Starter Racket

you should consider online shopping ......maybe getting someone to purchase for you is an option 

tempestdrive wrote: Hi I just started playing "serious" table tennis. I've been playing recreational for 2 years. According to about.com, I need a thin 1.7 mm rubber like Sriver and a medium fast blade. I went to a shop and all they have are 2.1 mm of rubbers. I do mean all. I went to other top shops and same for them. I don't do Online Shopping. So is it recommened to start playing with a 2.1 mm Sriver?

I wouldn't start from 2.1 - I'd start with 1.8-1.9.

Unfortunately you have to buy from online stores - regular ones often don't carry anything but 2.1-2.2. Which regular stores did you go to? Are you in North America?

If you don't do online shopping because of security concerns then ask one of the friends (who do online shopping) to get you Srivers or Mark V with 1.8 or 1.7 sponge. On a medium fast blade you might want Sriver FX and Mark V-30 for softer rubbers to have more control.

Like I said I only started playing serious table tennis. All I did in those 2 years were volleying the ball. I don't have a style yet.

tempestdrive......what are you using right now?

tempestdrive wrote: Hi I just started playing "serious" table tennis. I've been playing recreational for 2 years. According to about.com, I need a thin 1.7 mm rubber like Sriver and a medium fast blade. I went to a shop and all they have are 2.1 mm of rubbers. I do mean all. I went to other top shops and same for them. I don't do Online Shopping. So is it recommened to start playing with a 2.1 mm Sriver?

It all depends on you really.. I wouldn't say 2.1 is bad for a beginner, you will grow as you play with it more.. If you are concern about the speed just use a medium speed blade around All+ or Off-.
I started out with a max Sriver on a DHS H-WL Blade (Rated Off+++ but not really that fast, Off-at best) and I don't think it's too fast, especially when you don't use speed glue..

dragon kid wrote: It all depends on you really.. I wouldn't say 2.1 is bad for a beginner, you will grow as you play with it more.. If you are concern about the speed just use a medium speed blade around All+ or Off-. I started out with a max Sriver on a DHS H-WL Blade (Rated Off+++ but not really that fast, Off-at best) and I don't think it's too fast, especially when you don't use speed glue..

It's not usually about whether you are comfortable with it or not. It's about which setup is more conducive to the developing game; whether it helps more or less to develop the proper technique.

I remember myself being pretty comfortable with a heavy (100 g) vietnamese-made racket with bad glassy thick rubbers - when I was 10. That doesn't mean it didn't hurt my game - it did... a lot.

JimT wrote: It's not usually about whether you are comfortable with it or not. It's about which setup is more conducive to the developing game; whether it helps more or less to develop the proper technique.

He did mention that it is hard to find thin rubber where he lives.. So I was making a suggestion to get round the problem.. And the fact that he already played for two years, so at least he's already has some basic strokes to a certain level..
I really don't think 1.7 or 1.9 Sriver on a Primorac Carbon will be that much different with 2.1 on say a Stiga OC, DHS H-WL, or any medium speed blade.. It's a matter of preference ..

And, sorry, but IMO your 100gr Bat with glossy rubber doesn't really count as a real setup. I've seen one of those - it looks dead, feels dead, and plays dead..

I just had this dilemma, and after reading/talking I went with a Stiga Allround Classic with Stiga Cobra 1.5m rubber on both sides.  I'm a beginner, but have been a recreational player for years, and may have been selling myself short going for a "beginner" paddle.  If I had it to do over again, I'd go for a little thicker, livlier rubber as I'm not a defensive player.  I do love that setup when I am on defense though.  :)

All told, I'm having a hard time not ordering an Instinct or an Instinct+ with Inspirit on it from Cole for $35.  I'd just buy inspirit and put it on my blade, but that would cost $28, $14/side, and why not get a blade for the extra 7 bucks?   I spent $70 on my current setup though, and don't want to ditch it after a few weeks, especially since I do really like it so far compared to the premade that I ditched.

So I guess my advice as someone who was in your shoes three weeks ago is to not spend a bunch of money on a racket until you play with a non-premade racket for a little while, because it's really hard to know what you want/need without playing for it.   Trust the guys around here, don't feel the need to get a "name" brand that you've heard of like Stiga or Butterfly, figure a little bit more out, then go from there.

Hope that helped.

Wait wait wait wait wait a second. You could use the premade bat's blade?! Then I could use that 1 year old STIGA Assaulter 5 ply Light Weight premade racket. It costs my uncle $80 but I didn't use it because I wasen't back into playing TT again. I could have save Primorac's cost.

I used mark V MAX on both sides for my first real racket
and I have 2 say that I had a lot of trouble adjusting to the speed but sriver even with MAX sponge has a lot of control so I would recommend sriver MAX on the forehand and Sriver FX MAX or Sriver 1.9 mm for the backhand.

brytaku25 wrote: How do you sandpaper your racket and why would you do such a thing?I'm thinking of going MAX this February when I order another set of rubbers.

To remove old glue that sticks to the blade. I use 600 grain ultra fine sandpaper and it works pretty well.

I sure wish I should have asked here first before buying my racket. I could have saved money.