April 26, 2019

Ask The Experts: Yangyang Jia, No. 229
Butterfly Table Tennis Question and Answer

Question:

Hello and thank you for your time and consideration. I have been playing for 50 years and was a USATT rated player (in the 80’s around 1900 ) Double winged looper away from table. Play for placement and spin. Ruptured my left ankle tendon and tore three ligaments playing doubles this January; facing surgery, cast and one year rehab, before I can return to table tennis in 2020. Due to my injuries, my footwork will be slow and my shots weak. I do not like to play close to the table or mid-distance. I have excellent touch and placement with any racket, just lack power. I would like to swing easy, to minimize potential for injury to my elbow which I fractured. Every racket I already have, has advantages and disadvantages; too hard to lift underspin, low throw, too light, not enough power, not enough feel, too soft, too hard, etc., so my loops are too shallow and I am not able to back my partners off the table. I brush too much and not go through the ball, when I try, the ball lands in another state, so I am stuck with brushing the ball. I was considering Jun Mizutani SZLC ( I had the Mizutani with T64 both sides and liked it), no problems with speed. I also wanted to try one sheet of Dingnics 05 and GoldArc 8. not sure which would be better for my backhand which is very spinny, precise and powerful. I would appreciate any suggestions. I know this is not an easy question to answer. Thanks in advance.
James Radovich

Answer:

Your Ask the Experts question was answered by Yangyang Jia. Coach Jia is a table tennis coach on YouTube and her response is as follows:

James,

Thanks for reaching out to Butterfly and seeking suggestions from us.

It’s great to know that you’ve been playing table tennis for 50 years as I admire your enthusiasm and persistence. I am so sorry to hear that you injured yourself, I hope you can recover and return to table tennis as soon as possible.

I’ve been using Jun Mizutani ZLC & Tenergy 05 on both sides for almost 3 years and it is a great racket that gives me more control and spin. I am considering to update my blade to Jun Mizutani Super ZLC shortly. I tested this new blade lots of time until I finally decide it’s the right one to switch to. It has the same feeling of control and spin like Jun Mizutani ZLC, which could magnify your strength of controlling placement. Moreover, Jun Mizutani Super ZLC has much more power than Jun Mizutani ZLC. It could increase the speed of your shot and make up for your weakness (as you mentioned that you are lack of power). Overall, I would strongly recommend you to use Jun Mizutani Super ZLC, it would be the perfect blade for you.

For rubbers, I believe the Tenergy series won’t be wrong for any playing style, so keep both sides withTenergy 64 on the Jun Mizutani Super ZLC should work for you. But, the new Butterfly rubber Dignics 05 would be worth to trying out. I recently changed my forehand rubber from Tenergy 05 to Dignics 05 and after playing with it for two weeks, I found it rolled all the features into one. I made a rubber review video for it. You could check out my YouTube video (YangyangTT): “New Butterfly Rubber ‘Dignics 05’ 2019” to learn more about this new rubber.

In conclusion, my suggestion would be to change to a more powerful blade: Jun Mizutani Super ZLC, try Dignics 05, if it’s too bouncy, you could come back with Tenergy 64 on both sides.

Thanks again for reaching out to us and I hope you heal soon.

Best Wishes,

Yangyang