Life, Existence, and the Meaning of Long Pips - The Opus Maximus of James Z

[Creek]

Core is the thickest layer, therefore it cannot be a heavy wood type. Otherwise the blade would be too heavy. That’s why a lot of woods are not used as core veneers.
Balsa cores are very thick gonget a certain stability and they are very springy / catapulty
Kiri is light with a good hardness and usually used for outer carbon blades to get a little more flex.
Ayous usually is used for all wood blades and inner carbon blades. It gives stability and power, but is heavier than kiri.
Spruce, cedar and Hinoki are usually only used for all wood blades which are quite springy and special in terms of feeling.

I hope this sums it up, but Sergio might explain it in a better way ☺️

Fibers and handle shape are more or less personal preference.
Handle is only about feeling and not about playing style, fibers do have different characteristics, but this is only dependent on preferences (faster, slower, harder, softer, catapulty, linear, blablabla)

 

[t.t.s.t.a.r]

Why is it such an inconvenience for loopers not to use dangerous unhealthy chemicals ?

Why is it such an inconvenience for loopers to accept a limit of 1.7 mm max sponge to slow the sport down for longer rallies for spectators instead of 3rd ball & 5th balls attacks ?
Why is it such an inconvenience for loopers to give up 3rd ball & 5th ball attacks that drive spectators away ?
Why is it such an inconvenience for loopers to allow even a handful of choppers that give the highest probability of providing the best matches for spectators when a male chopper faces a male attacker ?

Have you ever trained against a spin randomizing robot ? Do you complain that the robot is unfair because you cannot tell the difference which head (or spin wheel0 produced which spin ? Would you like the head wheels to come in six colors ?
The reason for the two color rule was 75% political (I won't get into the long story here) , the rest 25% did make sense initially because one could make a case for spectators getting confused (even that was mostly a lie as was the case with ITTF's lame claim that they passed the Aspect Ratio Regulation to prevent juniors from leaving the sport) . But as more and more players started to understand the spins at all levels, this rule was becoming less important.
My personal objection is not with the 2 color rule just by itself in isolation but my objection is & has always been & increasingly is only in the context of the 8 rule / regulation changes that transpired after the two color rule itself.
The only time a player may have a very slight advantage from a one color racket in 2023 is when serving. During super fast & furious rallies, one is mostly a liar if they claim that they watch which side of the racket hit the ball.

I also personally don't really care what rubber or illegal boosters my opponent uses. I have checked rackets of my friends out of curiosity but not before a match but I have rarely checked the racket before a match.
But the problem only comes when the booster supremacists
1. feel it is perfectly ok for them to use unhealthy (according to ITTF not me) boosters & no real testing exists
2. want to keep changing rule after rule or regulation to limit the capabilities of pips / anti players
3. have a paranoid obsession about what their pips / anti opponent is using & want & get aggressive visual inspection of rackets
4. will still treat pips /anti users as 2nd, 3rd or 4th class citizens

Therrefore in 2023 the 2 color rule makes absolute no sense at all especially in the veterans tournaments or vetrans events of other tournaments if the loopers keep insisting on using illegal boosters & won't accept a limit of 1.7 mm on maximum sponge thickness or will not allow the use of high aspect ratio super long pips.

Nice try though on your part ..........to try isolate one change and try to blame the victim (choppers) to vindicate the culprits.

