The ONLY Table Tennis Equipment Guide You'll EVER Need

[@Looeelooee]

The ultimate table tennis equipment guide!! This video took a REALLY long time to make. I normally don't ask for shares or likes, but if you enjoyed this one - drop it a BIG thumbs up and share it with someone you think would find it useful! I hope you enjoy - and I'll be back to normal uploads soon. ⚠⚠⚠ *HIT SHOW MORE* for important notes and all pertinent links. Sorry that the clips on screen aren't flashier, I did what I could with the footage I had. I'm trying to get back into shape (and slowly but surely getting there), but most of these clips were recorded right after starting to play again coming from a VERY long break. And me being rusty meant I couldn't play at my highest intensity for long before I got WAY too tired and started falling apart. To reiterate AGAIN. The ONLY time I'm recommending something as fast as a Viscaria to a beginner is for those players who are SERIOUSLY training / improving. This means consistently training several days per week, solid technique / practice partner (or if not then working with a coach), etc. If you're a beginner and this is not you, then that advice I gave doesn't apply. Even if you ARE planning on improving / playing competitive, you're better off going with slower wood to start and upgrading when needed. *I forgot to talk about tables. To keep it short and sweet, go with a reputable manufacturer, and if you're planning on playing competitively, get something thick (ideally 25mm+). 22mm is ok if it's all you can find or need to save a little money. I'd put 18mm as the bare minimum, however it will not bounce as nicely as the 25mm+ tables. That means if you go to a club / play at a tournament where thicker tables are used, it will be very difficult to adjust which will make your game very uncomfortable. If you're not competitive, don't stress about thickness too much. Just get something you can afford and go have fun!* Slight correction I want to make - a commenter pointed out there is actually one pro player (Luka Mladenovic) currently in the top 100 who uses anti-spin! Join the channel Discord server here - discord.gg/UbakrKSFCp Watch this video if you are interested in free coaching - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJ3Eg5Wvq7h4q68 TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Intro 0:38 Disclaimers 2:17 *PROPER BLADES* Preassembled vs custom blades 3:23 All wood vs synthetic materials 5:29 Factors that impact a blade's performance 9:08 What blade should you pick? 12:46 Couple more notes on blades 13:29 *RUBBERS* Inverted vs pips vs antispin 16:50 Tackiness 18:28 Sponge / rubber technology 19:18 Hardness and thickness 20:34 Most rubbers come from the same factory 22:00 *DO GOOD RUBBERS SUCK?* 27:19 Extremely important nuance with rubber technology 29:46 Take care of your rubbers please 31:05 Rubbers as training wheels 31:57 *EVERYTHING ELSE* Glues 34:20 Varnish 35:05 Boosting 36:56 Weight 37:36 Balls 39:17 Robots 40:40 Shoes, grip tape, and edge tape 41:42 *END / PICK MY EQUIPMENT FOR ME* ZLC vs ALC (stiffness vs hardness) kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZSnY2mbm898aZY Equipment picker equipment-recommender.pages.dev/ Joola Blade Specifications joola.com/pages/blade-specifications?srsltid=AfmBOoq-G_vwfBx4aA3Sm8duPOiRsfaUcTR9IFr2qIRC7jGrvJwlRzPd Joola blog I mentnioed joola.com/blogs/updates/a-guide-to-understanding-table-tennis-blades?srsltid=AfmBOoquxmDIOYoW3oDrylLCL2vtSJ4ihTfjEhMjnx3jkuLuhlKTM-G6 SDC Handmade Blades (like I mentioned another great resource if you want to go deeper learning about everything) www.sdcttblades.com/ Old "Why Good Rubbers Suck" vid kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYbRqnulgLVkfJY Review of my own setup kzbin.info/www/bejne/nX6rlIGId52Gbbc Music by Harris Heller Credit to vecteezy.com for vaporwave effect

[@carvingtheway]

Super solid hyper comprehensive video.... Watched it all and it felt like seconds due to straight to the point data...

[@Looeelooee]

Glad to hear it!

[@TableTennisReport]

This is great! Nice way to introduce bigger audience to our sport! Good job bro!

[@Looeelooee]

Thanks!!! This is one of several vids I have planned that are solely aimed at getting new people interested and trying out table tennis (while still being entertaining for current players).

[@yan-kj2bd]

You mentioned that there are no professional players using antispin rubbers, but there is actually one: Luka Mladenovic, currently ranked 93, who uses Dr. Neubauer ABS on his backhand. His style of play is quite unique

[@Looeelooee]

Interesting!! I'll have to check him out glad you brought it up. I bet he gives players a ton of trouble.

[@Looeelooee]

When I get home I'll add a note to the description so people are aware.

[@TripodianTT]

There is also Amelie Solja.

[@rjari8578]

He maybe number 93 but I only see him playing some league matches in Europe but i never see him in WTT contender or tournaments, maybe its because he never makes it to the round of 64 or something. Ranking in TT is just a load of BS. I see him troubling some league pros but I think he would be demolished he plays any international pro Maybe he plays a lot of tournaments where he wins a couple of matches every tournaments so the ranking of 93 in the world,

[@Looeelooee]

This is also a fair point. I still stand by my statement that it's suboptimal and I don't think you can be a top top tier pro with anti. E.g. it's not gonna give top 20 caliber players any trouble. Even long pips to an extent are suboptimal although definitely have a much higher ceiling than anti and you can genuinely get to top 10 with them.

