Need help with my first "good" racket

I am a recreational player and looking to buy a new table tennis racket. Since there are so many options I am a little lost and hoping some of you might be able to help..

My style of play is fairly aggressive (fast + spin). I used Yasaka Mark V paddle for the last year or so and it is very old now so I am looking for an upgrade. Also, it seems like I need to build my own paddle and buy the rubber /blade separately, something I've never done before. Any online retailers that can do this for me?

My budget is up to ~$120. Please let me know if you have any suggestions (specific brands/models will be great).

Thanks!

San Francisco

http://www.colestt.com/index.php this guy will hook you up

http://www.tabletennisdb.com/table-tennis-blade.php?id=729-dynasty-hinoki-carbon
+
http://www.ppgear.com/viewrubber.php?item=dawei-inspirit-quattro-ultralight

is my recommend

aside from cole's wonderful array of low cost good quality equipment try checking the beginner's blade and rubber thread in the equipment section

Although, I have blades/rubbers available for sale, I'd recommend Cole for low cost good quality products. www.colestt.com

well if i had 120$ i would buy a complete set up from butterfly only because its my fav brand. i would get sriver g2 fx (2.1 black) cermet (2.1 red) and a vsg1000. that set up might be too fast for you but thats what i would get for me. but what i would recommend for you would be a petr korbel with sriver el and sriver g2 fx. thats def under 120 and would be enough for you to control and to learn a lil bit off of.

bowebj wrote: well if i had 120$ i would buy a complete set up from butterfly only because its my fav brand. i would get sriver g2 fx (2.1 black) cermet (2.1 red) and a vsg1000. that set up might be too fast for you but thats what i would get for me. but what i would recommend for you would be a petr korbel with sriver el and sriver g2 fx. thats def under 120 and would be enough for you to control and to learn a lil bit off of.

Yikes. Personally I don't think this is very good advice. Before you go off and blow $120 on a $50 and $40 rubbers, it's important to identify what kind of play you identify yourself with, (or see yourself improving to.) That way when you do improve, you'll be playing with something you will enjoy with rather than wondering if you changed your equipment will you play better.

I made the mistake of holy moly I like to play fast so I bought the BFY Primorac Carbon. After reaching around 1500 level, I realized, it's too fast for me.

You want to first identify what kind of stroke you play with. Power stroke? Spinny stroke? Stroke with control? Fast stroke? These are the four qualities I think most standard players can identify with. For power think Wang Liqin or Ryu Seung Min. For spin think Ma Lin or Timo Boll. For speed think Chuan Chih-Yuan. For control think Samsonov. This is definitely not saying that you are going to play like these players. All of these players can play every different stroke but they have a distinct style that they will normally use and BASE THEIR GAME AROUND.

I posted this earlier in a thread called "Powerful Forehand Loop" when people were arguing that Timo had the most powerful forehand loop. The way I like to look at the way players stroke the ball are through a couple qualities.
1. Power - The quality of hitting the ball hard (more of a driving stroke)
2. Spin - The quality of spinning the ball (more of a brushing stroke)
3. Control - Placement emphasis
4. Speed - Rate at which strokes are hit at (girls play with high speed but with less power, often times the strokes are much shorter)

Wang Liqin is the quintessential of the modern power shakehand player. But he doesn't use an expensive blade (or he didn't before the glue ban). He used a cheapo all-wood blade Offensive Classic CR from Stiga. For him he could generate power from his swing and needed a blade with control that could handle it. Ryu Seung Min on the other hand uses Hinoki because he's a Korean penholder so he's an outlier.

Timo is the ideal model for the European-looping game. He has quick short strokes and plays with heavy spin. He plays a spin and speed game and because the lack of power he uses a blade with more kick to it, BFY TBS w/ carbon.

Girls play very close to the table with quick strokes that allow for fast rallies. Now these players often use blades that are "faster" and will usually have like carbon or something in them. These are the speed players.

So what kind of player you really? There's different kinds of fast but if you play with power and spin (kind of like Ma Long) then there are plenty of dwell time blades with ample power. If you play speed and spin, then maybe something with carbon or something might help.

I also believe that the Korbel / Yasaka Mark V combination will be great and will help you advance your game.

EDIT: Actually, I just noticed in the FS category a combo that may interest you, at a very good price:

http://mytabletennis.net/Forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=21244

Low Tek wrote: Actually I'd recommend a: BTY Timo Boll Blade ($44.99) with Sriver EL ($29.99) on both sides, or Sriver FX ($29.99) if you like more spin with a softer sponge. The combo will cost you about $105. Its the same combo I used when I bought my first pro racket. It was recommended to me by my coach and has served me well. As long as you keep the rubber clean and store it safely, it should last you a while.

yup, a decent blade with a couple of srivers. can't go wrong with this.
Or how about stiga, I think Stiga has more to choose from than BTY. the good old Mendos.

well the kid said hed spend up to 120 so why set him up with something thats 50$. petr korbel with sriver on both sides, enough said! case closed. perfect for noobs

JimT,
     Right on! 

Just because he has a budget up to 120 doesn't mean he has to spend it.  Maybe he doesn't know he can get something decent for under $50, and if he knew that he'd have an extra $70 to spend on lessons?

well thats his budget and im spending up to it. if his budget was 50$ then sure a cheap chinese set up from cole is perfect. but his budget is 120 and forget spending 70$ on lessons, its fun learning the game on your own. oh and whats that? another korbel sriver combo... hmmm looks like we have a trend going on, cant go wrong with that.