tabletennisJunkie.com - table tennis and ping pong forum for equipment junkies!

[729 fx]

1) Blade Speed - generally faster blades tend to be used by the more aggressive players, and slower blades by the defensive players (uses more spin ), because they believe that a slower blade increases the amount of time the ball is in contact with the rubber, giving them more time to put spin on the ball. On the contrary, faster blades have less control, whereas the slower blades have more control.

2) Blade Stiffness - the stiffness of the blade refers to the amount of flex or bend the blade has. A stiffer blade will generally be faster but less spinny than a flexible blade. The different materials used in manufacturing blades will affect the stiffness of the blade; this includes adding in materials like carbon, aralyte, fibreglass etc.

3) Blade Layers - According to the Rules of Table Tennis, at least 85% of the blade by thickness must be natural wood so the 15% can include layers made of material such as carbon fibre, aralyte, or glass fibre. The effect of these materials can vary - carbon is said to strengthen and stiffen the blade, while also increasing the speed and the size of the sweet spot of the blade. Aralyte and glass fiber is meant to also increase the speed and size of the sweet spot, but is supposed to dampen vibration and give a softer feel than carbon. Generally the softer all-wooden blades will usually give the best feel, hence control, while composite blades will give you better speed and a larger sweet spot.

4) Blade Balance - the balance of a blade refers to whether the centre of gravity of the blade is closer to the handle or the tip of the head. Loopers and hitters tend to prefer head-heavy blades which help them generate that little bit of extra spin and speed, while blockers and defensive players quite often prefer blades with the centre of gravity towards the handle, which can increase the feeling of control. The blade balance can be changed by using heavier rubber to "move" the centre of gravity towards the head

5) Blade Weight - the weight of the blade itself can be a factor. Lighter blades can usually be swung more quickly, but heavier blades have more mass to use when hitting the ball, using lesser strength.

6) Blade Head Size - the difference in air resistance between large headed table tennis blades and smaller headed blades is pretty much insignificant, so the main issue of concern here is that larger rackets require more rubber to cover the surface, which makes the racket heavier and also tends to move the centre of gravity of the blade away from the handle. Example of these are the Japanese/Korean penhold blades witch has "squarish" head as compared with Chinese penhold and shakehand blades.

[rokphish]

for some of us... price is an important factor...

[ejunkie]

Wonder if you guys choose the rubbers first then find the matching blade or the other way around, blade first, rubbers second......

[rokphish]

I like trying out blades much better than trying rubbers...

if i don't like the blades their values still hold up pretty well... rubbers are different case... buyers are more picky...

but my likeness of trying out blades instead of rubbers actually have nothing to do with their re-sell value. i don't know but i just like trying out blades more than rubbers...

[729 fx]

Me too, blade first the the rubber.

[ejunkie]

The selection of blade determaines if you are a hitter or a looper. A looper tends to go for a slower softer all wood blade and hitters might go for faster composite blades. I like to have Kong's blade, wood on fh side and carbon on bh side.

[ejunkie]

A followed up question: do you like to get popular and/or common setups (e.g. TBS with Sriver or Korbel with Mark V)? I tend to try uncommon blades that lack reviews--Kokutaku, Dr N, and discontinued blades--paired with common rubbers.

[varghese]

I missed this topic. Great topic and discussion. Thanks 729. I'm afraid 729 is going to be a table tennis mogul someday !

There are some great points in the discussion.

1. I prefer to choose the table tennis blade first. I'm enticed to a lot of wonderful OFF blades. Unfortunately, they can't fit my game. I choose the rubber next matching with the blade. Right now, I'm fixed on certain blades, unless I try out for the sake of some reviews.

2. The price has never bothered me. I disagree with my wife on this on many things. She prefers to spend less. But I really paying for a product which has quality and its of my likability.

3. I hate vibrations in the handle and too much vibration on the face of the blade.

4. I prefer wider blades. I have tried blades of regular size, and it does not suit my defensive game.

5. I look at the handles of the paddles. I don't prefer FL handles. The only FL handle I liked was of Joola Chen Weixing blade. I prefer ST little think for better feeling to the wrist.

6. I look at the handle material. After eJunkie suggested the cork handle, I have asked Borko to make a blade for me with the cork handle. He has also said cork has good dampening.

[varghese]

for some of us... price is an important factor...

You're absolutely right. The price of table tennis blades or rackets is a serious factor when buying table tennis blades.

1. There are youngsters who don't make a lot of income can't spend a lot on blades. Their budget would be normally between $25 and $75.

2. Then there are people who earn a pretty good income. They can spend between $75 and $90.

3. There is another category of people who buys blades which are costly only.

[varghese]

A followed up question: do you like to get popular and/or common setups (e.g. TBS with Sriver or Korbel with Mark V)? I tend to try uncommon blades that lack reviews--Kokutaku, Dr N, and discontinued blades--paired with common rubbers.

Most of the beginners to table tennis or ping pong start with the popular setups. I became a Joo Se Hyuk fan in 2006. I have been using his setup for a while before I have realized I can never become a Joo Se Hyuk . I had a call from a customer yesterday who wants TSP Curl P1R in black. The reason he wants a black TSP Curl P1R which we don't carry a lot because he has found out Joo Se Hyuk uses it.

There is problem trying some discontinued blades. If you like it and wants one later, it may be hard to get. I use custom blades, and I wanted a back up for the US Open. I could not keep in touch with the maker, so it has bothered me a lot.