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Ask The Experts No. 423: Ahmed Elmallah

Butterfly Table Tennis Question and Answer

Question:

Dear

I’m seeking advice regarding the purchase of my very first table tennis racket. It’s hard to make a choice due to the wide range of possibilities on the website, so I’ll try to give as much context and information as possible.

I’ve picked up table tennis a few months ago and I’m doing quite well in my humble opinion so I’m looking for a racket that is already past the beginner series and somewhere in between intermediate and advanced. It must give me the room to grow into as I get better so I don’t bump into another proverbial limit and will need another racket. Next year I’ll start to play competitive as well so its purpose is beyong recreational.

I’d describe my playstyle as offensive/attacking with long strokes and high spin/speed. I will look for ways to convert the game to my advantage by trying to attack on defensive strokes such as a push or chop as well. Even though my preference, I’m not willing to fully sacrifice defensive properties of the racket. So it’s not entirely clear to me if I fall within the off- or off range of blades. I have no idea regarding sponge thickness and type of rubber either as to what better suits me. Professional players I look up to and whose style I really like are Ma Long and Dimitrii Ovcharov.

Budget wise I’m looking for something between €100 and €150 in total (meaning blade+rubber), should there be a perfect match slighly above this range then that may be discussable as well. Once decided, do you always have to glue the both sides together yourself or can Butterfly do this for you as well (possibly against payment)? And by extension: can I easily replace the rubbers? I play in a local club who may assist in this.

As a final piece of info: I live in Belgium so perhaps not everything is available in my region? 

Thanks in advance!

Kind regards

Jonathan

 

Answer:

Hi Jonathan,

Thank you for your question.

I would suggest the Rozena 2.1 for the black and red rubbers.

For the blade, I recommend the Petr Korbel blade. Since you are an intermediate player, a softer blade is better to learn how to get good feeling on the ball.

Best Wishes!

Coach Ahmed

 

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