I know you all want to say "I told you so"

In life, there are really not many things more satisfying than being right about something when the person you were arguing with was convinced you were wrong, but unfortunately, politeness prevents us from rubbing it in their faces. 

I can play with fast equipments but I am doing better with ALL+ or OFF- blades.

However, there were some heated discussions few months back (or last year??) regarding the merit of starting with fast equipments.   And some testified that they have seen the speed of the equipment is not a hindrance to the progress of young players.

On the other hand, I belong to the group that prefer slower blades while starting / developing your strokes. 




Edited by doraemon - 01/02/2015 at 4:06am

Good to hear, Rhainur. I won't say I told you so because I know people who have had success with your old approach. It usually boils down to how much coaching we have and how we want to play.

Some of us like to swing harder and get more dip and arc and some people like shorter, flatter quick strokes with more pace than spin. That's one difference.

Usually, the problem with a beginner using fast equipment is that their timing is too poor to compensate or learn how to compensate for the increased speed/spin. In fact, this is the same issue for a higher level player who says equipment is too fast, but they can compensate far better if given time, but don't want to usually because changing habits is harder than sticking to what they know.

As your timing gets better, you may revisit this question and end up in the same place or move to a different place. What I have found is that the changes to the speed of my equipment rarely improve my game, but they often change the way I feel playing it.

An often overlooked benefit of the slower blade is that it helps one keep their pushes low and short.

Rhainur wrote: I actually do plan on keeping the ALC, and going back to it after improving my consistency. Right now I simply lack the ability to read the ball and time my stroke to play with the ALC at full power, and rather than spending another few months making easily avoidable mistakes, I could simply use equipment that I already have and that feels more comfortable to continue practicing and improving.

My experience tells me that there are at least two ways of looking at it.

First, I agree that having a slower setup is, more often than not, quite beneficial. More of your strokes land on the table, you get better control etc etc. So on one hand you have that big plus.

Second, however, is the fact that for some people having a slower setup either doesn't satisfy their sense of enjoyment, or they believe (and some of them might be even right) that for them it is a trade-off worth the price. Usually that happens when you have to play against younger, faster and better opponents. They will not be impressed that you managed to return the ball 10% or even 20% more times than before - they will however gladly seize on the fact that your shots are a bit slower, with less deception, and generally less dangerous for them. The fact that they will have to hit three power-loops against you vs two as they did before, won't bother them.

It might however bother you if you are in a worse physical shape than you would like yourself to be. The rallies will become on average a bit longer, and your stamina will likely suffer.

Also, another factor that might be of importance here, is whether you use deceptive rubbers/combo like LPs, anti, hardbat. For those, reasons in item 2 will probably be a bit less crucial.

So, as always, it is a compromise. For a developing or upcoming player, whose job is usually not to win the matches but play better and more consistently, first option is the must. For advanced amateurs, mileage may vary, especially if we are talking about match results.

NextLevel wrote: heavyspin wrote: An often overlooked benefit of the slower blade is that it helps one keep their pushes low and short. Yeah, but when you are starting out and trying to blast the ball past people all the time, who cares about pushing short...

bbkon wrote: NextLevel wrote: heavyspin wrote: An often overlooked benefit of the slower blade is that it helps one keep their pushes low and short. Yeah, but when you are starting out and trying to blast the ball past people all the time, who cares about pushing short... it depends how you score more points, i need a more accurate(forgiving) OFF blade than the clipper with better feel

You can handle TMB ALC.

Edited by Crowsfeather - 01/03/2015 at 12:01pm

fatt wrote: BH-Man wrote: ... I believe if a player cannot read spi, cannot be on balance, cannot get into position, cannot hit the ball within the effective strike zone... that that player will miss shots using ANY bat. ... The best benefit I see in an ALL+ blade vs and OFF blade is that when you play witht the ALL+ blade, usually, you have to make another shot or two or three to setup your finish. Playing in this manner gives your game another dimension you didn't develop before. this is great insight; the longer the ball stays on the table, the higher level of awareness people raise themselves to; that will happen more often with a slower blade hence a faster progression in sync with the related understanding of the game. The longer the ball stays on the table, the more weird natural chemicals flow into the players' brains to raise them toward a wider and clearer ping pong universe where the laws of physics become easier to understand.

 

BH-Man wrote:   The LEAST publicized aspect about a bat that is a step or two or three slower than what you normally use is that when you choose to TRY to finish the point on the first presentable chance, your chances of hitting it by or through the player is not so good as before. That causes you to make a better preparation for the finish with another 1-3 connecting shots using tactical intelligence. This is an aspect that many players who use OFF and above class setups do not develop enough. having this style of play available to them as an option in rallies or matches can only be a positive thing.

There has been a mention of ALL and OFF bats already, and while I feel like a pedantic jackass saying this, I need to make the distinction between "slower", "slow" and "too slow", at least in my own case.

Edited by Rhainur - 01/04/2015 at 8:16am

Rhainur wrote: I've been using the slower setup for 5-6 days now,

Just my opinion, but it may be too soon to say anything.  After you have played some tournaments or leagues against a wider range of opponents, or after a month or so, you will know more.  I'm not saying it wasn't the right move (for reasons that Cole and APW noted, you really can't be afraid of your blade).  But it kind of takes awhile for all of the ramifications to become clear (if you attack with a blade that is too slow you will find yourself off balance a lot).  And also what JimT said. 

This happens a lot, by which I mean people try a slow blade and "get religion".  (And some people advocate slower equipment with almost religious piety.)  Then later they realize it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.  Or they realize that what they had before really was too fast.

So you will see.

Baal wrote: Rhainur wrote: I've been using the slower setup for 5-6 days now, Just my opinion, but it may be too soon to say anything.  After you have played some tournaments of leagues, or after a month or so you will know more.  Not saying it wasn't the right move.  But it kind of takes awhile for all of the ramifications to become clear.

So you are still using fast rubber, and slower blade?

Rhainur wrote: kenneyy88 wrote: So you are still using fast rubber, and slower blade? Right now, yeah. But these comments have left me wondering whether same blade + slower rubber would be a better setup.

Edited by NextLevel - 01/05/2015 at 12:26am