Carbon or wood, for beginners?

Saverio Unknown Asked 14 years ago

I was wondering if there are objective considerations about using a carbon or a wood blade for a beginner. Most of the people said that it's better to stick to one own's style, but being a beginner, one is supposed not to have any style. Also, professionals, as far as I see, use mostly carbon woods - which add some confusion to the question. Saverio

Jeff Plumb Answered 14 years ago

Hi Saverio,

I think that beginners should use a wood blade which is slower than a carbon blade. Generally beginners struggle to control fast bats. If a player cannot learn to consistently hit the ball on the table, they will get bored very quickly. That is why I think it is much better for a beginner to use a slower bat and learn some consistency. Once they have gained that it is not a big jump to start using a faster bat.

What are other people's thoughts and experiences on this question?

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Leslie Yin Posted 14 years ago

As you're a beginner I'd definitely suggest that you stick with a wood blade. Although carbon blades are faster they sacrifice some control compared to their wood counterpart. As Jeff mentioned, you're still learning the strokes so there's no need for the extra pace and you want as much control as possible.

Even at the elite stage, the use of a wood or carbon blade is a preferential choice. You'll still see many pros use wood blades because they like the feel of the ball off the wood blade which you don't get as much in the carbon. So when you're more advanced don't feel that you need to have a carbon blade, try a friend's first and see how it goes.