Changing from hardbat

Ji-Soo Woo Asked 16 years ago

Hi

My work colleague plays a very solid defensive chopping game with the occasional attack if the opportunity presents. He uses an ancient hardbat like you can buy at Toys'R'Us. His level is improving but I advised him that he needed to get a 'real' racquet if he wanted to improve further.

Any transition from a hardbat is going to be difficult. Do you have any recommendations for a racquet (rubbers and blade) he could start with that would make the transition less difficult and which fits his style?

Thanks!

Jeff Plumb Answered 16 years ago

Hi Ji-Soo,

The 3 bats we sell on our website are excellent bats for learning how to play Table Tennis. The Stiga Rocket would be a good bat to start with as you can generate spin but it is not too fast so you have more of a chance ot control the ball. It is difficult at first to use a real bat when you are used to a hard bat.

However if you ever want to improve then you really need to be able to generate some spin to play some attacking shots. Even as a defender you need to be able to generate a lot of backspin sometimes to try and counter your opponents attack. Even though your collegue is a defender at the moment, with a new racket he may like to attack more. It is quite hard to attack with a hard bat.

Another option for your work collegue would be to try a combination bat with a normal rubber on the forehand side and a long pimpled rubber on the backhand. This is a common bat used by choppers.

I would recommend that your colleague start with one of our 3 bats from our online store and try to learn how to play with some spin. After using a real bat for a while and getting used to the difference he could decide if he wanted to switch to a combination bat and continue his defensive style of game.