L.A. Open

I just got back a few days ago from the L.A. Open, which is probably the highest paying TT tournament this country has ever seen (aside from that 100k Budweiser hardbat thing).  Of course, this attracted many top players, and it was just really great to watch.  The Open Singles event (with a prize of 12k for the winner) was very exciting from the beginning.  Everywhere you turned, there were great matches being played.  Besides the familiar faces, there were also several new players I haven’t seen before (especially from the East coast), and I’m always interested to see how different styles match up.  I think the scheduling could have been a little better, though.  The Open didn’t start until 6 PM, so the round of 16 didn’t finish until almost midnight for some groups.  That meant that I ate a very late dinner, since it was just too good to miss!

Anyway, I personally played very poorly — way under my level.  It was shocking how much the weather affected everything, from my equipment to the speed of the ball.  I don’t know if it was the fault of the facility or the directors, but the AC was either not turned on, or turned on to a very low setting, and consequently the venue was extremely humid.  I’ve decided to actually move away from Chinese rubbers (although I really love them in good conditions) because they are just too unreliable when it gets a little humid.  Also, the ball seemed to move very slowly down there — maybe because the air was so thick.  Even though I played several hundred points below my level, I don’t really mind, since I really just wanted to go and watch.  As usual, after a tournament, I am inspired to practice more.  For now, my goal is to learn how to stand mid distance and just spin everything back on both sides.  We’ll see how that goes!  Anyway, I hope this tournament is a recurring event, although they really need to get some AC going on in that venue!  Everything else about it was fine, but it really sucks when you’re just sitting there and already sweating even without moving.

Weapon of the Gods

Ok, it might be a misnomer.  I just tested out a sheet of Tin Arc (天弓) 3, and so far am very happy with it.  I’ve been struggling to find a good FH rubber for my Ludeak Fleet.  The H3 worked very well at first, but then (for reasons unknown to me) suddenly lost all spin capability.  I thought it was my technique, but I was playing just fine with everyone else’s equipment, so I guess the blade/rubber combination just isn’t that good.  Anyway, I remembered reading about this new DHS product (their most expensive rubber yet, although it’s the same price as most euro/Japanese rubbers), and it was supposed to be the DHS version of Tenergy’s Spring Sponge.  So, I’m thinking Spring Sponge + Chinese topsheet… that sounds like Spin Art (which I’ve never tried due to the price), but for nearly half the price, I am willing to take the risk.  I just received it in the mail earlier today, and already played a few hours with it.  Here are some initial impressions.

Out of the package, it’s quite a beautiful rubber.  I’ve heard people say DHS quality is bad, but I’ve never had a problem yet.  Their topsheets are only minimally (if at all) blemished, and this one was perfect.  The labels are never way off to one side (unlike Haifu.  As with all of their rubbers, the topsheet was covered by a sheet of plastic.  The sponge is nearly identical in color to Tenergy, but it’s slightly less porous, and feels much denser (it’s labeled at 2.1 mm, 37 degrees).  Pressing down on the sponge, it feels nearly as hard as my H3, but it feels much softer when actually hitting.  The topsheet is very mildly tacky.  It feels like a Chinese topsheet (has that kind of wet, sticky feel, instead of the dry feel like Tenergy), but doesn’t pick up the ball at all.

