Butterfly Innerforce Layer ZLC

Product information

Brand
Butterfly
Category
Blades
Reviews
3
Rating
4.67 star(s) 3 ratings
Price
$290

User stats

Speed
7.8
Control
9
Hardness
6.3
Durability
9.2
Pros
  • control
  • spin
  • Dwell time
Cons
  • Less popular
  • Heavy
This is the most underatted blade in Butterfly family. It is expensive...stiff...soft...springy...but you have more than you wish from your price.
Good spin, control, but dwell time is like waiting for Taxi in New York... You love that and I think it is better than Apolonia because it is more control and feeling oriented blade than spin and power so you will enjoy more than only Woody inner alc
Speed
8.4
Control
9.8
Hardness
4.5
Durability
9.6
Pros
  • Control
  • Feel
  • Control
I used the Innerforce Layer ZLC and had Tibhar Evolution FXS on both sides whilst trying this blade and firstly whilst blocking for my partner to warm up I cold tell straight away how much control and feel this blade had. I could place the ball wherever I liked with accuracy no matter how hard the speed or spin from incoming shots.
Whilst doing a few fh and bh drives there was a crisp feeling and nice sweet spot, not the carbon feeling from a Timo Boll ALC for example but more of an all wood blade feeling. Stepping back from the table and looping I could feel the dwell and the ball sinking in before being catapulted with a nice amount of speed and spin. Looping felt very consistent again with a good feeling of control. Personally I wouldn't rate it as fast as butterfly do in the catalogue and would say it was a touch slower than a Boll ALC but with more control.
Serves were easy to keep short and easy to generate spin, receiving a long push back I found that open ups were a breeze, the blade and rubber combo generated lots of spin and a very safe arc over the net but I could also keep it low and fast also. If the serve came back short with backspin I could touch back with ease.
I think the softer outer veneers would also suit a harder rubber like an MXS or Tenergy 05 to generate more speed especially on the fh when at mid distance from the table. With the top to top rallies I found with the softer FXS rubber on the fh it was quite tough to generate the speed when off the table but was very safe and more point and shoot than out and out speed.
Overall I think the blade really impressed with its great for control especially with the softer rubber on the bh but to generate the speed some may prefer harder sponge rubbers on the fh and bh. I still think with harder rubbers the blade would still help with control but give it that extra zip on the ball, it always felt very safe. Not as fast as Butterfly rate it and the control is way more than rated also. A very nice blade, expensive but if you are after a blade with the sweet spot of carbon but the control of an all wood blade then this might be worth a try.
Speed
8
Control
8.8
Hardness
5.5
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