DHS W968 (Hurricane Long V Non Commercial / Pro) Ideal Weight / Thickness?

[UpSideDownCarl]

Appreciate the inputs. I just graduated from Yasaka Sweden Extra and Mark Vs, since I can't consistently kill anything with it from distance, as long as the opponent is good... Honestly the Hurricane Long 5 setup might be a bit much (it's shipped, I haven't gotten it yet). However, I'm going to get a coach, and didn't wanna waste time / money adapting to further equipments before my dream blade (HL5 and W968). If I find the setup too much to handle even with a coach, I don't mind "downgrading". I don't wanna EJ too much though, ironic right?

This is an issue of technique and it is actually why you want the blade that is not quite as fast. If the blade does the work for you:

1) You will miss a lot more.
2) You will not develop the technique to spin heavy because it is much harder to learn that with that much faster of a blade.
3) You will not learn the technique or body mechanics to generate the power you need because the blade will be doing that for you.

When you have the power with the Yasaka Sweden Extra and you really are spinning the ball heavy, then stepping up one speed class for your blade makes sense.

So many lower and mid level players try to solve a problem that is about technique with an equipment fix. The slower blade will help you improve the mechanics that get you both power and speed. But you could step the rubbers up to something like Xiom Vega Pro, Nexy Karis M, or some other midrange tensor rubber.

 

[KM1976]

I would agree on most things written so far.
But i seem to have some logical issues with this sentence here:



Been trying to visualize this in my imagination. But just can't get it. Maybe somebody can help out here.
How is this supposed to happen?

Does the blade somehow magically come to life and says to itself:
Geez, some heavy-azz tensors. I'll better add up 10 grams, so i won't be too head-heavy??
[Emoji6]
Or does through some strange unknown force the gravity just Iinstantly increase whenever heavy rubbers get glued on so it will be 10 grams heavier?
I'm really struggling a bit right here. Someone please help.
[Emoji23]

Jokes aside:
Good posts so far. Everything else is pretty much on point.

Just to clarify and be on point, I have written the weight going up by 5-10 grams for the entire setup meaning a relatively heavier blade (in above context) paired with heavy rubbers.

 

[KM1976]

I agree with your statements but the entire setup will get exactly 2.5 grams heavier than his other option.

Ok, I must correct myself. My comments were more generic and I just tried to explain my own personal experiences while using setups with different weights. Coming back to the context of this thread, I trust your computation and with that I should say that the difference of 2.5 grams would take just a couple of practice sessions to become unnoticeable and feel natural.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Just to clarify and be on point, I have written the weight going up by 5-10 grams for the entire setup meaning a relatively heavier blade (in above context) paired with heavy rubbers.

I know in your next post you conceded the math was based on a circumstance not present.

This is for information. If you have two blades, say they are both Viscaria, with a head size of 150x157mm. And one weighs 90g and one weighs 93g, and you put T05 2.1mm on both sides of both, barring something strange where one of the rubbers is way heavier than it is supposed to be, the two blades, with the rubber on, should weigh very close to the same 3g weight differential.

The thing to understand is that each rubber has a very minor weight difference too. So it may not be exactly 3g but it would be very close without some odd occurrence like one of the blades getting two rubbers that weigh considerably more or less than the average.

However, if you took a Viscaria with a weight of 90 grams and a head size of 150x157mm and a Petr Korbel with a weight of 90g and a head size of 152x158mm and put T05 2.1mm on both, the blade with the larger head size would end up weighing more because there would need to be more rubber to cover the larger head.

But in the following comment it does look like you figured it out.

Ok, I must correct myself. My comments were more generic and I just tried to explain my own personal experiences while using setups with different weights. Coming back to the context of this thread, I trust your computation and with that I should say that the difference of 2.5 grams would take just a couple of practice sessions to become unnoticeable and feel natural.

However, the weight issue may in fact be both simpler and more complicated than this presents.

If the extra 2.5 grams is at a weight that is within an acceptable range for the player, then it could take as little as 5-15 min of warmup to get used to the change in weight.

However, if the weight is more than would be optimal for the player, no amount of practice can help. Which is why QWERTY Spin's first response is so complete and accurate.

