Use FAST equipment to improve

No not a good idea. Use of very fast equipment is useful for players who are advanced and train on a regular basis. Improvement is not based on just recovery time, there are many other factors that determine how a player improves.

Personally, I would say that isn't the right approach.  Rather, as general rule I'd say "Use the fastest thing that you can handle".

This sort of theory can work if you are training hard for this specific reason for many hours a week

The most important thing is to get good coaching.  Equipment is a far second.  Given what I know now, a player is best starting with an all round set up unless the player is very young and knows they want to be an offensive player.  Anyone else can learn the basic strokes and go faster or slower after developing them with a controlled set up.  Using fast equipment hurts your ability to learn the basic strokes because the timing and touch required is far more difficult to acquire while remaining consistent.

What is this? Some religious cult where facts don't matter, only what the tool members of the club believe? Why does everybody just ASSUME that FAST = NO CONTROL? Can somebody give me any evidence? All of these posts above hand the straw man. 

assiduous wrote: What is this? Some religious cult where facts don't matter, only what the tool members of the club believe? Why does everybody just ASSUME that FAST = NO CONTROL? Can somebody give me any evidence? All of these posts above hand the straw man.  Which wood blade in the real world, not the imaginary world in someone's head, has better control than a TBS, or my personal choice IF ZLC? Please let me know!  Why does everybody keep repeating this nonsense? Must be a religious cult, where its about faith, not about facts.

Pushdeep wrote: Is this good idea? Use very fast equipment. This will shorten your strokes, so your recovery time improves. So you improve.

When a friend and I were learning TT, I was just using an ordinary 2 star stiga pre-made bat. Since my friend was the type who had a lot of money and could just buy whatever he wanted, he bought a really fast paddle. I stuck to that slow paddle and developed my strokes and movement for months. Honestly, his paddle was too fast for him to control. Still could beat him in a looping game with my crappy paddle. It's not just about your equipment, trust me. My loops were faster than his, considering the fact that he went to the gym regularly and I really didn't.

You want to know why my loops were faster?

Using slow equipment will force you to learn the game at a slow pace. This way, you will be forced to use the right form to add more power, speed, and spin to your shots. You will squeeze out power from proper form, and you'll get CONSISTENT too which is a good bonus, if not the main reason to develop good form. That was the secret to why my loops were faster than his. Every time he tries to loop as hard as I did with his fast paddle, it either went long or to the net (sometimes on his side of the table too actually). I spent more time playing TT with that crappy paddle (next to no grip I tell you) than he did. I got a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the game, the effect of spin, the effect of incoming spin, the motion, the movement, etc.

Trust me. Proper form is what will give you power and this is true for most sports. I've said this here before but i'll say it again. A skinny volleyball player with really good form will spike the ball harder and heavier than a muscular guy twice his size but has poor spiking form. Take it from me cause I see it all the time

P.S. Of course my form isn't perfect, don't get me wrong. I'm a self taught player with no coach except youtube videos of my favorite players, but it's still way better than the guy I was talking about

Edit: On the note about recovery time, I don't think fast equipment has anything to do with your recovery time. In fact, the faster the ball travels to the opponent, and if he returns it, then you actually have LESS time to do another shot. Again, I still think developing proper form and practicing it will be better for increasing recovery time. Recovery time is practiced, not a product of your equipment. But that's just me.


Edited by davidwhang - 11/26/2013 at 4:43am

The true is no matter what you use,you will always lose vs better player.
but if you lose something that you cant handle you can easily lose vs your level.

If you play vs weaker oponent you can change bats and you will still dominate all the time.

I play with fast wood and tuned to maximum 05 and i won vs my friend.
than we switch bats.
i played with Torpedo Soft on all+ blade and when i got my timing my shots were deadlier or with same speed.
He made much more unforced errors,and imediatly my control increase.

ZApenholder wrote: I guess all my coaches is part of this religious cult. I think I should ask them to worship this person who has a USATT 1700 (or what ever his true level is). He knows all his facts (some times after 1 or 2 years, the facts do change lol) Back to OP - its all about feeling (some call it control). The faster the blade, the more difficult to feel the ball. Some levels of players may not understand what is feeling, thus they will make all kinds of suggestion based on his/her own understanding of the game. The highest level players basically acknowledge the fact that Fast has less control/feeling and is not ideal for beginners who will be learning strokes without feeling.

Bingo... Preach it ZA... Preach it!

If you have a coach, by the way, a coach can tell you which setup to use and can evaluate your ball quality with each set up. Ultimately, with a good coach, while you will usually get better spin more easily out of a slower setup, it won't matter and the speed will mean something.

Common sense that's all. It's not hard to figure out. Coaching is key along with their recommendations for equipment.

Does anybody else want to tell me a completely irrelevant (and not always real) story of their personal experience? I don't mind, I don't read them anyway, so if that makes ur day go ahead and share with us 'what happened the other day at the club', how those shots were 'deadly', and how you were supplying the power. Knock yourself out. Drain it out of your system. 

assiduous wrote: Does anybody else want to tell me a completely irrelevant (and not always real) story of their personal experience? I don't mind, I don't read them anyway, so if that makes ur day go ahead and share with us 'what happened the other day at the club', how those shots were 'deadly', and how you were supplying the power. Knock yourself out. Drain it out of your system.

Honestly I've always felt like I play best with a Cpen blade I have that is rated All+.

Edited by suds79 - 11/26/2013 at 12:02pm

assiduous wrote: keep in mind I refuse to read anything longer than 7-8 lines. I know you think you have something really important to say, but 'believe you me'. you don't. I can reduce your post to 3 lines and not lose any information.

Edited by slevin - 11/26/2013 at 12:23pm