[@gentlewhalepiano]

After returning to the game after ~10 years, I'm happy to have settled on a Clipper CR with Nittaku G1 on backhand and Nittaku H3 on forehand. At 14 years old I learned all my strokes playing with 729 Friendship FX without booster on both sides on some cheap piece of wood from a garage sale and there was never a time where I felt lacking in spin or speed. My dad that also played top grade veterans and high club division also happened to use 729 Friendship FX without booster on both sides glued on some $2 cheap beginner blade found at a garage sale. In mine and my dads experience we have never found spin lacking or loops lacking spin/speed and this is even with old rubbers that are quite hard that most people would call "dead". I've seen people stumped at how spinny/fast my loops were and often you'd see people with Butterfly Bryce or Sriver on their bat trying my dads bat back in the day as if he has some magic rubber on his forehand. I've read forum posts of people asking for recommendations to upgrade saying that after two years they've outgrown Viscaria + Tenergy on both sides as an amateur player and want something faster....... and it really baffles me. Your relaxation, acceleration, explosiveness and confidence make good quality shots, so after you get a bat that is comfortable and a rubber that is decent if you want to really improve just stick with it for a while, the power comes from you, don't chase the dopamine of buying new stuff only to change your setup in a week anyway when you get bored :) Most setups to be honest are good enough to get a player into the top 100. The ball is so light compared to our bodies and in general i'd argue many people don't really utilize the max power of their rubber/blade and there's always adjustments to be made whether it's relaxing the shoulder more or relaxing the wrist or accelerating with the wrist, engaging the hips/body/waist as well as actually accelerating relaxed into the ball rather than swinging quickly at one constant speed with a tense arm.

[@Looeelooee]

💯💯💯

[@TheCoolkriss]

Great video! On the subject of tacky rubbers, I recently started to play table tennis again after 20+ years and I went for tacky rubbers, specifically because of their physically demanding nature. After all, that's why I'm playing again... Since the global thingy, I wasn't doing much sport anymore and at the age of Timo retirement, I wanted to do some again. I used to play with Yasaka Mark V-M2 and Thibar Rapid/Vari spin D.tecs on a Gatien cadet wood. Now on DHS Hurricane (Long 5x/Sun/Wang) and Hurricane 3 NEO (both provincial and blue sponge FH and different sponge hardness to find what I like best), after a month of training 3 times a week, I'm getting the hang of it. They are very good for touch play near the net and are indeed very demanding on top spin loop for the ball to actually go fast. Just what I wanted! The plastic ball feel is way different than I was used to, especially since I started with the 38mm celluloid one and barely used the 40 ones back then. Oh yeah, just picked up table tennis shoes too, side to side movement gave me a blister on the left, it was time to change the simple sneaker I was using.

[@Looeelooee]

Glad you liked the vid!!! Sounds like you've found a setup that works well for you which is great! And yeah going from the 38mm ball straight to 40+ is a HUGE change. I started on the 40 and even going from that to the 40+ was rough for me. Best of luck to you!

[@jeanbalthazar8014]

Thanks for the time and effort you put into this comprehensive guide. When it comes to shoes, I think most lower level players will be better of with badminton or volleyball shoes. At lower levels, you mostly play in multipurpose sport halls, where the floor is harder than in table-tennis dedicated halls. Table-tennis shoes are designed to be used on table-tennis floor coverings, and so they have less cushion than volleyball/badminton shoes.

[@Looeelooee]

@@jeanbalthazar8014 fair. And fwiw table tennis shoes can be really non grippy on certain floors which of course would be very sub optimal

[@terrywilson7030]

You know this is a big meal. Holy %^*#. Excellent info for anyone playing TT. The bat and rubber info is excellent. I see so many beginners play and purchase expensive rubber. Great advice in this section. I am 71 and play Table Tennis 3 to 4 x's a week. Usually at a 3 to 4 hour period. each time I play. Great exercise and lots of fun. I play with ages from 18 to 84. It is a great sport for all levels. Your guide is all you'll ever need.

[@Looeelooee]

@@terrywilson7030 glad you enjoyed!!! Table Tennis is truly a sport for all 💯💯

[@a1098113]

excellent content! Much needed for all the EJs out there

[@Looeelooee]

♥️♥️

[@HyperiumHawkes]

Great video man. Learnt a lot

[@Looeelooee]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@JJ-ws8fl]

liking the table tennis content from you need more of these

[@Looeelooee]

Don't worry I've got lots of videos planned! Although they do take a while to make so no ETAs

[@themorethemerrier281]

You're rocking the 'Kreanga' backhand stance!

[@Looeelooee]

Love me some big backhand rips!

