Several of our Platinum members have been asking me questions recently around equipment and what would be right for their game. I understand how difficult it is for players it is to navigate through the myriad of blades and rubbers whilst trying to sort out the marketing from what's real. The truth is that many product descriptions are directly deceptive and other descriptions are innocently incorect. What one brand calls an OFF blade is allround blade for another. There are such big differences between Japanese and German (Tensor) rubbers that it's like comparing apples with oranges.

I'm sure some production descriptions are lost in translation however it is hard to argue that others aren't written to mislead customers. So in the end for most buyers, it comes down to trying to make sense of the speed numbers or control numbers when choosing between the different products. The problem is that a speed of 90/100 for one brand has no correlation to the 90/100 for another. Rubbers often come in different versions of the same brand, for example a softer version, a firmber version and a spinnier version, and I've noticed that manufacturers seem to think that softer rubbers are going to be the fastest.

I find it important to get the point across that players should think about what they are trying to achieve with their shots and their game and then choose equipment that suits that. The right equipment will suit certain types of shots, certain throws of shots (eg high trajectory over the net with lots of dip), attacking, controlled or fast. The equipment won't play the shot for you but it will make many shots easier or more difficult.

We've had a video planned for some time A10 Advanced Equipment that will go into greater detail on these topics and make some general recommendations about the differences. I'll try to get this done sooner rather than later.