New rubbers for young athlete

[Agobiante]

Hi,
Looking for suggestions on new rubbers for my daughter (she's 10). Young athlete, traning 3x a week with private coach. Developing her game very quickly. Training for 2 years now.
Current setup:
Blade: TIBHAR Błaszczyk OFF+
Rubbers: TIBHAR Evolution MX-P & Yasaka Rakza 7
[Note: please don't hate in the comments if you don't like this setup, I'm not an expert in table tennis, this is what our coach gave us]

We want to change the whole setup because the rubbers are worn and she wants to change for Stiga Cybershape Wood (she really insist, it's this blade for sure, I can't talk her out of it). We are looking for a little bit of more control in the change, without loosing much of a speed, this is just how she plays, very offensively, hitting strong like a truck.

Can you recommend rubbers for this Stiga Cybershape Wood taking into consideration her age etc.? (best would be same rubbers for forehand/backhand) I'm talking about it with her coach for months and we never have a final idea...
Thank you

 

[Gozo Aruna]

Stiga Cybershape is good.
MXP may be too fast and bouncy for a ten year old. Rakza 7 on both side seems doable. Have fun.

 

[Agobiante]

Stiga Cybershape is good.
MXP may be too fast and bouncy for a ten year old. Rakza 7 on both side seems doable. Have fun.

So basically you are saying that we should buy again Rakza 7 for new blade (Stiga Cybershape wood)?
It's not a bad idea. She knows that rubber... What thickness? 1,8mm? 2,0mm? max?
Any other recommendation? Just to compare

 

[turbozed]

Cybershape seems like it'd be head heavy for a 10 year old girl. Might be tougher transitions between FH and BH, especially if she's going to be playing typical close to the table style.

 

[Agobiante]

Cybershape seems like it'd be head heavy for a 10 year old girl. Might be tougher transitions between FH and BH, especially if she's going to be playing typical close to the table style.

I'm afraid she will have to find out for herself (like I said I can't talk her out of this blade) if it's not working we will sell it and buy what I had in mind for her (Stiga Azalea Offensive). Anyway I'm looking for some advice on the rubbers for Cybershape wood for her. Yasaka Rakza 7 is one of the options (she knows this rubber which is always an advantage).
[Note: she is not playing typical close to the table style, run to mid-distance whenever she can]

 

[Gozo Aruna]

If she is a one wing attacker then max on FH and 2.0 on BH? If she is two wing offensive then two side max. Again these minute detail best let her coach advise.

 

[job59]

As a former coach (kids), I would strictly go for a moderate setup. At her age, the setup shouldn't dominate her style and therefore limiting her development. It's hard to give special hints out of your description only. Are you able to post some videos?

If she likes to play mid-distance, she should understand she needs a looper setup.

Thickness is a point where "systems" differ. I'm following the concept of thick rubbers (Chinese way). VH 2.1, BH 2.0 for intermediates. And in this case, the question about head heaviness becomes importance.

my2c

 

[Haraold]

maybe the normal Glayzer and Glayzer 09,should be a good choice.

 

[mocker88]

I think that the main thing is to conclude if her current setup is holding her back in any way. Now I haven't tried this blade, but I guess it's quite fast? And her Evolution MX-P is a fast, bouncy rubber too. The Rakza 7 is a nice.

If she plays good with this setup, Why change? Because she wants a edgy bat?
I would say that the Evolution MX-P is for experienced players that has gone through lots of years practicing, using less bouncy rubbers, but if it works and she has played with it for some time you might cling on to it.

To retain her technique I think you should change as little as possible in her setup, if it works and brings her forth.

I use to say that younger players and beginners benefit of using more linear rubbers to enhance their technique, so I would say that you should look at a little less fast setup, to make her develop her technique even further.

It's hard to say exactly what would fit, but I can give you an example.

