Any hardcore ping pongers out therE?

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yodudedudeyo

Guest
Anyone know of a good website or forum for ping pong? I've only ever played with those cheap 4 dollar paddles that come in packs or whatever. They have the pips on the outside. Well, I went over to a friend's house yesterday and he had some quality paddles with smooth rubbers, and MAN, the paddle was so strong! Everything I hit kept flying off the table! I had to switch my grip to an extreme western type grip to even keep it in.

So I'm looking for a place where i can get info on good blades/rubbers and maybe create my own paddle, seeing how I want to start playing competitively on a team next year. Maybe you guys could give me some input too?

Edit: I forgot to mention that there are some really expensive blades + rubbers out there (over 100 each),and since i'm apoor college student, I'd like to keep the price at a max of 30 dollars if at all possible
 

hewittfan3

Rookie
i would get a paddle at sports authority. They have good Stiga and Butterfly paddles for around $30. Otherwise I will get my stuff at paddlepalace.com. This place has pretty much everything you need
 

improlumens

New User
Check out zeropong.com for Chinese blades-some of their models are knock-offs of Butterfly blades. For about 1/3 of the price, you can get a blade that will play very similarly to their Japanese or European made counterparts. You can also pick custom rubbers there, though there is a fairly limited amount of info out there on many of the rubbers. Think they are more popular in China.

I bought an Instinct from there for $35 which plays closely, though not quite as biting as my $100 Petr Korbel blade from Butterfly. The playability of this blade easily surpasses anything you will see from a big box sporting goods place. I would recommend an Instinct+ with 1.5 mm cream on both sides- you won't be disappointed, and you're only out $35!
 
Y

yodudedudeyo

Guest
seeing how i've can't playtest these paddles before hand, should i just go for the gusto and buy blindly?
 

hewittfan3

Rookie
idk...but thats what i did. I've bought around 4 different $30 paddles and i finally have found one i like. but yeah im not sure if theres a site that lets u demo them or not.. That would be interesting
 
Check out zeropong.com for Chinese blades-some of their models are knock-offs of Butterfly blades. For about 1/3 of the price, you can get a blade that will play very similarly to their Japanese or European made counterparts. You can also pick custom rubbers there, though there is a fairly limited amount of info out there on many of the rubbers. Think they are more popular in China.

I bought an Instinct from there for $35 which plays closely, though not quite as biting as my $100 Petr Korbel blade from Butterfly. The playability of this blade easily surpasses anything you will see from a big box sporting goods place. I would recommend an Instinct+ with 1.5 mm cream on both sides- you won't be disappointed, and you're only out $35!
what kind of player are you? b/c i'd like to buy a paddle to (like the OP), and i'd be all for your recommendation as long as it's remotely suitable for me game... but honestly, i'm just your average slightly experienced player. being a tennis player i have more of a tennis-style ping-pong style... topspin drives, and limited use of alternate spins. i guessed i'd like a "control" bat, if such use of the term is common in pong-pong.

anyway, you think the instinct will be good for me? (... or it is likely i'm not good enough to know) is the instinct a pre-assembled bat? or just the blade? rubber? or foam? is the "cream" referring to the rubber or foam? EDIT: i found on the site that "cream" is a brand... but it looks like there are two: "Cream transcend" and "Cream MRS", which do you recommend?


thanks.
 
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improlumens

New User
Admittedly, my knowledge of ping pong equipment is limited. I grew up playing, and have had lots of very good hitting partners over the years, but never knew a whole lot about equipment until a few years back when I wanted to pick up a better paddle and did lots of research on blades.

I have gotten adroit with both a close to the table blocking game (where I use quick reflexes and angles) and and off-the-table style where I use strokes that can are somewhat similar to tennis motions. I vary it up depending on the type of player I am up against. Forehand drive, backhand loop and I have always been more comfortable off the backhand where I can hit a very wide angle with lots of topspin. Never gotten too comfortable with chopping type strokes (and penhold style), which I saw a lot of when I was in South Korea.

I picked the Korbel because I wanted a blade that could play close and far off the table, then picked up the Instinct to see if it would compare at 1/3 the price. The Korbel is better in all regards, from build quality to feel, but if I could do it over again, I probably would just get the instinct. Found this review of the instinct:



Don't think there is a tremendous difference in transcend and mrs-I think I got one on each side.

hewittfan, do you know of any clubs in Minneapolis?
 
