Need advice for buying a racket

I do not want anything too expensive (under $70 for the blade if possible) and since I know very little about blades/rubber I might opt for something that can be assembled for me. One option I considered was the DHS A5002 on Amazon, but reviews said this was a ripoff and not the actual paddle. Another was the STIGA Evolution and STIGA Pro Carbon paddles.

As for my playstyle, I am still experimenting and would describe myself as an all-rounder. I mostly play defensively, but am very aggressive on my backhand side. I would prefer something that allows me to generate a lot of topspin, but is not too heavy/dense (such as my current paddle) so I can have better control. I use the shakehand grip.

Any general recommendations? 

A standard reply here on the forum for those in your situation and who live in the US is to check out

Reading his descriptions of rubbers and blades can give you some insight into what different kind of options are generally available (not just at his site).  You can also e-mail him or call him and discuss options from his offerings. 

When you talk about being defensive it would help if you could provide more detail such as do you block or chop block close to the table, or back off and block, or back off and chop , or back off and lob or hit lots of higher slow topspin, or back off and just get the ball back anyway you can.

Also on the aggressive Bh do you loop, hit flat (no spin), or punch block and is it generally from close to table, mid-range, or far back.

Our club just bought some of his "Pre-made Busters" and a couple of players who came in with their own recreational pre-made rackets tried them and now ask for them whenever they come in.

I personally used the Dawei Matrix blade and the Inspirit Quattro Ultralight rubbers for about 5 years while playing between a USATT rating of 1500-1900.   That combination might be a little faster than you want (or can control) especially if you tend to be more defensive.

Another on-line dealer with good entry level priced equipment is ZeroPong.

They are very good about discussing choices on the phone.

Good luck.  I bet you will really enjoy a step up in racket performance.

Paddle Palace offers more well known brands of equipment, but most of that is higher priced than the equipment at Coles or ZeroPong.   But some combinations would still be in your price range

Mark

I think you would do very well with the DW2 1.8mm version of the "Premade Buster".

If you are willing to except the idea that you might need to change something before it actually wears out because you do not like it,  then you could order a paddle with 2 different kinds of rubbers. Something like

Dawei DW2 blade

SuperXP 2.0 rubber (non-tacky and medium speed)

FXEl 1.5 rubber  (tacky and slower speed control)

As a combo purchase that would not cost much more than the "Premade Buster"

If you have a lot of confidence in your ability to control a faster set-up than the Jet500 then a

Dawei Matrix blade

SuperXP 2.0 mm

SuperXP 2.0 mm or FXEL 1.5 mm

would be a possible choice.

Since I am not that familiar with the Jet500 it is a little difficult to make a strong recommendation.  That is why I would e-mail or talk to Cole and find out what he knows about the speed and spin of a Jet 500 and what he would consider a step (but not too big step) up from that set-up.  Maybe you could hit with or even just bounce balls on a couple of your friends better paddles and see if there is big difference, mild difference, or no real difference in speed and spin.  If you post what they have and how it feels in comparison to the Jet500 it would be easier to make a better recommendation.

Removing and regluing rubber seems kind of scary at first.  However, with a paddle from Coles that was glued with rubber cement it is easy to remove the old rubber and if you use rubber cement yourself it is simple to glue on and cut a new sheet to size.  Water based glues can be a little more difficult to use at first.  I am sure that you could find someone to help you out at the Spokane club if what you had originally bought needed to be changed.  Premades (not sure about Jet series) are often glued with permanent glue and it is nearly impossible to change out the rubber on those.

Sorry for not being more decisive, but without seeing you play and testing the racket you use now it is a little more of a guessing game than a mathematical calculation.

Mark

Thanks Mark, I talked to Cole who recommended the Dawei Matrix with Illumina rubber as this is supposedly a good deal right now. I still don't really know the differences between the different rubbers too well, but how do you think an allround player would fare with this?

I agree with lineup32.  Matrix is a great blade and will serve you well through quite a bit of improvement.  Even if you find the Illumina/Matrix combination a little too fast it will be easy to cheaply replace the rubbers with something a little slower when they do wear out and still keep the Matrix.  And if it is not too fast it should work well for you even if you continue to improve quite a bit.

A general guide (very general) is to replace your rubber the same number of times a year that you play (2-3 hr session) a week.  So if you play twice a week (2-3hrs per time) then you should think about replacing you rubber twice a year (every 6 months).  It at least gives you a guide as to when to start watching for excessive wear, loss of spin, or loss of speed with the rubber.  Of course if you are an equipment junkie you do it at least twice that often.

Please write back and let us know what you finally got and how it is working for you.  It will make a great data point for future recommendations for others in your situation.

Mark