What equipment should I choose?

[lucatt]

So I'm curenntly playing the Yasaka Ma Lin extra offensive and Donic Bluefire m2 on both sides, i play this racket sice 4-5 monthes. But now it's time to get a new racketand im wondering if i should change it. Im playing table tennis since 4 years and im D2 668 Elo (swiss ranking), and 14 years. So my question is should I buy a carbon blade, my technique is not to bad and sometimes i feel like i could have won this point, if my racket would be faster. I also think that I cant get so much faster with this racket I'm currently using. My idea of an good racket would be DHS Hurricane 301X as the blade and Donic Bluefire S1 on Forehand and on Backhand Xiom Vega Europe. So do you guys think I should buy an carbon blade or stick to the old, or a slower like Yasaka ma Lin soft carbon? If yes should I buy this equipment or an other with more controll?

 

[TensorBackhand]

I think 301 and its siblings are a fine choice. If that blade caught your eye, I say go for it. It has a little bit of good speed from the carbon, but also pretty nice feeling and flex.

I also used S1 and it is a very nice rubber, but I think it's better as a BH rubber. It gives you enough speed, and great grip and spin and confidence.

for your FH, why not use Donic A1. The topsheet is similar to S1, a little tacky, but the sponge is a bit firmer and has more to give on the FH side than the S1.

 

[NextLevel]

So I'm curenntly playing the Yasaka Ma Lin extra offensive and Donic Bluefire m2 on both sides, i play this racket sice 4-5 monthes. But now it's time to get a new racketand im wondering if i should change it. Im playing table tennis since 4 years and im D2 668 Elo (swiss ranking), and 14 years. So my question is should I buy a carbon blade, my technique is not to bad and sometimes i feel like i could have won this point, if my racket would be faster. I also think that I cant get so much faster with this racket I'm currently using. My idea of an good racket would be DHS Hurricane 301X as the blade and Donic Bluefire S1 on Forehand and on Backhand Xiom Vega Europe. So do you guys think I should buy an carbon blade or stick to the old, or a slower like Yasaka ma Lin soft carbon? If yes should I buy this equipment or an other with more controll?

You are young it is best to change when you are young and get something you can use for a very long time. So yes, I would say go faster earlier, because the feeling needs to be adjusted to and you will be able to maximize the benefits with training.

 

[lucatt]

I think 301 and its siblings are a fine choice. If that blade caught your eye, I say go for it. It has a little bit of good speed from the carbon, but also pretty nice feeling and flex.

I also used S1 and it is a very nice rubber, but I think it's better as a BH rubber. It gives you enough speed, and great grip and spin and confidence.

for your FH, why not use Donic A1. The topsheet is similar to S1, a little tacky, but the sponge is a bit firmer and has more to give on the FH side than the S1.

I think 301 and its siblings are a fine choice. If that blade caught your eye, I say go for it. It has a little bit of good speed from the carbon, but also pretty nice feeling and flex.

I also used S1 and it is a very nice rubber, but I think it's better as a BH rubber. It gives you enough speed, and great grip and spin and confidence.

for your FH, why not use Donic A1. The topsheet is similar to S1, a little tacky, but the sponge is a bit firmer and has more to give on the FH side than the S1.

but im not sure if im ready for a faster blade because an old guy in my club to me that this blade that im currently using is already to fast for me. So im not sure if hes right or if i should get a faster racket?

 

[TensorBackhand]

but im not sure if im ready for a faster blade because an old guy in my club to me that this blade that im currently using is already to fast for me. So im not sure if hes right or if i should get a faster racket?

you can stick with the Ma Lin for a little while longer if you are worried. It's not too slow. You should be able to win good points with the Ma Lin.

But if you feel like a new blade will give you a bit more energy and enthusiasm, I don't think 301 is too fast. I don't think the old guy is right, because 301 is not a very difficult blade.

 

[lucatt]

you can stick with the Ma Lin for a little while longer if you are worried. It's not too slow. You should be able to win good points with the Ma Lin.

But if you feel like a new blade will give you a bit more energy and enthusiasm, I don't think 301 is too fast. I don't think the old guy is right, because 301 is not a very difficult blade.

Thank you very much you helped me a lot!

 

[ShoutGuy]

Ma Lin extra offensive already is a fast blade, it has a hard top ply and it is fast even on soft touchs. I think a inner carbon will give more control for you, it was I experienced when a i tried ma lin extra offensive and normal version of h301

 

[Gozo Aruna]

So I'm curenntly playing the Yasaka Ma Lin extra offensive and Donic Bluefire m2 on both sides, i play this racket sice 4-5 monthes. But now it's time to get a new racketand im wondering if i should change it. Im playing table tennis since 4 years and im D2 668 Elo (swiss ranking), and 14 years. So my question is should I buy a carbon blade, my technique is not to bad and sometimes i feel like i could have won this point, if my racket would be faster. I also think that I cant get so much faster with this racket I'm currently using. My idea of an good racket would be DHS Hurricane 301X as the blade and Donic Bluefire S1 on Forehand and on Backhand Xiom Vega Europe. So do you guys think I should buy an carbon blade or stick to the old, or a slower like Yasaka ma Lin soft carbon? If yes should I buy this equipment or an other with more controll?

Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive that you are using is it the five or seven ply?

If it is the seven ply version with both side Donic Bluefire M2, then it sounds like a solid two winger looping set-up. I would not change anything.

