How do you read Blade/Rubber Ratings!

I find myself lost in the manufacturer’s ratings. I can’t get a sense/feel on how to compare my previous setup and build a new one...it’s extremely frustrating!
So, I have created an Excel spreadsheet with data from Paddle Palace (manufacturer ratings) and MyTableTennisDB (user ratings) and tried to combine the two to create something which would make more sense. However, user ratings do not always match manufacturer ratings if you sort data...which lead to the following questions: 1) How do manufacturer rate rubber/blade? I would guess that they rate rubber and blade individually using some robots/physics….? 2) How do users rate rubber/blade? This immediately screams bias. I say that because I believe users rate rubbers based on their experience with a specific blade. So I feel that users need to share the blade they used with that rubber when they rate a rubber. The same can be said about blade ratings? 3) How much can rubber tackiness affect spin? As I read through user comments, I understand that tacky rubbers generate more spin and thus are also more sensitive to incomming spin. Which means, I can generate great spin = better serves? But I will have to really understand spin because my paddle will be more sensitive? If that’s true, then why is Europe resorting to Stiga Neos Tacky for beginners. With these questions in mind, I am building a new setup. The following are my previous paddles: 1) Stiga Prestige WRB (pre-assembled paddle). I loved that paddle, and with it I was able to participate at the ACUI college tournament. That year I placed 5th. My paddle then started to lose its "stickiness" because I never knew I had to clean it and protect it, I let it stay in the sun for hours. It later broke…. I used it for 4 years. 2) Stiga Allround Oversize with Stiga Mendo 2.0 on FH and Stiga Magna 2.0 on BH
Loved it, but became too slow and less spiny overtime due to me not taking care of the paddle by cleaning it and covering it.. also the oversize aspect took a lot of time to get used to it… I used it for 5 years. 3) Nittaku KCZ with Nittaku Pimplemini Short Pips on BH and Nittaku Hammond X 1.9 on FH
TOO FAST!! Oh my god! What a mistake, I could not tame it… I used it for 2 years. 4) Tibhar  Samsonove Alpha SGS with Tibhar Nimbus Sound 1.8 on FH and BH
More controllable than previous setup, but still little bit fast… I took care of this one a bit more…however, the blade has a blue sponge that shrunk overtime and now the blade doesn’t feel good after an hour of use.. I used it for 1.5 years. Possible new setups: N1) [Expensive] Butterfly Primorac with with 1.8 Stiga Neos Tacky on FH and BH
N2) [Still Expensive] Butterfly Timo Boll ALL+ with 1.8 Stiga Neos Tacky on FH and BH
N3) [Less Expensive] Stiga Allround NCT with 1.8 Stiga Neos Tacky on FH and BH
N4) [Nice Price] Gambler Arylate Carbon with 2.15 Friendship Super 729 FX on FH and BH
N5) [Cheap] Friendship/729 Bomb with 2.1 RITC 729 Focus 3 Snipe on FH and BH
Are new setups N1-N5 slower than my current setup 4? I appreciate ALL advice. Thank you so much!


Edited by lucidgold - 07/03/2013 at 12:49pm

lucidgold wrote: I find myself lost in the manufacturer’s ratings. I can’t get a sense/feel on how to compare my previous setup and build a new one...it’s extremely frustrating!

I really appreciate all the comments. mrdoodzki, I totally agree with you! I eagerly refresh the screen waiting for fellow tt players to respond to my post, I have been reading this forum for years, and I must say because everyone here is totally awesome. I have won tournaments because I read and applied a lot of the tips here...

lucidgold wrote: I The reason why im so "obsessed" with ratings and I now know I shouldn't is because we don't have a tt club here in Las Cruces, NM, which means I don't get a chance to try different types of rubbers/blades. So I do my best to read and look at ratings to make sense of how my next setup could be...

The OMG is in reference to which post?

Please go and find your stiga allround oversize. Its one of the best blades of all time. Once you find it we can talk new rubbers

mendo is similar to sriver and mark v

assiduous wrote: tt4me wrote: The OMG is in reference to which post? It is the first thing in the thread title. Who starts a boring thread with OMG. What are you, a female teenager at the concert of Justin Bieber?  Let me guess, you also say it every time you lose a point! Am I in the ball park?

Edited by tt4me - 07/03/2013 at 12:45pm

How do you read ratings? You don't.. better to just look up qualitative feedback from players that have used the equipment in question and get a general consensus

It depends on your level what rubbers you would put on the allround oversize. Mark v and sriver are fine, they won't be as fast as a tensor but they are still more than fast enough.

If you were us2000+ you could smack some hexer HD on the blade and be happy. If I were you or me (I'm just over us2000) I'd use mark v or sriver el on the bh and whatever is your favourite fh rubber on the fh. They point is those allround oversize are a very good blade, probably the best blade stiga has made in the modern era (unless you are a pro player and need a pro type blade). For everyone else its about as good as stiga have done since the 80s

The yasaka extra is a good blade too but you already have a fine blade there so why buy another

I would guess apart from being a different shape the allround nct is the same blade as the allround oversize and the same speed. Ive never used neos tacky

The Allround NCT is slightly more compact even than a regular blade, which is already smaller than Allround Oversize, so careful there. My guess for a Stiga blade would be Allround Evolution for something a little faster, or Allround Classic either keep your oversize if you like that that or get the regular (non-WRB) version (which doesn't seem all that "slow" to me personally). Extra is also fine, as is Gambler AC (though dull feeling, probably just stick to all wood instead for awhile..) There isn't really any consensus on the best one or two ALL blades at all.

FH: Try 999 Elite (either SV or Ultima version, either is medium soft). Hybrid rubber.. tacky, but still plays pretty mechanical (you have to hit into the sponge like you are used to).

BH: Stick to something boring here. Not tacky, not fast.

I've got both the allround oversize and standard allround classic. The oversize is thicker, bigger and quite a bit faster its an all+ class blade. The allround classic is a good blade but it is slightly lacking in power for an offensive player, the oversize isn't.

Yes Primorac -off is the probably the fastest of those blades. I've only used Mark V and Hurricane 3 from the rubbers you listed and which of those is faster is debatable and depends on the way you play, neither are slow or fast. A friend of mine uses a Primorac with TG3 FH and a similar rubber to Mark V on the backhand and it's a nice combo, it did take a while for the blade to loosen up and develop a good feel which is normal for a limba 5 ply. It wont feel really nice for maybe a year. He's been playing for 3 years or so and is currently around US1700-1800 level. He's actually still using his original sheet of TG3 after 3 years !.

Edited by bluebucket - 07/05/2013 at 5:32pm

If you are a beginner I strongly recommend the following setup.