Equipment: Men vs. Women+what you should use!

There are some informative threads rolling with lists of what the professional men and women use. I think it's only natural for us guys to idolize the pro guys and want to use the stuff they use, but let me throw this out there . . .

If my playing style, strength, speed, endurance, and overall level of play is closer to that of the top female players, why not consider what they are using as it may be a better fit?

Unless you can spank any of the top female players, why not consider their gear? You might not want to admit it, but unless your rating is way up there we are probably more like the women!

Why not?

If I'm wrong, please tell me why.

I think even though a guy and girl might have similar ratings. They usually have very different playing styles. From the perspective of a lower rated player, It seems that guys tend to play further back and look to setup loops and drives, whereas most girls I've seen like to play a more positioning game using very quick blocks and counters over the table.

I don't know too much about what equipment they are using though. I know andro makes women rubbers, but other than that when I looked at the Butterfly sponsored player list a lot of the girls are using much faster setups than me. hehe.

Anyways, continuing my rant. My final word, the pro guys play a higher level than the girls. The girls have physical limitations that the guys don't have that's just the way it is. If you're a guy who is getting stomped by girls that's fine, just means they might be more fit or more skilled than you at the moment. But I think there's no point in trying to aim to equal them. You should try to be the best you can be. The girls that are beating you are probably using that equipment and style because they are the fastest and strongest they will be and their stuff suits their capabilities. But as a guy you may have more potential to unleash other aspects of play. So why not hit the weights, do endurance, do plyometrics and agility training.

Better to develop new strengths then accommodate current weaknesses. That's my philosophy.

Just because it's used by women doesn't make it women's stuff. However, I wouldn't care if the blades were hot pink, wrapped in lace and a garter belt . . . if I play better with it . . . I'm with liXiao!!! We may be girlie men, but damn it . . . we're girl men winning points!

I would like to try the stuff that Zhang Yining is using

I never thought about that....But that is very true. I play like a woman,
I should go steal a woman's racket...

IceDefence wrote: I would like to try the stuff that Zhang Yining is using

Well it is possible to buy her blade. Its basically a custom AN korbel, but it has the Zhang Yining lensin the handle. You can buy it from bty.co.jp under their custom blade making section. And her rubbers are tackifire c and sriver el.

I am man enough to admit I play more like a women . . . up close with more angle blocking and smacking the ball around. Also, the lighter blades suit me due to my neck and shoulder injury. I don't stand way back and wind-up for big loop drives. I think I play more like a penholder even when I don't play my non-penhold style. I watched several vids of Deng Yaping. She's much closer to what I try to do that the boys.

Hence, I play more like a women so bring on the girlie gear!!

Lol

tommyzai, you gonna go buy a Nittaku Feminist with andro Plasma Women on both sides?

I wonder how heavy is Zhang Yining's setup.  Her blade listed at 92grams, bigger than normal bty size, rubber is about 70 and 60 grams uncut... Her setup probably be well over 180 grams.  I guess I am not woman enough to use that kind of setup...

on of those "tommyzai gone nuts" posts ;)

i think it's about time they came up with a combo for crossdressers. :) \

seasterl wrote: I've always been a fan of soft rubbers, and one I've been wanting to try is the Andro Plasma Womens "max."

seasterl wrote: Wingman wrote: seasterl wrote: I've always been a fan of soft rubbers, and one I've been wanting to try is the Andro Plasma Womens "max."   Hi Seasterl .  I would say its softness is very comparable to F3.  Impuls speed (30) < F3 BigSlam (32.5?) < Plasma W ~ F3(35?) < Plasma 380 (38) [given the softness of impuls and 380 are correct].  Little more speed than F3.   Thanks for that very useful info.  BTW, I'm assuming that it is a little lighter than 380, but does it also have at least some speed?

Pointless ! There's no specific "women's gear". They play with the same stuff as we do. Therefore, why should you swap to their toys. You already have them (all of them I should say...).

Well I sometimes like the rallies women have because its so fast and its like oh how'd she get that~!