As far as performance goes, this rubber doesn’t excel at anything.  That being said, I don’t want to sound too enthusiastic, since I just started using it, but this may be the FH rubber I’ve been looking for.  It’s much easier to counterloop and play mid/far distance when compared to H3, but not as good as T05 in that regard.  The slow balls are very controllable, and it’s easier to prevent pop-ups and long pushes than with T05, but not as easy as H3.  I can open with a very slow, spinny loop (which I can’t really do with T05, as it puts quite a bit of forward momentum without me doing anything), but it’s not quite as spinny as the H3.  So, it’s not the best of both worlds, but it’s certainly good enough.  I’ve realized that there’s really no rubber than can do everything I want.  There’s no way that I can get that hard sponge feeling of H3 (along with the super spinny slow loops), as well as the ease of counter topspin of Tenergy.  However, this rubber really does seem to do both things fairly well, and that’s really everything I can hope for.  Lastly, this rubber just FEELS great on the Ludeak Fleet.  In fact, my shots probably feel like they are better than they actually are, but I don’t really care.  If I feel good about it, that’s good enough for me (even if my shots aren’t actually that great).  Oh, I should also mention that my blade feels lighter now than it did with the H3 (although I don’t have solid proof that this rubber is lighter… it could be that the balance was affected somehow).  The way it’s named makes it sound like it’s the bow of Artemis or something (I don’t know what Tin Arc is supposed to mean, though, and it just sounds really dumb), but I think this is just a really great all-around rubber, and nothing heavenly.  Most importantly, it gives me the feeling of using a hard sponged Chinese rubber, but still has enough life to be useful from mid/far distance.  It feels so Chinese that I was able to adjust to it almost immediately.  So, the verdict: this is a great rubber!  I wonder what the Tin Arc 1 is like.  And I wonder why the Tin Arc rubbers don’t come in the standard (for DHS) 2 and 3 variants, and instead come in 1 and 3.

Hasa Diga Eebowai

Man, I need to update this thing more.  So much has happened since the last post.

In terms of equipment, I got a great deal on a Nittaku Ludeak Fleet, and it’s really a beautiful blade.  I’ve had my eyes on it for a while… actually, since I saw it in the store, and picked it up.  The handle was great, and the pink plies remind me of a Clipper, except it’s prettier in every way.  Of course, the finished Nittaku product is incomparably better than anything Stiga makes (in terms of quality).  My friend picked up a Ludeak Power at the same time, and that’s proving to be a great blade as well (the two feel very different).

The Ludeak Fleet is a 9-ply blade (7W + 2 glass fiber), which is more than anything else I’ve ever played with (mine tend to be 5W + 2 composite).  It’s also thicker than usual for me, coming in at 6.2 mm.  Naturally, I expected it to feel stiffer than the MJ, but the opposite turned out to be the case.  It’s actually quite flexible, and really reminds me of an all wood blade, like the HK.  That is to say the response is less linear than a stiffer blade, and the throw angle seems to be dependent on the impact as well (although it seems weird for me to associate throw with the blade).  At low impacts (such as passive blocking against weaker balls), it’s pretty slow (relatively speaking — the blade itself is fairly fast and definitely in the Off range), but after a certain threshold speed, it becomes much more lively, and with hard swings, becomes faster than the MJ.  Of course, it’s taking me some time to get used to it, especially with the blocking.  Blocking a much heavier ball requires a much more drastic change in angle compared to the MJ.  However, I am really liking the flexibility for looping, as it allows me to get pretty good power with H3, even from mid to far distance (whereas I used to have to swing as hard as I could to basically just get it on).  The head size is just about the same as the HK (so bigger than the MJ), so I took the H3 from my HK for the FH, and am using the Rakza 7 Soft for my BH (although it doesn’t fit properly — will need to get a new sheet before the next tournament).  Although the blade itself weighs 86 g (5 g less than the MJ), it feels a bit heavier because of the added rubber weight, and maybe also because of the weight distribution.  Luckily, the weight doesn’t really seem to bother me as much as it used to, and I’ve noticed that it adds quite a bit of momentum to my stroke, so a more compact stroke actually produces a lot more spin!  This is very apparent with the off the bounce loops.  Even when warming up, my practice partners will often block the ball off the table, because there’s an unexpected amount of spin on the ball.  I’m not really sure why, but I’m not complaining!  Anyway, I looked online and couldn’t find any information on this blade.  I guess nobody has bought one yet or something.  That’s a shame, because this is a highly recommended blade.  Unless it turns out to be so heavy that I injure myself (hasn’t happened yet), I can see myself sticking with this for quite some time.  I wonder how it would play with Tenergy…

Oh, I should write about the Ludeak Power as well.  I really haven’t gotten to hit much with it yet, but it feels much more like a Clipper than my Ludeak Fleet (which feels like a composite HK in a way).  It’s much more solid (due to thickness, I believe), and has a softer feel.  The short game with it is amazing, and you can get plenty of power.  I’m guessing the stiffness makes it weaker from a distance compared to the Fleet, but if you don’t back up too far, there’s no problem.  To me, it’s just a matter of preference.  I like the harder feeling of the Fleet, but I can easily see myself playing with the Power.  So, in the end, the whole Ludeak series is great!  Another friend has the normal Ludeak and is loving it with Rakza 7 and Acuda S1.  We’re kind of like Ludeak triplets.  But I still like mine the most.

