moming wrote: on Thursday 05 September 2024, 18:49
But the India trio are technically not defensive players at all, at least not a classic chopping style defensive player.
I never said they are defensive players like
away from the table chopping defenders like Joo Sae Hyuk etc
From the perspective of slim pips I classify backhand pips players as close to the table block defense oriented players or away from the table choppers.
You can call the close to the table blockers or chop blockers whatever you like . I would call them close to the block defenders. I do not know of any of these players who attack using slim pips on the backhand. You call it what you like. but the slim pips rubber designs for close to the defenders is distinctly different from the slim pips what away from the table choppers need.
moming wrote: on Thursday 05 September 2024, 18:49
Sure their BH is mostly LP blocking, occasionally attack or twiddle to attack, but still, I cannot call the Indian ladies "defensive" players, at least not in my definition.
What would you call a chopper who defends with slim pips on the backhand & loop attacks on the forehand. Don’t you call them modern defender ?
In the same sense I am calling these close to the table blockers as block defenders.
moming wrote: on Thursday 05 September 2024, 18:49
And I am wondering Annabelle, what would you consider to be a good blade for players like the India trio?
As I have explained 100s of times over the past 2 or so years, there are no blade or rubbers for the defenders (block or chop) in the 40+ plastic ball only era.
There are no rubbers because ITTF has banned “long” pips in 1998 & confirmed it with 8 more rule or regulation changes after that. The current slim pips rubber that ITTF deceptively callas as “long” on their LARC are useless dysfunctional social rubbers in the 40+ plastic ball ONLY era.
But pips fools refuse to understand this & keep deluding that ITTF makes fair rules & believes in diversity of playing styles.
Anyway as far as blades go, as I explained over and over, any blade that is symmetric is layer composition on both side is garbage because you need a different layer composition on backhand and forehand whether it is for a block defender or a chop defender.
The biggest problem is having a non-wood material (such as carbon, Kevlar or ALC or ZLC etc) closest to the outermost wood layer on defensive side. This completely kills the objective of using slim pips for blocking of chopping.
It is OK to have a composite material on forehand like an ALC for a looper or ZLC for a short pips hitter. Also you need a layer composition on defensive side that is slower and also with a high dwell time to enhance spin reversal & spin amplification of slim pips. If you are attacking with long pips then a symmetric blade ok but NOT if you are playing mostly blocking or chop blocking or chopping defense on the backhand.
The second huge problem is the head size of the blade. Most pips players just forget the fact that the ball size has increased by 2 mm. Also the ball is plastic now. Both these factors has killed lot of spin reversal & back spin amplification in addition to the other 8 rule changes after 1998 Durban AR reduction change. Pips fools don’t seem to understand how significantly each of thes 12 changes effect defenders.
Anyway my point is that you need a larger blade for the 40+ plastic ball ONLY era to at least partially compensate for loss of backspin due to 12 changes. Block defenders at highest level use OX slim pips . Amateur choppers should not be using slim pips with sponge as needed by pro choppers. Amateur choppers should use ONLY OX slim pips because
1. OX rubbers give better control than pips with sponge
2. At amateur level the incoming top spins are not as heavy as at pro level. So they do not need sponge. But for pros , the ball will shoot off the wood because the incoming loops from illegally boosted rubbers are so heavy as well as fast.
3. The blade weight is not a problem for amateur or pro block defenders or amateur choppers if they use OX, which they should . The blade may be slightly heavy for a pro chopper if they use sponge on slim pips side but they should be able to adjust.
Based on above explanation, a (close to the table) blocker needs a blade at least 168 mm wide by 168 mm high, preferably 170 mm by 170 mm. A chop blocker may use 166 mm by 166 mm since they need quick & well timed movements.
An away from the table chopper needs like a 172 mm by 172 mm blade, preferably 175 mm by 175 mm.
Just an FYI in the hardbat days lots of players used 175 mm or larger blades. Of course they had no sponge but sponge on only one side is not significantly heavy.
Angelica Rozeanu, possibly the lady GOAT (but for WW 2) used such a large racket. She was a defensive oriented all round player.
Pete May, the father of Derek May (who was a USA National Team chopper) , uses such a large blade which is also cybershape.
You should also read my reply in OOAK forum to Iskandar Taib’s post about a large Indonesian blade. I have provided lots of details.
Also visit my blog page to understand what wide pips & slim pips are & various pips concepts.
https://tacticaltabletennis.blogspot.com/p/ar.html
https://tacticaltabletennis.blogspot.co ... index.html
moming wrote: on Thursday 05 September 2024, 18:49
Very few of us have the luxury to get name brand manufacturers to do a customized blade
There are lots of small custom blade manufacturers.
One of them is SDCBlades in Portugal who posts a lot in all forums
Here is a link to his webpage
https://www.sdcttblades.com/
https://mytabletennis.net/forum/topic86 ... ml#1488831
OSP is another manufacturer
https://ospblades.com/
A store in USA below I believe makes custom blades. You have to ask them for more details
https://tabletennisstore.us/collections/rackets
I will post more later