Latest reviews

What’s going on guys, this is my review on the Garaydia ALC which has been released in 2015 and designed for the plastic ball. The ALC is a top of the line blade by Butterfly from the new Garaydia series.

The blade is 5 ply and has a really nice smooth finish and also has a holographic lense on the underside of the handle to stop counterfeit products. Watch the video review below, the rubbers used on the blade are the Butterfly Tenergy 05.


Overview

One characteristic we first noticed about this blades is how thick it is in comparison to other traditional carbon blades such as the Jun Mizutani Super ZLC notice how much thicker the wood/core is on the Garaydia in the image below. To be precise the Garaydia ALC blade has a thickness of 6.9mm, whereas the Mizutani Super ZLC has a thickness of 6mm. This core thickness helps promote speed in the blade which has been tailored for the 40+ ball.



The ALC blade uses Japanese hinoki wood which is designed to keep the soft touch maintaining the control of the fast blade. The Carbon used is Arylate Carbon.

The blade weighs 86 grams.



Speed

The Garaydia ALC comes packed with control and its speed is very noticeable. The crisp feeling is very evident with this blade as expected with the arylate Carbon and I would not recommend this blade for beginners. The ALC has a low trajectory and felt slightly faster than a Timo Boll ALC.

When playing 3 point forehands playing at maximum pace and speed preciseness in my technique was required due to the low arc of the blade. Once I had adjusted I could really produce a lot of speed in my strokes something which I really liked.

Spin

When playing against backspin with the ALC the large sweetspot and great dwell helped to counteract the spin and gave us high amounts of accuracy. This helps produce lots of rotation on the ball. If you have tried a Timo Boll or a Zhang Jike ALC the dwell felt quite similar.

Flicks and aggressive shots

This blade really excelled when flicking and playing counter topspins and shots close to the table, due to the low throw generated this helped in this department.

Conclusion

The new Garaydia ALC blade has definitely been developed for the new plastic balls due to its sheer speed and thicker core. One noticeable feature you get with this blades is it’s the crisp feeling and the ability to produce a quality shot with minimal action.

The ALC has a soft feeling when brushing the ball and playing against spin. If you were to choose a blade from the Garaydia series, this one would feel the most controllable as it has a touch more dwell time than the ZLC and a lot more dwell than the T5000. I would not recommend this blade for someone until they are competent in their shot quality and consistency due to the responsiveness of the blade. An advanced top spin attacker would really benefit and like this blade for playing top spin shots from mid distance and close to the table. When going for speed the ball has a low, direct trajectory, and when playing with spin you get good arc on the ball from the blades dwell.

Butterfly G40+ Plastic Ball Review

The butterfly g40+ uses a unique type of plastic never used before in three star table tennis balls. This ball is completely celluloid-free. The ball weighs the same as other plastic balls, 2.8 grams however the way it performs is surprisingly different. Which you can see in the review below with myself and Tom Maynard. We performed a variety of tests to see the characteristics of this ball shaped up the first being a simple bounce test. When comparing the bounce between the two balls, the Butterfly G40+ bounced higher, and for a longer time than the original plastic ball. You can watch the review below:


Speed

As soon as we started playing we could immediately notice that the g40+ travels quicker than other plastic balls we have used in the past. It felt like you didn't need to hit the ball that hard to get a good amount of speed. The ball came through very quick and direct, here are some examples showing this.
There was no surprise that playing away from the table felt very comfortable and required less effort than we were used to due to the enhanced speed and clean contact.

Light

The ball gives the impression and feeling that it is lighter than other plastic balls as we found it flew off the end of the table because we were not used to fact that the g40+ did not dip as much. This was very noticeable during counter topspins. I really had to adjust my angle to bring the ball down onto the table. Once adjusted I had no real difficulties in keeping control but it did take a bit of getting used to. I sometimes find with plastic balls they feel heavy on the contact, the G40+ felt the complete opposite.

Spin

When playing against backspin, the ball had similar feel to other plastic balls we have used in terms of how much spin we could produce and couldn't tell much of a difference.

Conclusion

The Butterfly G40+ definitely feels different to other plastic balls we have tried. The new ball is very responsive and propels off the rubber very quickly. It seemed to come through more directly and dipped less in comparison to traditional plastic balls and as seen through the bounce test the ball actually bounces higher as well.