Besides that, I have non-tt news.  I went to Denmark for my friends’ wedding!  That was my first time in Europe, and it was… expensive.  I can’t really say I did anything spectacular while I was there, but it was a fun trip, and I learned a lot about Copenhagen.  I also know that the US is paranoid with their customs and immigration stuff, and airport security in general.  I know it’s for everyone’s safety, but honestly, it’s a little embarrassing to see how much security we put up compared to everyone else.  There was actually additional security AT MY GATE leaving Copenhagen, because my flight was headed into the US.  That’s crazy.

Lastly, my friend introduced me to the soundtrack to “The Book of Mormon.”  I can definitely see why it won the Tony this year, and I’ve already gotten several of my friends here hooked on it!  I haven’t gotten a chance to see the show yet (I need to go to NY soon!), but the music is awesome (as expected from the co-creator of Avenue Q), and I think it does a really good job of being very funny, and yet respectful to the religion.  Anyway, here’s a performance from the Tony’s this year.

Getting close!

There was a tournament here in Portland last weekend (Rose City Open), and I was able to participate in the giant RR on the second day.  I actually did ok!  I placed first in my initial group (was seeded second) by barely beating this seemiller type blocker.  We played before almost a year ago (last September), and he creamed me then.  This time, I decided (after losing the first two games VERY quickly) that I needed to change my strategy, so I just pushed and waited for the slightly high balls to smack with my pips.  It ended up working out well, so I managed to pull off a narrow victory.  Of course, that means my second group was very tough, and I got slaughtered pretty fast.  However, I’m pretty optimistic about my level at the moment.  I feel like I know how to improve, and how to practice, so that next time I’ll be able to play much better games with opponents far above my rating.

In other news, my friend has convinced me to switch back to inverted rubber on the BH.  The first day I switched back, I hated it so much that I wanted my pips back right away.  However, I figured it would give me a chance to test out some new equipment, which is exactly what I did!  Additionally, a friend of mine gave me a free sheet of rubber to test and review, so I’ll have that review on here, too.  Let’s start with it.

The Juic 999 Turbo (the newest of the 999 series) is supposed to be a Chinese rubber substitute, I think.  Well, technically, it’s made in China, so it IS a Chinese rubber, but I think it’s supposed to compete with H3 and the like.  The sheet I got was black max (probably 2.2 or so), and it felt pretty much as hard as Hurricane.  The topsheet is a Globe 999 topsheet (it even says Globe on it, with Juic on the side), but I felt that it was less tacky than the ones I’ve felt before.  It was able to just barely pick up a ball, but not hold it.  I put it on my new Nittaku Rutis (a beautiful blade, but unfortunately does not play as well as the MJ), and tested it out for a bit.  The good thing is that it’s playable right out of the package, unlike more “traditional” Chinese rubbers which need a breaking in period.  It’s also very easy to control for serves and other soft shots.  However, the more lively sponge reduces the dwell time on loops, and I wasn’t really able to get much topspin.  My practice partner was saying that it was much less spinny than my usual loops (with H3).  Overall, I would say that it’s not really a replacement for H3.  Veteran H3 users will not be too pleased with the performance.  On the other hand, players looking for the short game control of hard Chinese rubbers without having that deal feeling may like this rubber a lot!  I think this is best suited for players who prefer to play with good spin on the short game, maybe open up with a slower loop, but overall make most of their points with flat hits.

