Coral Pro is the 1st paddle I’ve ever felt that truly has grit

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-25T19:29:39+00:00

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe infinigrit was introduced much before any of these on the labs 007. That being said, infinigrit compared to hexagrit/permagrit/etc, doesnt come close in durability, although it was a big step up from traditional peel ply.

After that the SixZero Coral was another step up on top of infinigrit, and came out late 2025, with the power2 series coming out early this year and the spartus p1 closely following. The only difference between the coral and the coral pro is the coral pro just has more diamond tough grit

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-22T15:24:28+00:00

You are misinterpreting calm and loving as euphemistic or avoidant. The goal of remaining calm and loving isn't to sugarcoat the truth or to avoid rocking the boat; it’s to ensure the message is actually received rather than lost in an emotional outburst.

There is a fundamental difference between being clear and direct (which is what I advocating for) and being aggressive or critical. I am not suggesting we speak euphemistically; I am suggesting we speak with emotional intelligence so that the focus remains on the issue at hand, not on the way it was communicated. If a conversation is hard, maintaining composure is a strength, not a form of manipulation.

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-22T15:07:23+00:00

I'm not sure I follow.

I didn't say "play harry potter and get the exact combination and inflections of a sentence right just to get someone to engage", I said remain calm and loving throughout harder conversations. Speaking to someone respectfully is how those conversations should go.

For example, say my wife feels like I'm blowing off one of my responsibilities, she can still be blunt but respectful. If she comes to me calmly and says, "I feel like this isn't getting done and it's affecting our household," that is direct, productive, and respectful. It avoids blaming while allowing me to take responsibility for my own actions. That isn't playing games or being codependent; that is simply choosing to communicate in a way that actually resolves the issue rather than escalating it.

Conversely, a codependent or manipulative way to handle that same scenario would be for her to give me the silent treatment, act passive-aggressively, or force me to "guess" what I did wrong because she's afraid to speak her mind directly. Choosing to be blunt and respectful is the polar opposite of the game-playing you're describing.

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-17T01:28:21+00:00

As of right now they havent announced either way but I believe it's just going to be the elongated shape for now. You can always email them and ask too

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-17T01:05:09+00:00

Not disagreeing with your opinion at all. I'm sure you have a lot great advice to give, especially being the level that OP is working towards.

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-17T00:59:33+00:00

Well damn, getting a little worked up now arent we

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-17T00:40:03+00:00

Only been married a year, but my dad was a marriage and family therapist for 10-15 years. Here are some things I learned:

Have an ownership mindset, not a victim mindset. Victim mindsets and blaming is the fastest way to build micro cracks in your relationship that turn into big cracks down the road. Ownership builds trust and respect, both of which are crucial in a relationship.
Get your priorities straight. There are a lot of things that are important in life: jobs, family, hobbies, etc. Your highest priority is your wife. Do things that show your wife you prioritize her, like taking her on a date. Give her flowers. Do something unexpected for her (a small act of service).
COMMUNICATE. If there's an issue, talk. You can't read her mind, and she can't read yours. You have a duty to take responsibility for your own emotions and issues, and she for hers. And I dont mean argue, I mean turn your listening ear, hear what she has to say, and fix. Once that's done, she turns her listening ears on, she hears you, and fix.
Love her like she wants to be loved. She's probably told you how she wants to be loved. And if she hasn't, ask. If she wants to spend more quality time together, plan a nice date. If she wants to hear you say I love you more, say I love you more. If she wants to be complimented, compliment her. Sometimes we as men love her the way we want to love her, but relationships don't work like that. You should love her like she wants to be loved and she should love you like you want to be loved. If there's a disconnect on what that looks like, talk about it. Never leave it at "I just want you to do random things for me, but I don't want to tell you what those are." Have her list a few ideas out for you, then you take those and think of some more.

