Fan Zhendong is joining 1. FC Saarbrücken next season

[JackJohnson]

He did it again vs Duesseldorf. That said these were all home matches on Tibhar tables. Will be interesting to see what happens on the road when the ball and the table change.

Does he revert back to H3 on the forehand when he plays on the grippy Donic tables and Nittaku balls

 

[andzejgolot]

The fact that an elite player is able to change both rubbers and still remain competitive against other elite players should tell us mere mortals something about the importance of equipment.

His 09 c are different ... Probably its more Chinese agenda to use hurricane 3 National and he gets for free...
For me he can easier to overboost/ destroy his hurricane 3 National and make it a lot softer for his backhand versus DIY with 09c when his 09 c probably is boosted to have more tension when dignics have own sponge glue technology based on tension
That's why there are difference between me, you and them.
At his level, he use rubbers one time so he can use 20 layers of glue, he can boost his rubbers 3 times and after 50 minutes remove
At his level of physical strenght, the tension on the rubbers and hardness of the balls, hardness of the table and then place ( big vs smaller) makes the big difference...

 

[Airoc]

I believe it was @Airoc how thick a sponge i want given the limits.

More like looking for inside info on what the manufacturers do than what you want
If Gewo can do it, other ESN customers also might.
Just haven´t seen it before on any pro player rubber I´ve received (but then I also wouldn´t have checked...), hence my curiousity.

 

[NextLevel]

Does he revert back to H3 on the forehand when he plays on the grippy Donic tables and Nittaku balls

If the rumor that this is about Tibhar tables and seamless balls has merit, then he should, no?

 

[SFF_lib]

His 09 c are different ... Probably its more Chinese agenda to use hurricane 3 National and he gets for free...
For me he can easier to overboost/ destroy his hurricane 3 National and make it a lot softer for his backhand versus DIY with 09c when his 09 c probably is boosted to have more tension when dignics have own sponge glue technology based on tension
That's why there are difference between me, you and them.
At his level, he use rubbers one time so he can use 20 layers of glue, he can boost his rubbers 3 times and after 50 minutes remove
At his level of physical strenght, the tension on the rubbers and hardness of the balls, hardness of the table and then place ( big vs smaller) makes the big difference...

Another difference between me, you and them is - FZD can pick up a commercial H3 and still beat half of players in the league tbh.

 

[boretennis]

He didn't just flip the racket. The edge tape would be on the other side if he did.

the edge tape is not fixed with screws

 

[NextLevel]

the edge tape is not fixed with screws

Yeah but the point is that where the edge tape is placed shows a formal decision to play red on the forehand, not just the same kind of decision‐making that just flipping the racket would imply.

 

[boretennis]

Yeah but the point is that where the edge tape is placed shows a formal decision to play red on the forehand, not just the same kind of decision‐making that just flipping the racket would imply.

my bad, this makes sense of course.

 

[longle]

Yeah but the point is that where the edge tape is placed shows a formal decision to play red on the forehand, not just the same kind of decision‐making that just flipping the racket would imply.

so he decided to flip the racket before the match, reglue the rubbers is pointless so changing the edge tape makes more sense

 

[StreamOfWater]

Y'all probably care more about his rubber choice than Fan Zhendong himself 🤣

 

[SFF_lib]

Chinese fans said it's because of the difference in bounce and grid of the table. FZD it's trying some creative ways to make bh more consistent.

I played my w968 42 H3 FH and 39H3 BH.

I was down 0-2 in a match and 1-6 down in 3rd game. I flipped my bat thinking i will lose anyway.

The BH with 42 H2 (same hardness as FZD's H3) is surprisingly much easier to control. Despite slower, but the spin makes my BH shot dips earlier and shorter. Also 42 hardness makes my push very heavy in back spin.

Yes 39 H3 on FH is less fast and less spinny but lands more often.

I won 3-2 at the end.

 

[Kilogramme]

Chinese fans said it's because of the difference in bounce and grid of the table. FZD it's trying some creative ways to make bh more consistent.

I played my w968 42 H3 FH and 39H3 BH.

I was down 0-2 in a match and 1-6 down in 3rd game. I flipped my bat thinking i will lose anyway.

The BH with 42 H2 (same hardness as FZD's H3) is surprisingly much easier to control. Despite slower, but the spin makes my BH shot dips earlier and shorter. Also 42 hardness makes my push very heavy in back spin.