[@andrewmccarthy4029]

Nice video - thanks for the effort! I'm sure the reddit equipment questions will never slow down, but hopefully someone just points the EJ's to this link in the future for people to sort themselves out. As to grip tape - I had never used it, and thought I never would for the reasons you state in the video... until someone goofed in taking down a table and damaged the handle (small piece flew out) of a newly purchased acoustic years ago. I did find adding grip tape helped me in that situation, and probably made the handle a little larger - I never had the complaints of the acoustic having a small handle that I saw so frequently online.

[@Looeelooee]

Glad you enjoyed! And yeah I made this video so people would talk about equipment LESS and talk more about other stuff like technique and match play but it seems already to have had the opposite effect 😅😅. But honestly I get it equipment is cool and fun to talk about and experiment with haha. And as for the grip tape nice. As with most things it's situational but glad it works for you!!

[@siegfriedmueller8193]

That's a great video with a lot of information. Great job 👍.

[@Looeelooee]

Thanks!!! Glad you enjoyed

[@TimeForGamers]

Good job for creating this, would be helpful for all up incoming players!

[@Looeelooee]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@WalterGuima]

Parabéns pelo trabalho, colocar seu aprendizado num único vídeo é muito bom, principalmente para os iniciantes.

[@Looeelooee]

sem problemas, fico feliz que tenha gostado!

[@alexmarquesfernandez]

Concerning ways to adhere rubbers to the blade, gluesheets work much better with 0x rubbers, since you can't take the advantage of the porosity of the sponge to adhere it with the glue. In fact, gluesheets normally have a "harder" and a "softer" glue on each side, being the harder to best improve the adherence to the rubber, specifically 0x rubbers

[@Looeelooee]

Ah that makes a lot of sense actually - glad you pointed it out!

[@donjaime_ett]

Are you sure about the hard is fast and soft is slow summary for sponges? I’d characterize it differently. Hard sponges don’t deform easily and don’t trampoline effect at low velocities. So slower for touch game. But they give more stability at high velocities. So great for counter looping. But you really need to engage the harder sponge with good technique. Dignics 09c for example is a harder rubber and the ball will die if you don’t engage the sponge. But when you do it will rip nicely. Tenergy 05 is softer and thus more elastic and springy than 09c. Some players use a softer rubber in backhand to generate more spring and power with less effort. This non linear response (ie. different elasticity for soft vs hard shots) is the main way I think about sponge hardness for modern rubbers.

[@Looeelooee]

Hey yes this is a great question. Harder rubbers have more gears, so at the top end they're normally gonna be faster than softer rubbers (all else equal because there's other factors like spring sponge etc. that impact speed). Imagine throwing a ball at a brick wall and then throwing a ball at a mattress. The ball will rebound faster off the brick wall because there's more direct energy transfer. The trampoline effect you're referring to is moreso related to sponge technology, which is normally what impacts touch on short games and a different category than sponge hardness. For example a beginner with Spring Sponge X is going to struggle on touches / short game no matter what hardness the sponge is because it's so springy.

[@donjaime_ett]

Need to use subtitles for this video. But it’s a good summary. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qnuvdGR9hsmMo6ssi=WNA2MTHXhjDQTIKg In short, harder rubbers need to be “activated” with a faster swing. They have more potential, but need more effort. Softer tensor rubbers activate with less effort. Are more springy with short movements. But for big powerful strokes they can bottom out like you said. Thus the tendency to go harder sponge on FH and softer (more elastic) on BH.

[@donjaime_ett]

Hurricane is the hardest of the bunch and notoriously slow and hard to play with. Boosting actually softens the sponge to make it more springy.

[@Looeelooee]

I think we're actually in agreement for the most part and you make good points. Hurricane is interesting because it has a TON of gears especially the hardest versions. It's actually one of the fastest rubbers you can buy on the top end shots like counter loops. It's just very slow on bottom end shots like touches 1. Because there's no spring sponge / high tension technology and 2. It's extremely tacky. The booster makes it simultaneously more springy and slightly softer despite those characteristics having opposite effects. But without boost it's really unforgiving in top end shots due to being so fast, and unforgiving on things like slow loops too. But very nice on things like short touches, serves, blocks, etc. But I refer to the harder rubber in general as "faster" because like with a car if you're looking at top speed it has the highest top speed.

[@donjaime_ett]

@@Looeelooee I think that makes sense. And overall great video btw! I should have lead with that fact 😀!

[@XIplupIX]

What defines solid techinqiue for you.(Regarding robot training) For example i have around 1500 ttr (i trhink like 1800 usatt). I can hit consitent topspins and get good qualitity into it, but if I would look at my recordings. Then I can see that My technique definetly looks not as clean as youth players technique. Does that matter aslong i am consitent with my stroke? or is it still bad cause it will halter my developlment if i wanna reach higher?

[@Looeelooee]

Would you be willing to share a clip so I can take a look? Are you comfortable with your current equipment or do you feel it's holding you back?

