Blade for Xiom Omega V Europe and Nittaku Hammond Pro Beta

[Ivelin Georgiev]

Hey there!
I have chosen an upgrade to my old rubbers, yet can't choose a blade so I would really appreciate your help guys.
I do Not have a great technique whatsoever, so please don't recommend me some wild beasts which I cannot tame . I guess I am really seaching for more control rather than speed and a highly forgiving blade with as big a sweetspot as possible.
Thank you all!

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

What made you choose those rubbers????? Omega V is great but it is not a rubber for someone who is saying they want more control. Hammond Pro Beta not something I would recommend to someone even if I hated them and wanted them to get something useless. Hammond Pro Beta gets is terrible for spinning the ball and is very fast.

Based on your first thread, and your description of your level I would get one of these:


1) Stiga Allround Classic, Yasaka Mark V on both sides
2) Stiga Allround Evolution, Yasaka Mark V on both sides
3) Stiga Allround Classic, Xiom Vega Europe on both sides
4) Stiga Allround Evolution, Xiom Vega Europe on both sides
5) Yasaka Sweden Extra, Yasaka Mark V on both sides
6) Yasaka Sweden Extra, Xiom Vega Europe on both sides

Get one of those. If you are the level you say you are you shouldn't be trying to use a different rubber on FH and BH and you shouldn't use rubbers that are as reactive to spin or as fast as either of the ones you chose.

the three blades I listed were:

1) Stiga Allround Classic
2) Stiga Allround Evolution
3) Yasaka Sweden Extra

Choose and get one of those.

The two rubbers I added to those three blades were:

1) Yasaka Mark V
2) Xiom Vega Europe

Choose only one of those rubbers and add it to one of those blades and you will have a setup that is good for you.

I could think of lots of good reasons for any of the blades and either of the rubbers. Just choose from that list and you will end up with a setup that is good for you.

 

[Ivelin Georgiev]

What made you choose those rubbers????? Omega V is great but it is not a rubber for someone who is saying they want more control. Hammond Pro Beta not something I would recommend to someone even if I hated them and wanted them to get something useless. Hammond Pro Beta gets is terrible for spinning the ball and is very fast.

Based on your first thread, and your description of your level I would get one of these:


1) Stiga Allround Classic, Yasaka Mark V on both sides
2) Stiga Allround Evolution, Yasaka Mark V on both sides
3) Stiga Allround Classic, Xiom Vega Europe on both sides
4) Stiga Allround Evolution, Xiom Vega Europe on both sides
5) Yasaka Sweden Extra, Yasaka Mark V on both sides
6) Yasaka Sweden Extra, Xiom Vega Europe on both sides

Get one of those. If you are the level you say you are you shouldn't be trying to use a different rubber on FH and BH and you shouldn't use rubbers that are as reactive to spin or as fast as either of the ones you chose.

the three blades I listed were:

1) Stiga Allround Classic
2) Stiga Allround Evolution
3) Yasaka Sweden Extra

Choose and get one of those.

The two rubbers I added to those three blades were:

1) Yasaka Mark V
2) Xiom Vega Europe

Choose only one of those rubbers and add it to one of those blades and you will have a setup that is good for you.

I could think of lots of good reasons for any of the blades and either of the rubbers. Just choose from that list and you will end up with a setup that is good for you.

Thanks for the answer Carl. I guess reading all around the internet won't help because I apparetly got confused. I will trust you and pick one of these combinations. If I am getting it right, if you choose, let's say, Stiga Allround Classic with a pair of Mark V's I would get slower, less spinnier, but more controlled bat, and with Yasaka Sweden Extra and Xiom Vega Europe on both sides for example, the bat would be faster, spinnier and a little bit harder to control? Please correct me if I am wrong.
Cheers!

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Mostly right.

I am going to break the information down differently for you.

The three blades are all blades with great feeling.

Allround Classic is the slowest and has the most control. It is classified in the All speed/style category.