Yes 39 H3 on FH is less fast and less spinny but lands more often.

I won 3-2 at the end.

Remember Ma Long against Lin Gaoyuan. He was behind 0-3. Then change his racket side and used BH service more often. He flipped the match and won 4-3. Maybe FZD did it too in this match coz the room makes the game weird. I know between a small room and big room the ball behave differently.

 

[SFF_lib]

Remember Ma Long against Lin Gaoyuan. He was behind 0-3. Then change his racket side and used BH service more often. He flipped the match and won 4-3. Maybe FZD did it too in this match coz the room makes the game weird. I know between a small room and big room the ball behave differently.

ML did the same against LJK and worked really well.

Can you elaborate on how the ball behaves differently between a small and big room? I am curious

 

[andzejgolot]

Another difference between me, you and them is - FZD can pick up a commercial H3 and still beat half of players in the league tbh.

Lol you should open stand up channel because you are joke

 

[Kilogramme]

ML did the same against LJK and worked really well.

Can you elaborate on how the ball behaves differently between a small and big room? I am curious

I played in various places in match. In small town, they can play in weird places.
I had competition in a garage, with not so flat flore. I played in tennis room in winter without heater (we played with gloves) at night. I played in big professional basket courts, and standard room.

It is hard to explain, coz I stopped tt for multiple years, but even the ground had impact on the ball behaviour. In some condition the bounce is higher, sometimes lower. In places, the speed is high, whereas other places the speed is low. Same for spin. I never really understand which condition affects the ball in a certain way. But it is like that. Old player knows it and plays with it, especially against young inexperienced player. Coz a shot, we usually do, can not work. So it creates frustration. And we don't always think about that, and we don't adapt.

Usually big room are the better. The condition is more homogeneous.

I think (hypothesis) small room, with low roof, has denser air, with body heat changes completely the ball spin, bounce and speed. For exemple, I played in a room under a pool. Humidity was high, dense air, almost suffocating. The ball was slow, and low spin. The flat attacker was king. My team who played more with spin, was destroyed.

From what I see on video of FZD in Europe. Room are very small compared to the big complex in china or world event. So it makes sense to change the setup for those conditions. What is weird is that he just turn the racket, I think when you are FZD you can have a racket for Europe and a racket for china. Maybe a softer H3 in Europe in FH, and Harder Dignics in BH (ZJK said they had special versions of rubber with harder and boosted sponges) . I would think tweaking hardness is less of a change that turning completely the rackets. Dignics and h3 are close but still different.

 

[mamedium]

Chinese fans said it's because of the difference in bounce and grid of the table. FZD it's trying some creative ways to make bh more consistent.

I played my w968 42 H3 FH and 39H3 BH.

I was down 0-2 in a match and 1-6 down in 3rd game. I flipped my bat thinking i will lose anyway.

The BH with 42 H2 (same hardness as FZD's H3) is surprisingly much easier to control. Despite slower, but the spin makes my BH shot dips earlier and shorter. Also 42 hardness makes my push very heavy in back spin.

Yes 39 H3 on FH is less fast and less spinny but lands more often.

I won 3-2 at the end.

it had nothing to do with the rubbers imo

if you think that was the reason, can you try again in 10 matches and see if the result will be the same?

 

[SFF_lib]

it had nothing to do with the rubbers imo

if you think that was the reason, can you try again in 10 matches and see if the result will be the same?

42 vs 39 hardness
Blue vs orange sponge

Quite different in speed, spin and bounce to be honest.

 

[Angerer]

Is it just me or D09C suits FZD much better than H3 on forehand? He seems much more aggressive, proactive, and successful with D09C serving and attacking first.
With H3 on forehand he used to push and prepare for counterattacks, otherwise his first forehand attack was relatively soft and was often killed by opponents. Now with D09C on forehand his 1st attack is extremely powerful, and the reverse pendulum looks faster and deadlier.
On the contrary, his backhand with H3 became much softer. With D09c backhand was arguably his main weapon, while forehand was a stable, reliable tool.

Although he is the best player in the world, for me it seems with two D09C he would be even more unbeatable and dominating.

 

[Tyce]

Maybe the more proactive style is better suited for the variation of opponents and environment, to be relying less on anticipation of those (formerly relatively fixed) elements and enforcing his playstyle onto the opponent even more instead.
I do strongly believe him still using H3 on BH is a contractual story.

 

[mikeytt]

happy holidays from fan and timo