Hi guys, I'm looking for a good shakehand blade & rubber combo. I play mostly topspin and I'm still developing a backhand. Here are some of my needs:

Blade: medium to light weight, good feel, with a bit more speed then control. Everyone tells me to get an ALL+, but I think that might be too slow and I might grow out of it fast.

Rubber: Something that is going to last since I'm just starting out and can't afford to keep changing it. Good control but more speed/spin. Not too heavy.

Thanks for your help!

Under $20

729 Preassembled: Allround 5ply wood blade with 2.0 729. Good spinny rubber but not very fast. Better than the name brand preassembleds you will find at the sporting good store costing triple the price.

 

Under $50

LKT Ayous/Hinoki with LKT XP: Off- 5ply wood blade is light and has a soft Euro feel. IMO the best 729/LKT blade to date. Speed wise this fits in between the Instinct and Instinct + . This blade has a small handle. If you want a larger handle consider the LKT Balance. XP rubber is soft, very elastic and not very tacky.

 

Under $80

Yasaka Gatien Mark V Preassembled: Off� 5 ply wood blade with Mark V 2.0

 

Under $100

Any good 5 ply ALL+ to OFF- wood blade (i.e. Butterfly Primorac, Petr Korbel, Yasaka Extra, Donic Powerplay [7 ply but still soft], Stiga Offensive Classic, etc) with a 2.0 allround attacking rubber with a softer sponge (i.e. Sriver FX , Mark V GPS, Coppa Tenero etc.)

 

Avoid � hard fast blades with synthetic materials; i.e. � Carbon, Kevlar, etc. If you really �must� have a Synthetic blade go for something that still is controllable like Waldner Carbon or Diablo Senso.

 

Other thoughts � lighter does NOT always= better. So don�t just automatically ask for a light blade. 9 out of 10 newbies ask me for a light blade. They don�t know why, but they think it�s the thing to ask for. Many of the best blades that people rave about are on the heavier side (i.e. Stiga Offensive Classic, Petr Korbel etc.) This is because: since mass=power, manufactures can produce a softer controllable blade with a nice feel, that still has an acceptable power level. Light, stiff, hard blades with the same power level wont have the same dwell time, feel and touch. If little 10-year-old girls can swing a 90-gram blade; you can to, you big sissy. 

NEVER get ALLplus, NEVER if you play offensively. it is way, way too slow. i would try the butterfly clearfield. cheap, durable, good feel, and all wood. all wood is the best for topspin, none of that composite crap. and its good for backhand blocking as well. for rubber, newbs should start with sriver. cheap, reliable, worldclass.

A good light blade is the Yasaka Balsa, only 70g. Is is not a speedphantom, but still play fast with the right rubber combo.
Almost afraid to suggest Joola blades, seems like many in this forum oppose to them. Still, I play with Joola Cat weight approx 80-85g and I am very satisfied with it. Its a bit faster then the Yasaka blade. If you want to go even faster there is Joola Guo off weight 80-85g. I havent tried it myself though, so info is only from ratings.

Rubbers: My advice is, pick some cheaper rubbers and change them, instead of picking highpriced rubbers. From what I can tell, they really dont last that much longer. Cheap rubbers often means chines; I use both DHS G 666 and Globe 999 and they are really good for making topspin. The G 666 is faster and maybe the one you should look for since you seems to be into speed. Both of them are fairly easy ton control. If you choose the Yasaka Balsa you can afford to get them both with max spongethickness witout getting a heavy paddle.

If you still wants to go for the "longlasting" ones, try JUIC Couga. Warning, that is a really fast rubber so maybe you should avoid the max thickness on this one.
From what I have heard, the Yasaka rubbers are supposed to have a long durability. I Play Yasaka Mark V M2, but I have only played it for 3-4weeks, so I cant tell if its longlasting or not.

I own the grubba all+ blade.

If you don't speedglue i would say its to slow for a offensive topspin play, even for a beginner.

 

\R

petr korbel blade with sriver fx on both sides or something like that!! it is a great blade, not too fast... the rubbers are good... not extremely fast and doesn't need speedglue like for instance bryce

Some choices sorted by brand...

Joola: rossi fire w/mambo h 2.0 both sides (very good combination!!)

bty: petr korbel w/sriver fx 2,1 both sides

yasaka: extra w/ mark v/gps 2.0 both sides

Stiga: clipper w/ neos tacky or sound

Donic: appelgren allplay w/ vario or jo waldner

Tibhar: p.chila off w/ rapid/soft

go to zeropong.com if you are in the us...

check out either the 6030 or bomb Bat for blade

as for rubbers...I recommend 729-2 Transcend Sponge for both sides

for $40...I think you get a pretty good combinaton

everywhere I look I see 2.0 rubber this...2.1 rubber that..? ARE YOU MAD?
If he's looking for an good allround blade he should just get a ALL+ or OFF- blade (like Butterfly Primorac off-) with a 1.8 rubber of medium speed, but with high control!

I would like to get a good quality blade from the start so that as I get better I only have to change the rubber.
Thanks again for all the feedback, it gives me a lot to research!

So what's the main difference between these 3 BTYs:

Petr Korbel - S:8   C:7.6 W 89g
Jonyer - S:7.5 C:7.7 W 80g
Primorac - S:7.5 C:7.8 W 87g

They seem very similar and were all recommended.

Also how does the Donic Persson Powerplay Senso (V1 speed or V2 control) compare to these?

if you want to be a off player start with minimum 2.0! and a off blade... you will grow out of a all blade with 1.7 srivers in a week!! petr korbel with sriver fx 2,1, or best of all cermet 2,1 is the best starter setup you can get, and it is also good a long time afterwards when you have become more advanced.

darker 5p-2a and sriver el 2.1 fh and 1.9 bh.Set up is kinda pricey around $109 which includes shipping.But the blade is light very high quality only a 5 ply so not too fast the hinoki will have a soft feel .Sriver el is great for begginers use regular glue and the 1.9 on the bh till you figure it out and after a few months step up 2.1 on the bh and when you want to get faster and spinnier just speed glue it  .

 

you could also try stiga energy wood as your blade. it got lots of control.

for yor rubber you could try globe999 and sriver el

These are the blades I'm considering right now:

BTY Petr Korbel, Jonyer-AN, Primorac, Primorac 2000 and Donic Persson Powerplay Senso (V1 speed or V2 control)

Who sells Galaxy online? I went to Speedpong.net and they don't show that blade listed.