Avalox (AVX) Blue Thunder 550

One of the best blades i have ever used in the speed glue era...it has a normal small sweet spot as a thinner 5ply wood blade. It has great potential to produce spin and it is a high throw blade with decent feel and good blocking. With today's equipment i would recommend it for a beginner up to 1400 US rating level; I recommend it for a player with an allround style of play that has a vision for a game that is spin and feel oriented and likes to feel vibration in their hand. it plays well in close to mid distance from the table.

This blade is not quite Off-, more All+. I switched from a considerable thicker and slightly softer OFF- blade, and this is definitely slower. But with decent rubbers, it'll win the point, because this blade is a spin machine. Loads of flex makes this a looping dream, and the medium hardness outer plies give good control in the short game. It is absolutely perfect close to the table, but you really do have to work away from it. I play a close-to-the table third ball attack PH game, so spin, control and opening attack/counters are most important. blocking is a tad more difficult than a more rigid blade, but there's still loads of control on this blade, so it's alright. It is very lightweight. Mine was the advertised 80g which is more important for ph as a heavy setup will put strain on the wrist. With such a light blade, I can afford to put a heavy chinese rubber and a medium euro on the bh. However, lack of weight is lack of speed. There's quite a lot of vibrations with this blade, but I just think of it as extra sensory information, so I don't know why people complain. But if you hate vibrations, this is probably not for you. Also, no errors in construction. Completely flawless. And it comes pre-sealed which is handy. I've had no issues with outer plies splintering from water based glue.

The Avalox promoters call this their "dream blade"; a classic OFF-, all-wood, 5-ply blade. The central ply is very thick, with the outer veneers much thinner. Blade handle fits well in my hand, and the whole blade is pre-sealed. The flex of this blade increases spin significantly, there are vibrations (which I like), and the control of this blade is sublime! The lack of speed is no problem (for me), and when paired with the right rubbers, you can give the ball great speed.