I just released a video on choosing your first custom racket, built around two experiments instead of the usual “buy this” advice.

In previous videos, I've gone into extensive detail about the mechanics of blades and rubbers; here, my approach was to see if any of the main marketed metrics had any real effect during realistic yet controlled gaming scenarios.

For blades, I fitted five constructions (from cork core to outer ALC) with the same rubber, used a robot feed, and tracked ball speed across pushes, drives, smashes, and blocks. The speed differences between blades were mostly smaller than my own shot-to-shot variation. What changed was the effort needed to reach a given speed, so my conclusion was that a blade’s “speed” rating reads better as an effort rating and that the 'on-table' speed during normal play is mostly unaffected (the player is the real engine behind the ball speed and power).

For rubbers, I measured spin on serves across a cheap club rubber, a classic, a hybrid, and a tensor. Here I found significant differences. The gap was biggest on gentle shots, which is exactly where beginners spend most of their time. Here, my conclusion was that money spent on good-quality rubbers buys you mostly spin potential across a wider range of shots (from very slow to fast).

The video covers the method, the data (in a way that I hope is clear and entertaining), and what I’d recommend for a casual beginner vs. someone starting lessons.

What did you start on, and would you change it? I’m curious how it lines up with what I found.

(I also built a free beginner builder at PongGenius based on the same ideas. It’s my own project.)

I know DHS Hurricane 3 Neo comes with different versions and they are:

1. Commercial - orange sponge

2. Provincial - blue sponge

3. National - blue sponge

Commercial being the lowest grade while National being the highest. I have always equate 'blue' sponge with either provincial or national. Why does the orange sponge also come with the two Chinese characters labeled "Provincial" on the packaging? You will find some reputable sellers on aliexpress selling these. So I'm just a bit confused with this. Anyone here knows anything about this?

i just dont get it, i mean the guy clearly has insane game iq, incredible feeling, and shows a very big amount of sportsmanship and respect to his opponents. this european championships just proves my point even more. i think hes the 3rd best swede behind truls and anton currently.

Hi people
I recently opened a sheet of d05 like 2 month ago and have taken it off and glued it twice. I glued it to the exact same blade and it shrank a bit but now I’m too scared to take it off scared of it shrinking again

My question is does the time that you take it off and not glueing it to any blade affect the shrinking? And would glueing it to any blade while you’re not planning to use it on your main blade help prevent shrinking?

I know this could happen if you stretch out the glue on the first time glueing it but I didn’t do that as I have practice me glueing for many times now. And I also know that heat can cause shrinking too but it have been very cold where I live and only started to get warm this month
Thank you

https://reddit.com/link/1x7fkil/video/74b6em8futvh1/player

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Table Tennis Blades

• Sanwei T5000 (5 Wood + 2 Carbon, Flared Long Handle) – 32.26 AED

• Loki Kirin K1-T (5-Ply Wood, Flared/Long Handle options) – 20.32 AED

• Loki Kirin K3 (5 Wood + 2 Gnf Fiber, Flared Long Handle) – 32.11 AED

• Loki RXTON 1 Unassembled Kit (Blade + 2x RXTON 1 Rubbers) – 64.14 AED

• Loki RXTON 1 Blade Only (5 Wood + 2 Carbon, Flared Handle) – 20.77 AED

• Boer Lion Short Handle (5 Wood + 2 Carbon, Penhold Grip) – 22.58 AED

• Boer Lion Long Handle (5 Wood + 2 Carbon, Shakehand Grip) – 24.51 AED

• Loki Kirin K2 (5 Wood + 2 Layers Base, Flared Long Handle) – 29.92 AED

• Yinhe N10s (5-Ply All-Wood, Flared Long Handle)

Table Tennis Rubbers

• Friendship 729 Battle III (Sticky Professional Rubber, Black) – 71.19 AED

• Loki RXTON 3 PRO (Pre-Expanded Sponge, Black) – 32.52 AED

• Sanwei T88 Ultra Spin (High Elasticity Control Loop, Red/Black options) – 20.16 AED