Allround Evolution and Yasaka Sweden Extra are pretty close in feel, speed and control but they feel slightly different. They are both great blades. They are both a notch to a notch and a half faster than the Stiga Allround Classic. Those two are rated in the All+/Off- speed/style category.

As rubbers Mark V is a classic rubber that originally was used with speed glue. These kinds of rubbers are generally not used today since speed glue is no longer used. So for the highest level of play, most people won't use these rubbers. But without speed glue, these rubbers are really still excellent and they are great for control and still can spin the ball well so they are very good for learning to develop your game and increase your level of spin.

Xiom Vega Europe are an old generation of tensor rubbers. They were designed to play as if they had speed glue added without you having to add the speed glue or other chemicals.

What this means is, the sponge gives you more catapult and rebound than Mark V and it gives you more spin. But, at the same time, the control is exceptionally good. So you get a little extra speed and spin and you don't really loose much on the control side.

Said more simply: both rubbers are great for control and are great for helping you learn to spin. However, if you never learned how to spin, these rubbers still have great control. Mark V slower with a bit more control. Vega Europe not too fast but decently faster than Mark V and a little more spin with almost as much control.

Your choice on all products.


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[Ivelin Georgiev]

Mostly right.

I am going to break the information down differently for you.

The three blades are all blades with great feeling.

Allround Classic is the slowest and has the most control. It is classified in the All speed/style category.

Allround Evolution and Yasaka Sweden Extra are pretty close in feel, speed and control but they feel slightly different. They are both great blades. They are both a notch to a notch and a half faster than the Stiga Allround Classic. Those two are rated in the All+/Off- speed/style category.

As rubbers Mark V is a classic rubber that originally was used with speed glue. These kinds of rubbers are generally not used today since speed glue is no longer used. So for the highest level of play, most people won't use these rubbers. But without speed glue, these rubbers are really still excellent and they are great for control and still can spin the ball well so they are very good for learning to develop your game and increase your level of spin.

Xiom Vega Europe are an old generation of tensor rubbers. They were designed to play as if they had speed glue added without you having to add the speed glue or other chemicals.

What this means is, the sponge gives you more catapult and rebound than Mark V and it gives you more spin. But, at the same time, the control is exceptionally good. So you get a little extra speed and spin and you don't really loose much on the control side.

Said more simply: both rubbers are great for control and are great for helping you learn to spin. However, if you never learned how to spin, these rubbers still have great control. Mark V slower with a bit more control. Vega Europe not too fast but decently faster than Mark V and a little more spin with almost as much control.

Your choice on all products.


Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

Thank you. Can you tell me if these Xioms are the kind of rubbers which will generate own spin with a little strong, or from these with which you have to do a full motion in order to make the spin.
PS. What about the DF versions?

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

You are thinking too much. Equipment is more simple than you are making it.

Mark V = more control less speed

Vega Europe = A little more spin and speed but still with good control.

You don't need to look at the new versions with extra letters added like DF. Those are newer generation and not what you want based on what you said.

The trouble with reading things like what different people say on tabletennisdb about different equipment or those silly numbers that get put next to equipment like: speed 115, spin 136, control 666, they don't actually mean much.

You have to try enough different rubbers to have some basis for comparison.

The two rubbers I recommended are both very simple, straight forward and TIME TESTED by SOOOOO MANY players.

If you are worried about them being too fast or hard to control, start with Mark V. If at a certain point you want something faster than Mark V go for Vega Europe after that. If in a few years you outgrow Vega Pro, then any tensor rubber or Tenergy would be fine.

Mark V you need to do a little more work with to get pace and spin because the sponge does not help you as much.

Vega Europe, you need a little less effort because the sponge helps you a decent amount more.

But neither of these are Tacky Chinese rubbers with hard sponge where if you don't have a big swing the ball does not go anywhere and when you do have a big swing and KNOW how to use them, you can get massive spin. So that question was a little bit more about a different kind of rubber than either of these.

Hope this is clear.

