It doesn't matter what equipment you play with.

[Tyce]

Here's a hot take from someone who's been EJ-ing for over a year now:

It doesn't matter what equipment you play with.

You're going to become better at what you play. Whether that is slow or fast, wood or carbon, 5-ply, 7-ply, 5+2, outer, inner, it honestly doesn't really matter as long as you stick to it and play it for a long time.
I keep coming back to 5-ply wood, and for one simple reason: I've been playing with that forever. But at the same time, if I stick with any of the other choices I have, regardless whether it's a fast carbon blade or a slow defensive one, I will learn to master that.
Harder wood, softer wood, ZLC, KLC, ALC, Super versions, thicker, thinner, rough gear changes or smooth linearity... You get used to all of those eventually.

I like to use the idea of the power of 3, which is sometimes used as a rough guideline to forming habits:
- 3 days to get rid of the initial anxiety and take the honeymoon shine off
- 3 weeks to get the basics down to a level where you don't have to think constantly
- 3 months to get to the level of a basic habit, you lose most discomfort and uncertainty by this stage
- 3 years to master your equipment. By now you've learned 99% of what it does and doesn't and can apply its qualities to your game

I think even those who don't really EJ, but still get a new type of blade or a different type of rubber every year, are still depriving themselves of the experience to really be a master of their gear.

So grab a blade you like, for whatever reason (looks, brand, budget, your favourite player's name, weird shapes, your wife's mistress is playing it too) and stick-stick-stick with it.
Grab a rubber you like, glue you like, slap it together whichever way you prefer, and go to town with that thing!

(Obvious exceptions aside, like if you have physical issues that prevent you from doing certain strokes. But also those who play high amounts of hours will have a shorter time to get their advanced levels and achieve mastery. You can't, however, bypass the fact you need to generate neurological pathways in your brain.)

 

[Nakira]

3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months, 3 years: same steps when you quit smoking.

 

[Julzig]

Sometimes its hard to accept that the problem lies in oneself. It is just easier to blame equipment.
But I have to agree.

(Only for total beginners i'd say to not go for extremes in equipent)

 

[Doum]

Good to know i'm 2 years in my 3 years journey to become a master!

 

[piligrim]

So grab a blade you like, for whatever reason (looks, brand, budget, your favourite player's name, weird shapes, your wife's mistress is playing it too) and stick-stick-stick with it.
Grab a rubber you like, glue you like, slap it together whichever way you prefer, and go to town with that thing!

This is the problem. I can't decide what blade and rubber i like. Once I will find blade and rubber I like for sure will stick-stick-stick with it ))

 

[jk1980]

i would challenge the theory that you will learn table tennis anyway.
What you will learn is exactly what your equipment will allow you to learn easily (if we take into account most of us dont get regular professional training).

I think our forum posterboy Gozo Aruna can tell a story or two about it. If you think "hitting the ball" is table tennis, sure then anybody can learn to hit the ball with any equipment, but if you define playing table tennis by mastering the plethora of techniques available in modern table tennis, then no: you wont learn this with every equipment.

Since Gozo played with his one ply hinoki blade he found a way for himself to be "successful" by only slapping the ball without spin. if that is what you want to do, fine, but others might not call it tabletennis.

i had an opponent recently how played short pips forehand and antitop backhand and even he laughily remarked "if somebody says that i dont play tabletennis i can not fault them, but i win with it".

 

[Amayzde]

I agree, it doesnt matter what you play with. Eventually you will get used to it.

You might experience some limitations if you play with low quality equipment like a camping racket.

Even if you were to give a Viscaria Super ALC to a complete beginner, he will get used to it and play alright. He might not get the most out of it, but he will still be good enough to keep the ball on table.

Of course there will be blades, rubbers, boosters, etc. you will initially like more then the other, but in the long run you will play the same level. The only way to get your level better is to commit to serious training. A new racket isnt going to that for you.

 

[Tyce]

i would challenge the theory that you will learn table tennis anyway.
What you will learn is exactly what your equipment will allow you to learn easily (if we take into account most of us dont get regular professional training).

Most of us don't? I thought most of us were club members actually.
Learning what your equipment allows you to learn easily would be the 3 month step in my opinion.

I think our forum posterboy Gozo Aruna can tell a story or two about it. If you think "hitting the ball" is table tennis, sure then anybody can learn to hit the ball with any equipment, but if you define playing table tennis by mastering the plethora of techniques available in modern table tennis, then no: you wont learn this with every equipment.