My other new experimental rubber is the Yasaka Rakza 7 soft.  I’ve tried my friend’s Rakza 7 (normal sponge) and really liked it.  It seriously felt like it could be a substitute for Tenergy.  Of course, it doesn’t feel the same, but the performance is almost there for most things (except pushes… Tenergy pushes are loaded even if you don’t put in any effort), and if you’re getting 90% of the performance for nearly half the price, it seems like a pretty good deal to me.  Anyway, I was hoping the R7 soft would be a good replacement (or upgrade) from the Pryde 40, and it turns out to be just that!  All the Tensor products are fairly similar, but Yasaka seems to be doing the best job of it lately.  The R7 is faster than I would like, but unlike many of the older generation Tensors (maybe even current gen ones), it doesn’t sacrifice spin for speed.  It’s still capable of producing great spin, and it makes a great cracking sound when you loop hard with it.  The soft version is a good transition option for me (coming from short pips), because it hits a little flatter than the normal version, but if I develop my technique a little more, I may switch tot he harder sponge next time for greater spin capabilities.  I’m really tired so I’m going to stop writing now, but this is a highly recommended rubber!  I’m planning on using it for at least the next few months, so I’ll write about my opinions on it as time passes.

Mother’s Day Update

Happy Mother’s Day!  I love my mom!

I don’t have too much to update.  I’ve more or less decided to settle down with the V1 and Spectol (the V1 is VERY good with short pips), but I still feel the need to test forehand rubbers until I find one I like.  Unfortunately, the BW2 is simply too fast for me.  It seems that over time, I’ve come to tame the V1, which I first thought was blazing fast.  Of course, it still is fast, but short game is no longer a problem for me, and I wouldn’t put the speed much higher than, say, TBS.  It’s just harder.  Anyway, the BW2 has really high throw, and a pronounced catapult, so it was very difficult for me to even block slowly.  H3 is the all around safe choice, of course, but I think there will always be the problem of dwell time.  The sponge is too hard to be paired with such a hard blade, so the dwell time is too short.  It’s probably something I can get used to, but I probably need to be a little better before I can consistently get the feel I want from it.  So, I’m going to try the Thor’s (which I’ve neglected for a long time) again.  In the past, the only real problem with the Thor’s was that it slipped against incoming topspin, so trying to counter topspin would just produce a really dead and unpredictable ball.  Hopefully I can find some way to get over that problem when I test it again tomorrow, but if not, I guess I’ll just be sticking with H3 for a while.  I’m trying to avoid testing Tenergy on this blade at all costs, just because I’m fairly certain it will play amazingly (and I’ll end up getting addicted).  Anyway, I guess we’ll see about the Thor’s tomorrow!

Red vs Black

I really need to stop being lazy and update this thing more frequently.  Looking back at my last post, it  really does seem like ages ago that I was trying that Clipper.  Since then, I’ve decided to give that blade away to my friend (who loves it and needs it more than I do), and go back to the much harder Xiom V1.  The Clipper is undoubtedly a great blade, but I think the softness makes pip blocking less effective (albeit easier), because it becomes more inverted-like.  By that, I mean that the softness gives it more dwell time, and thus less deadening effect.  In the end, I figured that since it made my pips behave pretty much like a weak smooth rubber, it’s better off with my friend who actually uses smooth.  Speaking of which, his combination is now that Clipper with BW2 and HPB, and it’s absolutely amazing.  Crazy spin, more than enough speed, and a great feel.  Additionally, the weight distribution works out well, and the blade doesn’t feel heavy, even with the super heavy BW2 on it.