Do I ask to look at my opponents racket before a match?
Yes I do especially if I suspect the have pips or anti because it drastically changes how they play and it also means I need to use different tactics.
Do I look at which side of the racket they use during a long rally?
Yes because if they have pips or anti it vastly changes how I have to hit the ball, if they block a loop I do with their long pips it will come back with backspin, if they block a loop I do with their spinny rubber it will come back top spin, if they block a loop I do with their short pips it will come back no spin and floaty, if they block a loop I do with their anti the ball will stop as soon as it bounces on the table. I have to be quick and realise what spin is coming back to me so I can adjust for the next shot, unlike if I was using Long pips where I could hit every shot the same way and get pretty much the same result
The dangerous harsh chemicals?
Do you men baby oil? Those poor children must suffer so much when it is used on them.
Also I have used baby oil before and all it does is make the rubber ever so slightly more springy it barely changed how it played, also I never used that treated rubber in a tournament, it is currently on my coaching set up.
You may call me a "booster supremacist" because of this but I have no disrespect for others who play in different ways, and all anti spin/speed and pips if used correctly by my opponents can completely block or counter-attack back any third or fifth ball attack I do against them.
Your main problem for all this seems to be that table tennis doesn't hold as much value because the table tennis is too fast, you may also want to complain about the expedite rule next because apparently you love those 3 hour long matches so much.
Go to your local club, make friends with all the sixty year old men with large bellies who can barely move around the table, buy them all Super Balsa blades with High Aspect Ratio Super Long pips on one side and frictionless anti-spin on the other and have fun with them grumbling about how long the matches they aren't playing are taking with their sore backs, and stop preaching to us here abut how awful the world is coming to these days with table tennis and how awfully choppers and anti spin players are treated because at my club the three choppers who are all under 16 are some of the best players here with the most respect and nobody complains when they lose to an old guy with anti spin, they just try to focus on how to do better next time they play him at inter-club matches.
I have nothing against any of the people I have described above I just think you would enjoy life a little more if you went and played with them and enjoyed 3 hour long matches with them instead of going on and on abut how unfair table tennis is.
If you still want to go on about how unathletic players have become nowadays and that choppers had to be more fit, go watch videos of Cheng Meng, Sun Yingsha, Mima Ito, Lin Yun-Ju, Truls Moregard, and Wang Chuqin doing their workouts and their table tennis drills and tell me those players are less athletic than Joo Sae Hyuk ever was.

 

[lodro]

Go to your local club, make friends with all the sixty year old men with large bellies who can barely move around the table, buy them all Super Balsa blades with High Aspect Ratio Super Long pips on one side and frictionless anti-spin on the other and have fun with them grumbling about how long the matches they aren't playing are taking with their sore backs,

That's not bloody fair mate, us over seventies with the big bellies want free rackets too.
I insist !
Otherwise I agree with the rest of your statement .

 

[t.t.s.t.a.r]

A pips / anti player should never ever have to submit their racket for visual inspection unless the chemcial inspection of the racket is performed first.
Because chemical inspecion should be higher priority to visual inspectionn of rackets because according to ITTF (not me), boosting is a health issue




Does all this justify your breaking rule 2.4.7 ?


Yeah I have no respect for booster supremacists who arrogantly believe that they do not have to obey Rule 2.4.7



In a level playing field yes. But not a in a severely tilted playing field in favor of the supremacist.

However that is not my point. You seem to want to keep 3rd ball attacs stay in the sport. ed. But I am not giving excuses as to why other players cannot also 3rd ball like loopers. I am only saying 3rd ball is not good for the sport. Loopers always complained about how the deceptive rubbers end the point with spectators not understanding it but what is in it for the spectators if the loopers keep 3rd balling with no rallies.



But I explained this many times already. I personally don't care what 2.5 mm sponge rubbers or illegally boosted unhealthy rubbers you use. But the proble only comes when you booster supermacists have a maniacal obsession with limiting rubbers I am suing & you repeatedly succeeding by manipulating the ITTF to pass teh above 9 rule & regulation changes.



Oh yeah your club is so beautiful Congratulations,
That clearly proves that every other club in the world is also so beautiful & there are no pips hatemongers & also proves that ITTF is controlled by those who believe in diversity of playing styles. Thanks for the laughs.