In my local club we have a 9 year old guy, that played for about 2 years now. He's practicing 3-4 times a week, and plays a robot at home the other nights. He watches all youtube table tennis matches he can find, and I find him really intelligent in his thinking and listening to older, more experienced players etc.
He got an allround Stiga blade with Stiga DNA Platinum S Max rubber, and he plays good, because he's practicing hard all the time with these rubbers. He's got good control at back spin, loops and service, but as he loops, there's not that much spin, and this goes for pushes and service as well. All the setup is delivered by coaches that believe that "soft tensor rubbers is the only way to go, and anything harder can't be played with".

His father asked me, as I and my son and a couple of others use mainly Chinese rubbers, if he could try something like this. I slipped him an Haitian allround blade with Giant Dragon TopEnergy and 729 Dragon L rubbers. At a sudden his technique by brushing the ball gave spin and his opponents almost blocked the loops to the ceiling. After an hour he plays as good with this setup as the Stiga DNA Platinums, with the difference that he now has a deadly spin weapon included in his setup, with a lot more control.

I'm not saying that your girls setup is wrong, but if she works hard and develops her technique really good, why not give her a chance with a setup she really can control as well?

 

[JJ Ng]

I think that the main thing is to conclude if her current setup is holding her back in any way. Now I haven't tried this blade, but I guess it's quite fast? And her Evolution MX-P is a fast, bouncy rubber too. The Rakza 7 is a nice.

If she plays good with this setup, Why change? Because she wants a edgy bat?
I would say that the Evolution MX-P is for experienced players that has gone through lots of years practicing, using less bouncy rubbers, but if it works and she has played with it for some time you might cling on to it.

To retain her technique I think you should change as little as possible in her setup, if it works and brings her forth.

I use to say that younger players and beginners benefit of using more linear rubbers to enhance their technique, so I would say that you should look at a little less fast setup, to make her develop her technique even further.

It's hard to say exactly what would fit, but I can give you an example.

In my local club we have a 9 year old guy, that played for about 2 years now. He's practicing 3-4 times a week, and plays a robot at home the other nights. He watches all youtube table tennis matches he can find, and I find him really intelligent in his thinking and listening to older, more experienced players etc.
He got an allround Stiga blade with Stiga DNA Platinum S Max rubber, and he plays good, because he's practicing hard all the time with these rubbers. He's got good control at back spin, loops and service, but as he loops, there's not that much spin, and this goes for pushes and service as well. All the setup is delivered by coaches that believe that "soft tensor rubbers is the only way to go, and anything harder can't be played with".

His father asked me, as I and my son and a couple of others use mainly Chinese rubbers, if he could try something like this. I slipped him an Haitian allround blade with Giant Dragon TopEnergy and 729 Dragon L rubbers. At a sudden his technique by brushing the ball gave spin and his opponents almost blocked the loops to the ceiling. After an hour he plays as good with this setup as the Stiga DNA Platinums, with the difference that he now has a deadly spin weapon included in his setup, with a lot more control.

I'm not saying that your girls setup is wrong, but if she works hard and develops her technique really good, why not give her a chance with a setup she really can control as well?

I second that. Nothing wrong with cheap chinese rubber for developing players. I always get suspicious when coaches give young players Tenergy. Yesterday I played a kid with Viscaria and Tenergy 05 on both side. He is about USATT 1250 level player. I really really think he will do much better with a slower set up. But I did not say anything. Maybe when I get to know him and his dad better, I will say something about it.

Sometimes it is just easier for the club coach to sell all Viscaria and Tenergy to everyone....

 

[Lowday20298]

Cybershape wood is really good for all levels, the carbon would be a nightmare.

As for rubbers, stay away from mxp and tenergy, they hinder development since they require control that a 10yo will not have. Rakza 7 is well known rubber that isn't too fast, so why not, it's not that expensive either. Other choice would be xiom vega Asia and dhs goldarc 8. Goldarc especially is beginner friendly but has a ton of potential in capable hands.

Coaches usually sell their athletes old equipment or they just tell everyone to get something well known with good reviews if they don't wanna bother. Then new guys wonder why they can't learn with this brand new super expensive racket they just got recommended by their coach.

