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I used this blade for about 6 months paired with a few different rubbers. This blade only has one gear, and that gear is fast. It's extremely difficult to get this blade to go slower for you. It's got 7 plies with glass carbon in between each layer which is really overkill. The blade does however give you the superior wood of stiga blades.

can't recommend this one.

Unfortunately this blade is discontinued and now they only have the innerforce LAYER zlc.

The zlc layer is closer to the middle of the paddle and on the outside there are two limba plies. this causes the blade to have a very strong all wood feeling and a ton of dwell and flexibility on loops.

I have played with Astro M about 20 hours on my fh. I have quite good serves and I try to attack with my fh everytime I have an opportunity. My game plan is to make the points with my fh with high risk.

Astro M is a really good attacking rubber with medium throw, good speed and spin and excelent control. It´s not too bouncy for a short game but gives a really good catapult effect when I drive hard. With spinny opening loops I can get excelent control and good amounth of spin. This rubber is very balanced rubber. Not too fast but fast enough to hit winners without maximum effort. Counter drives of the bounce are easy to excecute when I´m at the right possisition and if I´m a bit of the control of my strokes is still quite good. From mid distance this rubber is really good and throw angle is perfect for my technique.

All and all I have found that Astro M is easy rubber to play with. Only donwnside seems to be it´s durability. After 20h of playing time I can see significant marks of wearing on a top sheet. It still plays great tough. With better durability this would be a five star rubber for sure!

Edit. Now I have used 3 sheets of Airoc Astro M I still feel that this is playingwise the best post sg rubber for my game which I have tried. I have played about 20+ 1 tournament/sheet. After that the top sheet is too worn out for my liking. I have noticed that this rubber has to bake in before it feels perfect. With last 2 rubbers I have stressed them a bit (like a rubber band) before gluing it on my blade this way there is no brake in time and the rubber feels perfect from the first loop. NOTE do not stress the rubber while glueing otherwise it will shrink.

The 2.0 regular Rakza 7 is still very good at driving, blocking and smashing. I decided to try 2.0, coming from Max to experiment if I needed a bigger margin of error when miscalculating or performing out of position strokes. Using 2.0 holds true for backhand strokes, but for forehand strokes I may return to Max. Loop quality and ball grip is missing in performing forehand loop, drive, block and smash. The 2.0 sponge forces you to actually be in the right position for every shot. That has plus and minuses depending on what kind of game you play. Overall I may stick with 2.0 on BH and Max on FH.
** UPDATE** I've stuck with FH: Rakza 7 Max and BH: Rakza 7S Max.

i bought Secondhand Zhang like blade from Malaysia pp4m Facebook group.
i really like ALC carbon blade type, it has very good dwell spot and easy to control.
this blade is not too stiff. I used tenergy 05 (FH) and Donic Bluefire M2 (BH) and i used to play close to table.
Previously, i had butterfly Micheal Maze ALC blade and Kong Linghui ALC blade, but i really attached to this blade.

Good for close to the table speed players but not meant for players with so much power. Good speed and great for blocking and counterattacking. Good mix of 05 and 64

Overall really solid blade with good weight, and considerably faster than the Timo Boll ALC. Good for close to the table players who play fast and better with not so hard rubber. Perfect with tenergy 05 or maybe 80. I switched from Timo Boll ALC because the zhang jike is faster.

I have just started using this rubber, I was recommended it as I hadn't played table tennis for a very long time. I was using Mark V rubbers back in the day.

I use this rubber on the backhand, so for me this rubber is more about control than speed as I tend to do loads of blocking on the back hand. I don't want the rubber to quick. I want a solid amount of spin and control as I want to feel the ball as much as possible. Donic have provided just that and it's feels great with just enough amount of control when blocking. The grip is solid when looping with the back hand and want to attack. I highly recommend the Donic Acuda S1.

