Just curious how many Penholders are on TTD?

[Christian Adrian Aniceta]

Not at all .. the point I am trying to make is since you don't have access to a coach you have to work on your own skill to analyze, understand , feel and fix what is going wrong with your stroke ... its good that you are making videos , it will help you in that process .. you are always welcome to ask for opinions but then not all opinions may or may not be right, or may or may not be right for you ... so you need to develop your filter and understanding .... at the end of the day this is a very complicated and technical sport ... its very very difficult to improve without a coach .... and most of us in the forum are not certified coaches ....

I do value your opinion. and yes in the end improving would still be up to me..
for now I think I will try the basic fh and bh drills and some shadow drills..
and maybe try softer rubber on the forehand .. still thinking my rubber is too hard for my stiff blade which is not for looping

 

[ttmonster]

It will be a good idea to use a softer rubber to learn the feeling of sinking the ball in the sponge ... however, just to warn you , don't get into to the habit of changing your equipment too much , that also hampers with the development ... for now I would just twiddle and check if looping with Mark V is helping you ... do that for some time and then take a decision on changing the FH rubber ...

I do value your opinion. and yes in the end improving would still be up to me..
for now I think I will try the basic fh and bh drills and some shadow drills..
and maybe try softer rubber on the forehand .. still thinking my rubber is too hard for my stiff blade which is not for looping

 

[Christian Adrian Aniceta]

It will be a good idea to use a softer rubber to learn the feeling of sinking the ball in the sponge ... however, just to warn you , don't get into to the habit of changing your equipment too much , that also hampers with the development ... for now I would just twiddle and check if looping with Mark V is helping you ... do that for some time and then take a decision on changing the FH rubber ...

Yes.. I will keep that in mind.. I do have some moments of desiring to buy a carbon blade..
but I think I will try to fix my form for now and be more consistent..

 

[ttmonster]

Don't buy carbon blades ... you don't need it for now ... it will only mess up your feeling ...

Yes.. I will keep that in mind.. I do have some moments of desiring to buy a carbon blade..
but I think I will try to fix my form for now and be more consistent..

 

[Christian Adrian Aniceta]

Don't buy carbon blades ... you don't need it for now ... it will only mess up your feeling ...

I see.. I don't have knowledge much about it and I confused large sweet spot of carbon blades to good feeling ...

 

[ttmonster]

Most of us have gone through the same learning curve, large sweet spots don't mean good feeling , "it makes you feel good" ....good feeling is when you can tell whether you are hitting the sweet spot or not , whether you are able to get the ball to sink into the sponge or not .. etc ...

I see.. I don't have knowledge much about it and I confused large sweet spot of carbon blades to good feeling ...

 

[James Livesey]

Most of us have gone through the same learning curve, large sweet spots don't mean good feeling , "it makes you feel good" ....good feeling is when you can tell whether you are hitting the sweet spot or not , whether you are able to get the ball to sink into the sponge or not .. etc ...

Yeah, carbon is the worst IMO. it does sooooooo much work for you that it hinders development. I also somewhat feel the same about european rubbers on the FH. It's good to see you are using skyline, as it will punish you far more for your mistakes, and force you to adjust. Your goal should be progress, not success. Stick with it, and you will progress very quickly. Also, I learned (as have many before me) RPB with Friendship Focus 3 Snipe. it's very cheap, lightweight and the 40 degree is soft and forgiving. It'll be great on a clipper. However, what you have is absolutely fine and it's good to stick with something for a while.

 

[James Livesey]

Also, just wanted to say: I've been using Skyline 3-60 37 degrees boosted as my BH rubber, and it's pretty awesome. I've tried out Tenergy 05, MX-P, A bluefire and my old trusty Focus 3 snipe, and predictably, it's nothing like any of them. Ultimately, I think I like MX-P the most, but Skyline 3-60 has such great feeling and so much more control over gears that I think it's perfect for developing the stroke. It's not fast by any means, and a lot of shots I used to win off of I don't anymore, but it almost always sets up for a FH kill, and makes training far more effective.

 

[genrel001]

James, where did you get your 37 degrees Skyline 3-60? I think it will suit well on my Jpen as I find my G888 rather hard and lack "that feel" on my 1 ply cypress. Though I might stick with it for a while, but scouting for future upgrades is always nice.

People tell me that it's a bad idea, using chinese rubber over a 1 ply cypress, but I feel safer with tacky rubbers specially on service and return. And I play close table counter-drive so it provides better control and allows me to do full swing even close to the table. So +1 for tacky rubbers!

It's nice to see this thread alive again.

 

[SFF_lib]

James, where did you get your 37 degrees Skyline 3-60? I think it will suit well on my Jpen as I find my G888 rather hard and lack "that feel" on my 1 ply cypress. Though I might stick with it for a while, but scouting for future upgrades is always nice.

People tell me that it's a bad idea, using chinese rubber over a 1 ply cypress, but I feel safer with tacky rubbers specially on service and return. And I play close table counter-drive so it provides better control and allows me to do full swing even close to the table. So +1 for tacky rubbers!

It's nice to see this thread alive again.

Medium hardness Chinese rubbers work fine on single ply hinoki. You will find that H3-50 or 37 degree H3 both work well. Looping far from table is very controllable.

And serve is much better than Jap or Euro rubbers.

Passionate about TT

 

[genrel001]

Medium hardness Chinese rubbers work fine on single ply hinoki. You will find that H3-50 or 37 degree H3 both work well. Looping far from table is very controllable.

And serve is much better than Jap or Euro rubbers.

Passionate about TT

How does the 3-50 differ from the commercial H3? Also please compare H3 National Orange Sponge and H3 National/Provincial Blue Sponge. Thanks.