Equipment is a bit of a trap. Don't obsess about it too much. If what you need is a setup that helps you have more control when you hit the ball, any combination of the options I listed should be good for you.

Choose and start playing. If you want me to choose for you, get this:

Yasaka Sweden Extra with Mark V



Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

 

[Ivelin Georgiev]

You are thinking too much. Equipment is more simple than you are making it.

Mark V = more control less speed

Vega Europe = A little more spin and speed but still with good control.

You don't need to look at the new versions with extra letters added like DF. Those are newer generation and not what you want based on what you said.

The trouble with reading things like what different people say on tabletennisdb about different equipment or those silly numbers that get put next to equipment like: speed 115, spin 136, control 666, they don't actually mean much.

You have to try enough different rubbers to have some basis for comparison.

The two rubbers I recommended are both very simple, straight forward and TIME TESTED by SOOOOO MANY players.

If you are worried about them being too fast or hard to control, start with Mark V. If at a certain point you want something faster than Mark V go for Vega Europe after that. If in a few years you outgrow Vega Pro, then any tensor rubber or Tenergy would be fine.

Mark V you need to do a little more work with to get pace and spin because the sponge does not help you as much.

Vega Europe, you need a little less effort because the sponge helps you a decent amount more.

But neither of these are Tacky Chinese rubbers with hard sponge where if you don't have a big swing the ball does not go anywhere and when you do have a big swing and KNOW how to use them, you can get massive spin. So that question was a little bit more about a different kind of rubber than either of these.

Hope this is clear.

Equipment is a bit of a trap. Don't obsess about it too much. If what you need is a setup that helps you have more control when you hit the ball, any combination of the options I listed should be good for you.

Choose and start playing. If you want me to choose for you, get this:

Yasaka Sweden Extra with Mark V



Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

Thank you for all the help, Carl. Can you explain to me one last thing before I make the purchase- which thickness should I get. 1.8, 2.0 or 2.2. I have read about it but everybody says something different :/ I ended up more confused than I was before reading.

 

[Isaac Lee]

Hey,

I don't disagree with Carl,
Carl actually have great notes regarding products.
but I have some comments regarding his threads.

First, I must go back to your first thread.
You've mentioned that you are planning to replace the old rubbers.
And knowing the fact that you noticed that you need to change the rubbers means that you already know how to play table tennis. Not sure how good you are, but you already have pretty much good idea what you want in your game.

Yasaka Mark 5 is a great rubber.
No doubt about that, but it is for the beginners these days.
Probably one of the best rubber to use when you are first learning table tennis.

I don't understand why Carl will recommend Yasaka Mark 5.
But I do agree with Carl about Omega V.
Like Tenergy, Omega V is a great rubber for people up there. I really don't see the need for you to purchase this rubber also.
It is like driving a Ferrari, when you've just started driving a Ford for example.
And Hammond Pro. <-- Not cool.

VEGA EURO rubbers is good choice for you.
About The DF rubbers, these rubbers are not marketing stunts.
Just to clarify.
As you know, more professionals are changing from T64 -> T80.
And people who used to use T80 -> T05.
There is a reason for that. It is because of the plastic ball.

DF technology is tackier on the top sheet, and bit heavier compared to other rubbers.
Because sponge & topsheet have been made for the plastic ball.
It doesn't mean that If you buy VEGA EURO to play with plastic ball, it will not perform.
It is good for any balls, but if you want bit more control with plastic ball. Think about DF.
You can buy both of them, and see how they are different. You can tell the difference for sure.

As for the blades!!
If you are planning to buy purewood blade.
Made in China ones, will always give you speed & power that most young people enjoy.
Made in Sweden, Japan, Korea in other hand, will always give you spin & control for more advanced table tennis.

If you are buying made in China purewood blade, just buy it from any of the brands.
They don't differ much. Just think about 5 ply or 7 ply AND thickness of the blade.
Usually Thicker blades creates more power.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Hey,

I don't disagree with Carl,
Carl actually have great notes regarding products.
but I have some comments regarding his threads.

