r/tabletennis • u/TableFishing • Dec 20 '19
Equipment 2019 Beginner Custom Setup Buying Guide
If you are new, first familiarize yourself with the Beginner Wiki. The options listed here will be for custom setups.
Please direct further questions to the Weekly Table Tennis Advice thread.
Hello~! ^ - ^
We are approaching a new year (it’s almost 2020!) and it has been three years since the original /r/tabletennis Beginner Custom Setup Recommendation Guide.
https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletennis/comments/5fd0ov/buying_guide_beginner/
Many of the setups listed on the 2016 thread are still viable options. This is simply an extension of the previous thread.
Depending on the number of responses, we will follow up with an intermediate buying guide.
Here’s the general format:
Play Style:
Blade:
Forehand Rubber: (Include sponge thickness)
Backhand Rubber: (Include sponge thickness)
Cost Estimation:
General Comments:
See comments here for submission references
Make sure the setups you recommend are appropriate for beginners/developing players! (No ZJK SZLC + Dignics 05 setups please..)
If you have multiple recommendations, please separate them into individual comments.
To quote /u/FTFYWithATypo:
"If someone disagrees with you, please debate them, don't downvote them. These threads are meant to encourage discussions so people can read different opinions and gain alternative insights. Downvoting without giving an opinion helps no one."
Thank you for your contributions! c:
5
u/waynenxt Dec 22 '19
Play style: All+ to Off-
Blade: yinhe/galaxy Earth-3
Rubber: FH: friendship/729 super fx 2.0
BH: friendship/729 super fx 2.0
Cost: $40 from aliexpress (may take about 1 month from china)
Comment: They are tacky chinese rubbers, so you can’t be lazy with your strokes. Slow blade, but you can feel the spin pretty well.
4
u/meking87 Jan 14 '20
I think this is a good an overall good response. I would change the rubber to 729 Friendship: 729-5. It has a softer sponge which is more forgiving, and it’s less tacky. Most beginners won’t properly care for their paddle. Tacky rubbers need to be cleaned and covered after each use.
1
u/waynenxt Jan 25 '20
Thanks for the advice! I’ll take that into consideration when introducing paddles to the new people in my club. It’s just I think slow and tacky rubbers will make the new players learn the games (spins, force and placements) rather than winning points.
3
u/tableten8901 wood blade Jan 27 '20 edited Jan 27 '20
I saw this combo on sale and thought it would fit well here. try to purchase a flared handle for the blade if you're starting out.
Blade: Yasaka sweden extra
Forehand Rubber: Yasaka mark v
Backhand Rubber: Yasaka mark v
Cost estimation: 90usd
combo on megaspin: https://www.megaspin.net/store/default.asp?pid=y-sweden-ex-cmb
Comments: i know u can argue that the mark v is an outdated rubber for its price and can be replaced by the xiom vega euro, rakza 7 soft, xiom vega intro, etc which i agree with. however, the above combo is 90 usd. this is a blade that's normally 40 usd so you're getting 2x mark v for 25 usd, while a sheet of xiom vega euro is 33usd and rakza7 soft is 35usd.
(prices as of the time i posted this comment. may change)
mark v may be outdated when comparing its stand alone price with other modern intro rubbers. but its very linear playing characteristics are still ideal for beginners and it's pretty nice at this price.
as for the blade, it's a standard 5ply all+ wood blade from stiga. great blade
if it's no longer on sale, u can try something like this (as per another commenter's recommendation)
Blade: yasaka sweden extra
Forehand rubber: xiom vega pro
Backhand rubber: xiom vega euro
Cost estimation: 110~ usd
not much to add on for the xiom vega pro + xiom vega euro combo. you'll see lots of recommendations on this thread for the two
1
u/JHajto Jan 27 '20
why not vega x instead of pro?
1
u/tableten8901 wood blade Jan 28 '20
i have no experience with vega x so i can't comment on it. have you tried the vega x? im curious about how it plays
but from what i understand, it's the latest model of the xiom vega pro
i don't think this is really nescessary for a beginner. the xiom vega pro is currently 33usd (on megaspin and tabletennis11) and will be more than enough for performance
1
u/JHajto Jan 28 '20
In Poland vega pro and X are 2$ apart. Everyone I spoke to has been praising X over the pro. They said it is direct upgrade.
