Interesting! I have heard great things about the Taksim, but how does the tenergy 25 feel to you?
One of my brothers, from our old 1980's TT crew that 42andbackpains and i was a part of, gave me his old beat up Taksim. He has been using Taksim for ages. Sometime after i 'retired' from TT in 1987 or so, we used to play once in a while ... back then I was used to my old trusty Excalibur, a Double Happiness '08' 7 ply all wood blade. Never tried out carbon blades. I hit with his Taksim back then to try out and i wasn't used to the pock pock sound, the slight vibration, etc. Fast forward 30+ years and I am getting used to the Taksim LOL I guess i lost the feeling of wood blades during my 'retirement' and was able to try out new blades and adapt with the times.
I'm not an equipment junkie despite me changing setups a few times since I retired Excalibur. I don't read reviews, I don't understand all the terms - i just hit with them and see how my strokes/game is. So please take my comments with that understanding.
I used Tenergy 80FX for at least 6 months. I was getting a little used to the tensor rubbers' bounciness unlike the tacky rubbers I used to use on FH loops and blocks.
Bounciness - the Tenergy 25 seems less bouncy than the 80FX but still more bouncy than the tacky rubbers I've used. I've used MX-P for a few months and 25 seems close to MX-P for me. The 80FX was way more bouncy than MX-P for me.
Spin - i have not used the 25 enough, or more properly, i've not begun to spin much in practice yet. Been concentrating on flat hits and blocks/punches. The few times I FH looped with the 25, it seems less spin than the 80FX for me. Will report back once I've used this setup after a few months.
Serves - I have not gotten the spin i used to get on my serves from tacky rubbers. I have not gotten used to tensor rubbers on my rocket serves yet. Although these could also be a factor of the blade or more specifically I have custom-grooved the bottom of the handle on Excalibur which facilitated my slightly off-center of the TPB curled grip.
Pushing - pushing side-to-side is a big part of my game. I have not gotten used to the touch/angle I need to push side-to-side effectively yet. When I push to the middle, my touch/float is still not used to the tensor ... balls return too high/long.
Don't worry about the loses with the new setup! You will improve as you get use to it.
I am also terrible at reading the spins of serves.. but practice leads to improvement, I'll continue to misread them until i can read them someday haha.
I am not worried about losses or wins. Although if I win some, it shows me that i have improved on some aspects of my game. Due to the changing setups in the past 2+ years, I have no game! For the past year or almost 2 years, I have been mostly practicing. Using the smaller blade American Hinoki with Tenergy 80FX, i self-learned the rudiments of SH BH which helped me a little to self-learn the rudiments of RPB. Having used the Taksim setup only about 2 weeks now, I should really just practice. However, as of last week, I have started playing matches again.
But playing with my friend made me realize that his way of 'hitting' the ball is very efficient, and will be a good edition to my shot selection. He basically go 70% hit, 30% 'rub/friction'. He then let me practice doing that, I was quite amazed by the result, the shot is very fast and difficult to return as the time for the opponent to react is dramatically shortened.
I have a new friend who is a coach. He hit with me one night a few months ago at my regular club when he visited. He told a mutual friend that he thought I had a decent foundation. My friend mentioned this to me and suggested i join his club.
The first night i was at the new club, i hit with him again. He was admonishing me that my strokes were so 1980's and slow!! My FH stroke/flat hit starts at my hip. He was trying to get it into my pea brain that i should meeting the ball earlier. My friend keeps reminding me to keep my hand in front of me over the table and to hit the ball in front of me as opposed to hitting the ball when it is outside of the table and by my side. Coincidentally I posted a video on this thread sometime ago where NextLevel and ttmonster advised I should try meeting the ball earlier also.
About 2 or 3 weeks ago, I hit with my regular training partner. He is trying to relearn his FH. He asked me to hit slowly. At times, he told me to slow down. I was amazed that he asked me that as I was slowly stroking the ball. That night I thought about it and I realized I am meeting the ball earlier and I seem fast to him! There are times my 'muscle memory' (such a bad term as muscles have no memory lol) resorts to the outside of the table hit the ball when it gets to my hip, but i have been trying to consciously meet the ball earlier.
Good luck in your training
si-hing!
I did something I've never done before today. I acted as a 'coach' for a beginner, as he asked if he can come over to my house and learn how to hit the balls more consistently.
...
I feel tired after the session, but I think it is worthwhile and satisfying.
Congratulations! Now I have to address you as JeffM
sifu ;-)
Yes, we all have to learn to walk before we can run. It's said that most teachers learn and improve by teaching others. The students all learn differently and that forces the teacher to find new ways to explain to get the lesson across. By doing so, it helps the teacher learn and improve for themselves.
Good luck in your teaching
sifu!
~
si-dai
