Slow and fast blades and rubbers

Interesting!! But, in mainstream tournaments, we hardly find any offensive player without a carbon blade nowadays which are pretty fast.  However, most of them use soft tensor rubbers for having good spin.

Then why so ??

Hello, Sasha. I also like the idea of a faster blade w/. a medium-fast rubber. But, it's because I like to make my points hitting hard w/. the feeling of a solid bat in my hand. The combination w/. a soft rubber gives me an ambivalent result I don't like. Playing with a hard bat-soft rubber combination is like playing w/. 2 different rackets: Playing on the table softly w/. the rubber and playing hard, away from the table, w/. the blade. There is no transition when playing w/. a slower blade and a faster rubber. My rule of thumb is: Blade and rubber of similar speed ratings depending on your style.

Here's the thing, and I would like your opinion about it. I have an OFF- blade, Tibhar Samsonov Alpha. It's speed is rated about 7.8, maximum 8. Now, if I put on it, for example, rubbers that you use, Xiom Vega Pro, or Stiga Calibra, which are fast rubbers, will they increase the speed of the blade and how much? Will it be a little faster or much faster? 

Most top players use tenergy fpr bh and tenergy or hurricane for fh

In my opinion, the choice of blade and rubbers depends greatly on your playing style and the distance from the table.  I tend to agree with Eduardo that you should go for a faster blade and softer rubbers because this combination with give you many gears in the game.  If the ball speed is slow, you're using the soft topsheet to return the ball (in a short game); if the ball speed is medium, you're using both the topsheet and the sponge to bounce off the ball.  When the ball speed is high, you're then using all components, the topsheet, the sponge and the blade to bounce off the ball.  I just recently bought a Butterfly Kiso Hinoki V blade from a local store for about $17 and I am very satisfied with this blade.  The blade is made of 5 plies of Kiso Hinoki wood, a cypress from the Kiso mountain in Japan.  It's rated at Off- and weighs very light, around 72 grams.  It gives a mild feeling when striking the ball; you can really feel the ball on your blade.  When I smash, it gives me enough power and precision to finish off the point.  I put a Tuttle Beijing IV on my BH and Tibhar 5Q on FH and I can make almost any shot I want with ease.  The Tuttle Beijing IV costs around $15 and the Tibhar 5Q around $29.  So my whole setup costs me only $61.  What I want to emphasize is that a blade rated as Off- to Off+ doesn't mean that you have to sacrifice the soft feeling.  The ball feeling largely depends on the type of wood that is used.  Also last week I just bought another Xiom Strato, a 5 ply carbon blade, 3 plies of Kiso-Hinoki wood, and 2 plies of Aramid Carbon for $75.  This blade is rated at Off++ and weighs around 87 grams.  When compared this Xiom blade to the Butt. Kiso-Hinoki V (all wood), the Xiom gives a more solid feeling and faster return by about 10-15% against the Kiso-Hinoki V.  But the Butt. blade is better for blocking as it gives me more control.  Both blades are good for almost any stroke, looping, blocking, serving, chopping, smashing.  But don't forget that I can buy 4 blades of Kiso-Hinoki with what I paid for the Xiom blade.  I just want to share my experience with other Pingskillers that you don't be fooled by the marketing gimmicks of the TT equipment manufacturers.  So now I'm using the Xiom Strato as my main blade and the Butt. Kiso-Hinoki V as backup.

Looking at my own experience I would allways go for faster blades combined with "slower" rubbers. For developing players with increasingly improved technique, blade will eventually be too slow. Just changing the thickness of the rubber can then increase speed, that way I can still play with the same blade I am used to. I find that more consistent for developing players, than allways changing blades.

But as Surapun Wongopasisaid: It depends on playing style too.

Don't agree with the comments about soft sponges/topsheets give more control in short game, I rather say its opposite. Harder rubbers are less bouncy, much easier to control short balls ,one doesnt need as much of a soft touch, it allows for wider range of wrist and forearm movement, with less impact on the ball. The catapult effect of soft rubbers is harder to control.

Many players do find hard rubbers slow (Hurricane H3. Bluefire M1, Palio, Friendship,Valibra LT) and that is true for players with less advanced technique or slow players, but not for better players. Main speed comes from proper use of start and finish position of strokes and shoulder/hip/body rotation and how fast I execute, not from the rubbers. It is easier to create spin and speed with softer rubbers, due to the catapult effect and the soft sponge allowing the ball to sink into it, thus allowing mechanical spin. A flatter contact is allowed by softer sponges. So technically soft rubbers are less demanding, propably good for players who dont want or cant work more on their technique, but not for younger players with potential(or older with targets and dedication). Soft sponges allow for sloppy, incomplete strokes with bad start and finishing positions.

Harder rubbers allow to play slow and fast , the gears are within the player not with the rubber. BTW one can create more spin with harder rubbers than with softer, with softer ones its just easier.

I play now with an Off+ blade with DHS Hurricane 3 in max on my fh. I give it to beginners from time to time and observed its not too fast for them, since they play slow. But the hard sponge forces correct technique. A half way topspin will end the ball into the net. Ok its a bit more demanding the 1st 2-3 hours, but after that players will have better technique and better future development than with a soft sponge.

Maybe i strayed a bit offtopic, but I felt it is connected topics and I am speaking from personal experience. My technique was sloppy with soft rubbers and I see it with many younger players too. So I allways recommend faster blade from the start to not get confused with changing to faster blades during development all the time, which will just add on inconsistency and instead combine with slower/harder rubbers.

All-round blade with medium/med. fast rubbers for beginner to intermediate, and a faster blade with slower rubbers for experienced attackers.

With the first setup, you are using the opponents speed against them more often, by using more blocking and counter driving strokes, and for more experienced players, a faster blade will give them more pace in their attacking game, as the blade comes into the equation, but the slower rubbers will give them the control they need.

Fast blades with fast rubbers are only for very experienced players who can control these setups.

Many world class players use an All to Off/ Off- blade for the control factor, and use various rubbers to get the speed, combined with good technique, of course.

Your equipment should reflect your technical level.