Go back and read it. Maybe read it again. OP, you too. Read it. That has the answer to your question.

But, here, since I am the guy who explains these kinds of things in fuller detail.....why not?




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[young dude]

yep, I've totally outed myself as a noob.. I deeply appreciate the pointers everyone has given regarding setup / skill combo appropriateness, and will certainly take that to heart. I'm not shy to quit the HL5 setup if it ends up not working out / limiting the optimal development of proper strokes and mechanics.


In the meantime, I wanna update the blade weight / thickness questions. The 92.5 g / 6.04 mm has been sold (Guo Yan 2 time World Cup winner, or one of her employees sold it lol. I’ve been in touch with one of other her employees who apparently didn't follow up on my request to hold the blade for me). Now, my options are the 90.5 g / 6.1 mm as previously mentioned, vs. a 92 g / 5.83 mm… Here’s another difference that perhaps only Chen Chen can shine a light on: The 90.5 g is of the 7 – letter serial number, which ends with an “E” denoting pro edition (“F” denotes commercial). However, the 92.5 g is a 6 – letter serial number, which according my research / sources, is an even newer production than the 7 – letter serial number. But there’s no end – letter (E vs. F) differentiation regarding commercial / pro anymore. The only differentiation is in the font of the serial number, and the fact that weight / thickness info card is hand written in the pro edition vs. typed in commercial.


Chen Chen, is that your understanding as well? Between the 2, would you buy one over the other? I’ve heard in Chinese forums even for pro editions, DHS has terrible QA. Someone bought 4 pro bats before settling on 2 and selling the other 2. That’s why I’m being so serious in selecting. I fear that the 92.5 / 5.83 mm may be too dense, thus it’s harder to hit through the bat, or takes more power for the ball to penetrate across all the layers, but it is theoretically newer… So conflicted. Also, I'm an auditor by profession, so professional skepticism is second nature, lol.


I understand that my skill level is not up to par of a typical W968 (or perhaps even HL5 for that matter) player, but I want to buy for collection / future use, and would appreciate any comments in blade selection between the 2 W968 blades at hand (and not kind guidance towards a different setup, which I agree may be more appropriate).


Thank you everyone! This is definitely the most helpful table tennis forum online. I would venture to guess the average skills of posters here is higher than any other forum, sorry to bring that skill level average down

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

If you have two blades that are the same model and one weighs more than the other, the heavier one will almost ALWAYS feel better and have better playing characteristics.

If you want to understand why, search my posting history. I have explained it soooo many times. Every so often you get a heavier blade that is a dud and it doesn't feel good. But otherwise, the heavier ones almost always feel better.

So, now the questions to ask are:

1) What is the optimal blade weight for the player?
2) How old or young is the player?
3) How strong is the player?
3) Is the blade in question to much heavier or lighter than the optimal blade weight of the player?

How do you determine the optimal blade weight? It would be something like, the heaviest blade that does not slow down your racket speed and your reset speed too much.

And since what "too much" means is subjective and can be interpreted differently by different people, the actual interpretation of what the optimal blade weight range will be will be a range rather than a number.

Are you strong, healthy, in good shape? Then probably either of these weights will be fine.

Do you have shoulder, elbow or wrist injuries? Are you not strong? Or are you fairly young (11-15 years old), or fairly old (80 or above)? If any of those apply to you, these blades may be too heavy for you.

But again, the more important issue is that it seems the OP is searching out equipment that will impede his development regardless of which weight. The blade is likely not what will help him develop.


Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

 

[young dude]

yep, I've totally outed myself as a noob.. I deeply appreciate the pointers everyone has given regarding setup / skill combo appropriateness, and will certainly take that to heart. I'm not shy to quit the HL5 setup if it ends up not working out / limiting the optimal development of proper strokes and mechanics.


