REVspin site؟

[TareqPhoto]

Hi,

I want to ask abut the credibility/reliability of the popular site REVSPIN for ratings and reviews or feedback, how precise or correct it is?

I ordered a blade based on the test i did several months ago, and also one rubber for the same reason, then i went to this site to read details about those two items, now how much correct the values and numbers they are giving on that site because i try to buy more other items based on their numbers/values using the one i ordered as a reference.

Where i can find the best accurate details about each blade or rubber so i know what to buy?

 

[Michael Zhuang]

It is very hit or miss. Some ratings are indeed fairly accurate. Some ratings are quite inaccurate. I have bought many rubbers based on very high Revspin ratings, and they have turned out to be quite ridiculous.

I have found the best way is to have a certain benchmark blade or rubber that you want to be compared to. It's very hard to just give a random speed rating to a rubber. It's easier when its compared to something that other people know. For example, everybody knows H3N. I would rate a rubber such as Big Dipper as definitely faster than H3N on most shots, except on the very hardest of shots.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

no matter where you go for public reviews or ratings, it is only suitable for the person giving such a review.
So for that reasons, I don't trust any review sites that are left by unaccredited reviewers.

I mean, a super low level player, might have all the money in the world and experiments 200 rubbers every month and leave 400 reviews on revspin.
The rating is only as good as a low level player.
Does the player know how to do a ghost serve? or spin the ball onto the nails of the other hand? if not, how can they understand what is spin?
If a player cannot physically do things on the equipment due to limitation of technique or skills, then that is also not a true reflection on the products capabilities.

If you want equipment rating/reviews, Yogibear on this forum is a good bet.

 

[TareqPhoto]

The problem is that what those numbers based on then? For example a blade speed is say 90 and another blade could be cheaper or a joke and rated maybe for 94 as a speed and then both are wrong anyway, so those speed values or spin came from where? So i will use my blade and i see it fast then i say the speed is 95, is that logic, the speed and spin or anything like blade hardness/stiffness and rubber durability are things i don't know how players/people measures anyway.

 

[TareqPhoto]

It is very hit or miss. Some ratings are indeed fairly accurate. Some ratings are quite inaccurate. I have bought many rubbers based on very high Revspin ratings, and they have turned out to be quite ridiculous.

I have found the best way is to have a certain benchmark blade or rubber that you want to be compared to. It's very hard to just give a random speed rating to a rubber. It's easier when its compared to something that other people know. For example, everybody knows H3N. I would rate a rubber such as Big Dipper as definitely faster than H3N on most shots, except on the very hardest of shots.

So the comparison is only according to the player who use the item only or also based on the opponent? For example i use a long pips rubber, i don't know what is the reversal or deception of the rubber because i am not a receiver, i play with it not against it, so how can rate that myself alone? I am not asking about speed and spin only here.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

The problem is that what those numbers based on then? For example a blade speed is say 90 and another blade could be cheaper or a joke and rated maybe for 94 as a speed and then both are wrong anyway, so those speed values or spin came from where? So i will use my blade and i see it fast then i say the speed is 95, is that logic, the speed and spin or anything like blade hardness/stiffness and rubber durability are things i don't know how players/people measures anyway.

well, you first need to trust the level of the person leaving the review/rating
then you need to trust that person is leaving an honest review and not all over the show
then, you hope that person is using the same scale as other 10000 blades and rubbers on the site.

Just imagine if you are relying revspin for your surgery, or for your kids education.... i don't think so

 

[The Pong Professor]

In my opinion, it is going to be very hit and miss since many different people contribute to the database. Things to contemplate:

- players use the grading scale differently
- players understand terms like hardness, stiffness, and gears differently
- players have different testing experiences (some of tried out few pieces of equipment; others a lot)
- players of different levels perceive equipment differently (e.g., a Tenergy 05 feels different to a 2600-, 2000- and 1400-level players).