Same Package, really grippy as well but way more soft when pressing finger. No smell, very little curl. I could easily reglue with simetry this rubber. when i clean the sponge, despite have softer sponge, i did not damage it just like P7. I used Norizuke San Yasaka Glue on both.
Control control and control. This rubber is all about control. Has decent speed ( if t64 is 9.4 this is 9.0), very good spin even with small wrist movement. Dead in passive game, doesnt accept income spin. Punch blocks 80% goes to the table. Well, i punch block a lot, i love to push to the oponent do a slow loop :3
Low throw but not like LT Sound, id say Medium Throw, like MarkV or Vega Europa. Despite the throw, 3rd ball opening is easy and very controlled and so does 2nd ball attack. At my level, most of serves are heavy-long-lateral in my BH. I can easily attack those balls, not lighting fast to win the point but i really do considerably damage. As its brother P7, P3 also shines Mid Distance when you do a full swing. The arc is awesome, trajetory low.
In short :
*Awesome BH Rubber
*Dead short game
*Little wrist movement packages tons of spin
*Medium-low Throw
*Grippy as rat-trap
*I did not like the feeling that much. I prefer the P7 at this department. Feels like a Xiom rubber.
*Durability might be an issue. It is soft (42.5 i suppose) and the topsheet is thin compared to P7, Rakza or Omegas.

[video]http://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=8079&d=1441850395[/video]

Very nice package. Really, really grip and hard when pressing finger. It comes with a plastic package with holes. Doesnt have any strange smell and curls a lot. Regular dome. It really was a struggle to glue it and when i did, the sealant on the Tenor let it loose and after sanding it a bit, i still cannot reglue with perfect simetry, mainly due its curl. It really makes me mad, it is just 1mm off to the left, but really,makes, me, mad.
Boucing the ball on it makes very little noise. Not overly bouncy with a relaxing vibration. The spin i got when i throw against the rubber is the highest i got so far. Rakza 7, H3NEO, Omega Asia, LT Plus, none. I even draw some stripes in the ball to be sure.
When first i played with it was a disaster. Very high-throw, a bit bouncy when you go passive, but much less than Rakza 7. Just after 4 hours i started to put some balls on the table. About a 8 hours to make some quality shots. It is really a different but awesome rubber. 3rd ball opening is a breeze. With you wrist movement only you can do damage with spin. Slow loop is very easy as well, although it is bouncy short game, with a good swing you can do a slow spinny ball close to the net.
FH exchanges you can really feel the ball sinking in the sponge, despite being overall a hard rubber, the feeling is very butter soft
In short
*Ultimate Spin
*Good speed, 8.5/10 id say.
*Pleasant feeling.
*Not noisy
*Low, medium, high gear are there at your will.
*Looks very alike Rakza7 topsheet, and being its durability very alike markV (7months now and plays/look like new) i think P7 so will do last that much.
*Rumors says Adidas is discontinuing TT products

A beautiful, well-crafted blade. Everything smooth as butter. No sharp edges. Comes with a very, very thin coat of sealant. A coat of Alcohol based sealant was applied to the handle, just to keep the gorgeous looking of it.

At first i thought it'd be a brick in my hand due its weight - 93gr - and the oversized head. Yea, its heavy. But less head heavy than some Stigas blades i have. The rubbers take some part of it but its mainly the balance of the blade. Even tho its oversized i dont think it impacts some "pocket power shots" , compact moves.
As a close-to-table allround offensive player, i must say it is slow when you want, and super fast when you swing enough. Before i used Adidas with Tenor, i tried Omega IV Asia both sides, Omega V Europa, Vega Europa, Tenergy 64 and the blade behavior did not change. It is dead in short-play, fast close game, and fast/super spinny mid distance rallies. A friend o mine has one too, he uses Adidas P5 and Adidas Blaze Speed SP, im not familiar with SP but the little i tried, it still offering the speed and placement control, a true do-it-all this blade is. Well, another friend o mine tried LP+Tenor and it didnt go well, too fast he said.
In short
*Beautiful blade
*Outstanding Craftmanship
*Little Vibrations...well, it does have vibrations but not like a tamborine like P500, Rosewood V, Infinity and Offensive S. It is smooth. Its vibration connects to your soul and you become as one.
*Short/Close game very good.
*Mid distance is where it shines. If you do a full swing, is almost a point won, spin is huge and so is the speed. In rallies i can change direction with much more accuracy than other setups.
*Full racket i think is about 190~gr but doest feel it. Still very agile. I feel my RW5 (82gr) with 2 Rakzas 7 way more headheavy than this.