In the meantime, I wanna update the blade weight / thickness questions. The 92.5 g / 6.04 mm has been sold (Guo Yan 2 time World Cup winner, or one of her employees sold it lol. I’ve been in touch with one of other her employees who apparently didn't follow up on my request to hold the blade for me). Now, my options are the 90.5 g / 6.1 mm as previously mentioned, vs. a 92 g / 5.83 mm… Here’s another difference that perhaps only Chen Chen can shine a light on: The 90.5 g is of the 7 – letter serial number, which ends with an “E” denoting pro edition (“F” denotes commercial). However, the 92.5 g is a 6 – letter serial number, which according my research / sources, is an even newer production than the 7 – letter serial number. But there’s no end – letter (E vs. F) differentiation regarding commercial / pro anymore. The only differentiation is in the font of the serial number, and the fact that weight / thickness info card is hand written in the pro edition vs. typed in commercial.


Chen Chen, is that your understanding as well? Between the 2, would you buy one over the other? I’ve heard in Chinese forums even for pro editions, DHS has terrible QA. Someone bought 4 pro bats before settling on 2 and selling the other 2. That’s why I’m being so serious in selecting. I fear that the 92.5 / 5.83 mm may be too dense, thus it’s harder to hit through the bat, or takes more power for the ball to penetrate across all the layers, but it is theoretically newer… So conflicted. Also, I'm an auditor by profession, so professional skepticism is second nature, lol.


I understand that my skill level is not up to par of a typical W968 (or perhaps even HL5 for that matter) player, but I want to buy for collection / future use, and would appreciate any comments in blade selection between the 2 W968 blades at hand (and not kind guidance towards a different setup, which I agree may be more appropriate).


Thank you everyone! This is definitely the most helpful table tennis forum online. I would venture to guess the average skills of posters here is higher than any other forum, sorry to bring that skill level average down

Thank you #UpSideDownCarl. For collection purposes, I'll probably get the heavier one then. I might get a slower setup to play with. I'm 28, male, good shape, strong.

I've attached pics of the two blades mentioned in quoted posted post above, with serial numbers for Chen Chen to assess further if he cares to chime in.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

yep, I've totally outed myself as a noob.. I deeply appreciate the pointers everyone has given regarding setup / skill combo appropriateness, and will certainly take that to heart. I'm not shy to quit the HL5 setup if it ends up not working out / limiting the optimal development of proper strokes and mechanics.


In the meantime, I wanna update the blade weight / thickness questions. The 92.5 g / 6.04 mm has been sold (Guo Yan 2 time World Cup winner, or one of her employees sold it lol. I’ve been in touch with one of other her employees who apparently didn't follow up on my request to hold the blade for me). Now, my options are the 90.5 g / 6.1 mm as previously mentioned, vs. a 92 g / 5.83 mm… Here’s another difference that perhaps only Chen Chen can shine a light on: The 90.5 g is of the 7 – letter serial number, which ends with an “E” denoting pro edition (“F” denotes commercial). However, the 92.5 g is a 6 – letter serial number, which according my research / sources, is an even newer production than the 7 – letter serial number. But there’s no end – letter (E vs. F) differentiation regarding commercial / pro anymore. The only differentiation is in the font of the serial number, and the fact that weight / thickness info card is hand written in the pro edition vs. typed in commercial.


Chen Chen, is that your understanding as well? Between the 2, would you buy one over the other? I’ve heard in Chinese forums even for pro editions, DHS has terrible QA. Someone bought 4 pro bats before settling on 2 and selling the other 2. That’s why I’m being so serious in selecting. I fear that the 92.5 / 5.83 mm may be too dense, thus it’s harder to hit through the bat, or takes more power for the ball to penetrate across all the layers, but it is theoretically newer… So conflicted. Also, I'm an auditor by profession, so professional skepticism is second nature, lol.


I understand that my skill level is not up to par of a typical W968 (or perhaps even HL5 for that matter) player, but I want to buy for collection / future use, and would appreciate any comments in blade selection between the 2 W968 blades at hand (and not kind guidance towards a different setup, which I agree may be more appropriate).


Thank you everyone! This is definitely the most helpful table tennis forum online. I would venture to guess the average skills of posters here is higher than any other forum, sorry to bring that skill level average down

Based on this post, I will give you some other info.

