Heming Hu on Equipment

[zeio]

Sriver or Mark V for beginners? You cannot be serious. May as well go backward even more and get what I started with. If we were still playing with celluloid balls, then may be those still make sense.

Other than nostalgia/curiosity for those born before/after Millennials (a good era divider there as Bryce (1997), Desto F1 (1998), G888 (1998) etc. are the role-model modern rubbers released after that period), there is absolutely no reason to get Sriver and/or Mark V. Heck, I can't even get Mark V readily in local shops anymore.

ESN rubbers released after the glue ban are actually far slower (yet spinnier) than the ones before, reducing the short game issue by a wide margin (even less of an issue with the hybrid ones since 2016). It's more ideal to start with those. Glazyer series and Rozena, the Butterfly equivalents, are actually cheaper than Sriver, for crying out loud.

But with the sharp decrease in competitiveness for European rubbers, either start with Chinese or Japanese ones.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I know more successful players than Heming from Australia that has different opinions on beginner equipment, and has actually groomed total beginners to become national team members (in the dozens too, so wasn't just a lucky one or two).
No matter what, you need a lot of hours to develop - with lower spec or higher spec equipment and that needs to be factored in.

I now use - hours of play for reference, ie a kid at 10 years old, can learn basics after 3 months of training of 20 hours a week = 240 hours. And then it is okay to put faster rubbers on and within another 3 months, the kid can have all the basics and footwork in place and to start building into a full time athlete for the coming 5 to 10 years.

240 for an adult beginner (who will also learn slower) with say 5 hours a week of coaching equates to around 1 year of training.

So it all depends on what your end goal is.
adult may want to use the cool stuff, and they not wanting to become an olympian. So, it is actually okay for me for them to use OFF+++
so it all depends on each players motivation and goals.

I don't agree on him that all boosters are the same.
I won't also brush the brush like that, as loose pieces will come off a lot quicker.

I also won't use kitchen washing sponge for gluing, as the pores are too big and sucks in/waste a lot of glue.
bigger pores also put in more air bubbles in the glue-on the sponge

I would still use a clip to clip the sponge, so my hands won't get messy, which will affects the dried layers later

as well as doing a video to tell US Customs that you are flying in the do business/working (an income coaching), with maybe the wrong visa.... lol

overall, good to hear some info from a pro to the public about special customized equipment that some people might still call it a myth even after watching the video

Heming has actually been very busy these few years trying out different businesses/work, I hope his current one (getting club player to become better) can work, as it is really much needed.

 

[Tyce]

Did anyone notice he's glueing a blade up with two black rubbers?
Or that he's boosting rubber with the plastic still on, or through a glue layer?

There's certainly useful information in there, but I really get put off by his air of arrogance and boasting.

 

[IB66]

Sriver or Mark V for beginners? You cannot be serious. May as well go backward even more and get what I started with. If we were still playing with celluloid balls, then may be those still make sense.

Other than nostalgia/curiosity for those born before/after Millennials (a good era divider there as Bryce (1997), Desto F1 (1998), G888 (1998) etc. are the role-model modern rubbers released after that period), there is absolutely no reason to get Sriver and/or Mark V. Heck, I can't even get Mark V readily in local shops anymore.

ESN rubbers released after the glue ban are actually far slower (yet spinnier) than the ones before, reducing the short game issue by a wide margin (even less of an issue with the hybrid ones since 2016). It's more ideal to start with those. Glazyer series and Rozena, the Butterfly equivalents, are actually cheaper than Sriver, for crying out loud.

But with the sharp decrease in competitiveness for European rubbers, either start with Chinese or Japanese ones.

For 'nostalgia' I now have an original BTY Tamca 5000 set up with the rubbers I used when I got the blade - Sriver and Tackiness D. the blade is fast, rubbers less bouncy and spin potential reduced compared to a modern day tensor.
usable, but when you know you can have more spin potential, you want more spin potential !!!

 

[IB66]

I now use - hours of play for reference, ie a kid at 10 years old, can learn basics after 3 months of training of 20 hours a week = 240 hours. And then it is okay to put faster rubbers on and within another 3 months, the kid can have all the basics and footwork in place and to start building into a full time athlete for the coming 5 to 10 years.

