Palio Energy 01
This a 3 ply allwood blade listed as OFF-. I put on the Palio The Way 40+ and the Palio AK47 40+ to review the Energy 01, rubbers were previously on my black tag Korbel. So I'll be comparing this to how it feels on my Korbel.
Initial Impressions
The handle feels pretty good, I like the handle on this one. With the rubbers on it, it does feel slightly head heavy compared to the Korbel which felt pretty head heavy so I used a grip tape to balance it out. During the bounce test I could feel a lot of vibrations with a slightly muted feel of the bounce unlike the Korbel where the blade feels alive and this feels kinda dead. I will test it out in some drills and some match play and will update this review...
Review...
The Energy 01 is a Stiff 3ply all wood blade. It feels dead yet has vibrations. It offers high control but lacks sufficient dwell time because of the stiffness which caused my flicks to be ineffective in match play. Surprisingly for an OFF- blade, this blade blocks really really well. I usually prefer OFF+ composite blades for blocking but this blade definitely is definitely really really good at it.
Pros:
Control
Stiffness for blocks
Huge sweet spot
Great for flat hitting
Cons:
Stiffness caused a lack of dwell time which in turn caused my short game and "feeling" when looping to suffer in match play.
Conclusion:
I see this blade as one that an allround offensive player would like or one who focuses on placement and control rather all out attacking.