Ask The Experts: Di Yu, No. 394

June 18, 2021 Butterfly Table Tennis Question and Answer Question: I used to have 0.5 mm sponge on my LP and my blade was at 180 g. Playing up close I went back to ox but the loss of weight seemed to change my short pip forehand and make hits and blocks slower. With ox my blade is 160 g. Is there a blade suggestion for long pip ox and short pip 2.0? I was thinking about Mazunov but it might be too fast. Answer:

Your Ask the Experts question was answered by Di Yu. He is a Senior/Elite Coach at Triangle Badminton & Table Tennis in Morrisville, NC. Coach Yu’s response is as follows:

Hi Jon, If a standard paddle (non-OX pips) weighs in the 170’s (g) that is considered light, 180’s (g) is average/normal, and 190’s (g) is heavy. The Mazunov is a really fast blade but might suit your game/style being that you play with short pips on your forehand. A lot depends on whether you revolve your game more around your forehand or backhand. It gives a stiffer feeling which I like for short pips attack. You could always slow it down by adjusting your sponge thickness on your short pips if it would be too fast. Also, you could switch to Challenger Attack which is Butterfly’s slowest short pips and you can get it at 1.5mm sponge thickness. However, I believe that this blade, Mazunov, is discontinued by Butterfly and might be hard to find. If interested in this blade, we still have 2 available in our Pro Shop here at Triangle Badminton & Table Tennis.

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