Admittedly, my knowledge of ping pong equipment is limited. I grew up playing, and have had lots of very good hitting partners over the years, but never knew a whole lot about equipment until a few years back when I wanted to pick up a better paddle and did lots of research on blades.

I have gotten adroit with both a close to the table blocking game (where I use quick reflexes and angles) and and off-the-table style where I use strokes that can are somewhat similar to tennis motions. I vary it up depending on the type of player I am up against. Forehand drive, backhand loop and I have always been more comfortable off the backhand where I can hit a very wide angle with lots of topspin. Never gotten too comfortable with chopping type strokes (and penhold style), which I saw a lot of when I was in South Korea.

I picked the Korbel because I wanted a blade that could play close and far off the table, then picked up the Instinct to see if it would compare at 1/3 the price. The Korbel is better in all regards, from build quality to feel, but if I could do it over again, I probably would just get the instinct. Found this review of the instinct:



Don't think there is a tremendous difference in transcend and mrs-I think I got one on each side.

hewittfan, do you know of any clubs in Minneapolis?

cool, i appreciate the info. i'll probably pick one up sometime soon. since i'm not very experienced and just need a decent paddle, you've said enough to sell me on it. no matter what, it'll be better than anything i've used before. btw, i too am from MN, but i don't know of any specific ping-pong clubs. the old northwest clubs used to have a fair number of tables, but i don't know if any of it was organized nor what it's like now that lifetime fitness has taken over.
 

jmsx521

Hall of Fame
Too bad Table Tennis is not very popular in the US. Badminton too. If you search videos online -- you get to see some incredible points these pros make at pro events!
 

abenguyen

Hall of Fame
well you can always get one for 5 or 6 bucks at walmart. i think its pretty good, its good a good surface, not those cheap ones with bumps, its next to it. thats what i'm gonna get when i get a table of my own
 

[d]ragon

Hall of Fame
Too bad Table Tennis is not very popular in the US. Badminton too. If you search videos online -- you get to see some incredible points these pros make at pro events!

yea i agree. table tennis and badminton are both great sports but shame not many ppl play them

i;ve got a table and a few paddles i got from the local sports chain but i suck (for focus on tennis of course :))
 

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
Best thing to do is to find a club, maybe at your uni. Paddle components are the blade and the rubbers. And some might consider the glue. You can have different rubbers on the two sides with one side defensive and the other offensive and the blades and rubbers vary widely in playing characteristics and price. The blades can vary quite a bit in materials too with different kinds of woods, different numbers of plys, and use of carbon and aralyte.

The advantage of a club is that you can try out different blades and rubbers (it's easy to try a new rubber if you use the right kind of glue).

Other things to remember are to take care of your equipment. If you're using pips in with a very sticky rubber, it's a good idea to clean the surfaces after playing and then protect the surface from dust and dirt using a plastic sheet or other plastic wrap.
 

Kobble

Hall of Fame
I played some ping pong in college. Fun, to some degree. I don't really like the cat and mouse games you get dragged into. I used the game to pretend I was Gustavo Kuerten and rip back hands. LOL! All I wanted to do was get the ralley going to the backhand so I could beat the opponent up from there. I would lose matches this way, but it was fun.
 

Kobble

Hall of Fame
Funny thing was when some guy said, "That isn't ping pong, that is tennis. That dude is trying to play it like tennis." That was the point.
 

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
I played some ping pong in college. Fun, to some degree. I don't really like the cat and mouse games you get dragged into. I used the game to pretend I was Gustavo Kuerten and rip back hands. LOL! All I wanted to do was get the ralley going to the backhand so I could beat the opponent up from there. I would lose matches this way, but it was fun.

The thing about Table Tennis is that most players have much stronger forehands than backhands and will play way to the left of the center line. Tennis players, at least those with one-handed topspin backhands, can just rip the ball cross-court as they understand how to hit topspin.

Table tennis is a much more mental game than tennis is because the distances are so short and you have to focus so much on the other player and the ball. Which is why players try to play with your mind moreso than in tennis.
 

CanadianChic

Hall of Fame
I find it amusing to read 'hardcore' and 'ping pongers' in the same sentence. To the OP, sorry but I don't even know anyone who is a softcore ping ponger. Good luck in your search.
 