[@XIplupIX]

@@Looeelooee I can share clips no problem should I just dm you on discord? And was meant less equipment wise, more when a Roboter makes sense

[@Looeelooee]

Ah I see yeah that works you can message me on discord

[@sal2988]

Wish this was released when i first started around 8 months ago. I'm likely somewhere between 1100 - 1300 skill wise at this point but only recently in the last few months have i made big improvements in skill. The reason is someone advised me to get a petr korbell blade with 2.1 rozena rubbers as my first custom set up. It was so fast that i found myself getting worse every week. With every game i grew more tense and unsure as i couldn't control the ball at all. Once i downgraded to xiom vega and joola rhyzen ice which are much softer rubbers i got significantly better. Then, i got a chance to try a hurricane 3 provincial on a stiga clipper and found it so much easier to hit high quality shots with. From the moment i tried looping with it i knew that was the rubber and blade for me. I'm still unsure about what degree of hardness would work best. I put the rozena back on the backhand now that i have solid technical skill. I'm working on touch, consistency and decision making now. It totally makes sense that butterfly and rozena make their own rubbers because I've noticed that between all the brands, their rubbers feel and perform uniquely. And the stiga dna too. But aside from those brands, I never could tell the difference between most rubbers. Some were harder and some were tackier but they all performed well and felt in and around the same. Thank you for sharing this information. I would love to build my own blade one day. I'll use your video as a resource when the time comes

[@Looeelooee]

Glad you enjoyed and eventually found something better than that first custom setup you were using. Best of luck with your improvement and if you have any questions in the future feel free to drop another comment or message me on discord!

[@Tekay37]

About Blades: when I chose my blade, I bounced a ball on it and checked whether the ball bounces about as high as I expected it would bounce. I found one where the bounce matched my expectations exactly and so far I am extremely happy with my choice. I have that blade for a year now and improved by about 100 TTR (1140 -> 1240). Do you think this test is a good rule of thumb or is it just coincidence?

[@Looeelooee]

This can give you a decent idea although never the full picture because different blades have different gears, so two blades that feel similar on low end shots (e.g. just bouncing the ball on the paddle) may feel totally different at top speed. But what you're describing also gives you the best possible analysis of a blades exact sweet spot since you're directly feeling it without rubbers.

[@JesperSandersen]

Generally informative video, although I found it a bit light on specific recommandations, except on the Xiom rubbers which was good. I'm on 1500 rating (hoping Europe/US scale are the same), played some in my youth, then started again in late 30's, now played 5 years consistently. Practice only 1-2 times a week + matches so progress is slow. My playing style is on the allround/offensive side, but not quite good enough yet to have a bulletproof attack on 3rd/5th ball. I'm trying though. I've experimented a lot with blade/rubbers, started slow, then wanting more speed, realising it was too much and gone back again. For now I've landed on a combo of Yasaka Sweden Classic (all+) and Tibhar Evolution EL-D fh, FX-D bh (47/45 hardness), 1.9mm sponge. Faster blades are very fun to play with, but I shoot too many loops long. I like the flex and dwell time of this blade, and it can go fast enough for me when I need it to. Looking at my opponents I would say this combo could get me 200-300 ratings higher, before it would limit me, but that is a guess of course. Other blades I've tried previously: Andro Novacell OFF, Stiga Clipper wood, Andro Treiber CI OFF (carbon blade). I'm curious if you would recommend faster blade but slower rubbers, or what you think about my approach? Regarding Butterfly I find their blade selection completely impossible to navigate. Soo many options, and very little info on how to sort, filter and choose a blade that fits me. I guess the blade matrix helps a little, though butterflyonline.com is not accessible for me at the moment... 403 error.

[@Looeelooee]

Hey glad you enjoyed! And yeah probs could have gone into more detail on the specifics in terms of more setup examples. For ratings Europe if its TTR is generally 300-500 points lower than usatt. so a 1500 TTR would likely be between 1800 and 2000 here. Here's a link for the blade matrix hopefully this one works! www.butterfly-global.com/en/products/blade/matrix.html As for your approach I think it sounds like you've experimented a lot and finally landed on something you're comfortable with, so I'd say stick with it and keep practicing! Is it on the slower end? Absolutely. So maybe one day it will hinder you, but if it's not hindering you right now I'd say stay in the present and don't stress it until it becomes a problem. When you do go faster, maybe try and innerforce blade since the carbon won't be so close to the surfact, or if you can afford it maybe something like cellulose nano fiber would benefit you. You get the benefit of the huge sweet spot while maintaining a much softer, woody feeling with more feedback and control. But again that's for the future, I'd say for now just stick to what you have! Best of luck to you!

[@mrcadoia]

Im done with ESN rubbers long ago. Butterfly Dignics 09c FH and 05 BH is amazing. And butterfly Viscaria. match in heaven.

[@Looeelooee]

Nice!! That's a solid setup.

[@MrRandomguy1001]

Hi there. This is exactly what I need. I’m a 51 yr old amateur player. Was playing like 35-40 years ago but only now restarted. And for the first time in my life took a coach. My current setup is Korbel OFF D05 FH and Rozena BH. Its ok and able to do most things but my coach did make me use his setup Which is. Harimoto IF ZLC with T05 and MX-P and I found the setup amazing but a bit too fast and harder to control. I do love the speed and he thinks I am ready to upgrade. I don’t think I’m able to manage T05 nor MXP. Been mulling this over and was thinking of Fastarc G1 for both sides. What do you think ? Oh this is for the Harimoto IF ZLC blade

[@Looeelooee]

Replied to you on the other thread :)

[@MrRandomguy1001]

I saw that thanks!!