This is the reason why, I started compiling and maintaining a database with my impressions based on 100s of equipment reviews (https://sites.google.com/view/thepongprofessor/test-scores?authuser=0). However, the site has not seen a whole lot of traffic, which made me lose motivation. Who knows, some tip jar contributions just might motivate me....😉

 

[TareqPhoto]

well, you first need to trust the level of the person leaving the review/rating
then you need to trust that person is leaving an honest review and not all over the show
then, you hope that person is using the same scale as other 10000 blades and rubbers on the site.

Just imagine if you are relying revspin for your surgery, or for your kids education.... i don't think so

With your point i feel it is like ...... IMPOSSIBLE.
There are many reviews for one item, sometimes one or none, so i can't check out all their honesty at ones, and some reviews are old back to 2010 or older if so, i can't follow each member or person to trust.

 

[Kixgubben]

I think the Pong professor sums it up as it is.

Then there even are some "misleading" information on the site,
The first list on Revspin for an example: The fastest, most spin etc. could be removed completely.
Currently Victas Ventus Extra is the rubber with most gears, most durable and best overall due
to a person with multiple usernames thinks so,

I am a bit of a pingpong nerd so I often look at this site anyway.

One way to use Revspin!
Sadly you have to try some different rubbers first. Some you will like some you won´t.
Go to revspin and look at the rubbers you have used.
Find users with similar opinions about the rubbers you´ve used.
If you are lucky you can use their revievs on rubbers you are intrested in.

 

[TareqPhoto]

In my opinion, it is going to be very hit and miss since many different people contribute to the database. Things to contemplate:

- players use the grading scale differently
- players understand terms like hardness, stiffness, and gears differently
- players have different testing experiences (some of tried out few pieces of equipment; others a lot)
- players of different levels perceive equipment differently (e.g., a Tenergy 05 feels different to a 2600-, 2000- and 1400-level players).

This is the reason why, I started compiling and maintaining a database with my impressions based on 100s of equipment reviews (https://sites.google.com/view/thepongprofessor/test-scores?authuser=0). However, the site has not seen a whole lot of traffic, which made me lose motivation. Who knows, some tip jar contributions just might motivate me....😉

Nice site if you did continue it or added more database, but i understand you, i don't blame you, i will do the same if i feel the same and no activities or traffic.

Thank you BTY for the site and efforts.

 

[TareqPhoto]

I think the Pong professor sums it up as it is.

Then there even are some "misleading" information on the site,
The first list on Revspin for an example: The fastest, most spin etc. could be removed completely.
Currently Victas Ventus Extra is the rubber with most gears, most durable and best overall due
to a person with multiple usernames thinks so,

I am a bit of a pingpong nerd so I often look at this site anyway.

One way to use Revspin!
Sadly you have to try some different rubbers first. Some you will like some you won´t.
Go to revspin and look at the rubbers you have used.
Find users with similar opinions about the rubbers you´ve used.
If you are lucky you can use their revievs on rubbers you are intrested in.

Still that won't work at best too, for example Butterfly T05 has like hundreds of reviews i assume it should be thousands also, and still people keep looking for another rubbers, i LOVE T05, but i can't justify buying it all the time for all or most of my blades, and because i started to play with other rubbers i found some are almost better for me than T05 and some are worse, and funny thing that the ones i don't like are people favorites, and the one i like is what people hate or can't decide and use it properly, so i can't also follow others with mixed reviews.

Another thing is, how can i trust the reviewers if i also have to trust the manufacturers as well, so i might buy same rubber few times, and i end up having like one of them is flawless while the other are crap, so who i should blame here? Same with the blade, i had Stiga Carbonado 195 in the past, the top wood layer came off from carbon layer from both sites without changing rubbers at all, even my first cheapest Chinese blade i had never had that issue and it is not lacquered at all, so i can't also question reviewers impressions if the brand also has issues in QC somehow.

