Moving forward from old blade, suggestions for upgrade

[Kokain]

Upgraded: DHS Hurricane Long 3

It's been a while since I played table tennis but after 7+ years, I've decided to come back and keep the hobby alive. Unfortunately I'm disliking my current equipment and it's running out of steam, in fact I really can't believe it's what I use to play with. My current blade Donic Waldner Carbon Senso doesn't seems to suit me anymore and I was hoping I can get some suggestion for an offensive player like myself what to get next. I'm not sure I understand the differences between wood or carbon blades, the handle style, or if weight is important. I guess if somebody asked me about my blade I will have to describe it as ALL+, it's fairly light, although not as light as a guy's blade from the club who mention balsm wood and it feels like a little toy (I haven't tested it in rally though, just held it). Also I figured flared handle is what all blades come with but apparently there is more alternatives.


Anyway, what would you guys say is currently a great modern blade? Most commonly used? Most decent supporting offensive play style blade? Any brands to stay away from?

 

[vvk1]

There is nothing wrong with your blade or your rubbers if you've just returned to the game after 7+ years of not playing. Just keep practicing, and it'll come back to you. If your Shrivers feel dead and no longer grip the ball well, get yourself something like Xiom Vega Europe in the same thickness as your current rubbers.

 

[Amayzde]

I would say Donic Burn Aratox + Andro Impuls Powersponge on both sides

 

[Killerspintt]

Waldner Senso Carbon is a great blade. What makes you think it doesn't suit you Kokain ?

 

[raazzz]

Can you not try any of your club mates rackets? Otherwise I would suggest an allround blade to start out with since you haven't played in a long while. Always good to start out with a lot of control.

 

[phillypong]

Nothing wrong with your blade !

It's been a while since I played table tennis but after 7+ years, I've decided to come back and keep the hobby alive. Unfortunately I'm disliking my current equipment and it's running out of steam, in fact I really can't believe it's what I use to play with. My current blade Donic Waldner Carbon Senso doesn't seems to suit me anymore and I was hoping I can get some suggestion for an offensive player like myself what to get next. I'm not sure I understand the differences between wood or carbon blades, the handle style, or if weight is important. I guess if somebody asked me about my blade I will have to describe it as ALL+, it's fairly light, although not as light as a guy's blade from the club who mention balsm wood and it feels like a little toy (I haven't tested it in rally though, just held it). Also I figured flared handle is what all blades come with but apparently there is more alternatives.


Anyway, what would you guys say is currently a great modern blade? Most commonly used? Most decent supporting offensive play style blade? Any brands to stay away from?

the Waldner Senso Carbon is still a top blade! Waldner plays it , 121 ittf ranked player Cedric Nuytinck plays it (do a search on his name for some videos...).
i know Cedric plays it because i was an official referee at one of his matches.

and i also got back to my wsc after trying some other blades. Technique is much more important than just the blade. Just be shure to take a blade with a handle that suits you well.

 

[tabletennis11.com]

Agreed the Waldner Senso Carbon is a brilliant blade, it's a little faster than ALL+ but well balanced and good feel. If you really want something faster you could try the Donic Waldner Black Devil, that is much lighter and has a lot of pace, or perhaps the Ovtcharov Senso Carbon

Perhaps give your current blade a chance and look at getting fresh rubbers and see how it goes for a little while first, especially with the new plastic ball in play and 7 years out of the game, it may take a while to get back into it.

 

[Kokain]

I've been practising all this time and got to experience a few blades in the past week. As raazzz suggested asking people to experience their equipment at my local club, is the best way to get a feel on what may suit me best and what to look for. Unlike rubbers there were many people out there playing with what I assume are discontinued blades as most I did not recognized even after writing them down.

The first thing I noticed of course is the different experience in handles from the blades I tried. I couldn't help but take a liking to straight handles more as it gave me better freedom when turning backspin into backhand topspin near the net. Not to mention serving felt much more loose and gave me the option of trying some new elbow servs I didn't like in the past. So one thing is for sure I will be trying to choose my next blade based on ST handles. One thing of course I noticed when I started to sweat heavily, especially with loose grip, the straight handle gives the illusion it will slip out of your hand. I purposefully tried to force this to happen but it never actually did. I can see why people explain the flared handle gives better support and feels more controllable, too bad it pushes your arm upwards all the time. Apparently Waldner Senso is suppose to have one of the best flared handles out there.
I want tomorrow to test a few more things and I will expand on my blade search further.....