Leelord337

Hall of Fame
hell yeah, i'm a big tt player. I use a butterfly senshu paddle (spent the $70 on it out of frustration after my friend kept beating me) i've got some wins on him since
 

Kobble

Hall of Fame
The thing about Table Tennis is that most players have much stronger forehands than backhands and will play way to the left of the center line. Tennis players, at least those with one-handed topspin backhands, can just rip the ball cross-court as they understand how to hit topspin.

Table tennis is a much more mental game than tennis is because the distances are so short and you have to focus so much on the other player and the ball. Which is why players try to play with your mind moreso than in tennis.
I find the quirkiness about the same in both sports. I did play some guy who would do weird stuff with his neck. He was real oddball, and very cocky. Certainly, a better table tennis player than I was. I played him in real tennis and bagled him, however. My ego needed that, because I was never able to beat him in the 4 first to 11 games we played, unfortunately.
 

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
I find the quirkiness about the same in both sports. I did play some guy who would do weird stuff with his neck. He was real oddball, and very cocky. Certainly, a better table tennis player than I was. I played him in real tennis and bagled him, however. My ego needed that, because I was never able to beat him in the 4 first to 11 games we played, unfortunately.

Back in the 1980s, there was a sports series called superstars where they had athletes from different sports compete in the others' sports. If you take a tennis player, table tennis player, squash player, racquetball player and a badminton player, who do you think would win the most in the other sports? Tennis of course.

There is a lot more attempted deception in table tennis because spin has a much bigger effect in table tennis than it does in tennis. Sometimes to the point where the other player violates the rules if he thinks that you don't know them.
 
yea, ive been playing seriously for years and played in numerous leagues and some tourney. Where I get my equipment from is paddlepalace.com. They have the best service and a wide variety in products. Frankly for 30 dollars your not going to get anything decent as you will get what you pay for. There is seriously much to consider when putting a paddle together such as weight, type of wood, thickness, how many plies, size, speed, handle type, etc...when it comes to rubber your going to have to consider the thickness of the sponge, hardness of the sponge, top sheet material, short med or long pips, smooth top sheet, tackiness, offensive or defensive rubber, etc... Even picking out the glue (to glue rubber) is something to consider. However, since your just beginning you will not now what you want and with more experience you will get a better idea of what suits your game. The best thing for you to do is call paddlepalace.com or some other reputable place and explain your situation and have them recommend something. Stay away from department and sporting good stores, the paddles are junk. Even though some carry high end brand names (stiga, butterfly, etc...) the paddles are low end and I mean LOWWWWW END. If you have any questions dont hesitate to ask.
 

hyogen

Hall of Fame
lol crazy. I love ping pong myself. It's a little taste of tennis on a rainy day. in college I had a pretty good 2handed backhand...haha
 
Y

yodudedudeyo

Guest
tears of awesom, you sound like you know what you're talking about, can you give me some paddle recommendations from paddlepalace? I'd like a paddle with lots of control. Being a tennis player, I have tennis-like strokes so I like to play away from the table, not close to the table. I have a regular 'shakehand' grip. thanks!
 

hyogen

Hall of Fame
paddle of awesom, can you recommend me THE BEST paddle for spin? what kind of wood/layers/rubber...just name a model! thanks
 

Leelord337

Hall of Fame
yea, ive been playing seriously for years and played in numerous leagues and some tourney. Where I get my equipment from is paddlepalace.com. They have the best service and a wide variety in products. Frankly for 30 dollars your not going to get anything decent as you will get what you pay for. There is seriously much to consider when putting a paddle together such as weight, type of wood, thickness, how many plies, size, speed, handle type, etc...when it comes to rubber your going to have to consider the thickness of the sponge, hardness of the sponge, top sheet material, short med or long pips, smooth top sheet, tackiness, offensive or defensive rubber, etc... Even picking out the glue (to glue rubber) is something to consider. However, since your just beginning you will not now what you want and with more experience you will get a better idea of what suits your game. The best thing for you to do is call paddlepalace.com or some other reputable place and explain your situation and have them recommend something. Stay away from department and sporting good stores, the paddles are junk. Even though some carry high end brand names (stiga, butterfly, etc...) the paddles are low end and I mean LOWWWWW END. If you have any questions dont hesitate to ask.

do you think the butterfly senshu is a good paddle?
 

hewittfan3

Rookie
cool, i appreciate the info. i'll probably pick one up sometime soon. since i'm not very experienced and just need a decent paddle, you've said enough to sell me on it. no matter what, it'll be better than anything i've used before. btw, i too am from MN, but i don't know of any specific ping-pong clubs. the old northwest clubs used to have a fair number of tables, but i don't know if any of it was organized nor what it's like now that lifetime fitness has taken over.

hey where exactly do u live in mn? and r u talking about the club over by spring lake park or whatever? i was thinking about joining a ping pong league there
 

Leelord337

Hall of Fame
The thing about Table Tennis is that most players have much stronger forehands than backhands and will play way to the left of the center line. Tennis players, at least those with one-handed topspin backhands, can just rip the ball cross-court as they understand how to hit topspin.

