Looking for recommendations

[Scarfed Garchomp]

If you end up getting a YSE and R7 but find the blade too slow, you can always ditch the blade to get something more ideal. Extra is a cheap blade anyways, and there are a variety of blades available at just as cheap a price point

 

[Godrules500]

If you end up getting a YSE and R7 but find the blade too slow, you can always ditch the blade to get something more ideal. Extra is a cheap blade anyways, and there are a variety of blades available at just as cheap a price point

Am I able to take the rubber off of one blade and put it on another? I assume that the new blade would have to be smaller right?

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

The YSE will be slower than your blade. Even if it is a premade, your blade is 5 layers of wood + 2 layers of carbon. I can't think of carbon blade that is slower than a YSE except for specially designed carbon defender blades. Yours is intended for offense.

Consider an OFF- rated blade. There are plenty of them that are better than the YSE (my opinion) and at half the cost. I've already listed a few.

You may not be considering how bad the rubbers on that premade setup are.

Or, what a super cheapo "carbon" blade that is made for recreational play actually is. A carbon blade can be slow.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I see some good advice and some not so good advice on this thread.

The rubbers you are considering are good. The Sweden Extra would be a good choice.

If you wanted something a little faster but still not too fast, you might think about one of these blades:

1) Xiom Offensive S
2) Butterfly Petr Korbel
3) Tibhar Stratus Power Wood

Those are all within your budget, faster than the Sweden Extra, but not so fast that it would make you wonder why the ball keeps flying LONG and going in directions you had not intended.

If you wanted to consider other good, offensive rubbers that are easy to control:

1) Xiom Vega Pro
2) Xiom Vega Europe

But the Rakza 7 rubbers are a good choice.

If I was you I would not be considering blades with ALC, ZLC or carbon in them. You will spend a lot more and they probably won't be so easy for you to control. But, if you did get one of them, you would just end up learning something that, perhaps, you would rather not have learned. It won't be the end of the world. But the Sweden Extra or one of the blades I listed would probably be better for your developing and improving your skills.

 

[SamTheMan]

Very true. I already feel that my stiga pro carbon performance is too slow. That's why I'm kind of nervous about it being slower than what I've got now. So that's been my hesitance.

It could be that it still could be the same speed or faster, I just don't want to spend the money and then find out it's slower than what I have now

The YSE will be slower than your blade. Even if it is a premade, your blade is 5 layers of wood + 2 layers of carbon. I can't think of carbon blade that is slower than a YSE except for specially designed carbon defender blades. Yours is intended for offense.

Consider an OFF- rated blade. There are plenty of them that are better than the YSE (my opinion) and at half the cost. I've already listed a few.

I believe it was the Stiga Pro Carbon that I played with during a hotel visit recently. I would definitely say that a YSE with R7 is both spinier and faster. If you would go for rubbers in max thickness I think it would be a good step up from your current bat. If you want an even faster blade, go with any of UpsideDownCarls suggestions

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

Am I able to take the rubber off of one blade and put it on another? I assume that the new blade would have to be smaller right?

1) yes, 2) not necessarily. Some rubbers do shrink a bit after usage though, but unless you're a stickler for aesthetics, it shouldn't matter all that much if the rubber matches to the edge exactly. Most custom blades are manufactured with a headsize of 157mm height x151mm width, this is basically the industry standard, while different manufacturers can make the overall shape a bit differently, the size is usually no more than +/- 1mm off of the standard size. Regluing old rubbers on to different blades is a fairly common practice, with a bit of firsthand experience you should be able to do it without much issue, but problems you can run into are the blade splintering when you remove the rubber which can be solved by lightly treating the surface of the blade with a wood sealer, or the rubber sponge crumbling and tearing if you remove the glue- this is more dependent on the brand of glue, and the integrity of the sponge, but you don't have to remove the leftover glue every time you reglue rubbers.

 

[Mionixxd]

Hello, I am looking for some advice on getting a custom racket. I am a fairly offensive player who likes to play with spin and power, but don't know if my foot work is consistent enough to say that I have excellent control. I have been playing for about 7 or 8 years. My skill level is difficult to determine since I've never played in a gym, but of other people in similar situations I am the best player of the people I've played with over the years (would most likely lose most matches at a table tennis gym lol). But I've never had a custom bat before so I was hoping for some suggestions. I saw a coach online recommend the Rakza 7 for a first custom bat, so if that's still a good choice for rubbers (up for recommendations) I am looking for some advice on a good blade. Hoping to stay under 100 dollars for the blade, but definitely no more than 150.

--- Edit ---
I am currently using the Stiga pro carbon performance.

Thanks!

So have you decided on your bat setup?

 

[Godrules500]

So have you decided on your bat setup?

I think the yasaka Sweden extra with Rakza 7s. I was almost going to go with the korbel because it's a little faster, but being that it was made in the 1990s, I wasn't sure if that mattered since it's older.

Plus a lot of people have said the YSE is a good combo and if it's faster and a more controllable blade, it'll help me build my confidence more on my strikes and loops which I often hold back in games due to nerves.

Just hoping it's still faster than what I've got now Which it sounds like it'll still be a decent bit faster just because of the quality of the rubber!

 

[Godrules500]

....Unless y'all think I should do the YSE and Rakza soft 🤦. Being in this head can be difficult at times lol.

I do appreciate all of y'all's patience in dealing with me 😇.

