Setup for limited mobility player?

[dnelsen]

I have an elderly family member who has tried and very much enjoys table tennis. She had hip surgery a few months ago and has recovered remarkably well. Playing some light table tennis has been approved by her doctors as a good idea for her ongoing recovery and overall health.

She has great reflexes in her upper body but very limited lower body. Small steps but not a whole lot of footwork. So she plays close to the table with quick little drive shots. She hasn't learned any spins yet.

Can you please recommend a setup for her? It will be a christmas present, so I want something high quality. She really appreciates beautiful hand-made things, so an OSP or similar is reasonable.

I know very little about the world of defensive blades, but I assume this is where I want to be looking.... I'm assuming slow 5-ply wood, not head heavy, and lightweight (although is the lightweight part covered by lightweight pips-out rubber?).

Would a larger face be good? I know this is a common trait with defensive blades, but it also increases weight and likely results in a head-heavy feel so I'm not sure.

Also please recommend rubbers. I'm assuming not at all fast and quite insensitive to incoming spin. Does this mean pips out?

Thanks everyone.

 

[Lazer]

One really nice light blade is Neottec Amagi all+. It’s a little expensive compared to Chinese blades but it’s for family probably worth it. On this you can put Ak47 rubbers.

Cheers
L-zr

 

[dnelsen]

One really nice light blade is Neottec Amagi all+. It’s a little expensive. Compared to Chinese blades but it’s for family probably with it. On this you can put Ak47 rubbers.

Cheers
L-zr

Excellent. I’ll check those out. Thanks!

 

[blahness]

On rubber choice just put something like ox lp or anti haha

 

[PoppaChubby]

On rubber choice just put something like ox lp or anti haha

Grandma Ni XiaLan, she doesn't move that much, she does not spin the ball, but damn she's closed to the table and she makes kids like Prithika suffer

Seriously guys, those old "crabs" as we call them in France really make everyone suffer with ox LP.

The side she's not confident with: ox Long Pips. The side she's confident enough to attack some balls: 1.5mm thickness sponge Short Pips. Trust me, it's deadly !

 

[dnelsen]

I can’t tell what’s a joke vs a recommendation on pips out here. Can someone please clarify and be more specific with recommendations? Thanks

 

[Lazer]

Since pips are less sensitive to spin and an older person lacks in mobility pips may be a good idea. And they normally lighter. Some medium or long pips with a little sponge up to 1 mm is an option…

Cheers
L-zr

 

[dnelsen]

Since pips are less sensitive to spin and an older person lacks in mobility pips may be a good idea. And they normally lighter. Some medium or long pips with a little sponge up to 1 mm is an option…

Cheers
L-zr

Awesome. Thanks

 

[PoppaChubby]

Awesome. Thanks

Sorry yes we often joke with pips because some say those are not "true rubbers", mostly the frustrated attackers with inverted boosted/tensor rubbers who can't play vs pips out or anti defenders.

My advice was not a joke at all, I've trained many times with Stanislaw "Stachek" Styrna (RIP) who was in the national Poland youth team in the early 60's before immigrating in France, guess what everyone used at that time ? pips on both sides, and damn at nearly 60 he was still playing in tier 5/6 leagues in France, over 12 to 13 tiers. He was using ox Long Pips Tibhar Grass on FH and 1.5mm sponge Short Pips Dunlop Barna on BH with an old school AR+ blade. The man was closed to the table 75% of the time, sometimes even twidling, a true nightmare to play. Pushes, chops, chop blocks, and when you were starting to suffer, big BH slam in ya face. A true master tactician, he was the captain and coaching everyone in the team 1 of our club who had 8 teams at that time.