First, I must go back to your first thread.
You've mentioned that you are planning to replace the old rubbers.
And knowing the fact that you noticed that you need to change the rubbers means that you already know how to play table tennis. Not sure how good you are, but you already have pretty much good idea what you want in your game.

Yasaka Mark 5 is a great rubber.
No doubt about that, but it is for the beginners these days.
Probably one of the best rubber to use when you are first learning table tennis.

I don't understand why Carl will recommend Yasaka Mark 5.
But I do agree with Carl about Omega V.
Like Tenergy, Omega V is a great rubber for people up there. I really don't see the need for you to purchase this rubber also.
It is like driving a Ferrari, when you've just started driving a Ford for example.
And Hammond Pro. <-- Not cool.

VEGA EURO rubbers is good choice for you.
About The DF rubbers, these rubbers are not marketing stunts.
Just to clarify.
As you know, more professionals are changing from T64 -> T80.
And people who used to use T80 -> T05.
There is a reason for that. It is because of the plastic ball.

DF technology is tackier on the top sheet, and bit heavier compared to other rubbers.
Because sponge & topsheet have been made for the plastic ball.
It doesn't mean that If you buy VEGA EURO to play with plastic ball, it will not perform.
It is good for any balls, but if you want bit more control with plastic ball. Think about DF.
You can buy both of them, and see how they are different. You can tell the difference for sure.

As for the blades!!
If you are planning to buy purewood blade.
Made in China ones, will always give you speed & power that most young people enjoy.
Made in Sweden, Japan, Korea in other hand, will always give you spin & control for more advanced table tennis.

If you are buying made in China purewood blade, just buy it from any of the brands.
They don't differ much. Just think about 5 ply or 7 ply AND thickness of the blade.
Usually Thicker blades creates more power.

If you read his first thread, perhaps you didn't read closely. He feels he wants more control because he has not learned how to spin the ball yet.

Rather than just recommending something where he could bang the ball around, I recommended basic equipment that would give him control and allow him to play the game he has said he plays driving the ball with little spin. But it is also a setup that would help him to learn the higher level technique of spinning the ball.

So, perhaps you did not read what he said too closely in his first thread.

More control would not be the newer versions of rubbers.

And one of Ivelin's bigger issues was looking at too many different pieces of equipment and getting overwhelmed.

I simplified the choices by giving him 3 blades and 2 rubbers to look at. The problem with more options is that, for someone who doesn't understand equipment there are so many choices and it gets overwhelming and the you have someone choosing Hammond Beta Pro because they read a review from someone who never used any other rubber.

If he wants control, I listed 6 control setups. When equipment started overwhelming him, I picked one of those 6.

@ Ivelin: As to the thickness, I think it is personal preference. I like to spin the ball as often and as heavy as I can. For that I always want the thickest sponge available.

2.0 is a safe hedge. I personally wouldn't go thinner because I still feel that your best bet at improving is to learn to spin the ball more.


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[Cantaloop]

I must say I agree with Isaac when it comes to Mark V... When I was buying my first custom racket I was advised by the store owner to get Mark V on both sides, even though I played quite badly at the time the rubbers felt quite dead and unexciting. If you're gonna get a dead and unexciting rubber (hyperbole) better to get Double Friendship 729 and pay a third of the price.

Honestly Vega Euro sounds perfect for you, if you feel like you want maximum control you could even go for 1.8 (maybe on backhand, but I don't know where your strengths lie) or 2.0 will probably be fine. Although these rubbers are very forgiving and allround, they will still give you some WOW-factor on the hard shots, which is something Mark V in this age lacks IMO

 

[Ivelin Georgiev]