[@Basas.Michael]

Good Video. Except for the boosting, where you should have mentioned that it's actually illegal, except for factory boosted rubbers.

[@Looeelooee]

Thanks glad you enjoyed! I'd consider boosting a grey area because it's not explicitly banned and at a high level you HAVE to do it to remain competitive. And it's undetectable. However because boosting makes the rubber thicker, if you over boost and make the rubber too thick, your equipment can actually get banned this way, because there's a limit to how thick your rubber can be. So that's normally what a referee will check for in big tournaments other than VOCs.

[@Basas.Michael]

Yes true. Rarely events where residuals are checked by GC and even then, they can get away. We know there are players who do it and also who don't.

[@DaYoungSheep]

Your video was extremely informative. Especially about choosing a blade in the beginning journey for tt. I have a 5 ply blade with rozena on both sides to get more control. If i switch to a faster blade. What are slower rubbers option that would be best preferably butterfly brands. I may have missed where you said to find the flow chart.

[@jefftimmerberg193]

There is no flow chart. You need to download the tool.

[@Looeelooee]

I'm working on making it just a link to click that'll work with no download. Stay tuned I'll send another comment once that's ready.

[@abeker]

Yes I made it till the end 😂 Is it really that useful to train with the specific balls that will be used in a tournament? I think the tables and flooring have a bigger impact on how to ball will bounce and how fast it will be. And in amateur tournaments there will sometimes even be different brands of tables.

[@Looeelooee]

Nice!!! And I'd say definitely. Will it make or break your game? Probably not. But it's something that can help a lot so there's no reason not to do it. Some balls play quite similar to each other but some are seriously so different it feels like totally different shots. Like going from butterfly to Joola balls is a pretty easy transition. Going from nittaku to Joola feels like playing with a brick.

[@SergiArias]

Regarding boosting, my 2 cents: If you are stubborn like me and want to play with hurricane III or battle 2 rubbers, boosting is not for advanced players at all. In my experience, when I boost the rubber becomes way easier. But of course probably the correct approach would be to start with hybrid rubbers like Rakza Z before going into Hurricane. But if you want to learn with Chinese rubbers, boosting is absolutely necessary. I wouldn't do heavy boosting, just one thin layer.

[@Looeelooee]

That's a fair point, rubbers like hurricane absolutely need to be boosted, and among other things it's one of the reasons I try to keep my students off it 95+% of the time

[@SergiArias]

@@Looeelooee Totally, having so good Hybrids nowadays, there is no point to start with difficult rubbers like the Chinese ones unless you are fan of them (like me)

[@AidanWaite]

Thanks a lot for the video! I'm currently ~900 usatt practicing 3-4 times per week and playing with colestt Premade Buster Combo Blade Touch01 Flared Illumina 1.9. What do you think of this setup? My technique is still pretty crap I think. But I periodically get that itch to buy a different blade/rubber :) Thanks again!

[@Looeelooee]

Are the rubbers removable do you know? Or are they super glued?

[@AidanWaite]

@ I think they're removable, you can see where mans glued and cut it, it doesn't look like a factory premade if you know what i mean

[@Looeelooee]

Gotcha. Is your practice with a coach / is your technique pretty solid?

[@AidanWaite]

@@Looeelooee I've been getting coaching every few weeks and practicing their advice with a robot. Recent match here if you want to get an idea i think i'm still pretty beginner kzbin.info/www/bejne/i2mrpp-hr52Noa8si=1fcEZ0XfJ8kR-s8l

[@AidanWaite]

@@Looeelooee Weird I replied but seems to have not posted. Anyways yes I get periodic coaching and practice their advice with a robot. I'm currently trying to make the weight transfer during forehand consistent. Still very noob tho here is a recent match I am the white guy kzbin.info/www/bejne/i2mrpp-hr52Noa8si=1fcEZ0XfJ8kR-s8l

[@Pvtepingpong]

Pokemon background music, lets go looeeeeeee

[@Looeelooee]

Didn't ever play much Pokemon but always loved the music and now also the nostalgia 😁

[@BrightFuture-h6s]

Regarding boosting. I was boosting battle 2 in the past. Surprisingly I did not see that the weight increases any significant. The conclusion I made at that time is that, since the rubber expands you do more cut and this kind of compensate the weight....

[@Looeelooee]

Interesting. Out of curiosity did you end up weighing them or just going by feeling. And did you use extra glue after boosting?

[@BrightFuture-h6s]

@Looeelooee of course after boosting you need a glue to attach it to the blade, right? Or do you mean an extra glue layer before boosting? From my experience with haifu black , for dhs sponge a glue layer before applying booster is a must, otherwise, the brush strokes of booster remain on the sponge and after gluing the surface is not smooth. However battle 2 sponge is different, and apparently it soaks all the booster and nothing remains. So for battle 2 I applied booster directly on a sponge . actually don't remember if I weighted it or just by feeling. Good question :)

[@Looeelooee]

@BrightFuture-h6s yeah I meant more in terms do you add more layers + heavier layers of glue when you boost (which is what I do too) because that will also impact the weight even if the booster itself doesn't much.