 

[James Livesey]

I've heard H3-50 is just worse than skyline 3-60. Heavier, not as consistent etc. I have seen Hurricane 3 with 60 sponge (XX's bh rubber) but it's rare and potentially fake, and there's another #20 sponge at 37 degrees Ma Long was using for a bit but that is also very rare. I'd try skyline medium or hurricane orange sponge in 38. those are replaceable.

 

[SFF_lib]

How does the 3-50 differ from the commercial H3? Also please compare H3 National Orange Sponge and H3 National/Provincial Blue Sponge. Thanks.

1- H3-50 vs commercial H3
H3-50 has a #50 sponge. It's much easier to hit into the sponge than the one in commercial H3, therefore better control and more linear.

2- Blue sponge (BS) vs orange sponge (OS) at different levels

In general, power, spin and control improve from commercial to national levels.

At the same level, OS is more linear and has more control than BS. However, the max spin and speed are greater with BS.

Bear in mind, non-Neo versions need to be boosted. Neo versions can play well without booster.

I have played commercial H3, H3 provincial OS, provincial BS, H3 national BS, and H3-50.

That is my experience.

Passionate about TT

 

[SFF_lib]

I've heard H3-50 is just worse than skyline 3-60. Heavier, not as consistent etc. I have seen Hurricane 3 with 60 sponge (XX's bh rubber) but it's rare and potentially fake, and there's another #20 sponge at 37 degrees Ma Long was using for a bit but that is also very rare. I'd try skyline medium or hurricane orange sponge in 38. those are replaceable.

Agree. TG3 is more linear and has better control than H3 in general.

You can easily get a H3 provincial 37 and boost it. Far better than H3-50, and cheaper than the rare H3 with 60 sponge.

Passionate about TT

 

[ttmonster]

I ordered a H3 Provincial non new blue sponge 39 degrees , I have Falco tempo long ... any ideas how many layers to put ?

1- H3-50 vs commercial H3
H3-50 has a #50 sponge. It's much easier to hit into the sponge than the one in commercial H3, therefore better control and more linear.

2- Blue sponge (BS) vs orange sponge (OS) at different levels

In general, power, spin and control improve from commercial to national levels.

At the same level, OS is more linear and has more control than BS. However, the max spin and speed are greater with BS.

Bear in mind, non-Neo versions need to be boosted. Neo versions can play well without booster.

I have played commercial H3, H3 provincial OS, provincial BS, H3 national BS, and H3-50.

That is my experience.

Passionate about TT

 

[ttmonster]

To give you an example of what kind of hardness I like ,I am totally fine with Hurricane 8 Mid Soft ..

I ordered a H3 Provincial non new blue sponge 39 degrees , I have Falco tempo long ... any ideas how many layers to put ?

 

[genrel001]

Thanks, guys! I'll consider your advice. I think I'll scratch 3-50 out of my list based on what James said. Also based on SFF I think I'll consider H3 National OS 38. I've tried H2 Neo Commercial 38 and I like the feel of it, too bad it's on my round Jpen blade so I can't switch it to my current jpen which is square. Also, I find the lack of tackiness from it hard to control away from the table.

Let me throw another wild card rubber: Tin Arc 5. Any reviews on this, I think it comes with 35-37 degree sponge.

 

[SFF_lib]

To give you an example of what kind of hardness I like ,I am totally fine with Hurricane 8 Mid Soft ..

The general principle is, put one layer of oil first. The oil will seep into the sponge. Once dry put a layer of VOC-free glue.

The glue seals the oil inside the sponge and makes its effect last longer. These two steps is equivalent to the Neo version.

Given your rubber is 38 hardness, i suggest you to try just the two steps above. If the sponge is still too dead, do one layer of oil followed by one layer of glue. I don't want you to overboost because Falco is known to make sponge too mushy if too much applied. Seamoon booster is designed for Chinese rubbers without the mushy feel.

PS - take the protective sheet off before and during boosting. Do not glue the rubber until it has returned to the flat shape.

Passionate about TT

 

[ttmonster]

Thank you SFF_Lib ...

The general principle is, put one layer of oil first. The oil will seep into the sponge. Once dry put a layer of VOC-free glue.

The glue seals the oil inside the sponge and makes its effect last longer. These two steps is equivalent to the Neo version.

Given your rubber is 38 hardness, i suggest you to try just the two steps above. If the sponge is still too dead, do one layer of oil followed by one layer of glue. I don't want you to overboost because Falco is known to make sponge too mushy if too much applied. Seamoon booster is designed for Chinese rubbers without the mushy feel.

PS - take the protective sheet off before and during boosting. Do not glue the rubber until it has returned to the flat shape.

Passionate about TT

 

[Suga D]

The general principle is, put one layer of oil first. The oil will seep into the sponge. Once dry put a layer of VOC-free glue.

The glue seals the oil inside the sponge and makes its effect last longer. These two steps is equivalent to the Neo version.

Given your rubber is 38 hardness, i suggest you to try just the two steps above. If the sponge is still too dead, do one layer of oil followed by one layer of glue. I don't want you to overboost because Falco is known to make sponge too mushy if too much applied. Seamoon booster is designed for Chinese rubbers without the mushy feel.

PS - take the protective sheet off before and during boosting. Do not glue the rubber until it has returned to the flat shape.

Passionate about TT

As with many things, there are different ways of boosting.

I for example was told to put a glue layer first before adding booster on the old 'regular' H3 and only put the oil first on the Neo rubbers since they already have a glue layer.
This is supposed to prevent a little from getting bubbles on the topsheet too soon from too much booster...

And yeah, Monster, it might be worth getting some Haifu booster instead.
Falco seems to work best on euro/japanese rubberz!