Thank you all for the feedback. I have already made the purchse- Vega Euro with 2.0 for the forhand (yes, Carl, the couch told me the exact same thing today - I can't count on the forhand drive forever and I must eventually learn how to topspin.I chose 1.8 for the backhand, because I doub't I will get so spinn-friendly to be using backhand spin shots any time soon (except for the banana flick when receiving serves). i really feel like the yasaka sweden extra and theese rubbers are the best thing for me now, as Carl said. They can comfort my current playstyle and let me develop my topspin whenever I want. I really DID get REALLY overwhelmed by all the products and different oppinions, The hell, I even read from somebody that Hammond is the best BH ubber - lol. Tomorror I will get the equipment and will give it a try. I will give you guys feedback so that you know how I felt about it. But I remember what my couch said: Don't worry, when you get a new equipment you will almost surely get worse initially in order to become stronger after some time
Cheers

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Thank you all for the feedback. I have already made the purchse- Vega Euro with 2.0 for the forhand (yes, Carl, the couch told me the exact same thing today - I can't count on the forhand drive forever and I must eventually learn how to topspin.I chose 1.8 for the backhand, because I doub't I will get so spinn-friendly to be using backhand spin shots any time soon (except for the banana flick when receiving serves). i really feel like the yasaka sweden extra and theese rubbers are the best thing for me now, as Carl said. They can comfort my current playstyle and let me develop my topspin whenever I want. I really DID get REALLY overwhelmed by all the products and different oppinions, The hell, I even read from somebody that Hammond is the best BH ubber - lol. Tomorror I will get the equipment and will give it a try. I will give you guys feedback so that you know how I felt about it. But I remember what my couch said: Don't worry, when you get a new equipment you will almost surely get worse initially in order to become stronger after some time
Cheers

Good job sorting through all the confusing information.

I am glad you had someone who can see your play style help you.

It is always a good idea to ask your coach what he thinks will be best for you if you have a coach.

I should have asked if you had a coach.


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[Ivelin Georgiev]

Good job sorting through all the confusing information.

I am glad you had someone who can see your play style help you.

It is always a good idea to ask your coach what he thinks will be best for you if you have a coach.

I should have asked if you had a coach.


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he isn't really into equipment that much. You know... how can I say it.. he is a really advanced basement player who has been playing with 40$ bats for 50 yeas already So he couldn't be of help for choosing. However as I said I am content now and thank you again!

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I am looking forward to how things go over the first few weeks with the new setup.


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[Ivelin Georgiev]

I am looking forward to how things go over the first few weeks with the new setup.


Sent from Inside The Chamber of Secrets by Patronus

Wow, Carl, just wow... F****g exactly what I wanted. I'll keep you in touch how my game develops over the next week.
Cheers and thank you man!

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Wow, Carl, just wow... F****g exactly what I wanted. I'll keep you in touch how my game develops over the next week.
Cheers and thank you man!

That is what happens if someone actually reads, pays attention and figures out what you actually need. Cool. I am glad I was able to help you. Good deal.

Your commission will be paid in finding the "LIKE" button, finding posts by NextLevel, Der_Echte, Dan, ttmonster, Suga D, Shuki and Archo and hit the "like" button for them so they can catch up to me. Hahahahaha.

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[Ivelin Georgiev]

Hey there!
Third day playing with this equipment and my love for it goes stronger and stronger Not only me but almost everybody else noticed a very positive change in my game efficiency. I feel more comfortable, make relaxed strokes and have even started learning poper forehand topspin technique. <3

 

[Lucas Nascimento]

Hey there!
Third day playing with this equipment and my love for it goes stronger and stronger Not only me but almost everybody else noticed a very positive change in my game efficiency. I feel more comfortable, make relaxed strokes and have even started learning poper forehand topspin technique. <3

Great!! Very nice to know that!! Keep improving!

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Hey there!
Third day playing with this equipment and my love for it goes stronger and stronger Not only me but almost everybody else noticed a very positive change in my game efficiency. I feel more comfortable, make relaxed strokes and have even started learning poper forehand topspin technique. <3

View attachment 10736

Awesome. That is great to hear. Glad we could get you to find the right setup for what you needed.


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[Ivelin Georgiev]

Hey , wanted to ask if I should let the rubbers dry on themselves after applying cleaner or should I apply the cleaner and then brush with the sponge to make them dry?