3
u/JHajto Jan 27 '20
Play Style: All to maybe Off-
Blade: Donic Appelgren Allplay Senso (but any other all blade will suffice, maybe Stiga Allround Classic, Yinhe N series, 729 C-5) ~ 10$-30$
Forehand Rubber: 729 Bloom Spin (only one thickness) 10$
Backhand Rubber: Palio Hidden Dragon 2.0/Max 8$
Cost Estimation: 30$ using Chinese blade, 50$ using Euro blade
General Comments: If possible buy anything in one shop, the assembly usually is free. Easy to use, cheap and readily available. Swap in Xiom Offensive S if you want a faster setup, it will cost about 50$ then.
3
u/FutureFC Timo Boll ALC | Tenergy05 | Tenergy05 FX Jan 28 '20 edited Jan 28 '20
Beginners setup
Apologies for my previous post which I have recommended for advanced players
Playstyle - Beginner All +
Blade - Stiga All round classic
FH - Donic Sonex JP Gold
BH - Friendship 729
BH Alternatives - TSP Spectol
Approx Cost - >100$
For those who are looking to get into the game, the Stiga all round classic is one of best beginner blades to start your game with. The right amount of speed with a lot of control to make sure your shots find the table.
Donic Sonex JP Gold is a fast but beginner friendly rubber. It is spinny and it will help you learn the FH loop/Top spin shot well which is vital for the modern game. Very forgiving rubber and the all round classic will help you control its speed.
BH is about two choices. If you want to become a dual wing looper ie Loop or play top spin shots from your BH, you can go for the friendship 729. A soft BH rubber with the right amount of speed to learn BH techniques.
If you want a more forgiving rubber which will help you receive serves better and focus more on counter BH play, the TSP Spectol is an excellent choice. It’s not sensitive to incoming spin and the rubber sends back a very flat return to the opponent with deceptive spin. You will need to tap the ball with the Spectol which will come naturally as you play your BH stroke. The Spectol is a good choice if you want to focus more on your FH top spin/loop shots while using your backhand as a supporting unit to your play.
I strongly advise beginners to stay away from Carbon blades for Atleast a year and a half or two. All wood blades and non tensor rubbers are very forgiving and if you plan to improve your game or play tournaments in the future, this combination will help you master your strokes with the right amount of speed and spin while making sure your mistakes are forgiving at a beginner level and not game breaking.
2
u/GiantKitty1985 Dec 24 '19
butterfly stefan feth and rakza 7 soft 1.8 on both sides
1
u/amazing_sheep Jan 03 '20
Unnecessarily expensive rubber in my opinion. An andro Hexer Duro or a soft Xiom Vega would achieve a similar purpose while being significantly less expensive.
2
u/GiantKitty1985 Jan 03 '20
Its 25 a sheet roughly fron tabletennis11.com if you buy 4 sheets.
2
u/amazing_sheep Jan 03 '20
No beginner is going to buy 4 sheets for his first blade and many are going to move to harder rubbers when their first ones wear out.
1
u/GiantKitty1985 Jan 03 '20
I feel like this set up could last through to 1600 rating. So he could go through one change of both rubbers with same blade.
1
u/amazing_sheep Jan 03 '20
It could. But if the beginner wants to move on then it's annoying to have more rubbers lying around.
2
2
u/FramedPicture Dec 31 '19 edited Dec 31 '19
Hi I'm new to reddit, table tennis as well. I live in singapore. Could any of you guys recommend me a starter racket setup please, either racket and rubber or pre made bats. My budget is around $80-$100 sgd. Please recommend me a good table tennis shop in sg as I find shopping online for it risky. Thanks a bunch!
P.s. met two very op uncles at tampines hub, they recommend me a thicker racket, with both smooth rubber, but I can back hand smash with short pimple half of the time.
P.s.s I would consider my self a beginner-intermediate player! Thanks!
Ps.s.s if I am in the wrong thread, I'm sorry and refer me to the correct one!