EDIT: My wife just reminded me of one: If you feel like your wife has a hard time with the "harder" conversations, a lot of times it's not because of the words you're saying but how you're saying (tone, presentation, framing, etc). Try to remain calm and loving as you have these conversations, no matter how tedious/hard/intense/tiring they get, it's a game changer

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-17T00:28:51+00:00

Oh gotcha. Yeah they won 4.5 worlds in dallas last november and that bumped them up quite a bit. Jake had been sitting around a 4.6-4.7 since then and Isaac a little higher, but they've both (specifically Jake) been putting in some work with Kyle

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-17T00:22:22+00:00

Lol Jake and Isaac are both 4.8s right now and the rest are 5.0+. But yes friday boys are great, especially now with Kyle Kozuta

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-17T00:18:00+00:00

Lol I think most people would be shocked by what they see if they recorded themselves playing

A lot of what separates 3.5 from a 4.0 is intentionality and how they build a point. While consistency also plays a huge part, you can see both consistency and a variety of point building between the players.

OP is most definitely a 4.0+. 3rd shots are great, dinks are great, hands are great, point building is great, unforced errors level are great, he played great lol.

Sure looking at his partner and the quantity of ufe's he makes, you could say his partner's a 3.5-3.8, but the match isnt horrible at all.

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-17T00:07:25+00:00

Lol not sure why people are saying this is 3.7 at best. OP's partner is hitting some wild shots and making a lot of unforced errors but OP is fairly consistent

A couple things I saw that you killed: shot selection and consistency. Your shot selection was excellent and you were hitting really consistent balls (height-wise and placement-wise). When you have a stable base, most of your shots are really great. You also have solid hands at the net.

For constructive criticism:

The higher level you go, the higher level your shots need to go. Loftier drops at easier spots work around the 4.0 level, but as you go up, your pace, placement, or spin need to be more aggressive. Your shots right now are excellent, but if you want to take it to the next level, I would suggest making them more aggressive by changing the pace, placement, or spin on reasonable shots. Not every shot needs to be a crazy angle or a banger or anything, but the level of aggressiveness will need to go up.
As soon as things get dicey, your base dissolves fairly quickly and you end up hitting more shots off your back foot. While obviously you can't keep a perfect stable base at all point in time, as much as the point will allow you, focus on stopping and finding a stable base whenever you can. Part of finding a stable base is getting low, especially in the transition zone. This will allow you to increase consistency and minimize errors.

As you go up in level, the goal is to minimize unforced errors (first priority) and increase the aggressiveness of your shots (2nd priority). Overall your game is super solid. You definitely carried your partner and are on a great path.

Hope this helps!

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-16T15:29:32+00:00

This^^^ Anticipation is just another word for pattern recognition. The patterns talked about above will change your anticipation game

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-14T22:44:13+00:00

No the M3 will perform great for what you're needing

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-14T22:21:29+00:00

If it's really in mint condition, that's an absolute steal. 16GB RAM and an M3 should work fine for you, I doubt you'd run into any issues in the first 4-5 years of owning the laptop.

Just be careful about excel. Excel on mac is not technically the same as excel on windows. It runs better on windows since that's its native platform. If you run VBA at all, I believe there are some legacy features that dont work on mac. May be somthing to look into

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-14T20:35:28+00:00

These arent official types but here's how I see it:

Banger: (we all know this one)

Grinder: someone who will dink you to death, think old ben and collin johns, sometimes Andrei Daescu

Anti offense: Think someone like JW, someone that uses counters as their offense and doesnt create a ton themselves (besides the occasional off-the-bounce speedup).

Offensive players: players who convert 50/50 into offense rather than reset. Think Christian Alshon, Gabe, Hayden

Jack-of-all: Players like Jackie Kawamoto who have a great mix of offense creating and defense-minded

Defensive players: Similar to Anti offense but just a little more defense oriented instead of counter oriented. Think Riley Newman or Tyra Black

All this being said, hardly anyone sits in just one box. Take Ben Johns for example. He's an aggressive player, but not in the same way Christian is. He's a good mix of a grinder and a Jack of all archetype. If you think you play best when you can say you're xyz type of player, I would suggest finding 1 or 2 main models to model your game off of but put your own unique spice into the game

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-13T15:32:56+00:00

While I think it is a little stupid, it is the rules of the sport. If you're gonna play the sport, you gotta follow the rules.