Unique to this g40+ is the construction, whereby the seam is the same thickness as the two halves on the inside and outside of the ball designed to create a very round, high bouncing stable ball. This was definitely evident whilst playing as you get great consistency in terms of bounce and speed. The durability of the ball seems high as during the time of reviewing them no balls broke.

The ball will be available to buy towards the end of October.

Photos

Hi all, here is my review with Paul Drinkhall looking at his Offensive blade in his line of new products with Tibhar.

The blade is 5 ply and has a nice feel with a cool looking, modern blue design. The offensive blade weighs 88 grams. We both used the Tibhar Evolution MX-P rubbers on both sides of our blades.


Speed:

When reviewing the all round blade we then tried the Offensive Classic. From changing to the Offensive Classic Paul started to get more speed from his shots and there was definitely more of a direct nature to this blade than the all round. He still maintained mixing speed and spin was with ease however now with more zip and again a more direct trajectory.

Spin

As seen in the review Paul still produced a huge amount of spin something I really struggled to adapt to due to the shear velocity he could produce. This was very evident when playing against backspin, this spin helped set up Paul very well for the fifth ball attack.

Flicks

Drinkhall has one of the fastest flicks in the game with electrifying speed. Paul noted how easy it was to flick with the offensive blade.
Another attribute to Paul's armoury is his counter topspin, which again is even more effective with the offensive blade. The Drinkhall offensive classic I would recommend for the player who has a well developed game and wants a bit more of a kick to their shots then an all round blade like the all round classic gives you.

Conclusion from the review

The allround blade is very good for maximum control, and ideal for a player who wants to develop solid strokes due to the added dwell time. However, if you are looking for something with a bit more power the offensive blade would be of a better choice as it had a more direct, harder feel and is slightly faster than the all round due to it’s harder ply's.

All in all both wood blades have excellent control and are ideal for beginners and intermediate players looking to develop their game. For wood blade lovers, the offensive.

Photos

On first inspection the Tibhar Drinkhall all round blade comes with a really nice, fresh design with a red handle. The blade is 5 ply and aimed at developing and intermediate level players.

The all round blade is built with a combination of ayous and limba wood to provide soft feeling and control.

The blade weighs 84 grams.

I was joined alongside Paul Drinkhall using the Tibhar Evolution MX-P rubbers on both sides of the blade.


Forehands

We both found a huge benefit to the all round blade was the tremendous amount of dwell time and control it allows for. Paul executed topspin shots effortlessly.

Blocking and control

Due to Paul’s ferocious power, I had difficulty blocking at times but I definitely found the all round helped me with controlling his speed due to the blades good flex and soft feel.

Speed

This blade isn't as fast as offensive and carbon blades we have reviewed before this doesn't mean however that I wouldn't recommend it to players trying to develop their strokes or players who aren't as interested in high end speed, as it would be very good for them. The combination of limba wood plys used in the all round classic provides great control and gives you more time to impart high amounts of spin on the ball.

Spin

The all round provided lots of control, against backspin this was very evident when playing topspin strokes. This helped produce a lot of spin due to the blades feeling and control.

Conclusion

The allround blade is very good for maximum control, and ideal for a player who wants to develop solid strokes due to the added dwell time. However, if you are looking for something with a bit more power the offensive blade would be of a better choice as it had a more direct, harder feel and is slightly faster than the all round due to it’s harder ply's.

All in all the wood blade has excellent control and is ideal for beginners and intermediate players looking to develop their game.

andro Ligna F.R OFF Blade Review

Hi all, heres my review on andro’s new blade in the Ligna series, the Ligna Off FR. The FR stands for Fiber Reinforced.

Specifications

Blade: andro Ligna FR
Weight: 90 grams
Plies: 7
Materials: Kiri, Carbon, Spruce, Core, Spruce, Carbon, Kiri
Hardness: Medium/hard Stiff
Test Rubbers: andro Grip (Forehand), andro Powergrip (Backhand)
Speed: OFF


The blade comprises of 7 plys, kiri being the outer ply, carbon being the second and Spruce being the third. An unusual characteristic about this blade is the fact that it uses Spruce wood. The particular Spruce used in this blade has been sourced from a bispoke Italian violin manufacturer to ensure that the wood is of the highest quality. The Spruce adds to the blades control and feeling especially when used in the inner plys like it is in this blade. The handle is extremely comfortable and sits very well when you hold it. you can really sense the craftsmanship that has gone into this blade throughout the whole design, including a really nice finish to both the handle and the outer kiri layer. The blade weighs 90 grams.