240 for an adult beginner (who will also learn slower) with say 5 hours a week of coaching equates to around 1 year of training.

So it all depends on what your end goal is.
adult may want to use the cool stuff, and they not wanting to become an olympian. So, it is actually okay for me for them to use OFF+++
so it all depends on each players motivation and goals.

To true, many of the youngsters and adults we coach play once or twice a week , most for an hour each session, some for the full 2hr session. so min 1hr per week, max 4 hrs per week.
some have above average natural ability, some have average ability and occasionally they have nothing, and I mean nada!! regardless of bat make up, they can't even hit the ball, air shots 4 out of 5 times!! it gets better overtime, but what equipment they use has ABSOLUTELY NO influence (at that point of time) on their consistency!! but they are keen, and will eventually learn.

 

[WeakLoops]

It amazes me how different people can watch the same exact video and target things he says. I understand it was a 40 minute video. He said you need a racket of a certain quality and after that it doesn't matter how high you go. His reasoning is because you need to have decent technique and not using some butchered technique trying to generate pace and spin with an older rubber like MarkV.

I think he's saying what most people here would say, use a modern rubber like rakza 7 or vega is good enough quality as he had said that his joola rubber he's using is good enough and he won't get an advantage in a game using much better.

TLDR: use a modern rubber that has enough speed and grip that you don't develop weird technique and strokes.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

It amazes me how different people can watch the same exact video and target things he says. I understand it was a 40 minute video. He said you need a racket of a certain quality and after that it doesn't matter how high you go. His reasoning is because you need to have decent technique and not using some butchered technique trying to generate pace and spin with an older rubber like MarkV.

I think he's saying what most people here would say, use a modern rubber like rakza 7 or vega is good enough quality as he had said that his joola rubber he's using is good enough and he won't get an advantage in a game using much better.

TLDR: use a modern rubber that has enough speed and grip that you don't develop weird technique and strokes.

its a live broadcast probably, so it is bound to have some errors (contradicting)
its not the first time he has covered content of "first bat" recommendations

In this video, he suggested if he was a total beginner, he would start with H3 + T05 and learn everything from the set go..
he said the same thing few years ago too.

Now, I'm sure Ma Long didn't start with H3 blue sponge national and T05 when he was a kid.

What i'm even more sure of, LYJ didn't start with ZLC and T05
you do need to develop into the equipment by first learning the basics
and then build your way up from there.
In other words, there is a stepping stone, you can't really just skip it and assume the destination is all that matters

 

[JJ Ng]

its a live broadcast probably, so it is bound to have some errors (contradicting)
its not the first time he has covered content of "first bat" recommendations

In this video, he suggested if he was a total beginner, he would start with H3 + T05 and learn everything probably.
he said the same thing few years ago too.

Now, I'm sure Ma Long didn't start with H3 blue sponge national and T05 when he was a kid.

What i'm even more sure of, LYJ didn't start with ZLC and T05
you do need to develop into the equipment by first learning the basics
and then build your way up from there.
In other words, there is a stepping stone, you can't really just skip it and assume the destination is all that matters

Agree with you 100%.

Everyone just has different opinions. For example, I am open to fast OFF- or OFF 5-ply or 7-ply wood, with Rozena at 1.9mm or say Vega Europe at thinner sponge for beginners.

But then you have Schlager, a world champion, saying in another video that he would recommend max sponge of any rubber starting the get-go for all new beginners.

I think the moral of the story is that, everyone is different. Everyone's natural talent is different. Everyone's work schedule and time devoted to ping pong per week is different. A coach just needs to start the players on a "good enough" set of blade and make advances in the speed of the equipment along the way.

I would think all of us agree not to start a beginner on FDZ super ZLC with Dignics 05 max sponge on both sides...I think that set up is a waste of money for $400-$500 for a beginner.

 

[mcfly]

Did anyone notice he's glueing a blade up with two black rubbers?
Or that he's boosting rubber with the plastic still on, or through a glue layer?

