OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I have begun using LP, Friendship 755, 0.6 mm, on a Joola Feyer Konnerth blade; got me a DHS PF4-1, 2.2 mm on the other side. Thus far, I am satisfied. As I am getting older, not faster, I like to have gear that slowes the game down, so I can take my time and choose shots. I used to play penholder single-sided short-pips; still do; but LP will be the future for me, I guess. Only thing is, I wonder whether the 755 is the right choice. I like to be a bit away from the table, say a foot or three, maybe four, to see what's coming. Chopping is good with the 755, but I have my doubts about its attacking qualities. As a former penholder, or soon anyway, I still like to attack close to the table. Stepping in and killing anything that comes my way. Any informed opinions on this?

_________________
Without opponent, no match.

I think the 755 is actually quite good for that! It has pretty decent spin reversal and is good for chopping away from the table. It hits quite well, but not compared to short pips of course...

The PF4-1 on 2.2mm I'm not so sure about. This rubber is slow and heavy, and most people prefer this in about 1.6mm. I've heard people say that with 2.0mm or higher this rubber just doesn't have good control, and really weighs down the bat...

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Hey, thanks. I'll go on training with the 755, then. As for the DHS PF4-1 Defence, though, I do not agree with popular belief. It offers outstanding control; if it didn't, I wouldn't be able to play with it, since I am not that experienced (I only took up play about a year and a half ago). In fact, I used a Friendship Super FX 1.5 mm at first, and found it too fast on the blade. Balls bounced off. That will give you some standard for comparison. The DHS is heavy, because the sponge takes in a lot of glue (and expands!). Freshly glued it is pretty quick, too, not much slower than the standard Friendship FX. By the time the glue has evaporated (after about a week), the rubber is quite slow. But relatively quick or slow, it will take in the ball because of its soft sponge and allow you to flip with accuracy on hard backspin, thus attack serves agressively. Looping is easy, because it is very, very spinny. Loops will not be very fast, except with a fast blade. The Feyer Konnerth I use it on is an All- blade; but placing is everything and a well placed, well looped balls will be fast enough to win the point. Hitting is no problem at all. Chopping it will produce lots of backspin. It is really a good rubber.

_________________
Without opponent, no match.

755 are very good for attacking. although I would prefer either 1.5 or 2.0 spong underneath for added control and speed

_________________
Shibutani Pro Straight
Tackifire Drive
Feint AG

Thanks for the feedback Kees!

Yes sometimes 'popular belief' is not that accurate If it works for you than that's all that counts! Good luck with the 755, and don't forget to tell us your findings

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Will do. In fact, there is something about the 755 that bothers me a bit, probably because I'm new to LP. It chops very well away from the table and it pushes well over it, but only if I make the rubber brush fast against the ball; when pushing I have to whip the bat under the ball, and when chopping I really have to lift my arm and hack downward vigorously, using both arm and wrist. It sort of feels overly agressive for defensive shots, but if I chop with less force (probably still somewhat hesitantly, being new to it), the ball bounces on my side of the table, or, if I do not hack really right down, it goes long on the other side. I am not yet comfortable with that. I have to work on it, I guess.

Also, I find it hard to attack topspin balls with topspin strokes; even when I make my stroke high up (as when topspinning with inverted against heavy chop) I can't get enough lift and speed every time; at times it goes well, at other times the ball goes into the net. I wonder if this would also be the case with spinnier rubbers, say, the Dawei 388 D.

And one last thing. Playing against opponents who like to hit fast spinny balls seems to be a lot easier than against opponents who use less speed or spin.

_________________
Without opponent, no match.

Those problems are all normal. It may take a while to "groove out" your chopping stroke. Attacking topspin with long pips can be difficult because the spin reversal will give it some backspin which can make it hard to keep on the table. From what I've heard, 755 is not all that grippy, so if you're trying to brush the ball upwards as you would with inverted against a chop then it will go in the net. Grippier, softer long pips will allow you to perform some more conventional shots, but they also tend to be less troubling for your opponent because the attacks will have less reversal.

_________________
Grab my game-changing new book and take your game to the next level!

Personalized Online Performance Coaching for Table Tennis now available!

Yes I agree with JSK... it's going to take a while to work those things out...

Hopefully some of the stroke description that we're working on in the PIPS website section will help a little to finetune your technique...

Against topspin you should probably either block or chop it (giving good spin reversal), or hit straight through the ball near the top of the bounch. This is where the strength of the rubber lies, so they are the percentage shots. Trying to topspin it back (ask JSK said) will turn it into backspin and it will be too hard to keep it down...

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

OK, thanks, I'll go on practicing... Last night in competition I tried to hit flat (that is, with an open blade and practically horizontally, just slightly upward) when I got returns that were about net-height, and this more or less worked; at least, it worked better than trying to topspin. I'll give it time. I must say I feel very much backed-up by you guys. In my club playing with pips (or penholder, for that matter) is frowned upon and seen as deviant behaviour - not the thing to do. Well, I try to teach my children that narrowmindedness has caused real trouble all throughout human history, and peacefully battling it is a great and noble enterprise.

Cheers, guys!

_________________
Without opponent, no match.

Even at net height it won't be easy since it's so hard to actually lift with this rubber. You'll probably have more success against backspin at that height, just aim a little higher and don't hit it too hard...

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Right, I'll do that. You're a real help, as always. By the way, reading your advice and that of Joo's again, just now (so kind of late) it dawned on me that, apart from mastering the strokes, part of my problem must be the transition from an attacking style to a more or less (I'd like it to be less!) defensive one.

Maybe that's a topic for the forum: the mental attitude of a chopper? How to be patient, yet always ready to go from defense to attack. It fascinates me. I wonder how choppers pick their moments. Yesterday I looked at a quarterfinal in the European championships in Belgrade between Nicole Struse from Germany and Irina Kotikhina from Russia, attacker against defender, and I was very impressed by the Russian girl, the way she kept cool but sharp against the much more experienced German. She would be chopping five or six or seven times, and just when she seemed to be going on doing this forever, quite content with wearing Struse out and waiting for her to make the mistake, the little Russian would suddenly go for the attack, hitting very flat and very hard winners from real far behind the table, or coming in for surprisingly fast over-the-table play. Almost always she caught Struse off guard with it. Chopper won, 4-2.

_________________
Without opponent, no match.

I know exactly how you feel! I still struggle with adjusting my game to a more strategically defensive one. I find I have a lot more fun when I am sucessfull in playing that way...it's just a process of relearning your game. I started out as your typical "cookie-cutter" two winged attacker, but once I started playing some D, then I began to enjoy the game a lot more(even though my skill is lower now). Watching the pros chop is very inspiring...they bring some much needed diversity TT.

_________________
Grab my game-changing new book and take your game to the next level!

Personalized Online Performance Coaching for Table Tennis now available!

Yes I agree guys! Feel free to start a topic on this! I would be good to hear people's strategies...

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

755 is a fantastic rubber, although I don't like the sponge that it comes with.

I made up a bat with 755 OX for a chopper and boy I almost regret it! Its the combination of reverse spin and inverted spin making it more difficult to play against than frictionless rubber.

You can't go far wrong with this but you have to watch the sponge. The sponge on the stuff I bought came off the rubber far too easily, suggesting it wasn't properly stuck on in the first place.

Fine tune it with some great attacking sponge and I think you are sorted.

_________________
Tibhar Grass D.techs OX | Donic BigSlam 2.0mm .
Re-Impact Medusa (balsa / 1-ply cherry wood)
Frictionless strokes | Attacking pip strokes | Greggy's advice | Bollsbrother | Sebastian Sauer . . . . . .