Table tennis is a much more mental game than tennis is because the distances are so short and you have to focus so much on the other player and the ball. Which is why players try to play with your mind moreso than in tennis.

not necessarily the case. my backhand is said to be better than my for hand in tabletennis, however my forehand in real tennis is better than my backhand. :?
 

hewittfan3

Rookie
not necessarily the case. my backhand is said to be better than my for hand in tabletennis, however my forehand in real tennis is better than my backhand. :?

that is the exact same way as me...my forehand in tennis is just killer and my backhand decent but in table tennis u better watch out for that backhand. I just flick my wrist and u cant even see the ball. I wish it was that easy in tennis
 

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
If you want heavy spin production, get a very sticky rubber. I use a sticky rubber with a fast wooden blade (rated offense+) for an attacking and counterpunching style. If you want to play a chopper style, you might be better off with a defensive blade and spinny rubbers. One big difference between tennis and table tennis is that the spin on the ball determines how the ball will come off your paddle when you hit it. So you have to adjust your paddle angle based on the amount and type of incoming spin. The effect is exaggerated with a stickier rubber.

There's also pips-out which can be used to negate spin. Some players use this on their backhand or defensive side. To some extent, you have to figure out your styles for your forehand and your backhand and choose rubbers to match. And then pick a blade for an overall style (offensive +, offensive, all-around, defensive, defensive +).
 

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
not necessarily the case. my backhand is said to be better than my for hand in tabletennis, however my forehand in real tennis is better than my backhand. :?

I don't see where what you wrote disagrees with what I wrote. You're a tennis player that can rip a table tennis backhand. I said that tennis players have that advantage over just table tennis players.
 

mdjenders

Professional
I am pretty highly ranked in my area, in tt, so I guess I would qualify. Table tennis is a great, olympic sport, with many different playing styles and a tremendous variety of equipment options. I will try to make it simple and informative.

A table tennis racquet is composed of the wooden part (called the blade) and rubber coverings to strike the ball with. Some blades have carbon, kevlar, or other materials in them, but a good, all wooden blade is the best to start with.

Rubber coverings come in two general flavors. There are sticky rubbers, called "inverted" because the bumps (called "pips") are facing in toward the wood. Striking the ball with inverted rubbers imparts tremendous spin to the ball. These rubbers are best for players who like to use heavy topspin to attack. Brushing the ball with the sticky surface can create arcing topspins, called loops. Search youtube for players like Kreanga and Wang Liqin, and most other highlight videos on there. When you see the ball taking vicious fast arcs with topspin, these are loop shots using "inverted" rubbers. Most people start with inverted rubbers on both forehand and backhand to learn the proper strokes.

The other type of rubbers are "pips" out rubbers, where the bumps are facing outward. There are short pips, where the bumps are not very tall. These rubbers are less spinny than the "inverted" ones, but they are great for hitting flat bullets. Players who stay very close to the table attacking quickly off the bounce with a flat, slapping stroke like these rubbers.

There are also long pips rubbers, where the bumps are long, like blades of grass. These rubbers are good at neutralizing heavy topspin to return heavy underspin, because the pips sway like blades of grass. Watch some youtube videos of defenders like Joo Se Hyuk or Chen Weixing, and watch how they cut under the ball with backhand chop strokes. These guys use long pips on the backhand.

All these rubbers usually have sponge between the playing surface and the wood. I use a "hardbat" racquet with short pips and no sponge, just like they used many decades ago, but I am crazy :). The sponge makes the racquet springier and livelier. Generally, thicker sponges are faster than thinner ones. Something like 1.8 or 2.0mm thick is good to start with.

Do not purchase table tennis stuff from sports authority or any big sports store, because almost all of it is junk. Fortunately....

