fast blades are recommended for playing long pimples, which I believe is along the lines of what yogi_bear is suggesting. I respect that suggestion being aware of others experience compared with mine.
Could you therefore discuss the pro and cons of a dual faced combination bat with a fast forehand and a slower backhand against the alternatives please.
 
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Basmundo,

A lot of people went down the path of finding a perfect "two faced" blade. I'm pretty sure none of them found it...because it doesn't exist.

The composition will affect the whole feel. Hell, even your backhand rubber will affect your forehand feel. I know this because I gave up RPB after realizing a single rubber feel way cleaner.

My advice is if your forehand is comfortable, adapt however way you can to live with the backhand characteristics.

Some people think a "hard" side separated by a thick cork (or other soft wood) layer will come out with different performance for either side. But I've tried and the backhand cork will make your forehand feel numb too.
 
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You mention you would like a slower, more controllable backhand side. Maybe Grass D.TecS isn't the best option for you. I personally love Grass D.TecS and presently use it, but it is very fast. This works for me as I twiddle and principally use it for aggressive bumps to set up attacks. If you are looking however for a slower, more controlled backhand, I would recommend almost anything over this rubber.
 
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Basmundo,

A lot of people went down the path of finding a perfect "two faced" blade. I'm pretty sure none of them found it...because it doesn't exist.

The composition will affect the whole feel. Hell, even your backhand rubber will affect your forehand feel. I know this because I gave up RPB after realizing a single rubber feel way cleaner.

My advice is if your forehand is comfortable, adapt however way you can to live with the backhand characteristics.

Some people think a "hard" side separated by a thick cork (or other soft wood) layer will come out with different performance for either side. But I've tried and the backhand cork will make your forehand feel numb too.

Hello Lasta
It is good to have a contribution from you. I hadn't though of the point that you have made although it does make perfect sense. As you can see from my current blades, they are moderately fast being with either inner carbon or with a balsa core and with reasonably fast rubbers also.
Do you have any experience with trying a blade with long pimples?
 
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You mention you would like a slower, more controllable backhand side. Maybe Grass D.TecS isn't the best option for you. I personally love Grass D.TecS and presently use it, but it is very fast. This works for me as I twiddle and principally use it for aggressive bumps to set up attacks. If you are looking however for a slower, more controlled backhand, I would recommend almost anything over this rubber.

Hello PushSmasher
It is no so much that I want the backhand to be slower but more that I was assuming that it would be necessary for that style of play to achieve the necessary short balls and disruptive type of play on that side.
I tend to prefer blades and rubbers at the faster end of the spectrum when using inverted rubbers. You may have noticed that I was also going to go for the 0.9mm D.Tecs to slow it down a fraction and gain a little more control and also enable the ability to maybe backhand topspin occasionally; a shot that I use a lot with inverted rubbers. I notice that you use the OX version. Could you explain your reasoning for this as the type of game you explain is what I had in mind.
There must be a very good reason for using the Darker blade as they are significantly different to conventional blades. Are there are any others of similar characteristics that you would recommend for this style of play.
I had also considered Hellfire (not the X version) do you think that would suit
I assume that a "bump" is a block?
 
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I prefer the OX because there is more reversal and disruption. When I say that I like to use it to aggressively ‘bump’, it is basically just an aggressive push on a ball that has backspin. The more backspin on the opponents ball, the more aggressive you can be. I love this shot as my opponent is often caught off guard with its speed and will give me a lose return I can smash.

Regarding the Darker 1 ply blades, I use to use a very fast graphite blade (TB T5000), but wanted more control in my short game. The Darker DS90 and Imperial get me that without having to sacrifice too much power, if any.

I’ve never used Hellfire, so can't comment on it.
 
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Basmundo,

A lot of people went down the path of finding a perfect "two faced" blade. I'm pretty sure none of them found it...because it doesn't exist.

The composition will affect the whole feel. Hell, even your backhand rubber will affect your forehand feel. I know this because I gave up RPB after realizing a single rubber feel way cleaner.

My advice is if your forehand is comfortable, adapt however way you can to live with the backhand characteristics.

Some people think a "hard" side separated by a thick cork (or other soft wood) layer will come out with different performance for either side. But I've tried and the backhand cork will make your forehand feel numb too.

Hi lasta,
I play the re-impact Turbo 82 and there is defenitely no numb feeling in the forehand. Maybe because it is thick enough (15,2 mm) The Sanwei TwoFace, which I played before, has only minimal difference between the two sides.
Best regards
Michael

 
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Turbo has a strong difference in speed. I would rate FH as OFF/OFF+ and BH as ALL. Both sides are quite bouncy, not numb at all. That`s the reason why I changed to another Re-Impact blade with very low catapult (but also no numb feeling!). But I play ox and I am not an experienced player. For long pips with sponge (or ox and better skills) the Turbo might be perfect.

I have also played the Neubauer Titan mentioned above. It is build by Re-Impact, too. In my opinion the difference between the two sides is not significant. I would rate it as ALL+. Catapult is rather high, too so it wasn`t for me but a friend in my club is very happily playing it now with inverted on both sides.

 
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Hi,

I play with LP on one side, but, I've never been a fan of 2-face/speed combi blades....Nowadays, I prefer blades in the All + to Off- range, that're stiff, and hard'ish ...