 

[Haraold]

Thx Prof,Hope you keep it up.But its sad that the Main hub is Revspin and its established.
Hope you find the Motivation even if its David against Goliath!

 

[TareqPhoto]

Prof, good to see that you included Nittaku Ma Long Seven blade there because i have it but still i didn't assemble it, can you add more such as Yasaka Max Wood and YinHe N9 and also DHS PG9? And if you can please add some 7Ply all wood blades that can give good enough speed say 8-9 with also nice spin almost the same 8-9, once that blade of Yasaka is done assembled by the coach and i receive it hopefully next month then i want to mimic or even having a better setup than it.

 

[jk1980]

i think people underestimate the validity of these reviews in comparison to forum reviews.

Who says that the person giving a review/rating on revspin is less knowledgeable than the person writing in this forum and saying "rubber xyz is the spinniest, fastest, greatest ever". If there are more than 30 reviews for a given product on revspin one can clearly see that enough people with varying skill judge the equipment to have an average speed/control etc of whatever the final rating says.

Just because somebody puts their opinion about an equipment in several words on a forum makes this opinion not more valid than somebody rating it on revspin.

In both cases somebody was involved enough with table tennis to register on a website. That is the only thing we know about the raters/reviewers

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

i think people underestimate the validity of these reviews in comparison to forum reviews.

Who says that the person giving a review/rating on revspin is less knowledgeable than the person writing in this forum and saying "rubber xyz is the spinniest, fastest, greatest ever". If there are more than 30 reviews for a given product on revspin one can clearly see that enough people with varying skill judge the equipment to have an average speed/control etc of whatever the final rating says.

Just because somebody puts their opinion about an equipment in several words on a forum makes this opinion not more valid than somebody rating it on revspin.

In both cases somebody was involved enough with table tennis to register on a website. That is the only thing we know about the raters/reviewers

You can validate on forums, how do you validate yourself when all those ratings are just an "average"

And then talking about validate the comments/reviews left behind versus a forum where you can search for previous post and do your own validation on the reviewer.

 

[jk1980]

you can check what other reviews the reviewers have submitted and you can even check what they are currently playing with. That can give you a good understanding if you really want to be that thorough.

 

[damszelfly]

Regarding speed, spin and control, there could be very different understandings, like:
- speed in itself does not tell too much, just some mere average
- the speed with gears makes more sense, as should help identify bouncy rubbers (high speed, but less gears - poor close game, but less physical effort needed to return balls in general) vs. dynamic rubbers (medium-high speed and many gears - very precise short game, but sometimes much more physical reuirement)
- spin is again like an average, without mentioning how much spin could you make with the topsheet alone, or with the sponge
- spin with tackiness tells more about the topsheet's ability to spin the ball
- tackiness should be separated to tackiness and grippiness
- grippiness tells if you push the ball to the rubber topsheet, how much is the friction
- tackiness refers to the rubber material being tacky (sticky to the touch, ability to lift the ball) - many rubbers with tackiness values around 1-3 on revspin are not tacky at all, just grip the ball very well, when pushed against - also, I know a few rubbers, which are somewhat tacky, but less grippy than others (sounds controversial, but it is real)
- spin with throw angle tells more about the amount of spin achieved vs. the perceived speed on average (throw angle should be evaluated for different power inputs - when adding more power and getting higher throw angle, it means, that the sponge greatly supports generating spin)
- and there it is... CONTROL - I think, this is where the perception is the most divergent between players with different experience and skill levels - so this only relevant, if I'd say, there are at least 50 ratings, and then it is still just less than half-information
- furthermore, there is sponge hardness - topsheet firmness should be also rated, as it also greatly influences, how a given rubber can be interacted with

To get to a point, where one could have some kind of understanding, the only way is through carefully planned purchases of different kinds of equipment - for these, the most help is the detailed reviews, where players of different levels share their thoughts, how that given piece of equipment behaves in different game situations, or what was their expectations of quality regarding that product, and to what extent were those met when actually had it. Sometimes it can be interesting to see more expensive stuff, but while it is for exploration, cost-effective stuff tell more about the characteristics in most cases.