 

[Agobiante]

I think that the main thing is to conclude if her current setup is holding her back in any way. Now I haven't tried this blade, but I guess it's quite fast? And her Evolution MX-P is a fast, bouncy rubber too. The Rakza 7 is a nice.

If she plays good with this setup, Why change? Because she wants a edgy bat?
I would say that the Evolution MX-P is for experienced players that has gone through lots of years practicing, using less bouncy rubbers, but if it works and she has played with it for some time you might cling on to it.

To retain her technique I think you should change as little as possible in her setup, if it works and brings her forth.

I use to say that younger players and beginners benefit of using more linear rubbers to enhance their technique, so I would say that you should look at a little less fast setup, to make her develop her technique even further.

It's hard to say exactly what would fit, but I can give you an example.

In my local club we have a 9 year old guy, that played for about 2 years now. He's practicing 3-4 times a week, and plays a robot at home the other nights. He watches all youtube table tennis matches he can find, and I find him really intelligent in his thinking and listening to older, more experienced players etc.
He got an allround Stiga blade with Stiga DNA Platinum S Max rubber, and he plays good, because he's practicing hard all the time with these rubbers. He's got good control at back spin, loops and service, but as he loops, there's not that much spin, and this goes for pushes and service as well. All the setup is delivered by coaches that believe that "soft tensor rubbers is the only way to go, and anything harder can't be played with".

His father asked me, as I and my son and a couple of others use mainly Chinese rubbers, if he could try something like this. I slipped him an Haitian allround blade with Giant Dragon TopEnergy and 729 Dragon L rubbers. At a sudden his technique by brushing the ball gave spin and his opponents almost blocked the loops to the ceiling. After an hour he plays as good with this setup as the Stiga DNA Platinums, with the difference that he now has a deadly spin weapon included in his setup, with a lot more control.

I'm not saying that your girls setup is wrong, but if she works hard and develops her technique really good, why not give her a chance with a setup she really can control as well?

Hey,
Thank you for your elaborated advice. I agree with what you said. Why change? Because the rubbers are worn. Why changing the blade? Because of what you said, my intention is to slow the whole setup and give her more control. But because she is used to have a fast setup I'm trying to take baby steps with the changes.

Finally we decided to go with Stiga Cybershape Wood and put Yasaka Rakza 7 (2.0 mm) on both sides.
This is in line with most of your recommendations, my research and what my daughter feels about it.

Thank you all for thoughtful advices!

 

[Gozo Aruna]

Hey,
Thank you for your elaborated advice. I agree with what you said. Why change? Because the rubbers are worn. Why changing the blade? Because of what you said, my intention is to slow the whole setup and give her more control. But because she is used to have a fast setup I'm trying to take baby steps with the changes.

Finally we decided to go with Stiga Cybershape Wood and put Yasaka Rakza 7 (2.0 mm) on both sides.
This is in line with most of your recommendations, my research and what my daughter feels about it.

Thank you all for thoughtful advices!

Keep us posted on how she feels with this new setup.

 

[Agobiante]

Cybershape wood is really good for all levels, the carbon would be a nightmare.

As for rubbers, stay away from mxp and tenergy, they hinder development since they require control that a 10yo will not have. Rakza 7 is well known rubber that isn't too fast, so why not, it's not that expensive either. Other choice would be xiom vega Asia and dhs goldarc 8. Goldarc especially is beginner friendly but has a ton of potential in capable hands.

Coaches usually sell their athletes old equipment or they just tell everyone to get something well known with good reviews if they don't wanna bother. Then new guys wonder why they can't learn with this brand new super expensive racket they just got recommended by their coach.

Thank you for your advice.
That's exactly what happened here, our coach sold us his old equipment. Of course it's better that a racket from big box sport store but I always had a feeling it's not an ideal setup for development. It's ok because her progress is good but not ideal.

 

[Agobiante]

Keep us posted on how she feels with this new setup.