Since Gozo played with his one ply hinoki blade he found a way for himself to be "successful" by only slapping the ball without spin. if that is what you want to do, fine, but others might not call it tabletennis.

Your example is off the point, as Gozo has actually been learning to implement spin into his game for quite a while now. But without specifically Gozo, if you build a game around setting up the slap to kill the point, I'd say it's as much TT as any other tactic.

i had an opponent recently how played short pips forehand and antitop backhand and even he laughily remarked "if somebody says that i dont play tabletennis i can not fault them, but i win with it".

Now we're getting into grey areas that I was trying to address by mentioning obvious exceptions. To be fair, mastering antitop takes quite some skill, and the best anti players are again those who stick with it for years.

So my conclusion would be still, it doesn't matter what equipment as long as you stick with it.

 

[Tyce]

3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months, 3 years: same steps when you quit smoking.

I quit 15y ago actually... Which is probably how I got this 3 thing in my head in the first place. I think it'll take 3 lifetimes before I stop liking the smell though

 

[jk1980]

Most of us don't? I thought most of us were club members actually.

professional training with a coach is something very different than the tabletennis club "training days" where everybody just comes in to do a few matches

Learning what your equipment allows you to learn easily would be the 3 month step in my opinion.

Can somebody get used to new material by playing 3 month with it ? yes, surely
Can somebody who does not even know how to technically execute the strokes with a too fast equipment ? hell, nah.
New Players/beginners will resort to "what works" which might be simple countering or blocking and tell them selves that "topspin loops are just too difficult for them" if the material is too fast and uncontrolled.

The questions is really "are you already able to do all the strokes that you think you need with any kind of equipment?". If you answer yes, then sure: go for something else and consistency will tell you if you can pull of the same strokes with different equipment. If you only know how to push a little and counter a little then you will basically make no progress unless you have a very good coach that will endure the pain with you and do many system drills to bring you up to a level to handle that equipment. Even you doing system drills with other stronger players is not a replacement for a good coach if you are starting out.

Your example is off the point, as Gozo has actually been learning to implement spin into his game for quite a while now. But without specifically Gozo, if you build a game around setting up the slap to kill the point, I'd say it's as much TT as any other tactic.

its not a tactic if you dont know better. It's not like saying "the opponent is good at X, so i choose to play Y". If you only have Y then it is not a chosen tactic but more of a limitation. There is a saying "if you only have/know a hammer everything will look like a nail to you". Good looking hammering in screws into a wall

Now we're getting into grey areas that I was trying to address by mentioning obvious exceptions. To be fair, mastering antitop takes quite some skill, and the best anti players are again those who stick with it for years.

So my conclusion would be still, it doesn't matter what equipment as long as you stick with it.

if the premise is that one can improve in handling one's equipment, yes. If the premise is actually progressing as fast as possible, no. Becoming a one trick pony with odd material will only enable you to bully some newbies. If that is enough then sure.

I will surely not come into the skill regions where i would bully a person with exotic material and that is totally fine.
I dont want to downplay the years of experience these people put into their material, but in the end i see it like this: There was a point in their life where they could have decided to learn table tennis (including handling spin with regular inverted rubbers), but they took the "easy" route and said "nuh, leave me alone, i will use material that will make the effect of spin in the game as minimal as possible and just try to smash everything". That is anybody's decision.

in the end we simply have different definitions of what "success" is, i guess. For some it is beating noobs with their material, for others it is seeing the own progress in technical ability and understanding of the game.

 

[StreamOfWater]

Here's a hot take from someone who's been EJ-ing for over a year now:

It doesn't matter what equipment you play with.

You're going to become better at what you play. Whether that is slow or fast, wood or carbon, 5-ply, 7-ply, 5+2, outer, inner, it honestly doesn't really matter as long as you stick to it and play it for a long time.
I keep coming back to 5-ply wood, and for one simple reason: I've been playing with that forever. But at the same time, if I stick with any of the other choices I have, regardless whether it's a fast carbon blade or a slow defensive one, I will learn to master that.
Harder wood, softer wood, ZLC, KLC, ALC, Super versions, thicker, thinner, rough gear changes or smooth linearity... You get used to all of those eventually.