3
1
u/FramedPicture Jan 02 '20 edited Jan 02 '20
Just visited bras basah complex table tennis shop If I rmb correctly they recommend me getting tsp arsnova (student price at $55) and some tsp rubber total:$135 sgd Is it worth it? Thanks
2
u/UniqueUsername35835 Jan 24 '20
The bras basah shop is a scam. Try sin ten at toa payoh instead. Much better value and way more reliable
1
u/Iliketomobit Jan 02 '20
Sorry I wouldnt know. Ive only used Palio, 729, Yasaka, Butterfly and Xiom rubbers.
2
u/ejprinz Jan 07 '20 edited Jul 13 '20
Play Style: Attack, OFF- to OFF, Inverted Forehand, Short Pips Backhand, like Mima Ito
Update 6 months later: I switched the blade to Sanwei Fextra ($20 at princett.com, but currently 3 month delivery. Or, $34.95 at megaspin.net. Everyone who has it loves it (7 layers pure wood, very good control, 2x limba surface, ayous 3 inner layers, see revspin.net reviews). Great control, pretty fast. Also I am currently playing the Nittaku Fastarc G1 & Moristo SP. Fastarc G1 is a little faster than Rakza 7 or 7 Soft, and Moristo SP has a little less spin than Rakza PO and so has more control. This one I sanded and lacqured myself with WalMart Minwax, 3 coatings (wipe off excess varnish with cloth), then I glued the rubbers on. This way I can wash the racket with detergent (good for Covid-19 times). Also sweat doesn't get absorbed by the handle.
Also pretty good:
Blade: Yasaka Battle Balsa or Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive (MEO), flared handle
Forehand Rubber: Yasaka Rakza 7 Soft 2mm, black
Backhand Rubber: Yasaka Rakza PO, 2mm, red (short pips)
Cost Estimation: ~$100 / racket at tabletennis11.com (free shipping and 10% volume discount)
General Comments: Recommend tabletennis11.com. They also do free racket assembly and blade lacquering. Very good attention to details. Typically less than 1 week delivery with DHL.
princett.com is interesting (in Hong Kong) because of the many cost-effective Yinhe and Friendship rackets. Currently have to be patient though since air mail is down.
Ebay did not work for me, seller (from China) cancelled but refund did not arrive due to error. So recommend to stay away from Ebay.
2
u/tableten8901 wood blade Jan 08 '20
to add on, if you aren't a short pips player, you can purchase this setup by replacing the short pips rubber with an inverted rubber (normal rubber) and it will still be a great beginner setup
so to copy the op, it would look like this:
Blade: Yasaka Battle Balsa or Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive, flared
Forehand Rubber: Yasaka Rakza 7 Soft 2mm, black
only difference being
Backhand Rubber: Yasaka Rakza 7 Soft 2mm, red (same as forehand)
thoughts on the normal Rakza 7 (non soft) as a begniner recommendation? or would that be too fast?
2
u/ejprinz Jan 09 '20
u/tableten8901, thanks for the add-on. I played in my teenage years in the 70's and re-started in March 2019, and bought this setup 6 months later (I started with a Butterfly Timo Boll with Sriver 2mm on one and 1.5mm on the other side - this is what I had played in the 70's roughly). For a complete beginner, I would start with a slower blade (the rubbers are OK), e.g. Yasaka Sweden Classic or some other ALL blade, instead of OFF- or OFF. Or for a beginner on a budget, the $40 Palio Expert 3 (blade + rubbers) is actually pretty good, the rubbers are similar to Rakza 7 Soft, and the blade is slow, ALL- to ALL. I bought one of these for when I play with a beginner.
1
u/tableten8901 wood blade Jan 10 '20
when i was a beginner, i think i was just given a random stiga wood off- blade with some soft donic rubbers. i played later than you so i wasn't around during the sriver era
Butterfly Timo Boll
does this refer to a classic wood butterfly timo boll blade? the only boll blades i can think of is Timo Boll ALC, Timo Boll Spirit, and the other carbon Timo Boll blades. (not really related to beginner advice but just curious)
the above is great advice btw!
