Playing Level To rubber cost ratio

there are no correct answers to the question

The question is a bit overhyped. I playe my best TT from 1500 to 1700 with Tenergy and Baracuda. While rubber is not a big deal, trusting what you use is.

Mark,

this thread is very similar to this other one

http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=66287&PN=2#798212

why do people get mad at beginners using the most expensive latest stuff?
I don't really get it.

is it like a "you are new so you need to suffer, you need to earn your right to use that equipment" type of reasoning?

So what is your rating, considering your Renano Hold cost twice as much at $50.

                              


Edited by puppy412 - 04/22/2014 at 10:27pm

I see it all the time. People who can't hit 3 balls in a row without just blocking on the forehand, who are afraid to swing out because when they do the ball hits the back wall.

I see others who don't care, trying to loop-kill the ball as hard as they can, not making half of them, but the ones that land are spectacular.

Or people who mostly push and block on the backhand, but they have trouble receiving serves because they are using some max thickness modern tensor rubber.

Price doesn't matter, it's all about speed and spin. Don't worry about spending money, but it has to be slow and controllable. Like riding motorcycles, would you put a beginner on a 2000cc beast? He would die. Don't worry about spending $200 or $300, just as long as it says DEF on blade and rubber. Also, have a Tenergy setup on the side, for those days you want to test your skill. If you're playing like a skitzo cripple, you know you're not ready yet.

Okay awesome players who can piss down upon me from a great height, test my logic for me.

I feel like using slow equipment when you first start enables you to start engaging more of your strength using bigger strokes where fast blades and bouncy rubbers push you to passive play and small strokes to retain any control. Once you can use power and want to play further from the table, you can move up a level in equipment. Speaking just for myself, when I jump too far ahead on speed my whole game suffers.

Note that this has zero to do with price. This is such a cheap sport compared to anything else I've done that buying top of the line stuff isn't a question of money, just suitability for my game and an unfortunate curiosity about that always greener area just the other side of the net.

smackman wrote: there are no correct answers to the question  as it depends on so many variables, I think people assumes everyone else is like themselves

Yep.  It just depends.  Two key variables to consider.

1) How much money you got?
2) How much are you going to train to improve beyond 1800 and how far beyond do you plan to go?

My main point in questions like these is to remind people that equipment, while important, is no magic bullet that can substitute for technique and training.

rusttt wrote: Okay awesome players who can piss down upon me from a great height, test my logic for me. I feel like using slow equipment when you first start enables you to start engaging more of your strength using bigger strokes where fast blades and bouncy rubbers push you to passive play and small strokes to retain any control. Once you can use power and want to play further from the table, you can move up a level in equipment. Speaking just for myself, when I jump too far ahead on speed my whole game suffers.

I use currently blade from premade bat. Feeling when you beat owner of most expensive equipment? Invaluably :)

Why should hobbies make sense?  

smackman wrote: there are no correct answers to the question  as it depends on so many variables, I think people assumes everyone else is like themselves

Reinecke wrote: rusttt wrote: Okay awesome players who can piss down upon me from a great height, test my logic for me. I feel like using slow equipment when you first start enables you to start engaging more of your strength using bigger strokes where fast blades and bouncy rubbers push you to passive play and small strokes to retain any control. Once you can use power and want to play further from the table, you can move up a level in equipment. Speaking just for myself, when I jump too far ahead on speed my whole game suffers. I doubt I can piss on you from great height, but I can test your logic  You can engage all of your strength from the very start, if you are diligent in maintaining proper form. It all depends on the individual and their level of self control. This is like saying in baseball you should hit with a batting weight or really heavy bat for a few years, that way it makes you stronger and you can hit farther later. Using slower equipment holds you back in the short game. Letting you too easily make poor stokes on pushes, etc. and still maintain control. Faster equipment may allow you to make longer shots with poor technique, but slower equipment allows you to make shorter shots with poor technique. In the end it still comes down to an individuals effort in learning proper strokes for every part of the game.

This is a misleading argument. The issue is whether you can consistently make and control the strokes you play. Equipment can make you more consistent because it allows you to have more gears within a range of speed. Most people know how to swing harder and at the level where most people play, swinging harder doesn't add as much as being able to keep the ball in play. This is easier with slower equipment. Not snail speed slow, but slow enough to have some dwell.

Edited by NextLevel - 04/25/2014 at 6:39pm