[@BrightFuture-h6s]

@Looeelooee I use 2 layers of glue on rubber and one on blade

[@Looeelooee]

Gotcha. When I boost I normally do this too. Without boost i just use 1 on rubber 1 on blade

[@JSCybershapeGolden45]

I'm an EJ 😂 How long can rubbers last on my paddles assuming I keep them in a cool and dry place out of sunlight, but don't use them?

[@Looeelooee]

If you don't use them at all and they're properly stored I'm actually not sure exactly how long they'd last. But definitely a really long time. Maybe over a year, maybe 2 years maybe longer. You'd just have to I guess inspect them after not using them for a while and see what condition they're still in.

[@malongsserve4735]

Thoughts on short pips chopping?

[@Looeelooee]

It's a valid style albeit rare. Is it the most optimal? Probably not.

[@nyzt_2152]

Curious what is your reasoning behind picking ZLC based blades for all round and ALC based for offensive.

[@nyzt_2152]

Also related : have you played with inneforce zlc ?

[@Looeelooee]

I have and I've found it to be solid. Honestly it wouldn't matter if you went with one over the other they're both adequate for attacking style. But the innerforce ZLC is more controlled than the viscaria due to being an inner layer blade compared to the outer layer on the viscaria which was my main reasoning. But in the end as long as what you pick is high quality and you practice a lot with it you'll get used to it and it won't hinder you.

[@makkapakka8091]

I've tried your equipment picker and, respectfully, I'm going to hard disagree with your recommendations (sorry!) A serious beginner should start with viscaria??? There are some problems in my opinion with this, because most of the speed comes from the wood. So imo, a player should start with an all+, maybe off- at the fastest. Otherwise they will just get lazy and not use their legs. You can put a Tenergy on an All+ and still not get too lazy as it won't fly like a viscaria. In today's game, the catch-all solution is hurricane. You can start at a 38 hardness and work all the way up to a 42 if you get to pro. There are different sponge options as you get better and it's customisable with booster. It's not too fast for beginners and not too slow for pros. If you don't want to pay for hurricane, 729 or PF4 works very well. Most top players use tacky rubbers now. This is just the reality. If you use tacky rubbers, you will spin the ball more by default and be less likely to slap. This helps at 'crunch time' in matches. The other problem imo with your methodology is nobody on a budget will buy butterfly. This can even be counterproductive as they might quit if they think the entry price is too high. At our club we recommend some decent options from Aliexpress, and they can upgrade later if they want. This just gets them into our beautiful sport, and participation is the priority, from every class background. Of course I have my preferences on equipment, but I'm just being as objective as possible. I hope you take this comment constructively and not in the wrong way 🙏

[@Looeelooee]

No worries - I figured some will agree, and others will have different opinions on this which are totally valid! I think really in the end you could get to a very high level with either of these philosophies even if I do disagree with this approach. Fwiw this is also why I nuanced it by stating that I'm only recommending the fast blade from the get go to a really serious player who wants to grind 24/7 and improve rapidly. The beginner who just wants to get into the sport maybe improve a little bit slowly but surely etc. would certainly be better off starting with a slower wood. That's why on the flowchart it asks about budget OR not planning on rapid improvement. But like kids at my club start at 600 on stuff like viscaria, innerforce etc. and now they're at 2000+ using that same blade and all the feeling is already there so I think it's all situational. Appreciate your perspective though - all the best ♥️

[@Looeelooee]

equipment-recommender.pages.dev/ Made some tweaks to your point to highlight this nuance a bit more. I'm sure you still mainly disagree but I def see where you're coming from and hopefully this helps explain my pov a bit more too! All the best ♥️♥️

[@elie2222]

Watched it all :)

[@Looeelooee]

Awesome! 💯

[@riemikes]

Thanks.

[@Looeelooee]

@@riemikes no problem!

[@dartbarankus]

what is the best online store to buy tt equipment?

[@Looeelooee]

In the US there's so many good stores it doesn't matter. Megaspin is a pretty good all in one. So is tt11, table tennis store.us, paddle Palace, etc. If there's a specific piece of equipment you're trying to find I might be able to point you in the right direction though!

[@jonyer1980]

Any moderately fast all+/Off- such as Korbel/Primorac/Stratus powerwood paired with any modern 45°-47.5° will suit the widest range of players, from beginners to upper intermediate even advanced semipros. Theres no need for fibers, unless you're fully committed into the sport&make a living on TT.

[@Looeelooee]

Interesting perspective I definitely see where you're coming from - I'd say I sort of agree and disagree at the same time. Any moderately fast blade /w decent rubbers will certainly be *adequate* for the vast majority of the player base, but at advanced to semi pro levels and beyond, the fibers definitely start to have a noticeable impact. Now would it literally completely make or break someone's game, even a pro? No of course not, but that doesn't mean there's no benefit at all.

