Hey Jake!
First thanks and really glad you like the videos and find them clear and easy to understand that’s always nice to hear!
Yeah so pre-made bats are ok up to a point but if you want good quality and it to last then a blade and rubber custom bat will be much better. It won’t be anything you’ve done wrong with the grip its just they aren’t that high quality.
So for someone developing their game like you and at that stage in their game, I would always recommend staying with an all wood blade, they offer a lot more control and feeling for the ball which is vital when wanting to improve and learn new strokes. Carbon and composite blades are much faster and stiffer which is why most very advanced or professional players use them.
I would go for a stiga all round classic, this is an amazingly great value blade, will last you a long time and has great feeling and control. I would stick to the same rubbers both sides for consistency and balance and again so you can focus on the shots and not adapting to different rubbers each side. I’d say something like the Stiga genesis rubbers would be ideal, they aren’t super high speed but quick enough, but what’s great about them is they have amazing grip and spin, for developing players again this for me is the most important thing so you can learn to brush the ball and trust the bat to grip it.
So that would be my recommendation, and I’ve suggested the same set up for quote a few players in the past and found it’s a great set up. I hope that helps and any other information or questions on this just give me a shout on here. Of course you don’t have to go for the exact equipment I mentioned but something similar and along those lines will be suitable so it gives you a good guide and also that set up should be in your price range I’m pretty sure.
Cheers, Tom
Answer for recommendation-for-new-guy
