Upgrade Suggestions Again :P

Secondly, a blade under $100 from these or recommend something better???: Butterfly Primorac EX = $68 (megaspin) Butterfly Primorac = $67 (megaspin) Donic Waldner Senso Carbon =  $60 (tt11) TIBHAR STRATUS POWER WOOD = $43 (tt11) Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive = $43 (tt11)

These are all good blades, but there is a little more variation here and the differences in feel are more meaningful even if they don't make you that much better or worse.  The only thing here that is slightly different is that the Primorac is OFF- and is slower than the rest and the senso carbon has carbon, even if it is not a power carbon blade.  I have been thinking hard about getting a PowerWood, and I definitely dislike the YEO because it lacks the kind of feel I like in a blade, but some people like the hard contact and stiffness.  But since I use a blade I bought for $50 with which I have played my best table tennis, I have stopped wasting my time with these things.  Every time I want to get a new blade, I just stay away from table tennis for a few days and go back feeling better and ready to re-appreciate my blade.

If you want to learn about blades, just find out what the materials in the blade are, especially the outermost material, and how thick the blade is.   Over time, you will develop preferences based on how the blade feels and how these materials affect your shot.  But this is not something someone else can force on you - you have to experience it but spending money is not the best way.  There are people who hate soft outer plies like limba or hinoki but I cannot play without them (as in I enjoy the feel of those materials - whether they actually make me play better is a different story, but enjoyment counts for something).  Timo Boll is using one kind of material, but Bojan Tokic is using an entirely different kind of blade, though both are supposedly the same speed in general.

Thinking to put a couple of these on FH: Tenergy 05 Adidas P7 Rasant Acuda S2 / S3 Bluefire M2 / M3 Maxxx 400 / 500 Thinking to put a couple of these on BH: Rakza 7 soft Rakza 9 Baracuda Bluefire M3 So please suggest the blades accordingly, and also mention the best tried combinations. Thanks so much in advance everyone!

Again, since the blade and rubber is not going to make that much of a difference to your game, just pick up one that has a good reputation and play with it for a long time.  People have reviewed these rubbers extensively and to be honest, I am not that good a player, but I am advanced enough that I can play at about the same level with any of them.  I would probably feel more comfortable now with T05, but that is because I have spent most of my playing career using T05 or Baracuda type rubbers on both sides.

If you have someone at your club who plays with these, use his blade and see if you like it and find out what it is made of. If you don't have anyone in your club who plays with these blades/rubbers, then don't waste your time.  Buy the one that makes you feel that you have the best equipment.  If you work hard with it for about 6 months, you will become relatively consistent with it over a period of time.  With that consistency, you can try out stuff from other people and see whether you like how it affects your shots.  Then you can decide to switch.  But these rubbers will not transform your game.  Nothing but putting in the hours will.

The only danger with buying fast blade is that without coaching, it will make you miss too much.  But since you are set on an offensive blade, I will assume that you have an idea what you are doing.


Edited by NextLevel - 09/17/2014 at 9:30am