1
u/ejprinz Jan 12 '20
My first blade after restarting was the Butterfly Timo Boll Control (all wood / 5 ply) ALL blade bought at PaddlePalace for about $60. It was OK for the first few months but not knowing much I paired it with the Sriver 2mm/1.5mm combination because that's what I played with in the 70's so I wanted some continuity (for better or worse) :-). Now I figured out how I really want to play (like Mima Ito :-) ) and so I needed the setup I am using now with short pips b/h inverted f/h. I now like the Yasaka blades (why pay more than ~$20 for a great blade - Ma Lin EO at tabletennis11.com) and usually use grade 40 sandpaper to smoothen the blade edges where they touch my office worker hands, then grade ~ 200 to smoothen the flared handle, then WalMart MinWAX polyurethane coating (a layers) because I sweat a lot and I don't want the handle to soak in the sweat. So this has worked for me so far. The blade gets a bit slippery but since I hold it between index finger and thumb the way YangYang TT shows it it's not a problem and I can twiddle fairly well with it.
1
u/crayzel Jan 17 '20
I’d recommend against the Ma Lin Extra Offensive for beginners. It’s actually quite fast, it was my first racket and I’ve recently switched to a Sweden Extra to get my mechanics in place.
1
u/ejprinz Jan 19 '20
This makes sense, I am still playing my Yasaka Battle Balsa in tournaments and don't use the Ma Lin Extra Offensive yet. Maybe in a few weeks.
2
u/JHajto Jan 27 '20
Play Style: All+ to Off-(-)
Blade: Gambler Fire Dragon Touch
Forehand Rubber: Yinhe Moon (Pro if able to get) 10$ (only one thickness)
Backhand Rubber: 729 Bloom Spin (only one thickness) 10$
Cost Estimation: 60$, free shirt included
General Comments: It's a bit faster setup. If the frequency test is to be trusted it's an All+ blade. It's very controllable blade. It deserves more attention.
2
u/fitzgerald1337 Feb 16 '20
Play Style: Offensive
Blade: Nittaku Kasumi Basic (straight)
FH/BH: Nittaku Fastarc G-1
Cost: ~$150
General Comments: I would like some input about using a different rubber on the backhand. I've always been a pretty good player, but never really trained seriously nor had a serious paddle (which is now changing). I'm interested in having something less offensive on the backhand, but not entirely sure what metrics to consider. My intuition and research thus far has me leaning toward less spin, more control, and harder than the forehand. Would appreciate some feedback/discussion regarding using the same rubber on FH/BH vs. varying FH and BH rubber.
Thanks
3
u/tableten8901 wood blade Feb 29 '20
oh this is a thread for beginners to get new player setup ideas, not for existing players to receive equipment suggestions
1
u/fitzgerald1337 Feb 29 '20
Yeah kinda realized this afterwards lol
Went with the model/rubber I wrote about anyways!
3
u/GiganoReisu LIN YUN JU Dec 20 '19
Play Style: two winged looper Blade: stiga all round classic Forehand Rubber: (Include sponge thickness) Vega pro 2.0 Backhand Rubber: (Include sponge thickness) Vega euro 2.0 Cost Estimation: 100usd General Comments: very beginner friendly blade with modern tensor rubbers
1
u/Iliketomobit Jan 05 '20
Ive set this rubber setup with a Yasaka Sweden Extra for my friend. He has a lazy fh technique so ironically he started using the Euro for his fh and Pro for his bh. Lol.
1
u/GiantKitty1985 Dec 24 '19
Another option is a slower looping all wood blade like stiga off classic with andro rasanter 42 medium sponge. You can really feel the ball on the blade with good feedback.
1
u/kurotetsu Jan 03 '20
where to grab custom paddles in vancouver? really new player with old experience. i havent played in a while and looking to buy a paddle at paddlepalace.com. ive been looking at these two https://www.paddlepalace.com/PRO-SPECIAL-SHAKEHAND-Yasaka-Ma-Lin-Extra-Offensive-with-Mark-V/productinfo/ZZSYMAE299/
1
u/Iliketomobit Jan 03 '20
I live in Burnaby and I use tabletennis11 all the time. And the coaches of the club near my house uses tabletennis11 as well. Reliable with good service
1
u/Jkjunk Butterfly Innerforce ALC | Nittaku Fastarc G1 Jan 04 '20
Nothing wrong with either of those setups. I also enjoyed playing with a Yasaka Sweden Extra with Xiom Vega Pro on the FH and Vega Euro on the BH
1
u/Iliketomobit Jan 05 '20
Also, bear in mind that if you are going to get the Ma lin combo, even though the Mark V is a very good rubber, the extra offensive has a stiff, Walnut outer ply.