 

[Godrules500]

Nope! I'm doing the Rakza 7. And that's final......man, I feel like repunzel in the tangled movie lol 🤦

 

[Haito]

....Unless y'all think I should do the YSE and Rakza soft 🤦. Being in this head can be difficult at times lol.

I do appreciate all of y'all's patience in dealing with me 😇.

Do you train with coach?

 

[Godrules500]

Do you train with coach?

Nope. Self trained but still pretty good for someone that hasn't been coached.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

Nope! I'm doing the Rakza 7. And that's final......man, I feel like repunzel in the tangled movie lol 🤦

Get it and forget about it.

Take it from someone who has had boxes of blades and more than enough rubbers for said blades, it will only get as bad as you let it.

 

[Haito]

Nope. Self trained but still pretty good for someone that hasn't been coached.

get Rakza 7 FH and 7 Soft BH and as previous guy said. Don't think about it.

 

[Mionixxd]

I think the yasaka Sweden extra with Rakza 7s. I was almost going to go with the korbel because it's a little faster, but being that it was made in the 1990s, I wasn't sure if that mattered since it's older.

Plus a lot of people have said the YSE is a good combo and if it's faster and a more controllable blade, it'll help me build my confidence more on my strikes and loops which I often hold back in games due to nerves.

Just hoping it's still faster than what I've got now Which it sounds like it'll still be a decent bit faster just because of the quality of the rubber!

That's good, it's a great setup and you can play with it for years.

 

[Trevize84]

Recently bought a Yasaka Sweden Extra. I put soft rubbers because advices online said that the soft rubbers allow the blade to give an extra kick. Oh my... when I'm at the table the wood sounds a symphony. I tried Tibhar FX-S and Xiom Vega Europe both ~2.0mm.

When my coach tried the bat, he got impressed. He didn't know this blade and now he suggests the product to all the other beginners!

The Tibhar FX-S is an absolute piece of garbage in my humble opinion, humidity kills the performance of the rubber and after one month is even worse. I'm sure my ability to play the game is garbage as well, but first 2 times I used it, the rubber felt good. After those 2 times, with temperature and humidity increased in the place where I play, I have now something I cannot control and the ball is bouncing weirdly in random directions. Litter, seriously.

The Xiom Vega Europe is like good Italian wine, the older the better. For the price it costs, it's worth every single cent. The rubber has a lot of control and at first it feels just decent rubber that doesn't shine, but after a while you realize that is consistent and you can put the ball exactly where you expect the ball to go. Maybe I'll end up with that rubber on both sides.

Soon I'll try Gewo Hype EL Pro 40 and Andro Rasanter R42 (both ~2.0mm). I hope one of those to pair well with the Xiom Vega Europe.

 

[Godrules500]

I see some good advice and some not so good advice on this thread.

The rubbers you are considering are good. The Sweden Extra would be a good choice.

If you wanted something a little faster but still not too fast, you might think about one of these blades:

1) Xiom Offensive S
2) Butterfly Petr Korbel
3) Tibhar Stratus Power Wood

Those are all within your budget, faster than the Sweden Extra, but not so fast that it would make you wonder why the ball keeps flying LONG and going in directions you had not intended.

If you wanted to consider other good, offensive rubbers that are easy to control:

1) Xiom Vega Pro
2) Xiom Vega Europe

But the Rakza 7 rubbers are a good choice.

If I was you I would not be considering blades with ALC, ZLC or carbon in them. You will spend a lot more and they probably won't be so easy for you to control. But, if you did get one of them, you would just end up learning something that, perhaps, you would rather not have learned. It won't be the end of the world. But the Sweden Extra or one of the blades I listed would probably be better for your developing and improving your skills.

Hey! So I went with the Rakza 7 and the sweden extra, and it's great. I do find the setup a little slow and I was curious of what would be the best way to upgrade next. For when I decide to upgrade, is it better to just upgrade the rubbers or am I able to upgrade my blade, and just put my existing rakza 7 rubbers on the new blade?

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Hey! So I went with the Rakza 7 and the sweden extra, and it's great. I do find the setup a little slow and I was curious of what would be the best way to upgrade next. For when I decide to upgrade, is it better to just upgrade the rubbers or am I able to upgrade my blade, and just put my existing rakza 7 rubbers on the new blade?

You could upgrade the rubbers. You could get a different blade and transfer the rubbers onto the new blade.

But one thing to know is, if the setup is a little slow, one of the positive aspects to that is that it makes you work a little harder to get a good quality ball that has power. This can help your stroke improve faster than if the equipment does more of the work for you. It can also improve your contact and your timing since more needs to go right for you to create a quality shot.

In the end, if your goal is to improve and get better faster, that scenario I just described above is ideal. If you use this setup for 6 months to 2 years, by the time you switch to a slightly faster blade and/or rubbers, you will have a full solid stroke and then you will be able to get more out of the faster equipment since you did the work with the slower setup for long enough to get the better mechanics into muscle memory.

If your goal is to win now and you don't care about improving, then any equipment you want to try is fine. But if your goal is to improve, using the slower setup will actually be really beneficial. By being afforded the ability to swing exponentially harder without losing control and while still getting the ball to land on the table, your technique will improve more than if you had faster equipment.

But I know, lots of players who are mid-level or lower want equipment that is fast without understanding the downsides to this.

Still, it is a personal choice.