Forehand topspin

When using my forehand topspin the feeling and dwell time I got from the Ligna blade was very impressive. I could really feel the ball sink into the surface of the blade giving me great accuracy and perception in my shots.

Combination shots

The large dwell time helped, particularly, when playing close to the table and from mid distance giving me maximum control, producing a medium throw. I could get a fair amount of power in my shots when I wanted to, but found I had to put in quite a lot of effort to get maximum speed.

Spin

When playing shots that require heavy spin this blade really shone as the generous sweetspot meant I could produce high levels of spin. This also helped with creating shorter arcs on shots so the ball wasn't flying off the end of the table when playing topspins.

Flicks4

I felt I could generate a lot of power on flicks but found myself using more guided shots when playing short balls to create point winning opportunities.
Away from the table

Away from the table

When away from the table the ball really sinks into the blade meaning you get lots of control and dwell which produces a naturally high throw. This does however mean the ball stays on the bat a split second longer so the ball doesn't reach the other side of the table as quickly as other harder carbon blades.

Conclusion

The Ligna FR blade certainly comes packed with outstanding feeling and control. The control being similar to that of an OFF- blade but with the speed of a regular offensive blade. It isn't as quick as some off+ blades but it more than makes up for it in the control department. This attribute in the ligna off fr is substantial. it's large sweetspot, due to it's finely tuned composition, results in shots that are highly consistent in terms of both pace and ball placement.
The blade works well for intermediate to advanced players who want lots of control in their game. the carbon layers mean when you need to get good power behind attacking shots you can, and the blade produces enough speed to hit outright winners.

Pictures from the review

andro Ligna FR Off composition



Weight

I currently use the Donic Coach 40+ plastic balls in my coaching sessions. I am very happy with these balls. They are round and very consistent. The price is not to bad either, the plastic balls are definitely getting better.

Hi all,

Hi all, here is my latest review on STIGA’s new product, the Airoc Astro M rubber. The Astro is an advancement to the Japanese style Airoc rubber which was released earlier this summer. The rubber comes with its blue porous sponge, and glossy, shiny top sheet.


The pimple structure is similar to the original Airoc, however the air bubbles in the Astro are smaller and in turn means there are more pimples, which has been developed to create a more catapult effect from away from the table.



The Airoc Astro weighs 69 grams and cut weighs 49 grams. The top sheet of the rubber feels and looks grippy.



Forehands

Before I started using the rubber I thought it would be very similar to the airoc, however I was surprised to find that you could tell immediately of some fundamental differences. The speed was definitely faster with the Airoc Astro. The crisp impact produced a nice catapult effect on the new plastic ball, which is essentially what this rubber is designed to deal with. Here are some examples demonstrating the explosive power of the rubber.


Away from the table

From mid distance to away from the table, you can produce a lot of speed and control on the ball due to the long trajectory produced. This gave a lot of accuracy in my shots.

I found that on some occasions, playing close distance, the ball would go directly off the end of the table when going for power, as this rubber doesn't naturally produce as much dip on the ball as other tackier surfaced rubbers . I therefore had to adjust my technique with more of a brushing motion when playing power shots to compensate for the rubbers throw angle. However from mid distance this longer flight path meant that I had great safety and consistency in my attacking shots.

Spin

When playing against backspin I felt it was easy to impart a lot of spin on the ball really helping for instance, with third ball attacks when the ball was pushed long. The amount of spin produced with the Astro felt similar with the original Airoc. I felt comfortable receiving backspin serves with my backhand flick, the ball really soaked into the sponge creating lots of rotation on the ball which set me up strongly for fifth ball attacks.

Counter Topspin

Precise timing was required for the counter topspin, if this was not met the ball would fly off the end of the table. Once adjustments had been made by closing the racquet angle, I could counter topspin effectively.

Match play

After testing the rubbers with various shots and techniques, it was time to take on Tom in a few sets to see how the rubber held up in matchplay.