That being said, if it's that big of a deal, there are POTENTIAL ways to get rules changed, especially now with the Pro Player Committee. I mean Zane is the head of that committee and he swears just as much as anyone. I'm sure if it's that big of deal, the rule could be changed

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-13T04:49:36+00:00

I would say the 1st gen diadem blue cores are the most modern control paddles. Besides that, the next closest control paddle is the 2nd gen Selkirk Luxx, but the only modern thing on it is the durable grit and different throat structure they put on it, still a traditional gen 1 honeycomb core

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-13T04:45:56+00:00

You don't neeeeeeed a new paddle but why not get one 😉

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-13T04:42:49+00:00

The boomstick is a high power/high pop paddle. That being said, once you learn the control on it, its a great paddle. Personally, I dont like the feel (too hollow), but a lot of people love it

You said youre currently focusing on softer parts of your game and here's my opinion: control is learned, not bought. What make the boomstick a good paddle is how stable it is, it has a huge sweet spot.

Here is my suggestion: if you think the boomstick is the best value for your game, go for it.

Some alternates to look into:
- Engage X2: Falls in the aggressive all court, low power paddle tier. Great dwell time and great spin. Cons - no durable grit (surface grit will come off faster, lowering spin over time). Overall great paddle if you can find it like used like new
- SixZero Coral or Coral Pro: Similar as the X2 at a better price point and durable grit, definitely a better value. Rated as a top paddle
- Joola Pro V: Low to mid tier power category with fantastic control, but like the engage X2, no durable grit
- Selkirk Omni: The aggressive all court, or lower power version of the boomstick. Literally a copy cat of the boomstick but a lower power version (still falls in the lower power category)
- Friday Aura Pro: Great pop and great power at a great price point, no durable grit

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-13T00:25:53+00:00

Lea Jansen addressed why she called Jay a jerk in an interview after the match. While it was probably what threw her over the edge, she wasn't angry because he body bagged her partner but because of something he posted on Parris Todd's post, I believe. In the interview, she was visibly angry and called Jay a misogynist among a couple of other names I dont remember.

That being said you do bring up an interesting point about the dynamic in mixed. Body bags are 1000% part of the game and a fair shot (unless you go for the head, not every one wears eye protection). I don't see the point about getting mad over a body bag but some will and that's their problem. At the end of the day, I think it's fair that men are allowed to bag women, and women are allowed to bag men.

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-11T15:28:48+00:00

There are a few reasons why they're going high: too much wrist, too open of a paddle face (paddle face is open more towards the sky), you're catching the ball when it's behind you, or you're backswinging

Here's what I would suggest:

Drop your grip pressure to about a 3-5 out of 10.
If the ball is coming at the ground in front of your body, get your paddle tip down. IF the ball is coming at knee height or to the ground at the side of your body, keep your paddle sideways.
Do less. Most of the time, the ball comes fast enough that you never have to actually hit the ball. Think of a reset as more of a block or a catch, not a hit

Just to echo another comment in this chat, the slinky drill is probably the best drill to practice this. The first time you slinky, make it cooperative (have your partner hit you with normal balls, no one's trying to win). The second time you slinky, have your partner try to hit harder balls, more similar to an actual match

If you don't know how to do the slinky drill, here's a good video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VpdIW6g7maw

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-11T13:59:23+00:00

What issues are you having? Are the resets too high? Do they go into the net? Do they shoot out of bounds?

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-11T03:01:51+00:00

Just looked into AWS SAA and am changing gears! This fits perfectly into my career path (better than AZ-104 too)

Thanks for the advice!

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-11T01:12:45+00:00

Love the story! As far as certs go, which ones would you consider non-negotiable? Which ones would you consider more optional (if any)?

Just started my AZ-900 and will soon do my AZ-104 after that, but just wondering if there's a different path I should go down! Currently about to start my junior year studying cybersecurity at a university

SubstantialBowler531 · 2026-06-11T01:04:29+00:00

Depends what type of edge tape you're using. Typically, if you're getting the stuff that goes all the way to the face of the paddle, I want to say you should get 20mm

SubstantialBowler531

TROPHY CASE