• DHS Neo Hurricane 3 (Classic Sticky Offensive Rubber, Black) – 91.73 AED

• Reactor Cyklin (Allround Spin Control) – 33.79 AED

• Loki RXTON 1 Gold Version (Allround Spin Control) – 21.23 AED

• Loki RXTON Train Gold (ITTF Approved Sheet, Red/Black options) – 27.35 AED / 29.57 AED

• Sanwei T88-3 Multi-Pack (Allround Spin Control) – 31.75 AED

• Friendship 729 Cross Series (Tacky Training Rubber) – 22.90 AED

• Kokutaku Blue Ray (High Elastic Speed Sponge) – 25 AED

• Huieson Hurricane-Storm EX-600 (Durable Loop & Control, Red/Black options) – 17.66 AED / 17.09 AED

• DHS Cloud & Fog III (Long Pimples Defensive/Chop) – 46.73 AED

• Yinhe 955 (0.7mm Anti-Spin Long Pimples) – 23.87 AED

• Meteor 845 Pro (2.0mm Blue Sponge Short Pimples Fast Attack) – 30.31 AED

i'm trying a new boosting technique i saw from fang bo but there is something i don't understand

1st layer --> dry 2nd layer --> dry glue 3rd layer --> dry

do i have to glue the rubbers again after the 3rd booster layer dry ? or is glue from previous day good enough ?

I feel like i’m converging in my style of play , and don’t improve nearly as id like to , ive always had weak forehand shots and rely a LOT on my backhand shots , but playing again and again juste makes me grow even more into my style and start avoiding forehands all the time , i need to make some systemic changes .

After years using this worn out Stiga pro carbon paddle, I finally upgraded to something nice (Viscaria). Despite the glue they use on these things, I was able to get it off. And I’m wondering if it’s worth it to put new rubbers on this for guest use.

A brand new one is like 80 bucks. so it feels silly to spend that much on new rubbers… Is the blade here good enough quality to warrant a decent set of rubbers? Any suggestion for something budget-friendly that would perform as well or better than the stocks?

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Crazy work from Haug to connect shots with that much speed and aggression. I was kind of worried that the match would turn on him after not being able to convert his match point in the 4th, but he got it done

Truls seemed broken after that fault call, though. Yet another year goes by for him without a European Champions title in Men’s Singles

I just want to settle this. Every single time I mention Felix corkspin RPB, there is some kind of disbelief as to if it actually unique (to be clear, he also has topspin and impacting backhands) or about how the corkspin behaves.

First, let's take a look at some typical RPBs...

Xue Fei

Yan Sheng

I personally think these two have the most beautiful RPBs. Immaculate safety, arc and good power. imprint the trajectory and kick in your mind.

Now let's examine Felix Lebrun

First note that when Xue Fei and Yang Sheng do RPB, they will almost always either lean to the side or go slightly southpaw. This helps generate topspin as you send the ball forward (the wrist angle for penhold is a little restricted in this case unless you do a Dang Qiu grip).

Now compare to Felix and you can see he simply rips across body.

Now watch the slow kickless trajectory of the ball. Side by side, you should be able to tell it's completely different from Xue Fei and Yan Sheng's trajectories. There are tons of examples in these two matches against LSD and Harimoto, so I won't bother timestamping, just watch every example. You can see there are 2 error scenarios.

Case 1 is the ball sinks without kicking forward. This is like a slightly more forward cork. Both LSD and Harimoto are confused. Harimoto in particular is very animated, and even points downward in bewilderment at some point like "why the hell did that drop?"

Case 2 is the ball floats up. This is more of a neutral cork, and it means he brushed close to the back of the ball. Imagine swiping the back of the ball, you would think it should produce and inside-out spin, but because it's a cork version, it produces this floater instead. Both LSD and Harimoto misread this constantly and hit racket edge, because the ball is floating illogically up instead of tunneling or kicking under. It is NOT because of sidespin kick. Pros are very very accustomed to sidespin kick.

Countering case 1: Watch Harimoto try to brush the ball up. I think by this time in Felix career, his opponents already know after seeing other people dump net repeatedly that it can't be blocked back. So they are doing what I call the "Koki Niwa lift" trying to stall, and change their fate with a higher ball.

Countering case 2: Harimoto and LSD both go for the FZD counter many times, but many end up as edge hits. If it connects however, note that the ball flies straight out and sideways (no arc). This is another clue that it is not sidespin or topspin. If you hit a corkspin from that left side, it is somewhat similar to flat hitting a topspin.