[@urmama834]

@Looeelooee Thanks man this would help a bunch, can you explain me about how rubber affects serving? After buying a softer rubber, the spin in my serve seem to decline.

[@Looeelooee]

No problem! And hardness shouldn't really impact serving too much (it does have an effect but it's nothing significant) as service spin is mainly determined by the top sheet - so it sounds like a technique issue imo. Are you accelerating to as close to full racket speed as possible with your wrist when you make contact on your serves?

[@urmama834]

@@Looeelooee I think so, but I'm still trying out new serving techniques for more spin. Some people in my club did also say the rubber I'm using is less grippy. It's the Xiom Omega 4 Europe, my last one was Rakza 7.

[@BrightFuture-h6s]

Id like to defend d09. It is very different from other dignics and tenergies. It is not springy at all. It feels very safe for me

[@Looeelooee]

I agree it's much less springy than the other Dignics and tenergy rubbers, but I personally still find it unforgiving especially for a beginner due to the tackiness. Although it's not a terrible option by any means. Just not my first choice especially with the value proposition. But fwiw if a beginner were debating between Dignics 09c and hurricane 3 id put them on the Dignics 10 times out of 10. However I'd also still say as with everything it comes down to personal preference in the end!

[@BrightFuture-h6s]

My story with tacky rubber. I switched to it in the past to learn to brush/press the ball since if you don't do it the ball does not fly. I played like 5 years with battle 2 rubbers. It helped me a lot to improve quality. Now I switched to d09 and really appreciate that I don't need to boost and still can generate a lot of power and it is bouncy in a short game

[@Looeelooee]

💯💯

[@ebrxfyder4125]

good video, but the chart doesnt work, or is it a problem from my side?

[@Looeelooee]

Glad you enjoyed! Will have the link working better by tonight and I'll add another comment here once it's up. Right now when you click the link you have to download it and extract the file and then open the HTML in a web browser which in hindsight is too many steps

[@Looeelooee]

here you go! equipment-recommender.pages.dev/

[@blazer2787]

What rubbers do you use?

[@Looeelooee]

Tenergy 05 Hard fh, Dignics 05 bh

[@vilaizvor7912]

Usefull!

[@Looeelooee]

Ty!!

[@nyzt_2152]

I think you could've covered FL vs ST vs AN handle.

[@Looeelooee]

Yeah I totally forgot to mention it. I also didn't mention tables which I added in the description. I'll add a small section on handles in the description as well once I get home from work today

[@Looeelooee]

@@nyzt_2152 actually I did cover it looking back see around the 13:00 mark! And in terms of one being better than the other any advantage one shape handle has over another is completely negligible. Although we were chatting about in discord and technically straight handle objectively has better feeling than flared because more of your palm is in contact with the handle which means more feedback. But again it's totally negligible in the grand scheme of things.

[@jefftimmerberg193]

The flowchart: Beginners: Budget: Defensive: Diode Pro, Tackiness Chop 1.9, Feint Long II 1.3 Allround: Grubba, Rozena 1.9 Offensive: SK7 Classic / Maze Advance, Rozena 2.1 High Cost: Defensive: Diode Pro / Innershield ZLF, 2.1, Glayzer 09C 2.1, Feint Long III 1.3 Allround: Innerforce ZLC, Glayzer/Rozena 1.9 Offensive: Vidcaria, Glayzer/Rozena 2.1 Intermediate: Budget: Defensive: Diode Pro, Tackiness Chop 1.9, Feint Long II 1.3 Allround: Grubba, Rozena 1.9 Offensive: SK7 Classic / Maze Advance, Rozena 2.1 High Cost: Defensive: Diode Pro / Innershield ZLF, Glayzer 09C 2.1, Feint Long III 1.3 Allround: Innerforce ZLC, Glayzer/Rozena/Roundell 1.9 Offensive: Viscaria, Glayzer/Rozena/Roundell 2.1 Advanced: Budget: Defensive: Diode Pro, Tackiness Chop 1.9, Feint Long II 1.3 Allround: Primorac All Wood, Glayzer/Glayzer 09C 2.1 Offensive: Korbel SK7, Glayzer 2.1 High Cost: Defensive: Diode Pro / Innershield ZLF, Dignics 09C 2.1, Feint Long III 1.3 Allround: Innerforce ZLC, Dignics 09C 2.1 Offensive: Viscaria, Dignics 05 2.1

[@joaomoreno3381]

Dignics 09c defensive ?

[@makkapakka8091]

​@@joaomoreno3381 Ma Te uses hurricane 3 and Joo Saehyuk uses Tenergy 05, so it's reasonable.