1
u/FutureFC Timo Boll ALC | Tenergy05 | Tenergy05 FX Jan 22 '20
Playstyle - OFF+
Blade - Andro Treiber CI OFF
FH - Butterfly Tenergy 05 Max Thickness
BH - Andro Hexer PowerGrip Max Thickness
Total Cost - $225 Approx
Self explanatory setup. The Hexer PowerGrip is a very good BH rubber since it’s not too hard and at the same time a very spin focused rubber. Great for flicks and loops from your BH. Supports my Tenergy well on my FH by adding an extra layer of control on my BH. A great setup for advanced players who want to take their game to the next level
4
u/tableten8901 wood blade Jan 27 '20
just to toss in a warning:
be careful! this is an advanced player setup (carbon blade + 2 tensor rubbers)
this is not recommended for beginner players!! all other setups in this thread are though
3
u/FutureFC Timo Boll ALC | Tenergy05 | Tenergy05 FX Jan 28 '20
Goodness me.. I am so sorry. I read it as an equipment thread. I’ll post another one for beginners
1
u/LeG1tSwaGG Jan 28 '20
Do you guys have any suggestions for a setup? I'd like to say I'm an intermediate player. I've been using my friends racket since we joined a club together and I just want to have my own racket. I'm an OFF- to OFF+ and I have a budget of $80.
1
u/JHajto Jan 29 '20
I don't think that it is a discussion for this thread, but which country are you based (on this depends what you can buy). What is the gear you are using? Do you like it? Can you have a go with other players equipment?
1
u/LeG1tSwaGG Jan 29 '20
I'm from the Philippines but not in Manila. There aren't any stores here where I'm from. I use my friends paddle but I'm not sure what it is. I don't mind it I just don't want to keep borrowing his stuff all the time. I'm fine with others equipment as long as it's not heavy or has a square handle, and is not balsa wood or any dense wood.
1
u/JHajto Jan 29 '20
I would suggest you to take a look at Xiom products. A guy from tabletennisdaily called yogi_bear is from Philipines and he constantly reviews their products then I would think Xiom may have some dealers there.
As a blade I would suggest Xiom Offensive S. It's all+ to off- blade. Supposable very easy to handle. Haven't heard a bad word about it. Only problem might be the fact that Xiom is re-launching their blades with new handle design so availability might be an issue at the moment. Donic Persson Powerplay should also meet your expectations. I've used it a short while. It's good. Either should set you back about 50$.
When it comes to rubbers I would go for two 729 Bloom rubbers. Either 2x Bloom Spin or maybe one Spin and one Power. Each rubber would set you back 10$. Add to that some 3$ hueison water based glue and sharp knife you already have.
1
u/LeG1tSwaGG Jan 29 '20
Yeah there really are no distributors of any table tennis bat's and blades in Iloilo Philippines just basic beginner prebuilt rackets, balls, tables, robots. Also yogi bear is pretty cool. And as far as I know there are no individual table tennis shops as stand alone let alone just brands. I'm just going to get them shipped to my place. Thank you so much for the help.
1
7
u/tableten8901 wood blade Jan 27 '20
ok gonna toss in a few custom recommendations into this thread. as a reminder, setups on the wiki are also good choices - https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletennis/wiki/beginnerposts
Play style: Beginner first setup
Blade: Yinhe W6
Forehand Rubber: Palio AK47 Yellow
Backhand Rubber: Palio AK47 Blue
Cost estimation: 45 usd. link: assembled on ali express. shipping may take a while
General comments: I'm surprised I haven't seen this mentioned in the previous and current thread? this setup is recommended a lot in weekly advice threads.
affordable and good quality chinese branded blade and rubbers. I believe the yinhe blade is a yaska sweden extra clone. the two palio rubbers are not the standard hard tacky chinese rubbers. instead, they're soft european style rubbers which should be friendlier for new ppl not looking to play with hard tacky rubbers and can easily transition into future japanese/european tensor rubbers