You can get a "professional" quality table tennis racquet for $30, as said earlier, from zeropong.com, something like an instinct blade with LKT Pro XT 1.8mm rubbers would be a good start with nice control, as keeping the ball on the table with sticky rubber will require a lot of practice for someone who has little experience with such equipment. Another option is the Kama combo from colestt.com; for only $20 it is a great first "real" racquet! Good balls can be purchased for cheap from these places, too.

Good luck with whatever you decide to pick.
 

hyogen

Hall of Fame
so are there any pros that use 2 different surfaces on each side of the paddle?

I think I would like the long pips on one side, and a really sticky inverted one. hehehe...
 
I remember those bachelor days and nights, especially nights, spent with ping pong tournements with the guys. We'd be up 'til 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. Sometimes it would get a little heated and paddles would go flying into walls 'n such. The best memories were were when we'd play barebacks (taking shots at an opponents bareback.
 

cujays

Professional
when i play tt i play it like tennis
i use a etreme western fh
2hbh
extreme topspin
always patient
when i return i go for it all
 
tears of awesom, you sound like you know what you're talking about, can you give me some paddle recommendations from paddlepalace? I'd like a paddle with lots of control. Being a tennis player, I have tennis-like strokes so I like to play away from the table, not close to the table. I have a regular 'shakehand' grip. thanks!

Choosing the right combo can get pretty technical, but the slower the blade (paddle without rubber) the more control (obviously). The faster the blade the less control. Typically, blades are made with a 4 common types of material (although there are more), hinoki wood, texalium, balsa and carbon or combination of all. Hinoki is by far the fastest, but more so it depends on the thickness. The thicker the blade the faster and less feel you would have. I would obviously recommend something slower. Normally if your looking at some sort of table tennis catalog or website they would be rated as such def-, def, def+, all-, all, all+, off-, off, off+. These stand for defensive, all around, and offensive. These are not very accurate at times but they serve as a general guide. Ive played with some that were rated offensive, but felt defensive. I think you should stick with all- or an all type blade. Defensive, is much to slow for even a beginner because its made for a "defensive" type style of play which at time requires a different stroke technique (for choppers) and no matter how fast you swing, you cannot generate pace it will however give you that "cant miss" feeling. FYI, pure defensive (choppers) players are obsolete. That style of play can not compete with todays player just like serve and volley tennis players. It started dying out towards the early-mid nineties. There are some effective defensive players, but they all have a fantastic "attacking game" when given the chance, with the exception of "koji matsushita" who is the only pure defender that still holds a competitive world ranking. Anyways, an offensive blade is too fast for beginners so you need to start in the middle and adjust up and down. As far as rubber goes...rubber consists of 2 pieces, a top sheet (actual rubber) and the sponge. Thicker the sponge the faster it is. Sponge thickness commonly ranges from no sponge to 1mm, 1.5mm, 1.8mm, 2mm, and 2.2mm. Unless your a defender (which your not) stick with 1.8 to 2.0. Almost all good players have different rubber on the blades that correlates with their back hand or fore hand. There are 2 kinds of rubber (not to be confused with the type of rubber), european and chinese. Chinese sponges are more tacky (spinnier), durable, but are much harder. Then there is european which is less durable, sticky, and more softer/spongier (bouncy). If I were you the blade that come to mind right now is a "joola carbon". Its very popular and its much slower than it is advertised to be (plays like an "all" as opposed to "off". Ive had it before and its been great. As far as rubber, I would have to say "stiga- innova ultra light (1.8mm)" rubber. Its not terribly fast, but it has good control and spin. It feels pretty good. As far as glue goes, if you order it and they ask you if you want speed glue or regular glue. Tell them regular glue. As far as blade handles go a flared handle is most common (looks like the stem of a spade) or a straight handle. There are also anotomical handles (middle gets fatter instead of skinnier like a flared handle) which feels like crap to me. I also have an extra blade I have barely used and ill give it to you if you want it. It is a "yasaka balsa" blade with a straight handle. Its in very good condition, but its to slow for me. My ex girlfriend gave it to me and I hate her so i can just give it to you for free :) Ironically, she was a short vietnamese girl who i met in college and played on the vietnamese national team for table tennis. She was good at tennis too. If you want just email me your address at morgantw@comcast.net and ill send it asap.

paddle of awesom, can you recommend me THE BEST paddle for spin? what kind of wood/layers/rubber...just name a model! thanks

As far as "the best" whatever goes, it is subjective from person to person and there style of play. spin is not so much reliant on the blade but more so on the rubber. For spin, I like "double happiness- hurricane 2 (2.2mm)" rubber, which is a chinese rubber. paddlepalace.com does not sell chinese rubber so you need to go elsewhere.

