To show how bad things were, I had FL Samsonov Force Pros (I like to buy cheap blades and buy them in pairs so I have backups - which I have never quite needed except when I used Giant Dragon balsa blades).  And I started to wonder whether I really should be using ST handles since I have a strong preference for them.  I was playing well with the FLs so it had nothing to do per se with performance.  Just wondering if I wouldn't play and feel better with ST handles.  This is the kind of ish I have been dealing with recently.

Now I am playing well with Big Dipper.  I sold and gave away my used sheets of Tenergy 05.  But now I am wondering whether I gave 1.9mm T05 a chance.  Or maybe 1.9mm T80 (yes, the sheets are in the bag - I just don't have the appetite to try them since I am still playing well with my current setup - yes, the ST Samsonov Force Pros - the FLs are waiting for the T80s).

And there's that ST handle Vega Tour that I was supposed to review.  Only now I have no desire to play with it whatsoever.  I'm thinking whether to sell the trivumrate of Vega blades (which I messed up by getting a ST Tour to go with a FL Pro and FL Euro) since I don't think I will play with them again, despite their being good to me while it lasted.

Sorry for being such a prick, fatt.  I am a piece of ish - I should know better.

 

i am an unabashed EJ, though part of the reason is that i have

switched from jpen which i played for most of my life to shakehand a couple of months ago..

it's fun buying different kinds of rubbers and blades, when i played with

a jpen, it was the same racket for a very long time with a hurricane rubber..

anyways, tinkering to see which rubber and blade setup is not at all bad,

it is only bad if that is all you are relying on and not working on your form

and trying different strategies. my partner that i am playing with has a rating

of around 2000 and i realize my strengths and weaknesses against him, (and that it is very hard to beat him) recently trying sp on the back and twiddling is really messing with him,

although i still need to learn more on how to play sp.. i don't know if i will stick with it

but definately doesn't hurt to try new things..

what really is bad is if you don't want to improve, but being an EJ you are willing to

go the extra mile to get better (hopefully with the effort to match ^^)

good luck next level 

Kidding aside, I think that it should be OK for someone who plays as many hours a week as you seem to have the good fortune to do (seriously, do your car a favor & leave PA to move to NJ). 

BTW, I think that the next guy who says that EJ'ing could be bad for your game and the money should be spent on coaching instead should get slapped in the face for making that ubiquitous comment. Everyone understands that. 

I think that even Ma Long and Chen Qi seem to have had EJ'ish tendencies, though, perhaps even they did not own 4 of the same blade at one time :)

My current setup, or any setup with which I can generate spin and block with pleasure while getting reasonable pace.  However, I have personally found pace to be overrated even up to 2000 and found that brush looping tends to give people much more problems - the difficulty is being consistent with it since I want to smack the ball, but I play enough people that I want to beat that I discipline myself.  A common criticism of my practice loops is that I brush too much (no one says that in matches though - they say I don't loop).  At some point, I am going to try those sheets of T80, but I have seen enough to know that there are many styles that get let you break 2000 if you want to be smart about it and focus on building the style out.  The key is to have something that gives the looping juniors trouble (good blocking/hitting), something to control the heavy topspin (block, counterloop, smash) and something to be aggressive on service return in case the junior is too good at attacking your push.  Also, while looping with too much sidespin is not smart if you want to be a very high level player, looping with a lot of sidespin is very smart if you want to be 2K.  Not easy to control, and a very specialist style, but the results are very effective.

So my answer - my current setup.  When I change setups, I change blade or rubber, not both.

Thanks, man,  Yeah, I do spend significant time playing (that said, got a lot of people in my club that do).  I had to find better guaranteed opposition and competition.  If I had played more leagues in prior years, I wouldn't have played as many tournaments because that was largely why I played tournaments anyways and tournaments didn't do the job as well (of presenting consistent competition at the right level).  I ramped up my playing time end of last year because I was close to the finish line and my physical condition had me uncertain as to how long I could continue to play for.  Since Princeton Pong has opened and my primary goal achieved, you're going to be seeing me a lot less.

 

Things go well for me for 2 weeks, and the I read this post http://www.mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=69897&PID=849763&title=slower-blade-experience-again#849763" rel="nofollow - http://www.mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=69897&PID=849763&title=slower-blade-experience-again#849763  and I couldn't keep my mind off the Violin, so I search through my old boxes of blades looking for it, it took a while, but I found it.  The thing is I found it along with my other slow Stiga Allround Classic , and for some reason the AR makes even more sense to me .  So lo and behold, with 10 days left till the end of the month, I am playing with the AR and love it (kind of).

 

BTW - did I mention that I receive my ZJK ALC a couple days ago...

 

I call it "magic beans" and it can apply to new "tricks" or "techniques" as well.

Thank you.

It means that I am too....

Thanks Stavros

You are not, you play with the same setup for such a long time!

 

Right now, short pips are calling out my name... resist, resist!!!

Come to the Dark Side....you can feel the Dark Force(Short Pips)calling your name. You cannot resist it