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Season is practically finished and the summer of trying has come!
My usual setup is a very head heavy W968 (208-210 grams depending on how much glue I put on it) with boosted BS H3 and non-boosted dragon power 55 which some of my students and other coaches have nicknamed "Thor's hammer". It easily gives the best quality and the most amount of spin of any blades I have ever tried but quick transitions are a nightmare, and it doesn't forgive anything, I must always be in the best position with my legs.
It brings my style of play (which already relies a lot on spin and deception and closing out the point as fast as possible) to the extreme, giving a boost to both my strengths and my weaknesses (I am really not fast when the ball doesn't go where I expect it to go and I have large movements).
It's a pleasure because since I came back to serious table tennis 2-3 years ago I finally feel like I've come back to my best level and I can make a lot of points out of sheer spin like in the good old times, but the drawbacks are serious and I'm not getting any younger or faster.
Here is what I'm trying: Stiga inspira plus (I wanted a Viscaria like blade, just not the Viscaria
), DHS Wang Chuqin (the commercial version) and Freitas ALC, all with the same rubbers I use on W968 to have the best comparison possible.
I have tried the Inspira plus for 5-6 hours and in some friendly matches and whilst it is much more maneuverable (200 grams and less head heavy), much faster in lower gears and extremely fun and friendly to play a couple of metres behind the table especially, I find myself looking for my backhand (amazing backhand) more and more as I do not like its' forehand (special mention to the extreme low bounce of the first forehand opening though, real chinese style). Also the spin is considerably less. I knew I wouldn't really like it because whilst I love koto on backhand, I just never like it on forehand.
Yesterday I've tried the Wang Chuqin and I really really liked it. At 202 grams and not as head heavy as the W968 it felt like it rounded the hard edges of my W968: a bit faster, more forgiving, better transitions, a lot easier when out of position, very good backhand and no noticeable difference in the forehand. The takeaway is that the absolute spin and quality is less than with W968, but not that much. Also it was very easy to transition to from W968, I will play our yearly local club tournament with it tomorrow, but I really really have a feeling that this might be the right choice for me.
@dingyibvs is the difference between commercial and national q968 (which is on sale on prott 😁😁) very noticeable? To me the difference between long 5 commercial and W968 was noticeable (W968 was really long 5 on steroid, slightly better backhand and more stable) but the transition was seam-less, and needed no adaptation time at all.
I haven't tried the Freitas ALC yet, but I am very curious to try it with its' limba outer.
I think I will try the new Darko Jorgic Infinity when it comes out, and hope in the miracle that it will give me the perfect solution for forehand and backhand.
All of this in preparation of my turn with Sergio of SDC (in one year or two I imagine), so that I know what I want and can order 2-3 perfect blades
My usual setup is a very head heavy W968 (208-210 grams depending on how much glue I put on it) with boosted BS H3 and non-boosted dragon power 55 which some of my students and other coaches have nicknamed "Thor's hammer". It easily gives the best quality and the most amount of spin of any blades I have ever tried but quick transitions are a nightmare, and it doesn't forgive anything, I must always be in the best position with my legs.
It brings my style of play (which already relies a lot on spin and deception and closing out the point as fast as possible) to the extreme, giving a boost to both my strengths and my weaknesses (I am really not fast when the ball doesn't go where I expect it to go and I have large movements).
It's a pleasure because since I came back to serious table tennis 2-3 years ago I finally feel like I've come back to my best level and I can make a lot of points out of sheer spin like in the good old times, but the drawbacks are serious and I'm not getting any younger or faster.
Here is what I'm trying: Stiga inspira plus (I wanted a Viscaria like blade, just not the Viscaria
), DHS Wang Chuqin (the commercial version) and Freitas ALC, all with the same rubbers I use on W968 to have the best comparison possible.I have tried the Inspira plus for 5-6 hours and in some friendly matches and whilst it is much more maneuverable (200 grams and less head heavy), much faster in lower gears and extremely fun and friendly to play a couple of metres behind the table especially, I find myself looking for my backhand (amazing backhand) more and more as I do not like its' forehand (special mention to the extreme low bounce of the first forehand opening though, real chinese style). Also the spin is considerably less. I knew I wouldn't really like it because whilst I love koto on backhand, I just never like it on forehand.
Yesterday I've tried the Wang Chuqin and I really really liked it. At 202 grams and not as head heavy as the W968 it felt like it rounded the hard edges of my W968: a bit faster, more forgiving, better transitions, a lot easier when out of position, very good backhand and no noticeable difference in the forehand. The takeaway is that the absolute spin and quality is less than with W968, but not that much. Also it was very easy to transition to from W968, I will play our yearly local club tournament with it tomorrow, but I really really have a feeling that this might be the right choice for me.
@dingyibvs is the difference between commercial and national q968 (which is on sale on prott 😁😁) very noticeable? To me the difference between long 5 commercial and W968 was noticeable (W968 was really long 5 on steroid, slightly better backhand and more stable) but the transition was seam-less, and needed no adaptation time at all.
I haven't tried the Freitas ALC yet, but I am very curious to try it with its' limba outer.
I think I will try the new Darko Jorgic Infinity when it comes out, and hope in the miracle that it will give me the perfect solution for forehand and backhand
.All of this in preparation of my turn with Sergio of SDC (in one year or two I imagine), so that I know what I want and can order 2-3 perfect blades