Leelord, I have never played with a senshu so I do not know, but if you got at a sporting goods store (pre made/assembled) there are probably better options depending how serious you are with the game.
 
so are there any pros that use 2 different surfaces on each side of the paddle?

I think I would like the long pips on one side, and a really sticky inverted one. hehehe...

absolutely

I would think twice about using long pips unless you know what your doing, it is very very unique/different
 

hyogen

Hall of Fame
onto the tsonga match!

if anyone recorded the Donald Young match, I would truly appreciate it if you could make it available here, torrents, or tennis 4 you
 

mdjenders

Professional
so are there any pros that use 2 different surfaces on each side of the paddle?

I think I would like the long pips on one side, and a really sticky inverted one. hehehe...

:) I played with such a setup for quite a while, and it is loads of fun. Defending is a highly active, demanding style, but nothing is better IMO than chopping back several of your opponent's attacks, then changing in an instant to an attack to finish the point!

All the top pro defenders in the modern game use a highly sticky inverted rubber on the forehand and some sort of pips on the backhand, usually long ones. Joo Se Hyuk and Chen Weixing are good examples (a quick youtube search will show you some eye popping action from these two). The best defenders attack strongly with the forehand side and defend with the pips. An allround speed wood blade is certainly suitable for a "combination" offense/defence game. A good, cheap long pip to learn with is 755 by Friendship. You can get it with no sponge (called OX) for great control. Learning long pips takes lots of practice, just like inverted, but as you get better with them, your opponents will hate you :twisted:.
 
hey where exactly do u live in mn? and r u talking about the club over by spring lake park or whatever? i was thinking about joining a ping pong league there
i live in the NW suburbs, and work in minnepolis. i was talking in general about the Lifetime fitness clubs all over the cities, they used to be Northwest athletic clubs. there is one in fridley (near spring lake park), it's called the moore lake club. i just remember (years ago) being at a couple of the clubs (Hwy 100, moore lake, saint louis park, 98th street), and seeing quite a few tables. that's all i know, i don't know which if any still maintain some tables, nor do i know if there are any organized ping-pong events. lifetime's website probably has info, or you could call one of the clubs.
 
All these rubbers usually have sponge between the playing surface and the wood. I use a "hardbat" racquet with short pips and no sponge, just like they used many decades ago, but I am crazy :). The sponge makes the racquet springier and livelier. Generally, thicker sponges are faster than thinner ones. Something like 1.8 or 2.0mm thick is good to start with.

Do not purchase table tennis stuff from sports authority or any big sports store, because almost all of it is junk. Fortunately....

You can get a "professional" quality table tennis racquet for $30, as said earlier, from zeropong.com, something like an instinct blade with LKT Pro XT 1.8mm rubbers would be a good start with nice control, as keeping the ball on the table with sticky rubber will require a lot of practice for someone who has little experience with such equipment. Another option is the Kama combo from colestt.com; for only $20 it is a great first "real" racquet! Good balls can be purchased for cheap from these places, too.

Good luck with whatever you decide to pick.
ok, this seems counter-intuitive to me, can you explain why a thicker sponge is faster? if it's analogous to spring tension in tennis, then yes it makes sense. but to me it seems like it would act more as a means to absorb energy, thus reducing speed with greater sponge thickness ... i'm inexperienced, and just curious. =)

also, some other guy mentioned the zeropong site, and it looks good. which is better the instinct or instinct+? the only difference i could see is that one of the way 5 ply construction and the other was 7 ply construction. how are the cream rubbers different from the ones you recommended?

thanks!
 
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hewittfan3

Rookie
i live in the NW suburbs, and work in minnepolis. i was talking in general about the Lifetime fitness clubs all over the cities, they used to be Northwest athletic clubs. there is one in fridley (near spring lake park), it's called the moore lake club. i just remember (years ago) being at a couple of the clubs (Hwy 100, moore lake, saint louis park, 98th street), and seeing quite a few tables. that's all i know, i don't know which if any still maintain some tables, nor do i know if there are any organized ping-pong events. lifetime's website probably has info, or you could call one of the clubs.