Lastly. If you watch more and more recent games, Felix is clearly not as dependent on this as before, as repeat opponents like Hugo are familiar now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMVtldbrLhs

You can see Felix is adding a lot more topspin pace, but he still has the cork. Note how Calderano swipes to his right for many of his backhands to compensate for it (just like how FZD was "seatbelt looping" in the Olympics vs Lebrun), Again, if it was sidespin at all, this would create a spin on spin collision. Also note that no one will give Felix slow topspin/empty/underspin to the backhand anymore. Keeping his RPB swing under timing pressure lessens any cork he can put on the ball.

Craziest match I've watched in a while, congrats to Léo on his win and to Darko for almost bringing it back yet AGAIN

The outcome would've been nuts either way; Darko either continues his 7th-set comeback streak, or Leo continues his Cinderella run

I play backhand dominant and close to the table but use a harimoto innerforce alc with Tibhar mx-s 2.1mm on backhand. I am considering pitting zyre 3 2.7mm but am unsure if it will work well with the soft wood outer layers of my paddle?

I used to play table tennis in school but took a break. I’ve recently started playing again in college, and I’d say I’m somewhere around a 1600–1700 USATT level. I’m also taking coaching, so I’m trying to improve in a more structured way but problem is that where I live, access to high-level coaching is pretty limited. The good coaches are either extremely expensive or work mainly with top players they scout very young.

So i want to ask from advanced semi-pro, pro players , if knowing all what you know today how would your journey/roadmap would like , what things would you do differently and what mistakes would you avoid ?

Thanks in advance.

Hey, does anyone know where to watch the European Championships for free? Have already tried the YT Channel but they show only one table...

Thanks for help!

Yes, another Hurricane post, because most answers I found relating to commercial or non-boosted version. Any personal experiences?

I recently bought H3 BS prov 40 degree on tabletennis11 discount (€38).

-Boosted it with 2 layers of Falco tempo long.

-Break in about 1 week on a spare blade, before transplant it to main blade (Fangbo B2X-E)

It just feel soft and easy, with zero overshoot. I don't feel the speed, but all my training partners said it is fast and jumpy for them.

So far so good. What about the NEO version? I know that it played better out of the box but after boosting, is it any different? Why not stick to cheaper original H3 if you plan to boost it anyway.

Thanks!

Hi,

I’m a real sucker for legit instructional videos when it comes to table tennis. My favourites at the moment are mostly chinese videos from youtube channels like PingSunday, TT4ALL, table tennis teaching channel, GlobalTTstudio

What are the sources you guys prefer? Is there any way to get more of that in depth chinese content with english subs or dubs? Doesn’t have to be free, obviously.

Cheers.

I am considering to buy dynaryz ZGX on FH and dynaryz ACC on BH since they are on promotion at about 40€ each.

My only concern was the durability since joola is not very well known for this. I have OFF playing style with 3 trainings/week + competition 1 time a week, and I use rubbers until about 70%.

How long could they last?

I often see Vega X Ten recommended on forums. It’s durable, plays well, and requires no booster. Many mention it is heavy, yet there are few actual weight measurements shared. Shoutout to my girlfriend for sponsoring two sheets. I plan to use them on FH and BH:

Gluing setup：

MAX sheet: 2 coats of water-based glue, NO booster

2.0mm sheet: 1 coat of water-based glue, NO booster

Forehand: Black, MAX thickness

Backhand: Red, 2.0mm thickness

Blade info ：

Blade size: 160*150mm

Blade bare weight: 85g

Measured rubber weights：

• MAX (uncut): 71.2g
• 2.0mm (uncut): 69.7g
• MAX (cut): 50.5g
• 2.0mm (cut): 48.6g

I just want to share a tip for removing glue from sponges that are prone to tearing.

I had to remove the glue from my Butterfly Tenergy 19 because I detached it while playing. It was glued with Liulan.

When doing the finger/thumb method rolling your finger over the sponge parallel to the sponge it ripped of little parts of the sponge here and there. But by grabbing the glue layer and pulling it upwards slowly I could detach bigger pieces of the glue without tearing the sponge. Also it is much faster this way.