 

[Kokain]

I've had the opportunity to try my blade with X-plode rubbers, believe it or not every turd player is using a Waldner Senso variations in this club. I can see how almost all players end up with this blade as it's often chosen by their coach/friend/team buddy.... Well my instinct was right, I hated it. I got to experience Donic Waldner Carbon Senso with new x-plode rubbers and it just gave me that taste of, oh no not this again. I dislike the fact that it's head heavy due to the hollow handle, it ruins the balance, the carbon layers also make a weird ping sound compared to the other blades, which is kinda annoying (I know it doesn't matter performance wise but still), again the rubbers compared to my old sriver feel better, quicker and spinnier, but damn the blade doesn't feel that fast. I'm definitely saying a solid ALL+ here. It simply runs out of steam away from the table. I also thought I owned a what is suppose to be light blade compared to my competition but it turns out 85g is actually average for all blades. Worst of all the price for these are not that cheap as they ride on Waldner's glory. I feel like you can pick a better blade for the price. There is some guy on here I forgot his name that mentioned Senso blades will be great once you fill the inside with something to balance them out. I kinda feel that he is right but then again why bother and not just get the right one in the first place. I've given few blades a try already and most are nicely balanced and play well better with similar rubbers.

Another strange blade I sort of tried was P.Chilla which is balms wood? It weights like 65g, it's ridiculously light and I sort of dry swinged with it as I couldn't test play. A young kid just got it via our local drug lord and his 25% discount lol (I'm talking about our discount guy that gives you a catalogue with Joola products mainly heh) Anyway the blade felt way too light for me but I guess that has some advantages. When I saw the kid play he was creating a lot of spin on the strokes (p.s he was using Energy X-tra Recycling Power) but he was loosing on speed rallies where it really mattered. Great blade but definitely not for me, it kinda felt like a toy but it's nice to know there is such a light thing out there. Pretty amazing and great for looping.

One thing is for sure after several plays with people's bats I think I want an all wooden blade now. No more carbon or fibreglass variations. I just seemed to enjoy the feel more even with those old outdated bats our club members use, that I can't tell you more about them as there isn't much writing on them.

I believe I've made up my mind on some choices and in the next couple of days I will be placing my order. Will let you know how it turns out.

 

[Kokain]

It's here
http://s21.postimg.org/borh00ok7/DMap_0481_0484.jpg
http://s9.postimg.org/yxx7tgc5b/DMap_0449_0453.jpg
http://s28.postimg.org/ab2ookif1/DMap_0454_0458.jpg
http://s21.postimg.org/tmpz91rvb/DMap_0485_0487.jpg
http://s12.postimg.org/6oh9v20al/DMap_0475_0477.jpg

What can I say, I wasn't planning on spending this much and was a risky strategy going all out for offensive blade, but the gamble paid off. I can't believe the thought I put into choosing a bat actually paid off and it turned out accurate. Already been playing every day for a week trying to find the range for this blade as they kept going off radar but I've tamed it now. Very strong comments on my aggressive play from other players so far. I love the fact that it's all wood blade, it makes a beautiful sound when I hit/smash the ball compared to the Waldner Carbon Senso. The speed is amazing too, effortless is the word I'm looking for, still not as fast as proper offensive carbon blade, but the control and sweet spot it has is perfect for me. Attacking from long distance surprises opponents and even myself. Short game suffers which is to be expected. I'm overshooting the table when I'm jobbing to someone by pushing them mildly and they end up flying with backspin 100 meters down the road. It's important to use loose wrist and fine touch to keep them near the net until an attacking chance strikes.
I kinda decided to spend a little more money for the fact that rubbers may not last but blades do. My team mates are good example of that by playing with some old cool bats that I enjoyed practising with. The call on the straight handle was right too. I read more into it and now I'm glad I switched from flared to straight. Feels better on the new serves I've been trying from that gay guy on youtube ?Bret Clarke? Backhand flicks also much more comfortable somehow. Yes, I forgot to mention one more thing. It really pays off to have a nice balanced blade. I like the fact that it's balanced and not head heavy like the Waldner Senso.

I want to thank TableTennis11 for giving me best price, deliverying very fast and lacquering the blade for free. Also TableTennisDB is the best idea ever. I'm glad I found that site.