Hello from Norway

[ToH]

Hi everyone. My name is Torkel and i am 48 years old. I started to play table tennis in 1991 and played for 6 months. After 32 years brake i started again in february 2023. And i just love the game. I play in the 4 division. I would say i am at a beginner level, but starting to win more and more matches.
One thing i love about table tennis is the big selection in equipment and i have spend to many hours watching youtube and searching revspin to learn more. But that is also my fault. I change equipment to often. I really hope someone can give me a tip about what equipment to choose. My current blades are:
Yasaka Sweden classic / Yasaka razka 7 soft.
Stiga carbonada 45 / Razka Z (before razka X).
TSP black balsa 5 / Razka X (before Razka Z).
Ma long seven Large handle / Andro Rasanter R42

The two first blades is with a straight handle, and i found out i prefer flared (i use butterfly grip tape). The yasaka dont give me the right feeling/to slow. I love the Stiga Carbonada blade. Just perfect except the handle. Both with Razka Z and X. The TSP black balsa i strugle to find the right feeling with. The Ma long Seven is also very nice, but the rubber is to fast for me. To big catapult effect.
So i hope someone can give a advice on a rubber to use. My search says Yasaka Rigan or Xiom Vega Europe.
I think i would like to use the Ma Long Seven blade or to buy Tibhar Zodiac Libra SAC.
Sorry for the long first post. I appriciate all advice. Please let me know if i should post the equipment question in another place.
Best regards
Torkel

 

[Bilge Dogan]

Hello Torkel
It is difficult to give you proper advice without seeing your play. If you can make a record of your 1 set match and post the link here I am sure you can get many advices. As you state you are at beginner level, I advise you use all wood blade with with soft rubbers (rakza 7 soft, R42 fine)

 

[Freeclout]

Hello Torkel,
I'm very much in the same boat as you. Aged 49, played in late 80's for a few years, no coaching but did join a club and play in local league for a short while before I found skateboarding!
Started playing again last May and have joined a good club. Not playing the league yet but hoping to join soon but would like some coaching first this time round. Also half Norweigan, my aunt bought me my first custom bat in Oslo, Mark Vs on a stiga Kjell Johansson blade.
First custom this time round was a Yasaka Sweden Extra with Rakza 7 1.8 and Vega Euro !.8. - Rakza 7 felt good fh and bh but Vega euro was not for me and the blade wasn't giving me the feeling I feel I want while I get back into the game.
Then bought a Nittaku Violin with Fastarc G1 on Ebay. Played with that for the last 6 months and have just switched the fh to Rakza Z. Really love the feeling of this blade and the rakza Z is working nicely for me. May end up getting Rakza Z for bh too as its feeling good there too.
Maybe a slower but quality 5 ply will work with your harder rubbers. Having tried an acoustic carbon with G1 recently, I know that carbon (outer as least) is not for me.

 

[ToH]

Thank you for your answers. Nice to hear about your travel Feeclout. I have played with Razka Z on two blades and really like the rubber on the Stiga Carbonada Blade. To bad i dont like the handle. You are probably right about the 5 ply wood, but it have to be faster than my Yasaka Sweden classic. I will keep the Nittaku Ma long Seven blade. This is maybe something close to your Nittaku Violin? I put the three other blades for sale. I ordered Yasaka Rigan 2.0 mm for both sides, so i am going to switch from Andro Rasanter R42 to Rigan. If this is still to fast i will buy a slower blade. If the speed and feeling is ok i will probably buy a slow carbon blade. Like Tibhar Zodiac Libra Sac to have as a backup. Again, thank you for your reply. Nice advice is golden in this hobby with so many choises.

 

[Lazer]

One of the slowest “Carbon” blades is Donic Appelgren World Champ 89. It’s even an outer carbon blade, it has a top layer of spruce and moderate vibrations with (what I think) a great feel…

Cheers
L-zr

 

[Choosikick]

Hello from Ukraine, @ToH!
My advice to you is to play with such equipment as you would like to hit harder and at the same time you are not afraid of missing the table. And it will be a pretty slow setup. Because if you take too fast equipment, then you will begin to shorten your movement, which will certainly lead to clamping, but you need, on the contrary, to strive for a relaxed and long movement. At first you may not like it and it will seem to you that it is slow, but you need to overcome yourself at this stage. Most Euro-Japanese rubber bands are quite fast and are designed for advanced players. In my opinion, you now need to look towards chinese forehand rubber bands, such as Jupiter 2 or 3 with a 38 sponge, Big Dipper with a 38 sponge, Rxton 3, maybe Hurricane 3 (a hurricane is not right for everyone, but there are exceptions). Perhaps the guys will give you some additional advice. These rubbers have a sticky tread and therefore are very grippy, not fast without a booster, which is exactly what you need, and also cheap. But don’t let the low price fool you, these are all very decent rubbers.
Since the movement on the backhand is anatomically shorter than on the forehand, I would recommend that you leave your tensor rubbers for the backhand. Choose a set that suits you in terms of weight and speed and stick to this racket without changes for at least 3 months without experiments, no matter how hard it is for you.

