This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
As a beginner, I've purchased and used a Nittaku Acoustic, Yasaka Sweden Extra, and Sanwei Fextra. I've also used a Donic Appelgren for a couple of weeks before I gifted it to my newphew.
All / All+ blades are indeed great for control but are so slow that you have to use bouncy Euro and Japanese rubber to get good levels of speed and spin. They will be too slow with cheaper rubbers (Chinese rubbers and hybrids).
I think it makes a lot more sense to get a faster blade (Off- minimum) and use cheaper training rubbers that are slower and more direct. Yes, you can probably play YSE with Rakza 7 for years and be fine. But Rakza 7 is $35+ everytime you want to change. And when you do want an upgrade, you're looking at rubbers costing $45 or $50+ (more than the cost of the blade itself).
To make it makes more get a faster blade and use cheaper rubbers to slow the blade down for a controllable setup. The Chinese seem to do this with 7-ply OFF- blades being the choice for beginners (DHS PG7, Yinhe U-2, Sanwei Fextra).
I prefer my 7 ply with Chinese rubber over the YSE with bouncy rubber (in my case Fastarc C-1). It may be slightly more difficult to generate spin with the harder rubber but, at my level, I'm guessing it's extremely minor compared to learning proper technique. Blocking is way more stable with the 7 ply and this means more club players are willing to practice with me. For me, I find it easier to get the ball on the table without the bouncy catapult effect.
It's also a lot, lot cheaper to go this route.
All / All+ blades are indeed great for control but are so slow that you have to use bouncy Euro and Japanese rubber to get good levels of speed and spin. They will be too slow with cheaper rubbers (Chinese rubbers and hybrids).
I think it makes a lot more sense to get a faster blade (Off- minimum) and use cheaper training rubbers that are slower and more direct. Yes, you can probably play YSE with Rakza 7 for years and be fine. But Rakza 7 is $35+ everytime you want to change. And when you do want an upgrade, you're looking at rubbers costing $45 or $50+ (more than the cost of the blade itself).
To make it makes more get a faster blade and use cheaper rubbers to slow the blade down for a controllable setup. The Chinese seem to do this with 7-ply OFF- blades being the choice for beginners (DHS PG7, Yinhe U-2, Sanwei Fextra).
I prefer my 7 ply with Chinese rubber over the YSE with bouncy rubber (in my case Fastarc C-1). It may be slightly more difficult to generate spin with the harder rubber but, at my level, I'm guessing it's extremely minor compared to learning proper technique. Blocking is way more stable with the 7 ply and this means more club players are willing to practice with me. For me, I find it easier to get the ball on the table without the bouncy catapult effect.
It's also a lot, lot cheaper to go this route.