If it is the five ply version, then either you can consider upgrading to the seven ply or put M1 instead for a slight upgrade.

The above are my thoughts, what do you think?

 

[dingyibvs]

YEO felt pretty fast to me, similar speed to the regular HL5.

 

[PoorPingPong&PianoPlayer]

The questions are what's your style and how thick blade you want, I guess. You could check these two reports...

Yasaka Ma Lin Carbon & Ma Lin Extra Offensive [Full Review] (updated on 12th October 2023)

Update Notice (12th October 2023) : The data of ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ has been changed from that of 2018 version to newer 2023 version. ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’s measured in …

ttgearlab.com

‘Ma Lin Extra Offensive’ is recommended for aggressive players who play with topspin at close-to-table area and mainly aim at rising of the ball.
...
‘Ma Lin Carbon’ can be recommended for all-round players who want to play with various table technics.

DHS Hurricane 301 series [Lab Test Report]

DHS ‘Hurricane 301’ is the blade family of inner fiber blades with Koto top layers. It is usually called just as ‘301’ series, but originally it is one of the families of hi…

ttgearlab.com

‘Hurricane 301X’ is recommended for the players who want to play with various technics including hard smash.

I wouldn't definitely pick Ma Lin Soft Carbon. It's slower and thicker than Ma Lin Carbon ;-) Currently I have two primary blades... beauty and the beast... thinner Ma Lin Carbon for various technics style (beauty), and thick super fast Carbospeed Ovtcharov for an agressive BH short pips (the beast). I love both of them.

 

[turbozed]

You should get a JOOLA ZQH 90, a Butterfly Lin Yun Ju SZLC, and a DHS W968. Then slap on some Dignics and then try all 3 to see which one you like better

 

[lucatt]

The questions are what's your style and how thick blade you want, I guess. You could check these two reports...

Yasaka Ma Lin Carbon & Ma Lin Extra Offensive [Full Review] (updated on 12th October 2023)

Update Notice (12th October 2023) : The data of ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ has been changed from that of 2018 version to newer 2023 version. ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’s measured in …

ttgearlab.com

‘Ma Lin Extra Offensive’ is recommended for aggressive players who play with topspin at close-to-table area and mainly aim at rising of the ball.
...
‘Ma Lin Carbon’ can be recommended for all-round players who want to play with various table technics.

DHS Hurricane 301 series [Lab Test Report]

DHS ‘Hurricane 301’ is the blade family of inner fiber blades with Koto top layers. It is usually called just as ‘301’ series, but originally it is one of the families of hi…

ttgearlab.com

‘Hurricane 301X’ is recommended for the players who want to play with various technics including hard smash.

I wouldn't definitely pick Ma Lin Soft Carbon. It's slower and thicker than Ma Lin Carbon ;-) Currently I have two primary blades... beauty and the beast... thinner Ma Lin Carbon for various technics style (beauty), and thick super fast Carbospeed Ovtcharov for an agressive BH short pips (the beast). I love both of them.

Thank you very much for this informationes. I've got a nother question from the 301 series wich would you recommend for me, so they are fast but wich one is the slowest out of these four?

 

[turbozed]

Thank you very much for this informationes. I've got a nother question from the 301 series wich would you recommend for me, so they are fast but wich one is the slowest out of these four?

According to the article, it's the 301Z. Elasticity index is what we commonly would think of as "speed" and the 301Z is clearly slower in their tests.

 

[H3R0]

Thank you very much for this informationes. I've got a nother question from the 301 series wich would you recommend for me, so they are fast but wich one is the slowest out of these four?

If you love very woody feeling and more control 301 might be your chose. Personally, I like 301X more. Because there is no transition between wood and carbon. 301X plays similarly to outer carbon blade with wood feeling.

 

[PoorPingPong&PianoPlayer]

Thank you very much for this informationes. I've got a nother question from the 301 series wich would you recommend for me, so they are fast but wich one is the slowest out of these four?

As 301X gives a hard smash possibility, I'd vote for it. I think that 'fast' is not the same as 'hard'. This week I tried my colleague's setup Donic Waldner Legend Carbon + Hexer Grip SFX on both sides. Very impressive setup, obviously very fast blade, unbelievable control, real pleasure for a technically oriented play, but no hard smash possibility. Still not sure if it's because of that blade or quite soft SFX sponge.

Well, you would definitely like some faster blade, but IMHO another important question is 'would you like to be able hard smash, too'?

 

[Lowday20298]

I only read the first sentence. Don't change a racket after only 5 months, the blade itself hasn't broken in and isn't playing to its full extent. Play the blade for a year or two and then see if you wanna change it. I'm in the same boat and I'm kinda stuck with the intensity, but I've used it for 2 years and have found that its weaknesses outweigh the strengths.

For rubbers it's a different story, donic rubbers are shit and die quick. Get japanese rubbers.

Edit: Ma lin extra offensive is the fastest out of the series, only being slower than the ma lin max carbon. And for rubbers, try fastarc g1 or tenergy 05 and tenergy 05fx. You won't need a new blade with these rubbers. 4 years of experience should be enough to handle any of them.

If you do want to change blade, it's not necessary, then the donic original true carbon inner and donic waldner senso carbon, not ultra carbon cause it's slower, are fine.

But the ma lin extra off is a fast blade, if you feel it's slow, then it's your technique and power application. It may even be faster than waldner senso carbon.