Korbel blade

Hello,

Samsonov Force Pro black has a big ST handle. Excellent looping blade.

Slowhand wrote: Samsonov Force Pro black has a big ST handle. Excellent looping blade.

Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive

what do you mean by stability with the new ball?

doraemon wrote: darkmoor wrote: what do you mean by stability with the new ball? Allow me to answer this. I have Korbel, Force Pro Blue, Force Pro Black, etc. Korbel is a good looping blade.   In the era of 38 mm and 40 mm ball, it is still a good blade, used by many pro players.  In the 40+ plastic ball era, it is still good for us mere mortal.   However, being a rather flexy blade (which is good for looping), it is OK only for blocking or flat hitting (smashing).  For excellent blocking or flat hitting, you need a more stable blade (i.e. stiffer blade) such as Force Pro Black or Clipper or Falck W7. Don't get me wrong, Korbel is still OK for blocking and smashing, it is just easier with stiffer blades mentioned above.   I think that what he meant by "stability". I hope it helps.

darkmoor wrote: doraemon wrote: darkmoor wrote: what do you mean by stability with the new ball? Allow me to answer this. I have Korbel, Force Pro Blue, Force Pro Black, etc. Korbel is a good looping blade.   In the era of 38 mm and 40 mm ball, it is still a good blade, used by many pro players.  In the 40+ plastic ball era, it is still good for us mere mortal.   However, being a rather flexy blade (which is good for looping), it is OK only for blocking or flat hitting (smashing).  For excellent blocking or flat hitting, you need a more stable blade (i.e. stiffer blade) such as Force Pro Black or Clipper or Falck W7. Don't get me wrong, Korbel is still OK for blocking and smashing, it is just easier with stiffer blades mentioned above.   I think that what he meant by "stability". I hope it helps. I just wonder how was that any different with old celluloid ball, except they were faster

Edited by NextLevel - 11/14/2023 at 10:08pm

The Nittaku Violin is the best blocking blade I have ever tried. I didn't think it was losing any of its blocking capabilities with the plastic ball however it is highly probable that in my USATT 1800 +- 200 range, I was not receiving the kind of shots that would make the difference shine.

Edited by stiltt - 11/17/2023 at 11:43am

The beauty of this sport is that everyone can have their own opinions on how to develop a player.  As long as the player turns out well, all is good.  I am sure there is someone out there who might argue that the best way to develop a player is to start them on sandpaper or hard bat so they develop good footwork...

darkmoor wrote: NextLevel wrote: The beauty of this sport is that everyone can have their own opinions on how to develop a player.  As long as the player turns out well, all is good.  I am sure there is someone out there who might argue that the best way to develop a player is to start them on sandpaper or hard bat so they develop good footwork... In any case, when someone is talking about blocking, one doesn't necessarily mean flat blocking.  The same is broadly true for topspin or kick blocking, it is easier to execute with a slightly stiffer blade.  Some related topics include the choice of rubber.  The main point is that taking strokes that are large (too much upper arm) to compensate for blade slowness is possible and so is gripping the racket too tightly to compensate for inadequate rebound. I remember when someone on TTD argued that the reason why you use a slower blade is that you like to generate your own power.  Fan Zhendong is arguably the most powerful player on the world. Maybe Dima or Ionescu or Jorgic amongst Europeans.  None of those guys are using all wood blades now though and they are all some of the most powerful players in the world.  The flip side is that they also have some of the best touch or feeling in the world as well.  The main benefit of using a slower and relatively less stiff blade is that contact and feeling errors are easier to detect given the vibration frequencies and the lower rebound when you hit the bal outside the sweet spot.  It is also easier to pl lay some touch and defensive shots because of this lack of rebound.  But if someone wants to learn modern table tennis, it is not entirely clear this is a good thing as there is a possibility that they hold the paddle too tightly to get power when they should be practicing different levels of grip pressure/stiffness to improve their touch. Ultimately develop a player, including yourself, how you choose.  But there is no one size fits approach to this. But I definitely think with the new ball, the Korbel doesn't block like the kinds of offensive blades that a player will want to ultimately use and the faster tou can develop a player to use technique that those blades accommodate,  the better.  That said, there are many good players who use a Korbel. In the end, you just use what you want to use.  The Szocs Sig 1 is slower than the FBPE. Strictly speaking.  I honestly never heard of the term topspin/kick blocking. It's possible there's such thing as I need to educate myswlf more about it, bur it's also possible you are referring to is a counter top spin with a slight upwards motion either on forehand or backhand side. I think it is the most used type of stroke in modern table tennis when it comes backhand to backhand rallies. And besides that, as all topspin strokes, it is easier to.do.it with more flexible blade. Played with Korbel before and also with Korbel SK7 before that, and I had more room for error when doing counterloop backhand drills off the bounce, although I know it is always tricky to compare different blades Regarding slower blades in relation to being able to generate your own power, I believe the flexibility is an important factor. Blades that are flexible give you big increase in speed when you hit hard enough, so they may be quite slow in general but still useful in today's game like in case of Korbel blade. We can all see Gionis hitting powerful winters from mid distance using his Korbel. Stiff, thicker blades, in contrast, can hoffer easier speed buildup, but the difference between 'normal' speed and speed from hitting hard is not so big, and a generally slower but more flexible blade can outperform the stiffer one when you go for that strong loop.

Personally I am a fan of 5 ply all-wood blades. Tried many and Infinity VPS is still my favorite. 

Edited by p1ngp0ng3r - 11/21/2023 at 1:21am

I read all the comments after my last post.

Let me clarify a bit, I wrote those comments answering the question "what do you mean by stability with the new ball", therefore I described Korbel as being a bit flexy for easier blocking.

Now, I don't mean to say Korbel is a bad blade, I have previously used it for years.  It is a looping machine, but like I mentioned previously, in the 40+ plastic ball era, it is harder to block with Korbel, compared to a 7-ply allwood blade (like Clipper, for example).

Now, does it mean 7-ply allwood blade is better than Korbel?   Depends on your style of play.   It is easer for me to block using Clipper, but my loops are better with Korbel (given the same stroke).  Clipper is a good looping blade as well, but it is easier to loop with Korbel.   On the other hand, it is easier to block with Clipper.

So there are always two sides (positive and negative) of using a certain blade.  It all depends on your style of play.   I used to be an all out 2-wings looper, so I liked Korbel in the past.   Currently, I am more allround (as I am old now):  looping if necessary, but also push, block and smash.  So a stiffer blade is better for me now.

Edited by doraemon - 11/22/2023 at 7:36pm