Clips and Pips

I finally got my new Clipper in yesterday, and after a nice new coat of Varathane and some rubber frome Cole, I played with it for the first time today.

Wow.

Compared to my Dawei Quattro A+, this thing fits my style like a glove. �This Clipper is very light (~80 grams), but it feels much more solid than my 5-ply; I really know why people say the top gear on the Clipper is like hitting with a baseball bat

The rubbers I put on were both by Friendship: 802-40 in black with a 2.0mm Dawei Saviga sponge and Focus III in red with a 2.2mm stock Friendship sponge.

The 802-40 is a tremendously better fit for my style than my previous sheet, 1.5mm 799. �I'm pretty much a driver, using fast but flat topspin loops and hits, and occasionally looping long backspin. �I also chop and lob for defense. �This rubber combination is much much faster than the 799, and the real danger�to�my�opponents from it is that it is spinny enough to more than compensate for the extra speed. �My drives have much more kick and dive to them now, and lobs will drop down harder, faster, and shorter. �Chopping is actually pretty good, and blocking is much quicker that I'm used to, but ultimately puts more pressure on the hitter. �If you play a hybrid game like me, using medium topspin but lots of speed and power, 802-40 really gives the perfect balance of spin and speed. �The Dawei sponge that Cole put on is excellent: with two thick layers of regular glue left to dry overnight, it has a loud pop and lets the ball sink in well for�heavy�loops.

I'm using the Focus III on my RPB, and because I use it only about 25% of the time, I really haven't gotten a good impression of it. �It's very Sriver/Mark Vish: good short control and the ability to really dig in for spin and speed. �I'll post more after some additional time playing with it.

No joke, between coaching over winter break and this new setup, I've improved 30%. �People at my school who I used to struggle to play against now seem easy. �The training taught me how to get the techniques and form to deal with the situations; the rubbers and blade let me execute the techniques. �Someone asked me "Jeeze, what the hell did you do over break? �You're smashing EVERYTHING in!"

And people say that equipment doesn't matter.

I find it strange when short forms are used in titles. For example why don't you use clipper instead of clip?

loop+loop wrote: I find it strange when short forms are used in titles. For example why don't you use clipper instead of clip?

'Clips and pips" sounds so much better than "clippers and pippers"