(Just a side note: After a few iterations with a few blades/rubbers from TT11, I made a deep dive into AliExpress, and I already found a lot of favourite items, and of course, not-so-favourite items as well. For somebody thinking about pips-out rubbers, Chinese manufacturers can give a few good examples, so one may skip the pricier German-manufactured pips-out rubbers.)

 

[Haraold]

you can and should use both,if someone like the Prof reviews something you can asume his level cabability and preferences,so it makes it easier to make an assumption how someone with his skill level comprehends the various Blades and Rubbers.
On revspin you have so much input ,and let´s be clear Advertisers from the manufacureres as well!,but if more than 30 have reviewed a Rubber or Blade you can say to yourself "well if a lot of people have somewhat the same assumption" you can trust it.
So its good to have both!
P.S. if you not want to good pips out German manufactured rubbers i recommend Spinlord,which are not as pricey and are probably as good as Asian Brand rubbers.

 

[TareqPhoto]

Well, i bought a lot already either based on that revspin or based on here or anywhere else, i just keep testing, because sometimes there is no better answer than experimenting itself.

I bought several blades in the past started with Yinhe N-11 and followed so soon by Butterfly Jun Mizutani ALC normal blade, later i added more from Butterfly and Stiga one blade until i bought DHS Hao III, this blade outperforms all other blades for me, but i didn't stop and bought more later, and again ended up getting Long 5x which also outperforms all blades i already have including that Hao III, so now i finished my fast great blade, i bought one Cybershape cheap 5ply blade for testing as i saw a fake copy for DHS HL5 there, so i assumed maybe that could be a nice backup to my L5X than Hao3, who knows.

Now, this year i tested a blade not mine for defense and it was amazing, so i have to return back that racket anyway, i tried to convert my N-11 to that but i failed, so i ordered that blade for myself to see if it is the same as i tested one, if so then great, but based on that revspin site i ordered more blades almost similar specs to that blade, now i don't know if the reviews there are accurate so the blades i bought can be same as the one i tested or even better or maybe worse, and then it will be a long journey difficult assignment to find the proper rubbers for them also according to revspin site, i don't have many resources to depend on about it, so i asked here as i know this site is so active and have a lot of skilled members, i won't ignore that revspin completely, but i should have open mind to anywhere else as support as well, and soon when i test my blade then i can start to fix other blades for tests and hopefully the reviews will be correct or good enough.

 

[TareqPhoto]

I have Nitaku Ma Long Seven before i even buy this blade i tested this year, but i was going to sell it out due to me loving that Long 5X, but according to Revspin, this NML7 is very similar and close to the Yasaka Max Wood blade i ordered, so i decided to keep it and bought rubbers for it, and then i bought another blade also with 7ply, Donic Ovcharov Senso V1, all of them will have good FH rubbers which is not a big deal, but the problem is only with backhand because i want to use them or test for defensive with LP OX, Yasaka Wood will have Phantom 0012 rubber because that was what i tested before and it was amazing for me even from first day or week of use, then within like 3-4 months it was nice but the FH rubber wasnot good for me, not mine anyway.

I ordered YinHe Neptune OX rubber according to Revspin, and also Tibhar Grass Dtechs, i want to buy one last LP OX rubber for test and i don't know which one yet, Phantom goes with Yasaka Max Wood, and Tibhar Grass i don't know if for Nittaku Long 7 or Donic Senso V1, same with Neptune, but i was thinking to buy a Yinhe blade to use Yinhe rubbers with it and leave Tibhar Grass and another LP for Nittaku and Donic blades, and i only depends on Revspin reviews to do kind of calculations and decisions, which is why i ask now about the validity/credibility of Revspin.