Speaking of BW2, that is the main point of this post.  I’ll get back to everything else afterwards.  I got an email about a new and improved BW2, which has a red sponge (instead of black) and is supposed to be lighter.  Sounds like a dream come true (although I really liked the black sponge).  So, since I had to order some other stuff (a new sheet of Spectol, and a sheet of Haifu Penguin for a friend, which I will write about if I ever get around to trying it), I just had to get myself a sheet of this (theoretically) perfect rubber.  Well, it came in this Monday, and it indeed has a red sponge (which is pretty cool, and I expect it would make the red version look super thick), and it’s certainly lighter than the old version.  I ordered a black sheet in 39 degrees, which is the same hardness as I’m used to, although it has been a long time since I actually played with the BW2.  On my V1 (with Spectol on the BH), the weight was very manageable, and I didn’t feel my arm speed decrease or my wrist strain in more than with the H3.  I think it’s still heavier than H3, maybe around the same as Tenergy, but definitely a significant decrease in weight from the old one.  However, I think that this “new” BW2 might be something like a rebranded Grip-S, as it resembles the Grip-S much more than it does BW2.  First of all, the topsheet is completely different, both in feel and in appearance.  I think it’s thinner, softer, and shinier, and pretty much looks exactly like the Grip-S topsheet.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because at the same time, the quality went way up.  There were no visual blemishes (this is the first sheet of BW2 I’ve EVER seen without some markings), and it I think the softer topsheet gives it a bit more dwell time.  However, aside from that, I have to say that I like the old topsheet more, because the stiffness (and tackiness — the new one can’t pick the ball up) made the rubber feel more Chinese.  This new BW2 had the same super high throw (maybe even higher, if that’s possible), and is pretty insanely fast.  I think it’s faster than the original, but loses some in the spin department, although the spin is still monstrous, unlike any other rubber I’ve tried.  It’s a little difficult to describe, but I would say that the old BW2 is closer to H3, while the new one is closer to Tenergy.  I still got the problem of it expanding like crazy after the second gluing, and I already peeled off the tuning layer (which is still VERY thick) after testing it out because I felt that I didn’t need the extra speed/weight.  Honestly, it might be because I didn’t get to try it enough the first day, but taking off the tuning didn’t detract from the rubber in any way.  It helped me glue it on since it domed much less (oh yeah, it domes like crazy straight out of the package, and wouldn’t stay glued on the blade when I first tried it), and made it lighter overall.  Actually, while there is very little difference with and without the tuning layer on this BW2, there was a much bigger difference with the old version.  It used to be that the tuned version felt more like a “hybrid” type rubber (as in, not classic Chinese feeling), and the untuned one felt pretty Chinese.  I guess the new topsheet (and sponge) makes this new version feel softer overall without the need for tuning.  Definitely not a bad thing with my V1 (which is super hard).

Anyway, I’ve written all this stuff about it, but what about playing with it?  The high throw definitely threw me off at first, and I’m still adjusting to it.  However, there is no doubt that my opening loops are spinnier than they are with H3.  I think it’s also the fact that I don’t look like I’m putting a lot of effort into creating spin (and that’s the truth — I really don’t have to force it), so the opponents think it’s a light loop, when in reality it’s pretty loaded.  Counterlooping and overall mid distance play is pretty stable, as long as I remember to close the blade accordingly.  I do feel like I have to hold back a little to keep the ball from going too long, but I think that’s just temporary until I get used to the trajectory of the rubber.  The short game seems to be fine, although I’ve been missing many balls due to timing errors… so maybe that’s the weight difference.  Lastly, my serves are apparently quite a bit spinnier than before, as people have been dumping the underspin into the net several times in a row.  Again, I think it’s a difference in the perceived spin and actual spin, because this rubber produces some crazy spin without much effort (like Tenergy).  Of course, it’s also quite sensitive to incoming spin, and I’ve had to really watch out when I play passive balls, because while the H3 would deaden the ball, the BW2 just eats it up.  In conclusion, if you like Grip-S, this new BW2 is the new and improved version, being both lighter and harder.  I really hope I can adjust to the throw angle and continue using this.  Even though I’m still not “at home” with this rubber like I am with H3, I think it looks awesome and I really like how much spin I can get (especially on sidespin loops!), so I would like to use it as long as possible!