I like to use the idea of the power of 3, which is sometimes used as a rough guideline to forming habits:
- 3 days to get rid of the initial anxiety and take the honeymoon shine off
- 3 weeks to get the basics down to a level where you don't have to think constantly
- 3 months to get to the level of a basic habit, you lose most discomfort and uncertainty by this stage
- 3 years to master your equipment. By now you've learned 99% of what it does and doesn't and can apply its qualities to your game

I think even those who don't really EJ, but still get a new type of blade or a different type of rubber every year, are still depriving themselves of the experience to really be a master of their gear.

So grab a blade you like, for whatever reason (looks, brand, budget, your favourite player's name, weird shapes, your wife's mistress is playing it too) and stick-stick-stick with it.
Grab a rubber you like, glue you like, slap it together whichever way you prefer, and go to town with that thing!

(Obvious exceptions aside, like if you have physical issues that prevent you from doing certain strokes. But also those who play high amounts of hours will have a shorter time to get their advanced levels and achieve mastery. You can't, however, bypass the fact you need to generate neurological pathways in your brain.)

Wow, as if tool is merely a tool and it's actually the skill of a specialist that matters... Who would've thought?

 

[Lazer]

Here's a hot take from someone who's been EJ-ing for over a year now:

It doesn't matter what equipment you play with.

You're going to become better at what you play. Whether that is slow or fast, wood or carbon, 5-ply, 7-ply, 5+2, outer, inner, it honestly doesn't really matter as long as you stick to it and play it for a long time.
I keep coming back to 5-ply wood, and for one simple reason: I've been playing with that forever. But at the same time, if I stick with any of the other choices I have, regardless whether it's a fast carbon blade or a slow defensive one, I will learn to master that.
Harder wood, softer wood, ZLC, KLC, ALC, Super versions, thicker, thinner, rough gear changes or smooth linearity... You get used to all of those eventually.

I like to use the idea of the power of 3, which is sometimes used as a rough guideline to forming habits:
- 3 days to get rid of the initial anxiety and take the honeymoon shine off
- 3 weeks to get the basics down to a level where you don't have to think constantly
- 3 months to get to the level of a basic habit, you lose most discomfort and uncertainty by this stage
- 3 years to master your equipment. By now you've learned 99% of what it does and doesn't and can apply its qualities to your game

I think even those who don't really EJ, but still get a new type of blade or a different type of rubber every year, are still depriving themselves of the experience to really be a master of their gear.

So grab a blade you like, for whatever reason (looks, brand, budget, your favourite player's name, weird shapes, your wife's mistress is playing it too) and stick-stick-stick with it.
Grab a rubber you like, glue you like, slap it together whichever way you prefer, and go to town with that thing!

(Obvious exceptions aside, like if you have physical issues that prevent you from doing certain strokes. But also those who play high amounts of hours will have a shorter time to get their advanced levels and achieve mastery. You can't, however, bypass the fact you need to generate neurological pathways in your brain.)

I am thinking You are missing the point... It is soooo much fun...

Cheers
L-zr

 

[NextLevel]

Here's a hot take from someone who's been EJ-ing for over a year now:

It doesn't matter what equipment you play with.

You're going to become better at what you play. Whether that is slow or fast, wood or carbon, 5-ply, 7-ply, 5+2, outer, inner, it honestly doesn't really matter as long as you stick to it and play it for a long time.
I keep coming back to 5-ply wood, and for one simple reason: I've been playing with that forever. But at the same time, if I stick with any of the other choices I have, regardless whether it's a fast carbon blade or a slow defensive one, I will learn to master that.
Harder wood, softer wood, ZLC, KLC, ALC, Super versions, thicker, thinner, rough gear changes or smooth linearity... You get used to all of those eventually.

I like to use the idea of the power of 3, which is sometimes used as a rough guideline to forming habits:
- 3 days to get rid of the initial anxiety and take the honeymoon shine off
- 3 weeks to get the basics down to a level where you don't have to think constantly
- 3 months to get to the level of a basic habit, you lose most discomfort and uncertainty by this stage
- 3 years to master your equipment. By now you've learned 99% of what it does and doesn't and can apply its qualities to your game

I think even those who don't really EJ, but still get a new type of blade or a different type of rubber every year, are still depriving themselves of the experience to really be a master of their gear.