When new: The rubber is fast with a very low throw, average control.

After a few months: The sponge shrinks (mine while still being glued to the blade), The speed decreased a little, but the throwing angle improved a bit and the increase in control is noticeable.

the grip is remarkable in the first 6 months, after that it becomes hard to play with it, quick wrist movements no longer generate spin so you have to make full swings to do so.

It has a very short life, you probably have to boost is you want to keep using it, after all is a very expensibe rubber.

6.5/10

My review is for the Soft version of the rubber, 2.1mm in Black (without any booster oil). The package of the Mid Soft and Soft version are the same, you need to check the back of the package above the barcode to read the version.

Blade Used: Tibhar Triple Carbon (Stiff, heavy over 90gr, OFF++)


I use this rubber on FH mostly, I try not to use it on BH away from the table because the throw angle is low and pushes goes to the net, the same goes with passive blocks.

from my point of view the sponge is softer than Sriver Fx, Airoc S and Tenergy 80FX. In terms of speed, only faster than Sriver FX.

Out of the box the tackiness is strong, you need to practice a 3-4 days until the tackiness decreases and the rubber gets its normal playing characteristics.

The serves are spinny but fast and long. The tackiness is great but the speed and low throw makes it unsuitable for chopping. Excels at looping at mid distance, when properly executed the topspins, sidespins in particular create a difficult ball for the opponent

Flat strokes will create the loudest crack I've heard, but this rubber is meant to brush loop to take advantage of the soft sponge and tacky surface which is fragile. You need to have extra care for the topsheet, since it collects a lot of dust and reacts weird with the environment and touch, so keep it clean.

8/10



PD: It seems to me that it becomes tackier at lower room temperatures, but I don't have the time or the will, to test this theory

These shoes have a good color choice and really good for a stylish player. Unfortunately, these shoes are not very durable. I've been using my shoes for less than 1 years and the outer side of mine has been torn apart. Also, these shoes is quiet slippery.

I have used Tenergy 05 for about 2 years now and so far i love it. It's a fast rubber but you can still have good control.
I feel that with the tenergy 05 i get more spin in my serves and can perform better.

Though i think you should not use this rubber if you are new to the sport. I would prefer to start of with a non advanced rubber.

I have used this blade for about 2 years now and i feel that this blade is the right choice for me. I prefer this blade because i really like to increase the speed in my rallies and win the point.

The Xushaofa 3* is a very good ball for the buck. I haven't broken one until now there I would say it is very durable. The only remark I would say is that the ball reminds me if playing with a jumbo ball.

I didn't like the ball that much. When it is new it is ok. Good speed and roundness is like nittaku, but when the ball hits a guard surface it gets marks very easy which is very noticeable when playing. It takes some time to get used to the sound of the ball. The cost doesn't reflect the balls durability!

Best poly made!
Good surface which makes it like getting grip as the cell ball. Speed is almost like the cell ball and I would say it is very recommendable for tournaments!

This is an update on my previous review.

I have had about five long sessions with the G40+, and I have had lots of my clubmates try them. I have mainly been using them since mine arrived because I wanted to get as familiar with them as possible. With time now I will revise my order of preference for plastic balls to Nittaku Premium > XSF > G40+ (from best to worst). This is something of a matter of taste, but for me at least, I am sure of it.

The main reason for this is that with a bit of wear the G40+ gets even more smooth and shiny on the surface than they are when new. On my last review, I mentioned that the surface was smoother than other balls when they are new, and this is a unique feature. Once this wear happens to the G40+, with maybe 90-120 minutes of use, the playing properties decline a great deal. You start getting very low sliding bounces, unpredictably, since the normal bounce of this ball is very high. Also the ball becomes harder to control. This does not happen when they are new, at least not as much. But it is in marked distinction to Nittaku Premium and XSF which stay playable for much much longer (and indeed improve a bit after you have hit with them for a half hour or so).

Everybody who has tried the G40+ at my club has said they feel very fast, more so as they get shinier on the outside. With the speed and high bounce, the game becomes distinctly less spin oriented. I haven't managed to break one yet, but it hardly matters if their wear makes them not useful for other reasons.

I am going back to the Nittaku Premiums.