Have you heard of the expedite rule ?
What % of the men's matches at the pro level have been expedited?
Actually I did think few of the matches that were expedited on women's pro matches were more exciting to me than the horrible 3rd ball attacks between two top 20 male loopers



Fine. Prove it.
All I ask is that the alleged GOAT, Ma Long play a challenge match on a level & fair playing field
With Ma Long using 1.7 mm unboosted racket against Hou Ying Chao & Chen Weixing with those two using high aspect ratio super long pips.
If Ma Long can beat them, he has earned the right to face the real GOAT of table tennis, Joo Sae Hyuk

I don't compete in inernational competitions with racket inspectoin, only local ones, and yes before a match you are allowed to look at an opponents racket, and I have never in my life had a problem with this. I honestly don't see why you do when no one else does. I show my opponent my racket and I look at theirs

You still call me a booster supremacist?
I specifically told you I never once played with boosted rubber in tournaments, did you miss that when you read what I posted?
Both my rubbers that I use in competition are 2mm unboosted spinny european style rubbers, I think you will find that is well within the rules of table tennis. I well and truly obey role 2.4.7, I have never used boosted rubber in tournaments, and I have nothing against the rule at all.
I have never met a single person who is obsessed with bosting as you seem to think everyone who isn't a chopper is.
Also limiting rubbers has never been a problem with 99% of players. Yes choppers are a minority, but still all choppers I have ever met and talked about rubbers with are very happy with what they have. I think this is something you need to make a formal complaint to the ITTF instead of coming onto this forum which was pretty happy as it was and calling us all maniacs and supremacists as these banned rubbers seem to be an absolute necessity in your life.

You ask me if I have heard of the expedite rule? Again, I was the one who brought it into the conversation and I am an ITTF certified umpire so yes I have indeed heard of it.

I do not understand how me looping the third ball to win a point is bad for the sport.
I do it in a game of table tennis in a bid to win the point and win the game. I also enjoy playing like that as well and I know many other people who agree.
You seem to think that table tennis is specifically and only for the spectators.
They do exhibition matches specifically for this purpose and half the time they end up doing long rallies for viewing pleasure rather than trying to win, they play those for the spectators.
But if you go to Durban and expect them to play all games like that when the players are trying to win an international title, many many rating points and a hefty prize sum then I think you need to re-evaluate a few things.

I think you need to set up a tournament at your club that uses only banned pips rubbers and 38mm balls, make that your own little world championships or something for fun.
Then afterwards everyone can go back to your house for a cozy sleepover and stay up all night drooling over a compilation of Joo Sae-Hyuk's best matches.

FYI: Joo Sae-Hyuk's best world ranking was 5th in the world.
That means at his very best there were at least 4 players who performed better than him.
Call him the greatest of all time if you like but remember that is your opinion which I'm sure other people may agree with but don't go calling other people insane for thinking he isn't because that is your opinion and not everyone's.
Everyone is different. You need to accept that. Times change. You need to accept that.
If you only like the old ways of table tennis then only pay the old ways of table tennis.
If you only like watching older matches of table tennis that have choppers using now banned rubbers then only watch those matches, its not that hard to find them on the internet.

But for gods sake stop coming on here, complaining about how table tennis is played nowadays, insulting everyone who doesn't agree with you and please start trying to be at peace with the world of table tennis.

You have plenty of money. Nobody is going to take your 10k at Durban. Either hire a lawyer and make a case against the ITTF, or splash out on older style table tennis equipment and set up a competition with that money where people are only allowed to use now banned equipment and you can perform super through testing against boosters and you can ban 3rd and 5th ball attacks.

There is always a peaceful solution.
You can fight against the ITTF, we probably would all be interested to see the results of the case.
But don't fight against us here.
You won't get anywhere with it.

 

[DukeGaGa]

I don't compete in inernational competitions with racket inspectoin, only local ones, and yes before a match you are allowed to look at an opponents racket, and I have never in my life had a problem with this. I honestly don't see why you do when no one else does. I show my opponent my racket and I look at theirs

You still call me a booster supremacist?
I specifically told you I never once played with boosted rubber in tournaments, did you miss that when you read what I posted?
Both my rubbers that I use in competition are 2mm unboosted spinny european style rubbers, I think you will find that is well within the rules of table tennis. I well and truly obey role 2.4.7, I have never used boosted rubber in tournaments, and I have nothing against the rule at all.
I have never met a single person who is obsessed with bosting as you seem to think everyone who isn't a chopper is.
Also limiting rubbers has never been a problem with 99% of players. Yes choppers are a minority, but still all choppers I have ever met and talked about rubbers with are very happy with what they have. I think this is something you need to make a formal complaint to the ITTF instead of coming onto this forum which was pretty happy as it was and calling us all maniacs and supremacists as these banned rubbers seem to be an absolute necessity in your life.