 

[ToH]

One of the slowest “Carbon” blades is Donic Appelgren World Champ 89. It’s even an outer carbon blade, it has a top layer of spruce and moderate vibrations with (what I think) a great feel…

Cheers
L-zr

This racket seem very nice. Seems like a quality product with a good price. Sailing up to a favorite alternative.

 

[ToH]

Hello from Ukraine, @ToH!
My advice to you is to play with such equipment as you would like to hit harder and at the same time you are not afraid of missing the table. And it will be a pretty slow setup. Because if you take too fast equipment, then you will begin to shorten your movement, which will certainly lead to clamping, but you need, on the contrary, to strive for a relaxed and long movement. At first you may not like it and it will seem to you that it is slow, but you need to overcome yourself at this stage. Most Euro-Japanese rubber bands are quite fast and are designed for advanced players. In my opinion, you now need to look towards chinese forehand rubber bands, such as Jupiter 2 or 3 with a 38 sponge, Big Dipper with a 38 sponge, Rxton 3, maybe Hurricane 3 (a hurricane is not right for everyone, but there are exceptions). Perhaps the guys will give you some additional advice. These rubbers have a sticky tread and therefore are very grippy, not fast without a booster, which is exactly what you need, and also cheap. But don’t let the low price fool you, these are all very decent rubbers.
Since the movement on the backhand is anatomically shorter than on the forehand, I would recommend that you leave your tensor rubbers for the backhand. Choose a set that suits you in terms of weight and speed and stick to this racket without changes for at least 3 months without experiments, no matter how hard it is for you.

Thank you for your advice. I have been searching around for chinese rubbers. I have a former TT player who coach me sometimes. He said i should not go with this kind of rubber (hurricane 3). Maybe for the reason that my backhand is much better than my forehand? I really strugle to find the legwork in game for a good forehand. But i would love to try it. I think i will give it a go for my second racket. The nice price is also a plus

 

[Lazer]

This racket seem very nice. Seems like a quality product with a good price. Sailing up to a favorite alternative.

If you get one, make sure to seal the blade with a thin layer of varnish. Spruce and hinoki splinters real easy.

I usually first use a thin layer of linseed oil and let it dry (about a week) after this I use a brush to put a layer of varnish on top and let it dry overnight. Before you put the varnish on the surface shall feel dry when you touch it.
Then I sand the surface lightly (if not the glue may not stick properly). I do this to all my blades but if the surface is spruce it’s more important…

The linseed oil is not entirely necessary but the wood last and stay in good health if you do it.

Cheers
L-zr

 

[Choosikick]

Thank you for your advice. I have been searching around for chinese rubbers. I have a former TT player who coach me sometimes. He said i should not go with this kind of rubber (hurricane 3). Maybe for the reason that my backhand is much better than my forehand? I really strugle to find the legwork in game for a good forehand. But i would love to try it. I think i will give it a go for my second racket. The nice price is also a plus

Hurricane is most likely not worth taking. It is better to approach the Hurricane from the Eurotensors through Jupiter 3.

 

[ToH]

If you get one, make sure to seal the blade with a thin layer of varnish. Spruce and hinoki splinters real easy.

I usually first use a thin layer of linseed oil and let it dry (about a week) after this I use a brush to put a layer of varnish on top and let it dry overnight. Before you put the varnish on the surface shall feel dry when you touch it.
Then I sand the surface lightly (if not the glue may not stick properly). I do this to all my blades but if the surface is spruce it’s more important…

The linseed oil is not entirely necessary but the wood last and stay in good health if you do it.

Cheers
L-zr

This is something i have wonder about. Thanks for the tip. For two of my blades i have chosen lackering from the shop. What i not have done is to use sandpaper. But i will buy the finest paper to go easy over a new blade.

 

[ToH]

Hurricane is most likely not worth taking. It is better to approach the Hurricane from the Eurotensors through Jupiter 3.

Yes, i think i will give it a go. And i will stick to it for at least 3 months, but hopefully longer.