Conclusion

The Astro certainly excels it’s predecessor Airoc in terms of it’s speed. There were a lot of players commenting that the old rubber was not fast enough. I certainly felt that Stiga have combated this by increasing the speed in its new addition to the airoc series.

I was really impressed with the control to speed ratio of the rubber as it doesn't compromise on either aspect. The rubber really shines when engaging in aggressive attacking play from mid distance. Whilst at the same time I was able to produce a good amount of spin in the short game when needed on shots such as flicks, open ups and slow topspin.

Overall the rubber works well for players who want stability and control in their game and want that extra bit of kick and speed in their shots when needed.

Here is my video preview on the Butterfly Easy Ball with Tom.

Butterfly have released this new ball made in Germany to combat current issues with many plastic balls. The material used in this plastic ball is unique and actually feels like celluloid. The sound is a lot crisper than I was expecting. When we compared the Easy Ball in comparison to a traditional plastic ball in the bounce test, the Easy ball bounced longer. Impressively when comparing this new ball to a celluloid ball, the Easy Ball still managed to do the same with a higher and longer bounce. As this is a training/youth ball, I am looking forward to the 3* competition ball, this will be interesting.


Conclusion: The easy ball has been developed for youth training, casual play and for robots. This ball will be the first of a new line of products from Butterfly, from a training balls to 3 star balls. This new material certainly has a new feel and sound.

The manufacturing process of this ball is different whereby the ball is made by creating two halves. You can see this on the ball in its raw material colour (see footage).

Butterfly's future 3 star balls will be coloured white like traditional balls. The seam of this new ball has the same thickness as the two halves on the inside and out which creates a very round, high bounce stable ball.

Hi all,

Here's my video review on the STIGA Emerald VPS blade.

The emerald blade was released in 2014 as an advancement of the STIGA Infinity blade. The blade arrives in premium quality packaging with the clean unique look which STIGA are renowned for. The surface of the blade is varnished which helps protect and prolong it's life. The Emerald weighs 98g and consists of 5 plys of wood. The Emerald VPS is 6.2mm thick. Similar to the recent Carboando Blade Series, this Emerald blade has two metal insignias on front and bottom of the handle which furthers the premium feel of the blade. The Airoc Medium rubber were used on both sides of the blade. In the review we compare the Emerald to the popular STIGA Infinity VPS.


Forehand Topspin

Nice solid control that traditional wood blades are well known for. The emerald felt quite hard and had a solid contact. You can generate a good amount of power when playing attacking shots without compromising on control.

Away from table Footage

Away from the table the blade has excellent stability and great feeling. This feeling and control allowed me to put a lot of power into my shots because you know you can trust this blade to produce the same consistent ball everytime.
.
Backhand Topspin

The Emerald is very effective for backhands, where it produces a hard, fast impact. I liked the lower direct trajectory that can be produced when playing backhands.

Blocking

The large sweet spot and medium to hard stiffness allowed for excellent feel when blocking and safety in my strokes. The quick, crisp reaction of the blade suits offensive play very well.

Comparison between Emerald and Infinity blade

We found a few similarities in the review between the Emerald and the Infinity blade, one of which was the feeling. Both possess a strong wood feeling. In terms of weight between the two, the Infinity felt slightly lighter in the hand. A noticeable difference between the two blades was the speed. The Emerald was stiffer than the infinity which gave the blade more of a rebound effect, which in turn made the blade faster.

The difference in speed between the two is caused by a different outer veneer. The Emerald has a new hard green Ebenholz outer veneer, whereas the infinity has a lighter, outer veneer.

The Infinity however has a greater dwell and, therefore gives you slightly more forgiveness than the emerald and is slightly more suited at close range shots.

Spin

With the Emerald, there was a good amount of dwell time which helped create a lot of spin when playing against backspin from either a serve or a push ball.

Conclusion:

The STIGA Emerald blade certainly has more gears than its predecessor Infinity in terms of speed. Like the STIGA Infinity which we reviewed in 2014, we found the Emerald blade had bundles of control.

We were especially impressed with the speed to control ratio away from the table. In comparison, the Infinity seemed more suited from close range to the table. The Emerald due to its greater speed, really helped from mid distance and away from the table.

Overall the Emerald works very well for attackers looking for that extra bit of zip in their shots from a wood blade. It is suited for those players looking for high end speed with good control and is really easy to use for any experienced player.