So grab a blade you like, for whatever reason (looks, brand, budget, your favourite player's name, weird shapes, your wife's mistress is playing it too) and stick-stick-stick with it.
Grab a rubber you like, glue you like, slap it together whichever way you prefer, and go to town with that thing!

(Obvious exceptions aside, like if you have physical issues that prevent you from doing certain strokes. But also those who play high amounts of hours will have a shorter time to get their advanced levels and achieve mastery. You can't, however, bypass the fact you need to generate neurological pathways in your brain.)

I used to have bets with a friend a commitment device to keep me using the same equipment. If either of us changes rubber/blade, then we have to pay for two new sheets of our friend's rubber. Now I am pretty much Butterfly blade, Butterfly rubbers and just try to use them more and more precisely. Very light and controllable weight relative to what I used to play with and I don't overthink it anymore.

 

[netdriver]

the power of 3...........

dhs hurricane 3

 

[piligrim]

I used to have bets with a friend a commitment device to keep me using the same equipment. If either of us changes rubber/blade, then we have to pay for two new sheets of our friend's rubber. Now I am pretty much Butterfly blade, Butterfly rubbers and just try to use them more and more precisely. Very light and controllable weight relative to what I used to play with and I don't overthink it anymore.

I guess your friend has enough rubbers for many years )))

 

[NextLevel]

I guess your friend has enough rubbers for many years )))

Not really, he switches too sometimes and we offset and the restriction is mostly on competition, so you can still mess around with stuff, but you can't use it in tournamentsleagues/practice matches which encourages you to stick to one thing . But the main reason I EJed for a bit was that Golden Tango was discontinued, and since I settled on Butterfly, I have only used two blades/setups (Viscaria SALC with D05 and Garaydia ALC with D80).

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

HULK SMASH (tm) is so so yesterday. Gozo can do more than that these days.

 

[mamedium]

the power of 3...........

dhs hurricane 3

and 3 layers of Seamoon…

 

[NetProphet]

Here's a hot take from someone who's been EJ-ing for over a year now:

It doesn't matter what equipment you play with.

You're going to become better at what you play. Whether that is slow or fast, wood or carbon, 5-ply, 7-ply, 5+2, outer, inner, it honestly doesn't really matter as long as you stick to it and play it for a long time.
I keep coming back to 5-ply wood, and for one simple reason: I've been playing with that forever. But at the same time, if I stick with any of the other choices I have, regardless whether it's a fast carbon blade or a slow defensive one, I will learn to master that.
Harder wood, softer wood, ZLC, KLC, ALC, Super versions, thicker, thinner, rough gear changes or smooth linearity... You get used to all of those eventually.

I like to use the idea of the power of 3, which is sometimes used as a rough guideline to forming habits:
- 3 days to get rid of the initial anxiety and take the honeymoon shine off
- 3 weeks to get the basics down to a level where you don't have to think constantly
- 3 months to get to the level of a basic habit, you lose most discomfort and uncertainty by this stage
- 3 years to master your equipment. By now you've learned 99% of what it does and doesn't and can apply its qualities to your game

I think even those who don't really EJ, but still get a new type of blade or a different type of rubber every year, are still depriving themselves of the experience to really be a master of their gear.

So grab a blade you like, for whatever reason (looks, brand, budget, your favourite player's name, weird shapes, your wife's mistress is playing it too) and stick-stick-stick with it.
Grab a rubber you like, glue you like, slap it together whichever way you prefer, and go to town with that thing!

(Obvious exceptions aside, like if you have physical issues that prevent you from doing certain strokes. But also those who play high amounts of hours will have a shorter time to get their advanced levels and achieve mastery. You can't, however, bypass the fact you need to generate neurological pathways in your brain.)

I like what you're saying here so I don't want to be pedantic or objectively obtuse about your point. I think what your saying has definite application for regular players with regular equipment.
BUT
It does matter what your using when you have the wrong equipment.
Wrong blade, wrong rubbers together is an absolute disaster for developing players and I have seen this mistake a LOT!!
I mean carbon blade with Tenergy and rubbers as fast and players struggling in just about everything. Really trying, watching videos, asking questions but just can't get serves to two bounce short, can't push short or drop short, can't loop with any consistency on either side.
All because they were badly advised or misunderstood the impact of this equipment.
This is a small % tho as most players do choose controllable esn rubbers and regular blades.
3 years could be enough but the other '3' milestones don't happen 😬.