Everyone's setup is easier to play than mine

says Feeling blue
says Feeling blue
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Sep 2023
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Recently, I have the feeling that when I borrow someone's blade to play it's always easier to play than mine. It's like the same structure blade (I'm using Viscaria so i'm just borrowing some ALC alike structure) but different rubbers. It feels like more easier to play topspin and doing all the stroke (It's usually Dig 05 or Ten 05 both sides). About my blade, I pair D09C BH and H3 or chinese on FH, I had coach with it and were trained with it a lot, at that time the blade feels great and consistent but now I feel heavy and hard to maneuver, I felt like I have to put more effort to create quality on my shots.
Do you ever have this feeling or it's just mental/skills issue or I'm just rusty to use the set up I was trained for?
 
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First of all, the "everyone´s racket is better than mine" phenomenon is not unknown to me ;-)
It comes and goes...

From a more analytic point of view I would not be surprised that a d05/t05 setup on a structurally similar blade is easier to play than a hard Chinese rubber with a sticky hybrid for backhand, especially if "theirs" are fresh and yours ain´t?

And then, maybe your racket is actually heavier than the ones you try, a few grams here between the blades, a few more between the rubbers, this can change the balance significantly.

Sometimes what worked before does not work anymore - while the racket stays the same, the condition you´re in might vary. And if, like you said, you trained a lot you would find it easier to adjust to a racket. If I practice on a regular basis with multi ball and exercises I find it easier to accelerate a heavy blade than if I just play a few friendly matches.

These are a few things you might want to investigate.
 
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I get what you mean, but sometimes we have to remind ourselves "easier" isn't always a good thing.
E.g. T05 or D05 is easy to continuous loop IF I know where the next ball is, if I don't and am playing some half stroke, then maybe something with more control is better
 
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You are not imagining things. One thing you will understand if you've owned many blades and tried many others is that even the same brand and model of blade could be different as wood is came from a living tree which depending on how it grew and processed give different characteristics. For whatever reason you racket feels worse than others you've tried. That can happen and is a clue for you to keep looking. If you can't afford it, find someone whose blade you like and vice versa and see if he/she will swap with you. Also blades can change in characteristics over time if it continues to absorb moisture. Do you lacquer your blade face and protect your handle from sweat with something like Watco's Danish Oil? Do you leave your rubber wet after cleaning it and just stick it back into the case?
 
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Recently, I have the feeling that when I borrow someone's blade to play it's always easier to play than mine. It's like the same structure blade (I'm using Viscaria so i'm just borrowing some ALC alike structure) but different rubbers. It feels like more easier to play topspin and doing all the stroke (It's usually Dig 05 or Ten 05 both sides). About my blade, I pair D09C BH and H3 or chinese on FH, I had coach with it and were trained with it a lot, at that time the blade feels great and consistent but now I feel heavy and hard to maneuver, I felt like I have to put more effort to create quality on my shots.
Do you ever have this feeling or it's just mental/skills issue or I'm just rusty to use the set up I was trained for?
Try playing some matches with their setup. That's the true litmus test.
 
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Recently, I have the feeling that when I borrow someone's blade to play it's always easier to play than mine. It's like the same structure blade (I'm using Viscaria so i'm just borrowing some ALC alike structure) but different rubbers. It feels like more easier to play topspin and doing all the stroke (It's usually Dig 05 or Ten 05 both sides). About my blade, I pair D09C BH and H3 or chinese on FH, I had coach with it and were trained with it a lot, at that time the blade feels great and consistent but now I feel heavy and hard to maneuver, I felt like I have to put more effort to create quality on my shots.
Do you ever have this feeling or it's just mental/skills issue or I'm just rusty to use the set up I was trained for?
Both Hurricane 3 and Dignics 09c are hard tacky rubbers... those are always going to be much harder to use than softer non-tacky rubbers. Why people on this forum who are not very good always look for the hardest and tackiest rubbers to play with totally baffles me.
 
says Shoo...nothing to see here. - zeio
says Shoo...nothing to see here. - zeio
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About my blade, I pair D09C BH and H3 or chinese on FH, I had coach with it and were trained with it a lot, at that time the blade feels great and consistent but now I feel heavy and hard to maneuver, I felt like I have to put more effort to create quality on my shots.
Your training volume has fallen off. It's a "high-maintenance" setup.
 
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It's that "first date" experience... 😊

This is new, feels good.. Much better than mine feeling...

Plays matches with new amazing setup... Can't hit barn door..
 
says Pimples Schmimples
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Recently, I have the feeling that when I borrow someone's blade to play it's always easier to play than mine. It's like the same structure blade (I'm using Viscaria so i'm just borrowing some ALC alike structure) but different rubbers. It feels like more easier to play topspin and doing all the stroke (It's usually Dig 05 or Ten 05 both sides). About my blade, I pair D09C BH and H3 or chinese on FH, I had coach with it and were trained with it a lot, at that time the blade feels great and consistent but now I feel heavy and hard to maneuver, I felt like I have to put more effort to create quality on my shots.
Do you ever have this feeling or it's just mental/skills issue or I'm just rusty to use the set up I was trained for?
I think Airoc has given the answer here tbh so at the risk of stepping on his point I'll chip in with my 2c anyway...
I'm happy with my Racket so I almost never prefer anyone else's. Last time I did was way back when I was still trying to decide where to go after starting with Mark V when almost every good racket was interesting to me.
A club mate just dropped €400+ on FZD Blade with T05 and 09c. I tried it and have no desire to own it, too fast for me (and him!) and I definitely play better with my own racket.
So it does seem like maybe your setup isn't optimal for you anymore.
H3 Neo isn't a rubber that excels at medium effort, it needs to be player with intent and good technique, so does D09c (and Fastarc G1....)
I'd guess you need to up your game again or switch to more forgiving rubbers to just enjoy yourself again.
 
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I play with Friendship Battle 2 Nat 38 without booster on my FH..
When I try my collegues rackets (usually with some D09C, Blueaster A1 or whatever) I always feel like it's so much easier to do stuff with their rackets. Blocks are effortless, hitting is nice, the feeling is great.. But when I try to play points I understand that their rackets are shit I can not play good with those combinations because everything else that I use in the game is very different and for these different things I have much more control with my racket :giggle:
So actually when you try other equipment.. you haven't tried it until you've played some points/sets under some pressure :)
Of course sometimes your setup can be very wrong.. but in most cases I feel like this is not the case.. it's just that in simple elements the ESN-typed rubbers really feel much better and nicer compared to hard tacky rubbers.
 
says former JPEN, now CPEN
says former JPEN, now CPEN
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I play with Friendship Battle 2 Nat 38 without booster on my FH..
When I try my collegues rackets (usually with some D09C, Blueaster A1 or whatever) I always feel like it's so much easier to do stuff with their rackets. Blocks are effortless, hitting is nice, the feeling is great.. But when I try to play points I understand that their rackets are shit I can not play good with those combinations because everything else that I use in the game is very different and for these different things I have much more control with my racket :giggle:
So actually when you try other equipment.. you haven't tried it until you've played some points/sets under some pressure :)
Of course sometimes your setup can be very wrong.. but in most cases I feel like this is not the case.. it's just that in simple elements the ESN-typed rubbers really feel much better and nicer compared to hard tacky rubbers.
boost yo b2 and you will feel as if your rubber came from butterfly themselves
 
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