Are PaddlePalace's charts reasonably accurate?
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Topic: Are PaddlePalace's charts reasonably accurate?
Posted By: richrf
Subject: Are PaddlePalace's charts reasonably accurate?
Date Posted: 11/09/2017 at 9:46am
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Just wondering whether the Paddle Palace blade and rubber charts are reasonably accurate. They seem to be consistent with reviews and other tests, such as the blade frequency tests. Here are the links. You have to go into chart view which is on their full site (doesn't show on mobile view). http://www.paddlepalace.com/Blades-Shakehand/products/7/0/33" rel="nofollow - Paddle Palace blade comparison chart http://www.paddlepalace.com/Rubber/products/1/" rel="nofollow - Paddle Palace rubber comparison chart Thanks! |
Replies:
Posted By: bard romance
Date Posted: 11/09/2017 at 9:54am
| Control ratings are mythical. As for the speed, it seems roughly accurate for rubbers but not so much blades, based on the few that I have used. |
Posted By: richrf
Date Posted: 11/09/2017 at 10:28am
Thanks! |
bard romance wrote:Posted By: Baal
Date Posted: 11/09/2017 at 10:44am
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Not particularly. But even if they were, the notion that they could capture much about what it is like to play with a blade or rubber is looking for unicorns. Here are some of the things I have learned that more generally apply to this. I spent quite a bit of money over the years learning these lessons. (1) There is no way short of playing with a blade to make the choice rational -- if then. This needs to be repeated a million times, and a corollary is that comments on internet message boards are as likely to mislead you as help you (especially if the comment is based on just one of a particular blade as opposed to someone who has tried several examples of the same model). Among the least useful things are databases on various vendor's websites or other compendiums. It may well be the the single most rational thing out there is the sound frequency chart accumulated here but even that won't really help a lot of people with the choices they make. (2) Even if you have tried one sample of a blade, the one you receive after ordering (from any vendor, not just PP) will not be identical to the one that you tried and in worst cases may vary quite a lot. Even if you specify a weight, it may not arrive like that. (3) Once one had decided on the general parameters of a blade -- say you have figured out that you prefer ST handles; and like the feel of ALC blades, or pure carbon blades, or stiff fast all-wood or slower flexier all-wood; and a general weight range; then it almost doesn't matter that much which one within the class you get, as long as you play with the thing long enough to get thoroughly accustomed to it. Same is true of rubber. (4) Handle shape and size is often more important than some of the subtle details of blade composition within a class. This effects your grip and how you transition from one side to another. If you like the ST handle on a TBS you probably won't like the one on an Maze. (5) Constant changing of blades (or rubbers) trying to find something perfect within a particular blade class slows your improvement. The longer you play with one blade the more automatic and reliable your responses become when you are under pressure and the point is about to be lost or won. Samsonov used the same blade until it was so beat up it couldn't be used any more. Almost certainly, Ma Long gets blades that are selected to be far more homogeneous than the ones mere mortals get. (6) A lot of rubbers are designed for the same basic kind of player. It is amazing how many ESN rubbers are made for two wing loopers. They feel different but once you have played with them for a sufficient time, it becomes just normal and your game and level doesn't really change. You adjust for differences in throw angle and other factors, in time, without thinking about it. (7) The differences in equipment that matter are not so much when you loop or attack from a steady position, it is how you handle them when you are under pressure. (8) Nothing is more imprecise than peoples' statements that "X gives more spin" or "Y feels better". Distrust all such blanket comments. They are entirely subjective. Distrust them even more when these are accompanied by crazy numbers -- "my blade X that was 5 gram lighter had 50% more spin!!" (9) Eventually rather than endless requests for more and more information, you eventually just have to try some blades and rubbers, and the cheapest way to do it is try your clubmate's blade, and sometimes you just have to take a chance and buy something if you are sufficiently curious, but know for a fact that a lot of the time you will be disappointed. |
Posted By: richrf
Date Posted: 11/09/2017 at 10:56am
Thanks Baal! This is what I try to do, the problem is that everything I've tried so far at the club (mostly ESN), I really dislike. In my last iteration several years ago, I tried the potluck approach, and it turned out to be expensive without any positive results. I just lucked out that my coach, Lupi, (former Olympic silver medalist) guided me to a good setup. No such access now. I'm not using the chart as an arbiter, more as some guidance to narrow down a hand full of choices. But if it had no value, then it has no value, and that's that. I'm standing pat for now. |
Posted By: bard romance
Date Posted: 11/09/2017 at 12:34pm
| It's okay for guidance, but very vague guidance at best. Much in the same way that if you are looking for a general class of inverted rubbers designed for offensive play, you already know which those are, and any other distinctions are near impossible to make without just trying it in person. |
Posted By: richrf
Date Posted: 11/09/2017 at 12:38pm
| Thanks! |
Posted By: bes
Date Posted: 11/09/2017 at 4:21pm
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Easy answer... No! Trying to use PP's (or anyone's) blade and rubber ratings as a decision tool is not significantly more accurate than a very roughly sorted crap-shoot. I like PP, but don't put much stock in their charts. Problem #1: Remarkably predictable coincidence perhaps? The newest, most expensive blade is always rated as "crazy fast" AND remarkably enough also rated as having (relatively) awesome control!!! (Everyone should probably get two!) Problem #2: (Perhaps a touch tongue-in-cheek) Based on their ratings, any rubber that has been out for much more that a couple years is rated to at least imply that it is only suitable for absolute beginners, super-girly-men, or possibly for players too frail to play pickleball. Heck, based on their ratings, there probably isn't a man (or woman) alive who could hit a 40+ ball all the way over the net with Mark V... (Unless, of course, they had the blade described above!) I don't think PP is alone here - I put equal faith in most manufacture's ratings. bes
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