1) the real way to answer your question is that, to have the kind of answer you are really looking for, you would need to have the blades in your hand and try them.
2) short of that, all you or any of us could do is make cue cards for each blade, blindfold, and throw darts at a board and whichever cue card is struck first is the blade for you.
3) or, you could wait till TTDaily finishes up the last steps to insure that Chen Chen's products are legit which we are pretty sure is the case already, and just have the conversation with him when he has the go-ahead to start selling again. And get one from him.

He has these blades for sale too. Then you can ask him all the questions you want and he can hand select one for you that will make you a happy man.


Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

 

[young dude]

Based on this post, I will give you some other info.

1) the real way to answer your question is that, to have the kind of answer you are really looking for, you would need to have the blades in your hand and try them.
2) short of that, all you or any of us could do is make cue cards for each blade, blindfold, and throw darts at a board and whichever cue card is struck first is the blade for you.
3) or, you could wait till TTDaily finishes up the last steps to insure that Chen Chen's products are legit which we are pretty sure is the case already, and just have the conversation with him when he has the go-ahead to start selling again. And get one from him.

He has these blades for sale too. Then you can ask him all the questions you want and he can hand select one for you that will make you a happy man.


Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

Thank you! Yep, I've done heavy research on Chen Chen's posts here. I would think his products are real and genuine. I would consider buying from him, but as I've pm-ed him, he was unavailable when my EJ fever hit and I've been in touch with my seller for a while now so I’d feel bad leaving that seller. And I've already paid the seller lol (I can back out of the pay with a single click since they haven’t shipped, but still).


I would love to have Chen Chen weigh in on the 7 vs. 6 letter serial number, as well as the blades at hand, if he has time to kindly do so.

 

[QWERTY Spin]

One more message from me concerning your selection. First off i havent read all posts in detail just scanned most replies. Second Im not an expert or even slightly experienced with serial numbers of your blades or even knowing whats up with that pro version or if its just you being afraid of getting scammed.
There is now way for you to make a rational decision is this matter. you havent played the "pro" version, never felt one in your hand, never played anything close to it, dont know how they feel. So there is no Comparison point you can start with. All the information you are longing for are to comfort you mind to have made the right decision. But it is way easier for you to just persuade yourself that youve made the right decision. Just tell yourself, the one you bought is the best blade ever produced just for you. you get hung up in too much information which is impossible for you to process simply because you have no refference point.
Long story short, its all in your head.
Either way I hope you are satisfied with your decision and if not its ok too.

 

[Chen Chen]

Thank you #UpSideDownCarl. For collection purposes, I'll probably get the heavier one then. I might get a slower setup to play with. I'm 28, male, good shape, strong.

I've attached pics of the two blades mentioned in quoted posted post above, with serial numbers for Chen Chen to assess further if he cares to chime in.


View attachment 13130View attachment 13131


View attachment 13132View attachment 13133

I am sorry, these two are fake definitely.

Real one has laser plastic paper( from whichever angle, you can see the DHS logo) and have a close look on the serial number. It is totally different from yours. Real one has long and thin characters. Check the photos I upload, HL 5 compare to yours. Thirdly, the hand writing on the card is a copy of original version.

By the way, I am not sure about your source and how much you trust her. After all, we are dealing with a real product and Let product itself speak.

 

[Chen Chen]

Welcome back Chen Chen.

Cheers man

 

[young dude]

I am sorry, these two are fake definitely. View attachment 13134View attachment 13135View attachment 13137View attachment 13138View attachment 13139View attachment 13140

Real one has laser plastic paper( from whichever angle, you can see the DHS logo) and have a close look on the serial number. It is totally different from yours. Real one has long and thin characters. Check the photos I upload, HL 5 compare to yours. Thirdly, the hand writing on the card is a copy of original version.

By the way, I am not sure about your source and how much you trust her. After all, we are dealing with a real product and Let product itself speak.

I thought long and hard about whether to make this post, because everything so far leads me to think that you are very trustworthy, and I may be wrong regarding what I'm about to say, but I'm not certain in the "039" blade's genuineness. W968 blades with any serial number 11-99 are 2 digits, not 3.