 

[ToH]

I struggle to find the rubber you recomended Choosicick. Here in Scandinavia and on TT11 and Tabletennisstore eu. Do you have to order it on aliexpress? What do you think about DHS Hurricane 8 medium hard?
I think my setup will be Chinese tacky rubber on forehand and yasaka Rigan on backhand. This should be kind of slow and with good control.

 

[Lazer]

I struggle to find the rubber you recomended Choosicick. Here in Scandinavia and on TT11 and Tabletennisstore eu. Do you have to order it on aliexpress? What do you think about DHS Hurricane 8 medium hard?
I think my setup will be Chinese tacky rubber on forehand and yasaka Rigan on backhand. This should be kind of slow and with good control.

If you are in Scandinavia chtt.se is a Swedish site. It’s a great reliable shop and he has Yinhe Jupiter 3 Asia.

Cheers
L-zr

 

[Choosikick]

I struggle to find the rubber you recomended Choosicick. Here in Scandinavia and on TT11 and Tabletennisstore eu. Do you have to order it on aliexpress? What do you think about DHS Hurricane 8 medium hard?
I think my setup will be Chinese tacky rubber on forehand and yasaka Rigan on backhand. This should be kind of slow and with good control.

I often buy chinese rubbers on Aliexpress because it is cheaper than buying from a local seller in my country. I haven't had any problems with this for a long time. The rubbers are mostly fresh and of good quality, no worse than those from a local seller.
I haven't tried Hurricane 8. You can take Jupiter 3 38. It's very cheap, but worth every penny. I take a sponge hardness of 39, but use a booster, which in my opinion speeds up the rubber by 1.5 times and makes it softer by one degree. I think that without a booster in your case 38 degrees will be good.

 

[Choosikick]

@ToH, I added it to myself in the previous post, read it. In any case, if you feel slow over time because you will train a lot and your level of play will rise, you can use a booster, which has a good effect on this rubber. But in any case, you essentially have nothing to lose, since it is cheap.

 

[ToH]

Thank you for your advise. it turned out its someone who visits my club regularly who have Jupiter 3 in stock. So i will get it tuesday. I also was thinking about a carbonblade vs a woodblade. And this though prosess ending with a new wood blade. The Donic New Impuls 6.5, wich i will also get next week. I will try FH rubber Jupiter 3 and Bh rubber Yasaka Regan on the Ma Long blade. If i like it i will put the same rubber on both blades to learn more about the blades.

 

[Lazer]

Thank you for your advise. it turned out its someone who visits my club regularly who have Jupiter 3 in stock. So i will get it tuesday. I also was thinking about a carbonblade vs a woodblade. And this though prosess ending with a new wood blade. The Donic New Impuls 6.5, wich i will also get next week. I will try FH rubber Jupiter 3 and Bh rubber Yasaka Regan on the Ma Long blade. If i like it i will put the same rubber on both blades to learn more about the blades.

I got one of those blades. It’s slow and stiff. It’s not great to loop with but it’s a great blocker. I like the Appelgren WC 89 much better. I think both of them are made by soul spin in Germany.

Cheers
L-zr

 

[ToH]

I got one of those blades. It’s slow and stiff. It’s not great to loop with but it’s a great blocker. I like the Appelgren WC 89 much better. I think both of them are made by soul spin in Germany.

Cheers
L-zr

Thanks for the reply. The blade i will use as a main blade is Nittaku Ma long seven. And I am curious to see how i feel "better control/lack of speed" when i match the rubbers. I take it as a learning prosess and i am trying to find the right blade i can focus on for minimum a year or two and develop my skills. I will absolutly keep The Appelgren WC89 i my mind for the future.

 

[Lazer]

Thanks for the reply. The blade i will use as a main blade is Nittaku Ma long seven. And I am curious to see how i feel "better control/lack of speed" when i match the rubbers. I take it as a learning prosess and i am trying to find the right blade i can focus on for minimum a year or two and develop my skills. I will absolutly keep The Appelgren WC89 i my mind for the future.

The spruce surface is soft so You shouldn’t put a too soft rubber on there. Also if You like it, the Japanese wood hinoki is similar.

A blade I like a lot also made by soul spin is Nittaku meister built basalt inner. It’s expensive as hell but that basalt layer beneath makes it bendy and hard. It’s the best looper I ever tried, but it needs a hard rubber.
That’s my no 1 right now with the Appelgren WC as a close second. The Appelgren is more reactive (You get better speed when hitting hard) but not as good a looper. But the difference is marginal.

Cheers
L-zr