Product information
Unboxing
It has been a while since I have played with a Joola blade. When I was a cadet/boy player I was using Joola and Donic equipment which at that time were decent brands and I would love to hit with an old Jörg Rosskopf OFF blade. The Joola Aruna OFF blade comes in a standard Joola box which is quite boring, but when looking at the Aruna OFF the color is referenced to the flag of Nigeria which is green and white. There are two black lines in the middle to break the color scheme and to tell the blade means business. On the front side of the handle there is a black plastic lens and in bottom there is a metal lens. There is also a JTTAA stamp in the bottom. The Hinoki outer plies have good grains and the finish is top class with rounded edges at the wings. The handle is very smooth as blades from Butterfly. I would say this blade has better finish than some of the high end blades and the quality is very good!
Composition: 7 ply (Hinoki, Koto, Carbon, Kiri Core, Carbon, Koko, Hinoki)
Handle: Flared
Head size: 157x150mm
Thickness: 5.8mm
Weight: 84g
Type: Carbon OFF rated by manufacture
Test setup: FH Joola Rhyzm 2.0mm and BH Stiga Genesis M 2.1mm. Total weight 184g.
Drive
When driving with the Aruna OFF I could immediately feel that this blade was very controllable on both sides. The setup has a very good center balance with these rubbers and the feeling is more towards an all wood blade than a carbon blade.The speed is decent and is comparable to some of the Innerforce series.
Even faster than the normal ZLC and Viscaria! But having that said the blade also had an amount of feel and dwell that you normally don't experience when blades are that fast. I think this might be due to the outer limba layer combined with the SZLC. The Super Zylon-Carbon layer adds lightness, stiffness and flexibility to the blade. Another thing that was noticeable was the large sweet spot.
Loop
When looping with the Aruna OFF I could really feel this setup was a spin machine. This is the second time I have made a review on a blade with Hinoki outer plies. Here I could really get the grip that I wanted with medium effort. Struggled a bit with the Stiga Genesis M due to the lower throw, which I was not used to, but having that said the spin was great with both rubbers. I felt that I could create more spin with the Joola Rhyzm rubber and the power from the carbon was quite obvious when looping.
Block
In the passive game the Aruna OFF also delivers control! I was very stable and consistent due to the large sweet spot which the carbon gives. Still if I was a bit active on the ball I felt that I couldn’t miss the table. Directing the ball was easily done without having the feeling you were losing control even with huge incoming loops.
Flick/short game
The aspect of this part of the game the Aruna OFF is shining. Due to the outer Hinoki and the overall softness of the blade it was not difficult to flick the ball or keep the ball low and short when playing over the table. You always feel the ball and do not have the impression that the ball is jumping away from you.
Conclusion
Joola has made a signature blade for Aruna Quadri which accommodate his needsi. The retail price is 79.90 Euro (in Europe) and 95.03 USD (in US) which is a decent price for a signature blade. For that price you get very good quality and I have heard the blades from Joola should be very durable.
I would recommend the blade to players who focus on an offensive game with spin and control in focus.The blade fits well away from the table as in close. Also the player that favors the stability and consistency in their blocking and attacking game. The blade is good value and if you like Hinoki as outer due to Hinokis attributes then you would not go wrong in town choosing this blade.
It has been a while since I have played with a Joola blade. When I was a cadet/boy player I was using Joola and Donic equipment which at that time were decent brands and I would love to hit with an old Jörg Rosskopf OFF blade. The Joola Aruna OFF blade comes in a standard Joola box which is quite boring, but when looking at the Aruna OFF the color is referenced to the flag of Nigeria which is green and white. There are two black lines in the middle to break the color scheme and to tell the blade means business. On the front side of the handle there is a black plastic lens and in bottom there is a metal lens. There is also a JTTAA stamp in the bottom. The Hinoki outer plies have good grains and the finish is top class with rounded edges at the wings. The handle is very smooth as blades from Butterfly. I would say this blade has better finish than some of the high end blades and the quality is very good!
Composition: 7 ply (Hinoki, Koto, Carbon, Kiri Core, Carbon, Koko, Hinoki)
Handle: Flared
Head size: 157x150mm
Thickness: 5.8mm
Weight: 84g
Type: Carbon OFF rated by manufacture
Test setup: FH Joola Rhyzm 2.0mm and BH Stiga Genesis M 2.1mm. Total weight 184g.
Drive
When driving with the Aruna OFF I could immediately feel that this blade was very controllable on both sides. The setup has a very good center balance with these rubbers and the feeling is more towards an all wood blade than a carbon blade.The speed is decent and is comparable to some of the Innerforce series.
Even faster than the normal ZLC and Viscaria! But having that said the blade also had an amount of feel and dwell that you normally don't experience when blades are that fast. I think this might be due to the outer limba layer combined with the SZLC. The Super Zylon-Carbon layer adds lightness, stiffness and flexibility to the blade. Another thing that was noticeable was the large sweet spot.
Loop
When looping with the Aruna OFF I could really feel this setup was a spin machine. This is the second time I have made a review on a blade with Hinoki outer plies. Here I could really get the grip that I wanted with medium effort. Struggled a bit with the Stiga Genesis M due to the lower throw, which I was not used to, but having that said the spin was great with both rubbers. I felt that I could create more spin with the Joola Rhyzm rubber and the power from the carbon was quite obvious when looping.
Block
In the passive game the Aruna OFF also delivers control! I was very stable and consistent due to the large sweet spot which the carbon gives. Still if I was a bit active on the ball I felt that I couldn’t miss the table. Directing the ball was easily done without having the feeling you were losing control even with huge incoming loops.
Flick/short game
The aspect of this part of the game the Aruna OFF is shining. Due to the outer Hinoki and the overall softness of the blade it was not difficult to flick the ball or keep the ball low and short when playing over the table. You always feel the ball and do not have the impression that the ball is jumping away from you.
Conclusion
Joola has made a signature blade for Aruna Quadri which accommodate his needsi. The retail price is 79.90 Euro (in Europe) and 95.03 USD (in US) which is a decent price for a signature blade. For that price you get very good quality and I have heard the blades from Joola should be very durable.
I would recommend the blade to players who focus on an offensive game with spin and control in focus.The blade fits well away from the table as in close. Also the player that favors the stability and consistency in their blocking and attacking game. The blade is good value and if you like Hinoki as outer due to Hinokis attributes then you would not go wrong in town choosing this blade.