There's certainly useful information in there, but I really get put off by his air of arrogance and boasting.

i actually enjoyed his sharing knowledge. Finally someone knows what he's talking about. no nonsense, no crappy Dignics clones, no boosting myth...

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Did anyone notice he's glueing a blade up with two black rubbers?

I also have 2 black rubbers at times (or 2 reds for that matter lol)
it doesn't matter what colours you have when you are no longer playing sanctioned tournaments.

Or that he's boosting rubber with the plastic still on, or through a glue layer?

Since he is retired, like me, I don't really care about my equipment as much as before.
ie, I can use provincial now, but before I would also only use national hurricanes, for example.

But I do think there is a lot of bad technique given in that video, so if it is a "tutorial", then there is indeed a lot of improvement required.
IE. will he teach lazy techniques to students, because he is retired too. same concept

There's certainly useful information in there, but I really get put off by his air of arrogance and boasting.

if you watch a few of his video, I guess that is just his style
personally, I don't watch his videos much.
He is however, new at this job, and I guess, still have room for improvements.

I might not be wrong, but since his retirement - while is probably around the past 2 to 4 years. He possible has over 10 different jobs/works already.
Many of them in the field of speaking to people or coaching people (from gym, to life coach, the table tennis coach etc). I guess that also builds up his style of speaking.

 

[Tyce]

I also have 2 black rubbers at times (or 2 reds for that matter lol)
it doesn't matter what colours you have when you are no longer playing sanctioned tournaments.


Since he is retired, like me, I don't really care about my equipment as much as before.
ie, I can use provincial now, but before I would also only use national hurricanes, for example.

But I do think there is a lot of bad technique given in that video, so if it is a "tutorial", then there is indeed a lot of improvement required.
IE. will he teach lazy techniques to students, because he is retired too. same concept

if you watch a few of his video, I guess that is just his style
personally, I don't watch his videos much.
He is however, new at this job, and I guess, still have room for improvements.

I might not be wrong, but since his retirement - while is probably around the past 2 to 4 years. He possible has over 10 different jobs/works already.
Many of them in the field of speaking to people or coaching people (from gym, to life coach, the table tennis coach etc). I guess that also builds up his style of speaking.

I'm just too OCD about the colour rules I would never even consider doing that, but that's just me. I guess it doesn't *really* matter in practice or anything... I just think it's contradictory to do that, yet at the same time talk badly about coaches who don't use tip top equipment.
So, in line with how I interpret his own words: if you want to present yourself as a good coach, pay attention to detail as it really does matter for the quality of the content.

I watched another, older, video where he comes across a lot more balanced. Still not going to be a fan, but that does help in taking his advice seriously, and poking through some of the behaviour to try and read the actual message.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I'm just too OCD about the colour rules I would never even consider doing that, but that's just me. I guess it doesn't *really* matter in practice or anything... I just think it's contradictory to do that, yet at the same time talk badly about coaches who don't use tip top equipment.
So, in line with how I interpret his own words: if you want to present yourself as a good coach, pay attention to detail as it really does matter for the quality of the content.

I watched another, older, video where he comes across a lot more balanced. Still not going to be a fan, but that does help in taking his advice seriously, and poking through some of the behaviour to try and read the actual message.

Yep, I agree with you.

 

[JJ Ng]

Yep, I agree with you.

Side topic. Tony. Do you feel there is a big difference between provincial hurricane v.s. national hurricane blue sponge? How about the player's rubber (like Ma Long's forehand rubber or WCQ's backhand rubber, etc.)?

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Side topic. Tony. Do you feel there is a big difference between provincial hurricane v.s. national hurricane blue sponge? How about the player's rubber (like Ma Long's forehand rubber or WCQ's backhand rubber, etc.)?

prov to national is pretty close
in terms of price point, many do just settle with prov

international players will aim for national all the time.

pro version is just totally different quality all together.
if you say, national makes commercial looks like a baby
well, pro version makes national looks like a baby too.

 

[Tyce]

prov to national is pretty close
in terms of price point, many do just settle with prov

international players will aim for national all the time.

pro version is just totally different quality all together.
if you say, national makes commercial looks like a baby
well, pro version makes national looks like a baby too.

