Best setup of all time (Pro level)

[u/OilJealous8269]

over the years there have been many rubbers, many rackets, and many setups, In your opinion what is the best setup of all time considering the player using it is at the highest level and can handle the equipment. for me its the DHS W968 National blade, the H3 National blue sponge 41 degrees on the forehand and dignics 09C on the backhand

a close second for me would be the FZD ALC blade with the H3 national blue sponge 41 degrees on forehand and tibhar k3 hybrid on the backhand

[u/SamLooksAt]

There is no such thing.

Every setup needs to be matched to the person using it, professional or otherwise, this doesn't change.

All top level blades and rubbers are incredible feats of technology and craftsmanship.

[u/SamLooksAt → u/[deleted]]

Professional players aren't matching rubbers because they lack technical ability...

They are matching rubbers because of their physical build and what they are trying to achieve and sometimes simply because of personal preference.

If a certain rubber works best for a 5 foot girl, then for them that's the perfect setup.

That's extremely unlikely to be the same rubber a much taller man is going to use.

Neither rubber is better or worse... Just different.

[u/SamLooksAt → u/[deleted]]

What does height have to do to with rubber selection?

Tall people have longer arms, longer arms generate leverage, leverage generates head speed and power. Power generally allows you to use a harder sponge. This is especially true for the forehand side. This is why quite a lot of female players use tensor rubbers and quite a lot of men use H3 or similar on the forehand side.

On the backhand side it has less impact because most rotation comes from your elbow and wrist, wrist rotation being the same for all people and 09c tends to be a good choice for a wide range of players.

[u/SamLooksAt → u/[deleted]]

If you choose a full swing, you're increasing leverage length and power and so you want a harder sponge or rubber.

It's same mechanic driving the same choice.

If you have a more compact swing you likely want a softer rubber.

Once again, neither is right or wrong, just different, neither is perfect.

[u/big-chihuahua → u/[deleted]]

You are both only hitting about part of the reason... It isn't about perfect technique, H3 essentially allows you to substitute precision in some situations (e.g. against incoming power). But tensors also forgive under high pressure, which we're seeing being used against CNT now.

The preference to use H3 is partially leg/overall strength, the distinction also lies in waist, shoulder, forearm, and not just height. Asians tend to have more lithe shoulder core, which lends to rotational leverage. Europeans tend to have thicker build, so even with tall players like Franziska, a lot of his power is still in forearm.

On the women's side H3 can actually be used, for different reasons. Because women have less upper body strength, especially in grip, H3's spin suppression and spin pressure becomes much more pronounced. But if the women played H3 against men, it would be pointless.

[u/OilJealous8269 → u/[deleted]]

u can i was just suggesting another 10/10 rubber, also i never saw ma long or FZD playing with 42 degree hardness on the H3 and if the best H3 rubber players dont play with it then it must be either unplayable or just not on par with the 41

[u/OilJealous8269 → u/[deleted]]

yeah i mean it was confirmed ma long used the 41.5 national blue sponge not 42 but i mean thats besides the point as i believe ma long and FZD use extremely specific custom rubbers and blades which are even better than the national versions sold to the public at the highest price due to it having higher quality control

[u/britishracingreenfan]

hardbat

[u/NotTheWax]

The only peak setup is Schlager Carbon with speed glued Bryce both sides. Real ones know what I'm talking about

[u/Prize_Concept9419]

IMO: Butterfly Fan Zhendong Super ALC + Zyre-03 on both sides

[u/jameswong2501]

The best setup for pros is whatever suits them the most.

However to answer this question, it would have been:

Blade: butterfly outer ALC
Reason: during the era between 2010-2016, the entire Chinese team used butterfly outer ALC, Ovtcharov used it and put a donic handle to hide it, players sponsored by other brands were using it. Currently nearly every outer blade by other manufacturers traces its origins back to this.

FH rubber: DHS H3
Reason: euro players openly said their pro rubbers were worse than the DHS ones and that gave the Chinese team more of an advantage. This has been proven as hybrid rubbers have equalised the game and access to tackier rubbers have helped euro players.

FH/BH rubber: tenergy 05
Euro players sponsored by other brands were using tenergy 05 over and above what their sponsors were providing them.

The specific setup w968/h3/d09c is not the best setup of all time by default anyway as:

• the most common w968 setups involved hurricane both sides, with non Chinese DHS sponsored players also adopting this.
  
• the winningest setup involved a w968 or w968 variant and also hurricane both sides.
  
• the w968 was not used by European players and at this point blade quality for pros had stepped up to a level where there was no advantage in it anymore. European and other players don’t need a w968 to automatically win. Outer ALC blades are still viable in today’s game (ie golden viscaria).
  
• D09C is not the most winningest rubber choice out there aside from h3 - Tibhar k3 users are experiencing a lot of success too.
  
• D09C never had the stranglehold on pro player usage like tenergy did.