You ask me if I have heard of the expedite rule? Again, I was the one who brought it into the conversation and I am an ITTF certified umpire so yes I have indeed heard of it.

I do not understand how me looping the third ball to win a point is bad for the sport.
I do it in a game of table tennis in a bid to win the point and win the game. I also enjoy playing like that as well and I know many other people who agree.
You seem to think that table tennis is specifically and only for the spectators.
They do exhibition matches specifically for this purpose and half the time they end up doing long rallies for viewing pleasure rather than trying to win, they play those for the spectators.
But if you go to Durban and expect them to play all games like that when the players are trying to win an international title, many many rating points and a hefty prize sum then I think you need to re-evaluate a few things.

I think you need to set up a tournament at your club that uses only banned pips rubbers and 38mm balls, make that your own little world championships or something for fun.
Then afterwards everyone can go back to your house for a cozy sleepover and stay up all night drooling over a compilation of Joo Sae-Hyuk's best matches.

FYI: Joo Sae-Hyuk's best world ranking was 5th in the world.
That means at his very best there were at least 4 players who performed better than him.
Call him the greatest of all time if you like but remember that is your opinion which I'm sure other people may agree with but don't go calling other people insane for thinking he isn't because that is your opinion and not everyone's.
Everyone is different. You need to accept that. Times change. You need to accept that.
If you only like the old ways of table tennis then only pay the old ways of table tennis.
If you only like watching older matches of table tennis that have choppers using now banned rubbers then only watch those matches, its not that hard to find them on the internet.

But for gods sake stop coming on here, complaining about how table tennis is played nowadays, insulting everyone who doesn't agree with you and please start trying to be at peace with the world of table tennis.

You have plenty of money. Nobody is going to take your 10k at Durban. Either hire a lawyer and make a case against the ITTF, or splash out on older style table tennis equipment and set up a competition with that money where people are only allowed to use now banned equipment and you can perform super through testing against boosters and you can ban 3rd and 5th ball attacks.

There is always a peaceful solution.
You can fight against the ITTF, we probably would all be interested to see the results of the case.
But don't fight against us here.
You won't get anywhere with it.

Keep in mind who you're dealing with: someone who only reads the part he needs, and can use out of context to his own advantage. This said person (maybe? who knows if it is really a person) also likes to make stuff up, and use them as facts.

 

[t.t.s.t.a.r]

Keep in mind who you're dealing with: someone who only reads the part he needs, and can use out of context to his own advantage. This said person (maybe? who knows if it is really a person) also likes to make stuff up, and use them as facts.

Yes haha I do understand that. I was extremely thorough in that reply, at this point Jay Z can only make himself more of a laughingstock if he tries again to pull apart what I said and call me out

 

[DukeGaGa]

☕️ try coffee if you keep yawning, if that doesn’t help you should go to the hospital and get it checked. Also while you’re there, probably get your brains checked as well, I suggest a CT scan or MRI to be thorough.

 

[t.t.s.t.a.r]

No coffee needed, that was a more entertaining to read than any soap opera I've ever seen.
I don't think he actually read or took in a single point that I put across.

 

[SDC]

I think that Creek already summed it up pretty well. The core can't be a heavy wood, anything higher than ~400 kg/m3 starts to be too much, unless you want a really heavy blade. I would say that 6 woods types is already a nice variety for cores, within those types I also have some flexibility in terms of density for each specific case. I've also used other stuff like Bamboo, Tola and Mahogany.

I make blades for players, not playing styles, and each players has their own personal preference. If a manufacturer tells you a fiber, wood or handle is specific to a certain play style, they are BSing you. The combination of these factors creates a blade, and that blade might be more suitable for certain play styles than others, but I don't have a range of blades so every one of them is a little different from the other.