yeah the moore lake one has 4 tables still and I'm pretty sure thats like the main headquarters for ping pong around here. Thats where the major tourneys are held and stuff
 
ok, this seems counter-intuitive to me, can you explain why a thicker sponge is faster? if it's analogous to spring tension in tennis, then yes it makes sense. but to me it seems like it would act more as a means to absorb energy, thus reducing speed with greater sponge thickness ... i'm inexperienced, and just curious. =)

also, some other guy mentioned the zeropong site, and it looks good. which is better the instinct or instinct+? the only difference i could see is that one of the way 5 ply construction and the other was 7 ply construction. how are the cream rubbers different from the ones you recommended?

thanks!

because it has a "trampoline" affect. If you jumped on a trampoline 15' in diameter 2' off the ground, you would bottom out and not get very high. If that same trampoline was 5' off the ground, you would go flying. Thats why the slow thin rubbers have a real "woody" sound and a distinct feel when you hit with them. You could play around with the sponge hardness also to suit your needs. Hard sponge=slower, Soft sponge=faster.

Even though these questions are not geared i apologize to the person to who they are geared to. Anyways, as far as the cream rubbers go...chinese rubbers are generally have a hard sponge but, the rubbers are known for there durability and tackiness. With the cream rubbers, they just use the famous chinese top sheets, but change the sponge with a softer japanese sponge. It is good rubber. Zero pong is a good site.

Someone mentioned joo se hyuk earlier. He's the shi*. Not to mention he is a fellow korean brother, HOLLA!!!! Chen weixing is good to...his forehand is a little awkward, but effective. Hou Yingchao is good too.
 
Y

yodudedudeyo

Guest
question, when you but rubbers online, do you get 2 for the price listed or just one? so if i wanted to have rubbers on both sides of my paddle, would i need to buy two sets of rubbers then?

for example, they list the price of dollars for a rubber, is that for the price of one or two rubbers?

i mean, rubbers are pretty expensive, if i have to buy 2 then there's 40 dollars already. for 20-30, i can buy a decent preassembled paddle!
 

mdjenders

Professional
Sorry. I missed this thread for a while. Like "tears" said, table tennis sponges are very elastic and springy, imparting a lot of momentum and thrust onto the ball. Thicker ones have more trampoline effect on the ball, while thinner ones generally have slower speed.

There are some sponges that are very thick and dead like a pillow to soak up speed (in these cases yes, the thicker ones can be slower), but these are only used for defensive anti spin rubbers used by folks that like to stand close to the table and block everything (like the "pusher" of table tennis).

Someone asked about the instinct v. instinct+; basically the only difference is that the + version is faster and a bit heavier. Both are great with a lot of feel and control. I personally think the + is a better blade.

The Cream rubber does have a quite hard sponge, like someone said earlier. Lately, the quality of this one has been a little suspect, with the sponge getting way too hard. A better option, IMO, is the LKT Torrent rubber from Zeropong. It is softer and a great first rubber, nice and spinny with super control. Try it.

To "yodude", preassembled paddles are not decent and will hurt your ability to learn the proper strokes for the game; this is like buying a tennis racquet from walmart. Rubbers can be pricey, but if you shop for deals, not so bad. Go to zeropong.com to pick out your first competitive rubbers. The price is for a single sheet, but at zeropong, you can get an instinct blade with two rubbers (the LKT Torrent they carry in 2.0mm is a great choice for a first buy) for just $35 total! This is a high quality piece of equipment that you can use for a long, long time. If your budget is lower than that, try colestt.com for the $20 Kama combo, or if you really want a premade, the ones at zeropong are way better than store bought junk.

Hope that helps.
 

hyogen

Hall of Fame
I am about to get the Spinfighter II or the Scorpion II... probably the spin fighter b/c the scorpion plays faster. both should have REALLy good spin potential. anyone have anything to say about these paddles?
 

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
I prefer the custom approach where you pick the blades and then the rubbers but it takes a while to figure out what you want. There isn't a lot of information on those two blades from Paddle Palace and I'm not familiar with the brand. Best thing would be to borrow one to try out.

It's also helpful if they use a glue that makes it easy to put in a different rubber. I had some cheap paddles and I wanted to change the rubber on it and it took me a few days to get the old ones off.
 

my_forehand

Professional
I don't enter tournaments or anything, but play against friends and family. I'm pretty good, if I must say so myself :D

Not really popular here, even in Thailand: Badmington is though, but not as popular as sports such as Basketball, Tennis, Soccer and Takraw

Stick with your paddle now man. Mine are like $4 too, nothing wrong with that, unless your actually "hardcore," lol. :lol: You changed to western..
 
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