Will do.
The new setup will arrive in the end of February (there is a 2 weeks wait for Rakza 7), besides she has an important local tournament last day of February so I wouldn't let her touch new blade before to not shake up the preparation
Will post in March for sure!

 

[IB66]

If blade balance / head heavy is a concern, you can always go for the cybershape wood CWT, which has weights that can be added into the end of the handle to alter the balance of the blade slightly. More expensive though.

 

[Gozo Aruna]

Thank you for your advice.
That's exactly what happened here, our coach sold us his old equipment. Of course it's better that a racket from big box sport store but I always had a feeling it's not an ideal setup for development. It's ok because her progress is good but not ideal.

I wish to share some insight into how some coaches think.

Truth be told, coaches, especially those that are affiliated with franchise organization has incentive to recommend a particular brand. Say, Coach X is attached to Company X and Co. X is the sole distributor of Butterfly brand, it is very likely he will push Butterfly. It is logical as he will hustle some side income along with his coaching fee.

Another type of coach, say Coach Y, he will recommend Butterfly because all his professional career he is sponsored by Butterfly and hence he is only familiar with Butterfly product and nothing else.

Take the extreme case of my previous coach, he played with Tenergy his whole professional career and when anyone ask him what to use, he will without any hesitation recommend Tenergy paired with Viscaria for boys. Tenergy with Innerforce for girls. He does not know any other brand as he is purely a player / coach and not an EJ type of coach.

It is also in his favour as he can standardize his teaching especially when he trains mass number of players. He needs to standardize his teaching; call it industrial output.

For adult one on one class, he is more relaxed and will allow the adult players to explore, but his Butterfly biased will still be there.

 

[Lowday20298]

Thank you for your advice.
That's exactly what happened here, our coach sold us his old equipment. Of course it's better that a racket from big box sport store but I always had a feeling it's not an ideal setup for development. It's ok because her progress is good but not ideal.

I think rakza 7 is good for for beginners and advanced players, xiom vega asia and europe are also very popular.

 

[kingkimchi]

Hi,
Looking for suggestions on new rubbers for my daughter (she's 10). Young athlete, traning 3x a week with private coach. Developing her game very quickly. Training for 2 years now.
Current setup:
Blade: TIBHAR Błaszczyk OFF+
Rubbers: TIBHAR Evolution MX-P & Yasaka Rakza 7
[Note: please don't hate in the comments if you don't like this setup, I'm not an expert in table tennis, this is what our coach gave us]

We want to change the whole setup because the rubbers are worn and she wants to change for Stiga Cybershape Wood (she really insist, it's this blade for sure, I can't talk her out of it). We are looking for a little bit of more control in the change, without loosing much of a speed, this is just how she plays, very offensively, hitting strong like a truck.

Can you recommend rubbers for this Stiga Cybershape Wood taking into consideration her age etc.? (best would be same rubbers for forehand/backhand) I'm talking about it with her coach for months and we never have a final idea...
Thank you

3x a week private sounds costly-kudos to you richie rich! I agree with gozo : Cybershape clipper with r7 both sides. For the blade no problem, but for rubbers some alternatives could be donic baracuda, xiom vega series... I particularly like the vega europe, pro, and korea

 

[Agobiante]

3x a week private sounds costly-kudos to you richie rich! I agree with gozo : Cybershape clipper with r7 both sides. For the blade no problem, but for rubbers some alternatives could be donic baracuda, xiom vega series... I particularly like the vega europe, pro, and korea

I'm trying to support her passion and give her a real chance, you know we didn't start when she was 4/5, I'm not a former player or coach, my wife neither... I'm doing what I can. Anyway looking for a club for her, not a lot of options close to us though
I like the idea of Xiom Vega Europe, but Rakza 7 won because she is using it already and is used to it
Cybershape Clipper would be cheaper option and still Cybershape (what my daughter is excited about) but we already ordered Cybershape Wood yesterday and hope it will be ok for her!