In 2014, myself and Tom reviewed the STIGA Infinity blade, you can watch the review here.

The Nexy Arirang is a 7 ply blade. The blade reviewed was 83grams and has 2 layers of aramid carbon. The aramid carbon gives the blade a soft touch, slower than a TBS. I would of liked for the blade to have a bit more speed, sometimes I did not feel it had the spark needed for my shots. However one department this blade excels in is it's control. If you are after a carbon that doesn't have to much speed, this is a very good choice.

The Nexy Kanaph is a 5 ply (2 carbon layers) blade that has stunning looks. Below is a video review I did with Tom testing out both the Nexy Kanaph and the Arirang blade. Here are some quick details about the kanaph blade:

- Direct, low Trajectory
- Excellent for close range shots such as flicks, counter topspins and punch shots
- Fast (Off + blade)
- Dual impact (crisp sound)
- Solid sweetspot

This blade I feel is quick and suited for advanced players who have developed a solid technique.

Enjoy the review below which looks at both the Nexy and the Arirang blade.

Myself and @Tom had the opportunity to review the Adidas Tenzone Ultra Rubber.

I used the Avenger blade and Tom used the Hypertouch blade in the review which looked at the AdidasTenzone Ultra rubbers on both sides of our blades. The review looks at various techniques and a range of shots used in today's modern game of table tennis.

My latest review of the DHS Hurricane 8 with STIGA player Tom. In the review I used a boosted Hurricane 8 on a Butterfly Timo Boll Spirit blade and a un-boosted Hurricane 8 on a STIGA Carbonado 145 blade and looked at the differences as well as the playing characteristics of the rubber. STIGA 40+ plastic balls during the testing.

Butterfly Jun Mizutani Super ZLC vs Zhang Jike Super ZLC Blade Review with England's Darius Knight!

TableTennisDaily had the fantastic opportunity to review Butterfly's latest blades, comparing the Jun Mizuntani Super ZLC with the Zhang Jike Super ZLC, with Butterfly player Darius Knight!

Both @Dan and Darius Knight alternated the blades they were using between the Mizutani and Zhang Jike super ZLC throughout the review to get a good idea of how each perform. Tenergy 05 was used on both the forehand and back hand side.

I remember when this first rubber came out from Butterfly. A Chinese style rubber from Butterfly!

I think I used it during 2006. I had it on my forehand side and a few of my other friends had it on the forehand to, we found it excellent for first spin and spinning against backspin. Block also had high amounts of control. However speed glue was definitely needed with this rubber to produce enough speed. I used it on the backhand for a little while to however I found it a bit to hard. A high quality rubber.

I used the Hurricane 3 rubber a few years back and I feel it really helped developing my forehand technique. It does lack speed in comparison to some Tensor rubbers but it really does make you use all your body and arm/wrist to hit a good ball. The rubber has excellent control and you can grip the ball very well due to the tacky surface.

On my visit to Beijing last month with STIGA, we visited the Chinese National Team Training centre. All the players from the National A and B squad including Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, Zhang Jike, Xu Xin, Ding Ning etc were all training with this ball. I only saw one ball break throughout the whole 2 hour training session. I was surprised and managed to try out these balls could feel the quality of the ball. I still think plastic balls have a fair way to go to feel similar to the celluloid ball however this DHS 2* was reasonable. I have given it 5 stars as I think it's one of the best out of the plastic balls I have tried.

in this video review I used the Donic Waldner Senso Carbon blade and @Tom used the Donic Ovtcharov blade.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the DHS Gold Arc 3. I felt a lot of similarities with this rubber and Tenergy in terms of it's look and feel. I don't think it shares the same speed as Tenergy however it's balance between spin and speed is remarkable and similar.

Below is a video review myself and Tom did in 2013. I used the Butterfly Timo Boll ALC blade and Tom used the Butterfly Timo Boll ZLC.

i use these shoes everyday in my coaching. I find the grip really impressive and they have an excellent look to them. I have not tested the shoes enough in tournaments however I have found no problems to them so far during practice matches and training. I hope STIGA will release more variations of colours in the future.

For me, I find the most important elements to shoes is having them light weight and with good grip. These shoes have both of that and I will continue to use them during my coaching.