I have made hundreds of different handles shapes. I have about 15 FL templates alone, and within each template I can vary the thickness according to the specification of the customer. I make flared, straight, anatomic, cpen, jpen, dotec, conic, straight/conic, straight/ flared...

 

[Zwill]

All I ask is that the alleged GOAT, Ma Long play a challenge match on a level & fair playing field
With Ma Long using 1.7 mm unboosted racket against Hou Ying Chao & Chen Weixing with those two using high aspect ratio super long pips.
If Ma Long can beat them, he has earned the right to face the real GOAT of table tennis, Joo Sae Hyuk

Hou Ying Chao nad Chen Weixing can only use high aspect ratio super long pips on both sides? Or they are allowed to use their boosted inverted rubber too?
How is that fair playing field?

 

[zeio]

Is the OP Jewish?

 

[lodro]

No coffee needed, that was a more entertaining to read than any soap opera I've ever seen.
I don't think he actually read or took in a single point that I put across.

You are not wrong there, he misses every point and why does he think we hate him, he is
the best comic entertainment this side of the black stump 😂

 

[Zwill]

Where & when did I say that Chen & Hou can use illegally boosted inverted rubbers ?
Where & when did I say that Hou & Chen will use pips both sides.

You literally specified that they use high aspect ratio super long pips. Where does that include inverted rubber?
This I found strange since in my opinion it would cripple their game more than if they used their boosted inverted rubbers that they use normally.

On a level playing field, Ma Long would be using 1.7 mm unboosted inverted both sides
Hou & Chen would be using high aspect ratio super long pips on one side & the same previous inverted on other side but only 1.7 mm unboosted .

No. Your idea of level playing field is twisted. You are worse than ITTF since you are dictating what players can use even on your level playing field.
If you specify 1.7mm sponge as max for inverted rubbers than and anti and super long pips are all game then all 3 players have option to chose within these constraints as they desire. You cannot just say Hou Yingchao can only use this or that. He has the choice to decide what works for him the best and if he choses to keep his current pips and his current pips are within your level field than you would need to humbly accept his choice.

 

[DukeGaGa]

amazing, troll calling others troll, that’s new

 

[Zwill]

I am reasonably sure most readers of this forum know what I meant & if you want to twist this & chicken out & if Ma Long does not want to acceot my challenge , hey what can I say.

If you were a gentleman you would ask Ma Long and the others in person to accept your challenge. You're not even trying to make it happen in reality so far. You're requesting the 3 players on a forum that 2 can't even read and you're calling a result before the experiment happened. That is poor sportsmanship.

 

[igorponger]

Yes, I see your every concern very well. Yes, umpires cant yet enforce anti-boosting rules in proper manner for want of testing instruments at affordable price. Yes, we work hard towards providing umpires in lower leagues with digital instruments at economic cost.
FAIR PLAY FIRST, here we stand firm.

Yours respectfully
@ igorponger

 

[Zwill]

I don't understand why tennis players use their backhand at all. To me it looks like players have an insanely huge amount of time to swap hands all the time so they could play their forehand only. Most of the players have terrible backhands too so it wouldn't take much practice to surpass with their non-dominant forehand.

 

[DukeGaGa]

Ahh, I see the troll is still alive. Good for you.

 

[Attitude]

Lebrun is playing dirty by serving without checking if his opponent is in position.

Yuan tries to counter this dirty tactic by delaying his position until Lebrun checks on him. Lebrun never bothers to check, and it turns out it makes Yuan look dirty.

The ref did a terrible job here. There must be an official policy on this. If the server purposefully serves when the receiver has his hand up or is clearly out of position, he deserves a yellow card.

If the receiver excessively tries to delay, he deserves a yellow card.

It is a mix of both. Yuan Licen have the habit of taking too long anyway, so he exaggerates against Lebrun because of the reasons you mentioned.

Buuuuut for some reason Lebrun is definitly capable of checking if his opponent is ready, because he did it against every player he played in the higher ranks. FZD for example usually takes his time to set in as well, and Alexis havnt served a single fucking time without checking if he is ready or not.

 

[Metaxa]

Yellow and red without consequences, surely? The whole arbitration is one joke