[@Looeelooee]

Modern defense you still need a killer forehand to compete so ultra slow fh rubbers wont cut it anymore unfortunately

[@Looeelooee]

Thanks for doing this!! Will have the link working better shortly so that you don't have to download anything and it can just be clicked

[@joaomoreno3381]

@@Looeelooee yes of course but when we talk about dignics 09c my mind immediately goes to a more offensive style of play since its properties are consistent with that style of play as can be seen in the equipment choices of the pros like (fzd,lin yun ju , ovtcharov and etc), but of course the few players who can compete with a more defensive style of play have to have an offensive side which is always the right side but my point is that when someone refers to dignics 09c my thoughts are obviously on the offensive side and not on the defensive side, so I don't know why he included the dignics 09c in the defensive list but not on the offensive side where it makes a lot more sense

[@Equaaz]

I will follow your advice and buy the alternative of Viscaria from Tibhar : Mk Carbon

[@Looeelooee]

Solid choice!

[@Equaaz]

@@Looeelooee I tryied Viscaria and i hate the outer carbon feeling with no flexibility, I will buy Innerforce ALC blade type (TIBHAR Shang Kun Hybrid AC). No security with Viscaria type, flat trajectory, no vibration.... aaaaaah ! What do you think about that?

[@Looeelooee]

Yeah if you're looking for something with more feedback / didn't like the dampened vibrations You'll want to go with something more woody. What is your playing level / practice frequency?

[@Equaaz]

​@@Looeelooee I play 3 times a week since 3 years (I stopped 9 years and i Have 27 yo). I have good technics and serves but i lack everything else. I play between the departmental and regional leagues, i suppose between Beginner and Intermediate because when we see what is "intermediate" in Asia.... I can't say the same for me. Btw I work for the biggest reseller in France so I can try (and have to try) many equipment.

[@Looeelooee]

@@Equaaz Ah I see makes sense. I was gonna say otherwise that would be a very expensive endeavor! But yes I would say try to find something with a more wood like feel and you'll get more vibration and hence more feedback.

[@Brozi]

Haven't watched the entirety of the video yet, but I'd say your advice on blades applies just to people who are coached. If an uncoached beginner starts with viscaria and even rozena or glazer both sides, they're probably going to develop some bad habits.

[@gab5012]

Without coaching you are most likely to develop bad habits regardless of the equipment you use, however good feedback/ vibration will help build better habits for sure

[@Brozi]

@gab5012 yeahh, that's what I meant.

[@Looeelooee]

Yup that's why I broke it into two parts. Beginners planning on getting coaching / rapid improvement vs beginners that aren't. And for those that aren't my recommendations are a lot tamer.

[@bau7917]

I think most non pro players can play with an extremly basic (like stiga classic and rakza 7) racket setup and with proper technique it will barely affect how good you are.

[@Looeelooee]

Stiga classic is SLOW 😅 Non competitive players maybe. But higher levels this would definitely hold you back a ton.

[@endrikoroveshi7781]

I'm more confused now after watching your video 📹 than before.😮

[@Looeelooee]

Oh no that's not good 😅😅😅. What part are you confused on? Maybe I can explain. Or if you're just looking for a setup I can give you a recommendation

[@endrikoroveshi7781]

Too much theory... give us more examples of real blades paired with .. .

[@Looeelooee]

I see. Will keep this in mind for next vid I appreciate the feedback 😀 In the meantime if you have a question about a specific blade rubber or something else lmk and I'll try to answer to the best of my ability

[@endrikoroveshi7781]

@Looeelooee i have viscaria blade paired with dignics 09c fh and dignics 05 bh but i was better on my bh with my tenergy 05 ....🤔🤔

[@endrikoroveshi7781]

What's the best viscaria paired with for a intermediate player (advanced)...

[@zhuangcorp]

Elmers glue is awesome! You're wrong about that

[@Looeelooee]

nahhhh 🤣🤣 i could never

[@Looeelooee]

Although fwiw you can use rubber cement which I believe you can literally buy at like Walmart and Elmer's makes a version of it and it gives a speed glue effect for a little bit before very quickly shrinking and wearing off. Completely illegal of course but figured I'd mention it.

[@zhuangcorp]

@@Looeelooee yes, ive been using rubber cement for years. Works great and much cheaper

[@justthatguynico]

Anyone know if tibhar uses esn rubbers?

[@Looeelooee]

Yes they do!

[@clarencepsaila4743]

video is awesome! Equipment picker kinda lame tbh , too simplistic especially after all the explanations here

[@Looeelooee]

@@clarencepsaila4743 fair. Glad you enjoyed the video tho!

[@Hypex1337]

Viscaria + t05 ❤

[@Looeelooee]

Solid!

[@Hypex1337]

@Looeelooee Objectively, very good in training, but ruthless in matches when you are not confident. ahah I will downgrade with xiom Vega Europe or fastarc g1. They are much more forgiving than the tenergy. :)

[@TableTennis-Man]

Donic C2 ❤ or G1❤ or Rakza7❤

[@BrianGriffin-u1p]

C2 all the way! 🏓 works great on both sides as well if you like to play offensively with a lot of spin and speed.

[@nyzt_2152]

PSA: Glayzer is ~5gm lighter than Vega X per side.

[@Looeelooee]

Good to know!

[@mgarzonf]

🌎🇪🇨🙂👍🏻

[@Looeelooee]

😀👍💯💯

[@beratpnarc5497]

very bad video

[@Looeelooee]

:( Is there anything specific I can improve on for next time?