I've checked and cross - checked sellers in China, and limited my options to 3 that are trustworthy by multiple criteria validated by multiple facets (sellers, buyers, potential buyers, etc.). I'm fully confident in the blades I'm looking at. I didn't wanna make this into a real vs. fake thread, which I mentioned in my OP, but I wanted to speak up based on what I know. And as mentioned, I'm an auditor by trade, so professional skepticism an evidence - based conclusions are what I do.

I may be completely wrong about your blades, but I'm certain in my seller(s). You can see the DHS logo in the #55 blade wrapping I'm looking at, the other one, maybe it's the angle, idk. Furthermore, multiple people have cross checked the blades I'm looking at, and I trust their judgment. I've done way too much research and have way too much evidence to think otherwise.. And frankly, in the impossible case that my blades are fake, I'll live with it because I most likely will never be good enough to tell the difference.

 

[Chen Chen]

I thought long and hard about whether to make this post, because everything so far leads me to think that you are very trustworthy, and I may be wrong regarding what I'm about to say, but I'm not certain in the "039" blade's genuineness. W968 blades with any serial number 11-99 are 2 digits, not 3.

I've checked and cross - checked sellers in China, and limited my options to 3 that are trustworthy by multiple criteria validated by multiple facets (sellers, buyers, potential buyers, etc.). I'm fully confident in the blades I'm looking at. I didn't wanna make this into a real vs. fake thread, which I mentioned in my OP, but I wanted to speak up based on what I know. And as mentioned, I'm an auditor by trade, so professional skepticism an evidence - based conclusions are what I do.

I may be completely wrong about your blades, but I'm certain in my seller(s). You can see the DHS logo in the #55 blade wrapping I'm looking at, the other one, maybe it's the angle, idk. Furthermore, multiple people have cross checked the blades I'm looking at, and I trust their judgment. I've done way too much research and have way too much evidence to think otherwise.. And frankly, in the impossible case that my blades are fake, I'll live with it because I most likely will never be good enough to tell the difference.

Have a look this please. It was the early version from the end of 2016.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Read QWERTY Spin's posts and leave it there.


Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

 

[Chen Chen]

I thought long and hard about whether to make this post, because everything so far leads me to think that you are very trustworthy, and I may be wrong regarding what I'm about to say, but I'm not certain in the "039" blade's genuineness. W968 blades with any serial number 11-99 are 2 digits, not 3.

I've checked and cross - checked sellers in China, and limited my options to 3 that are trustworthy by multiple criteria validated by multiple facets (sellers, buyers, potential buyers, etc.). I'm fully confident in the blades I'm looking at. I didn't wanna make this into a real vs. fake thread, which I mentioned in my OP, but I wanted to speak up based on what I know. And as mentioned, I'm an auditor by trade, so professional skepticism an evidence - based conclusions are what I do.

I may be completely wrong about your blades, but I'm certain in my seller(s). You can see the DHS logo in the #55 blade wrapping I'm looking at, the other one, maybe it's the angle, idk. Furthermore, multiple people have cross checked the blades I'm looking at, and I trust their judgment. I've done way too much research and have way too much evidence to think otherwise.. And frankly, in the impossible case that my blades are fake, I'll live with it because I most likely will never be good enough to tell the difference.

Have a look this please. It was the early version from the end of 2016. View attachment 13141

I have seen a lot serial numbers, yours are just not right to me. No offense. H L two letters don't even separate from each other. Prott has some real stuff on their website. Have a look. That's it.

 

[young dude]

Read QWERTY Spin's posts and leave it there.


Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

Agreed. Chen Chen has given me food for thought (much to my chagrin). I'll take my conversation with him offline.

/thread

 

[dominus7]

Young dude, will be interesting that you send a video showing your skills as TT player.

Enviado desde mi Moto G (4) mediante Tapatalk

 

[bobpuls]

What about the Hurricane 301 for 50 $ ....
If i`m buying a blade of this type i will chose this one. It looks really interesting for the price.

 

[TheKevinFang]

What are the actualy differences between W968 and HL5? I have a 2nd version mint condition HL5 coming, what exactly is the W968 and why does it cost so much?