JOOLA Aruna OFF

I changed to this blade after seeing Dan's review with Aruna and thought it would suit my game. Its not the lightest of blades, but the combination of woods and carbon give control and feel, lots of spin and speed with a heavy arm speed when looping and smashing. All in all it was a good choice for my playing style. I've used european rubbers and chinese and both work well in their own way. I've stuck to chinese tacky rubbers as I use alot of arm and wrist speed to loop and attack.

This blade is great for a first time carbon user.It's not too fast or too slow.Spiny open ups are at ease with this blade due to the dwell time,short touches are also very easy.The blade is not too fast which helps with blocking and controlling the play,however,some may argue that it is too slow especially compared to other carbon blades such as the Timo Boll ALC.

Only used it briefly but first impression were (using tenergy 05 fh and 05fx bh) I found it to be easy to use in most shots but not standing out as spectacular in any. Knocking up with usual fh and bh drive and loops this blade felt and sounded lots like an all wood blade actually. Had more of a tock noise than the higher pitch crack from an ALC for example. I have been using power spin carbon for about a year now and compared to that it hasn't quite got the feeling or speed but control was great. As we know Tenergy is a fast aggressive rubber but it was still quite easy to place the ball where I wanted. Controlling a heavy spin shot from an opponents open up was no hassle either. It lacked that bit of speed off the table but was easy to place where you wanted during top to top points. It always felt safe. Touch shots and flicks were easy, the softer hinoki outer layer gave it good dwell so picking up the ball and spinning it back was easy. It just lacked; IMO, any feeling, kind of felt a little lifeless at times. With the drinkhall carbon I can kind of feel the ball grip which I like. I will try it with some mxp or fxp and update it to see how it suits those rubber.

Overall though I think it is a great choice for a player who is thinking of trying carbon for the first time. Or wanting the sweet spot of a carbon blade but that feeling of a soft wood blade. It is controllable and is plenty quick enough for a good league player. Might be a bit slow for the top top players who play an all out aggressive game though.