One of the blades I play with is a 10mm, XVT Balsa Hinoki Carbon blade .. I use Bomb Talent OX on one side, and 729 Focus III Snipe (42° sponge in Max) on the other ... This, ofcourse, is not a combi blade, but with some practice and getting used, I can get a dual-effect, from this setup - I can block (Mostly Passive) heavy top-spins with both sides, whereby the setup has a pretty decent ability to absorb speed. I can push fairly aggressively with the LP. I can also move back (mid-distance) and even chop .. On the inverted side, I can top-spin, block, smash, and counter..

The downside is that, at times, I have a hard time keeping the ball low .. This type of a setup takes a bit getting used to .. Top-spinning/looping would require some technique adjustments..

Another blade with a similar composition is the Sanwei Feather Carbon.. However, it's a lot thinner than the XVT Balsa Hinoki Carbon .. I'm thinking of buying this blade, sometime later this year ..
 
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Hi lasta,
I play the re-impact Turbo 82 and there is defenitely no numb feeling in the forehand. Maybe because it is thick enough (15,2 mm) The Sanwei TwoFace, which I played before, has only minimal difference between the two sides.
Best regards
Michael


Turbo has a strong difference in speed. I would rate FH as OFF/OFF+ and BH as ALL. Both sides are quite bouncy, not numb at all. That`s the reason why I changed to another Re-Impact blade with very low catapult (but also no numb feeling!). But I play ox and I am not an experienced player. For long pips with sponge (or ox and better skills) the Turbo might be perfect.

I have also played the Neubauer Titan mentioned above. It is build by Re-Impact, too. In my opinion the difference between the two sides is not significant. I would rate it as ALL+. Catapult is rather high, too so it wasn`t for me but a friend in my club is very happily playing it now with inverted on both sides.

Hello Michael and Idefix,
How do you defense with BH, chop-block over or close to the table or chop mid-long distance?
Do you feel the BH bouncy?
Wich rubbers for FH & BH do you use?
Thks & bst rgds
​​​​​​​Felipe

 
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Hello Michael and Idefix,
How do you defense with BH, chop-block over or close to the table or chop mid-long distance?
Do you feel the BH bouncy?
Wich rubbers for FH & BH do you use?
Thks & bst rgds
​​​​​​​Felipe


Hello Felipe,
I only play defensive if I really have to - otherwise I try to attack with the inverted side by turning the racket, but also with the LP. Sometimes I try chop-blocks, but I am not very good in this.
My fast side is Tibhar Evolution EL-S in 2.0 mm and the LP are Butterfly Feint Soft 1.1 mm.
Right now I do tests with the Xiom Vega X in 2.0 mm - this rubber fits also very good, is harder than the EL-S and less bouncy. On the other side I tested the Pimplepark Wobbler, but this rubber had too less control for me, though the attacks has been more effective and faster. So I went back to the good old Feint.
Do you plan to test the blade? I wrote a review in the noppentest.de-Forum, but it is in German.
Best regards
Michael


 
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Hello Michael,
Thanks for your answer, so we have different ways to play defensive, I chop-block or block over the table as soon as the ball rebound clos to the table, I'm using Giant Dragon Talon OX red for BH with a Stiga All Round Classic WRB blade but the problem is not the BH, the problem is the FH don't have enough speed & power for my FH. I'm in contact with Achim who advice is to use Turbo 82 with cork more outside the blade to slower the BH side, I'm not used to balsa wood so a friend let me a Wizard DMSto try so I glued one Death Metal LP ox red for the slow side & one Nittaku Fastarc G-1 for the fast side, today I will try.
Apart of the blade speed for FH it seems other big problem comes: it seems Giant Dragon is gone so I must look for alternative rubber.
Cheers
Felipe
 
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Hello Felipe,
I cannot give you an advice for Ox-pimples, because I not have played with it very often, though I allready tested the Metal Death, which is an interesting LP. The speed for attack will be more as enough with the Turbo, especially with an fast rubber. I think, rubbers should be at least medium-hard to fit good to the Turbo 82. Softer sponges give a flummy feeling on this blade (I tested the Evolution FX-S). The blade is fast enough to be happy with 2.0 or even 1.8 mm sponge, in my opinion.
Best regards
Michael
 
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My Turbo is the original version also called Turbo 62. It has a very fast forehand and a medium fast backhand. Both sides are pretty bouncy and have a quite flat trajectory. If you like that it`s probably a good blade for you as the forehand is really very fast and the backhand specially made for pipsout or antispin-rubbers. The speed difference between the two sides adds to the difference you have anyway due to the different rubbers. You could probably achieve a similar effect with a slower LP and/or a faster forehand rubbber on a single-speed blade. I myself changed to a less bouncy single-speed blade called Chevalier. The backhand is faster but together with a slow LP (Neubauer Trouble Maker) for me with better control. But I am not an experienced player!
I don't know the Wizard, but it will probably play much differently than the Turbo. Re-Impact blades have a very special feel. If you like it, you probably won't want to play other blades anymore. There are some blades from Re-Impact that are less bouncy, dual- and sigle-speed. You've already contacted Achim, I'm sure he'll recommend something.

 
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