Thickness for Short Pips Sponge

if you're gonna use it on the fh and like to attack then get the 2.2 as the 2.0 will be too slow.  You will probably have better control with the 2.2 as well.

amateur101 wrote: For penhold, Use 1.8 or 1.9 mm sponge. Gao Jun advised me previously to go for thinner sponge (since I use 2.1 mm Spectol pips).

capablanca8 wrote:   Cool--did you get coaching from Gao Jun?  Or is she a friend?

Gao Jun was not my coach but she had seen me play against her student (friendly match) and was nice enough to answer my questions regarding sponge thickness for pips and proper choice of blades to use (and by the way, when I brought out my blades, she chose the Clipper CR over the Avalox 700).

I asked her directly about the sponge thickness I should use (as a shakehand player) and her response was to go thinner - 1.7 to 1.9 mm.
 I was of the belief that thicker is better for shakehanders but that is the statement I heard (unless I simply misunderstood the answer).

Hats off to Gao Jun, a real classy lady.

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why did she chose clipper CR instead p700 and what sponge for 802?? dawei,mystery?
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Gao Jun did not elaborate why she preferred the Clipper CR (non-WRB) over the Avalox 700 and the Juic Texalium.

As for the sponges, I only showed her my TSP Spectol 21 rubbers of various thicknesses. 

I find I play a lot better with max thickness (Raystorm 2.1 on my BH, T05 in my forehand).  Where I notice it the most is blocking heavy loops and very fast balls.  When I used 1.9 it felt great but I couldn't bring as many balls back and my offensive shots lacked just a little of the penetration that the needed.  When I taped myself and actually made some comparisons, it was clear I was playing better with thicker rubber.

Having said that, most of the Chinese penholders I know who use SP prefer thinner sponge, mostly they use 1.5 and find even 1.9 too thick. It's a different way to play than what shakehanders do with SP.  The rubber is pretty inexpensive, you could try it both ways, it's really the only way to know what works for you.

Edited by Baal - 03/31/2012 at 7:43pm

What about the type of sponge for short pips?  Should it soft or hard in general.  I know it all depends on the individual and the playing style.  but, which is better in terms of serves, generating spin, hittting speed, controls,.............................etc.

yang shigang (2600 SP CPEN player) uses max thickness 802-40. Without glue these days, u just can't hit hard enough w/ anything less than max.

Edited by dalamchops - 12/22/2012 at 12:24pm

capablanca8 wrote: My coach told me to start with 2.0mm sponge.  He said that in the future, I might want to go to 1.8mm or even 1.5mm.  It has been 6 months and 2.0mm is fine for me in terms of power and speed.  I am a penhold player and use it for FH.   I suspect that serving wih 2.0mm sponge is better than with 1.5mm sponge.  I think with 1.5mm sponge one might want to twiddle between serving and hitting.