All right, so now that the main story is finished, here are some other random updates on equipment.  I tried my friend’s sheet of Stiga Radical, and I really like some aspects of it.  Namely, I love how it can deaden the ball so easily.  It is by far the best short pip I’ve used for this purpose, by several orders of magnitude.  Even a super powerful loop can be returned dead and short with ease — it’s amazing!  And hitting with it produces a very fast, but super dead ball, which is almost impossible to attack back.  The downside is that it’s not really capable of producing anything other than a dead ball, and while I can get some spin with it (since it’s sticky), the spin is minimal, and inconsistent.  It’s also very difficult to practice with it, since I can’t really keep the ball on the table, and neither can my practice partner!  It’s just a mess.  Also, this means that pushing with it basically always produces an easily attacked ball, so speed and positioning of the push become extremely important.  Anyway, I really wanted to give it a try in 1.8 (the sheet I borrowed is 2.0 and too thick for my taste), but the local TT store didn’t have 1.8 red in stock, so I went with the Stiga Royal, which they recommended, saying it had similar spin characteristics.  Well, they don’t.  The Royal is a good pip in its own right, and easily the most beautiful sheet of short pips I’ve ever seen.  It’s a gorgeous translucent red, and the minimalist label looks awesome on a short pip (but it would look a little lame on a smooth rubber).  Interestingly, the sponge is grey, and I have suspicions that it’s the same sponge as Almana, because that’s the only other rubber I’ve ever seen with a grey sponge.  Anyway, the Royal is FAST, but in terms of spin, it’s basically the exact opposite of the Radical, and much more resembles the Clippa (a very, very spinny short pip).  The sponge is fairly soft, so when I smacked straight through the ball (so I could really hit into the wood), it produced a very fast dead ball, which is great.  However, the Royal is fairly spinny otherwise, so unless I hit very hard to bottom out the sponge, there was no way to really produce a good dead ball.  Also, the angle required to push and block were a little strange, and although that’s just an adjustment thing, I didn’t see enough advantages to commit to the change.  Thus, I ended up going back to my trusty Spectol, the tried and true do-it-all short pip.  Now I see why people say they try to switch but always end up going back.  It might just be because I’m used to it, but I can do “everything” with the Spectol, even though it doesn’t stand out in any aspect.  I think if the store ever gets the Radical in stock, I may commit some time to using it, because I think there’s a lot of potential there, but until then, I still love my Spectol the most.

Actually, there is one pip that might be really good, and that’s Hammond FA.  My friend gave me a free (used) sheet to try (in 2.0), and I glued it on my MJ to test out.  I wasn’t expecting much, but it can actually produce pretty good dead balls when hitting, but at the same time, it makes great spin when you spin with it.  The pips feel very hard and dry (if that makes any sense), but I was able to do pretty much a real loop with it.  As a harder pip, control becomes more of an issue, but maybe I should actually give it a shot.  Also in experimental rubbers, I got a sheet of DHS Memo 3 and tested it on my V1 for a bit.  Definitely not a bad rubber, especially for the price.  It has a pretty fierce reverse dome, so gluing is a bit of a pain, but it has decent spin and speed.  The best way to describe it would be “taut,” in the sense that the topsheet seemed to be pulled very tight (which it clearly isn’t, judging by the reverse dome).  It just feels like you can get a lot of power when you hit the ball very hard but it becomes more difficult to do slower brush loops.  It’s really not a bad rubber at all, and I think many people who are used to Euro rubbers but want something that feels more direct would really like it.  It does have a very direct and linear feel to it, so while it’s fast, it’s not “free” power like tensors.  I would recommend it as a FH rubber for those that don’t like H3 and other related rubbers (tacky topsheet and hard/dead sponge).  However, it really didn’t offer me anything that I couldn’t already get from the H3, so I didn’t stick with it (duh, since I’m using the BW2 now).

Ok!  I guess that’s it for now.  Wow that was long.  Oh yeah, last weekend I went up to Bellevue for a small tournament (I only played doubles).  It was pretty fun, but nothing really exciting.  I’m hoping to play in the next tournament here, which is about 6 weeks away.  I’ll talk about that when the time comes.