So could you translate this for me as a mere mortal, what does this quality entail?
Is it consistency? Durability? Tighter tolerance in specs?
If it is the latter, does that mean commercial version is by definition out of spec, or can you "get lucky" and receive a perfect spec commercial grade?

 

[zeio]

Official answer from DHS in the post below. There is more to it but that's a topic for another day.
http://mytabletennis.net/forum/foru...ype-around-the-hype-around-national-h3#992155

 

[JJ Ng]

prov to national is pretty close
in terms of price point, many do just settle with prov

international players will aim for national all the time.

pro version is just totally different quality all together.
if you say, national makes commercial looks like a baby
well, pro version makes national looks like a baby too.

Thank you for your reply.

I have been very happy with provincial 39 degree blue sponge (I still have like 6-7 sheets left). I just got a national 39 degree blue sponge but I cannot put that onto a blade yet until the sponge flattens out a bit after boosting. I suspect that provincial and national blue sponge should play about the same so thank you for confirming that. I will also find out shortly.

Some of the pro rubber being sold, such as Ma Long forehand 42 degree or WCQ backhand 38 degree red, I am not very interested because a) they are pricey, b) I don't use 42 degree hurricane on my forehand side (I am barely using 39 degree right now) and c) I don't use hurricane on my backhand side (I am used to bouncy, soft ESN rubber on that side).

However there is Chen Weng forehand 40 degree and Wang Yidi forehand 40 degree. So I am considering those.

Similarly to what @Tyce asking, I am wondering how much better these pro rubber sold by DHS through various distributors compared to National. More control? More spin? More speed? Or probably more speed and more spin, but yet more control? Somehow DHS finds the magic formula for those pro rubbers?

I will probably try to use up my current supply of provincial blue sponge 39 degree. Then move up to provincial blue sponge 40 degree. THEN if my techniques and my timing get better, and I consistently play 2-3 hours a day, 4-5 days week, I might try buying Chen Meng or Wang Yidi forehand rubber.....maybe....

 

[mcfly]

Thank you for your reply.

I have been very happy with provincial 39 degree blue sponge (I still have like 6-7 sheets left). I just got a national 39 degree blue sponge but I cannot put that onto a blade yet until the sponge flattens out a bit after boosting. I suspect that provincial and national blue sponge should play about the same so thank you for confirming that. I will also find out shortly.

Some of the pro rubber being sold, such as Ma Long forehand 42 degree or WCQ backhand 38 degree red, I am not very interested because a) they are pricey, b) I don't use 42 degree hurricane on my forehand side (I am barely using 39 degree right now) and c) I don't use hurricane on my backhand side (I am used to bouncy, soft ESN rubber on that side).

However there is Chen Weng forehand 40 degree and Wang Yidi forehand 40 degree. So I am considering those.

Similarly to what @Tyce asking, I am wondering how much better these pro rubber sold by DHS through various distributors compared to National. More control? More spin? More speed? Or probably more speed and more spin, but yet more control? Somehow DHS finds the magic formula for those pro rubbers?

I will probably try to use up my current supply of provincial blue sponge 39 degree. Then move up to provincial blue sponge 40 degree. THEN if my techniques and my timing get better, and I consistently play 2-3 hours a day, 4-5 days week, I might try buying Chen Meng or Wang Yidi forehand rubber.....maybe....

if you still ask those questions… clearly H3 is not for you. it makes sense that you use H39 because you still don’t know how to maximize its strength

i think you’re much better off with tensor rubbers.

 

[Tyce]

if you still ask those questions… clearly H3 is not for you. it makes sense that you use H39 because you still don’t know how to maximize its strength

i think you’re much better off with tensor rubbers.

Or, you know, you can actually answer them

 

[mcfly]

Or, you know, you can actually answer them

my answers won’t turn him into a better player if he’s still believing equipments are gonna help him

like H.Hu said, if the equipment is good enough then you should focus on the training and techniques. the fact that he is still wondering about those “pro player” rubbers says a lot