Classic

Today, I picked up a new blade: Stiga Clipper Wood.  Of all the blades I own, this is probably the most “classic,” although I’ve heard that they don’t make them like they used to.  That is, the design of the Clipper was somehow changed from the one they started with (a few decades ago, I think).  Anyway, I went to the local dealer to inquire, since Stiga is notoriously bad with QC, and the weight of the blades have an abnormally large range.  It seems that each batch of Stiga blades have a different average weight, and I was in luck because mine came from the low 80s batch — specifically, I think mine is 81.5 or so, because the scale sometimes said 81, and sometimes 82.  In any case, that is MUCH lighter than I was expecting, as I was under the impression that the Clipper tends to be in the mid 90s.  I’ve even heard of some being well over 100.  That either means the QC is awful to the point of having a nearly 30g weight range, or the design really has changed, and the different weights reflect the different designs.  I’m really hoping (for Stiga’s sake) that it’s the latter.  While I was there, I also used their scale to measure my current setup.  My MJ is exactly 91g (as I was told when I bought it), and combined with H3 and 802 (1.8), the setup weighed 179g, meaning the rubbers added 88g.  I was stupid and didn’t weigh them individually, but I’m guessing the H3 weighs somewhere around 50g, and the 802 just under 40g.  Anyway, the Clipper’s blade face is roughly the same size as the MJ (overall a little bigger), so assuming I use the same rubbers, the total setup should come to about 170g.

As for rubbers, I decided that since I just gave myself 10g of leeway (as I’m comfortable with the 179g setup), I could afford to test out the Grip-S on the Clipper (along with the same 802 I took off the MJ).  To my delight, even with the ridiculously heavy Grip-S, the overall weight was perfectly manageable.  However, it turns out that Grip-S and the Clipper are a terrible match.  Hitting with it felt like I was hitting with a pillow.  Although both the Clipper and the MJ have limba outer plies (I believe Clipper is limba – 5 x ayous – limba), the Clipper feels much softer overall.  Combined with the Grip-S, I couldn’t feel the ball impact, couldn’t seem to hit the ball hard, and had no idea how much spin I was imparting on the ball.  After trying it for over an hour, and still getting terrible results, I switched that for H3, which turned out to be infinitely better.  Now I see why many Chinese players like the Clipper (besides the cheap price) — it matches very well with classic Chinese rubbers like H3.  Basically, after I switched, I had no complaints.  It pretty much played exactly as I expected.  As far as the pips go, the 802 felt much softer on the Clipper compared to the MJ, and I felt like the softness of the blade detracted from the “pippiness” of the rubber.  I had a much harder time controlling my chops, and even my dead blocks weren’t quite dead enough.  I think I either need the 802 on a harder sponge (one is on the way, actually), or maybe I need to switch to a harder short pip.  Perhaps Stiga Royal, which plays fairly similarly to the 802, or Radical, which is the weirdest short pip I’ve ever encountered.  Overall, I definitely like this blade, and I’m planning on using it permanently to keep my MJ safe from harm.  It does have that Stiga vibration which I used to hate, but not appreciate, but not to the degree of more flexible blades such as OCCR.  I’m guessing this is because it’s fairly thick for my taste (over 6mm), which gives it a more solid feeling.  The relative stiffness makes opening loops a little more difficult to control, but countering topspin easier (maybe this is psychological).  The quality of the construction isn’t really bad either, although there were some splinters around the plastic name plate area (whatever you call it), and the edges were very sharp opposed to the softer, sanded finish that most Japanese companies have.  Still, there seems to be nothing wrong with it at all, so I’m satisfied.  Lastly, I do like how the middle plies are stained pink — it looks like candy or something.

Aside from that, a club member came in with a sheet of BW3 the other day.  It was the “training” version, meaning there was some sort of defect (as far as I could tell, it was purely cosmetic), but more importantly, it was much cheaper than the normal version.  Of course, I was very excited to test it out, since it has that beautiful purple sponge, and I found that it was a monstrous rubber.  He had it on a defensive blade, so the blade itself was slow, but the BW3 is definitely very, very fast.  And, like the BW2, very high throw.  It’s strange, since the topsheet isn’t super tacky or anything, but it somehow manages to grip the rubber very hard even on a light contact.  Compared to the BW2, the BW3 felt stiffer and harder (BW2 sponge has a squishy feeling), but still produces that insane arc when looping.  The ball sinks extremely fast after hitting the table.  But because of the speed and sensitivity to spin, it’s very hard to open with it.  Even when you try to loop lightly, it just grips the ball and sends it shooting to the ceiling, so looping half long balls is very difficult.  Anyway, I’m sure I could do pretty well with it given time to adjust, but I’m happy with my H3.