Latest reviews

A great 7 plies composite blade from butterfly,Materials: Koto-ALC-Limba-Kiri-Limba-Alc-Koto. TBS is one of the best selling composite blade by butterfly. It has the same construction as Timo Boll Alc, Viscaria and zjk blade. Although there will be differences due to different thickness of each ply from those other blade but over all it's great. Medium Feeling, Crisp sound, less vibration due to arylate carbon and also It's more cheaper compare to other ALC blades out there c:. Suggested for players that's demanding for power but control at the same time too

http://www.yasaka.se/products/sweden-extra/

This is a relatively "new" blade by Yasaka (more on "new" later) - I got it by an error of sorts. I wanted a Yasaka Extra and tried to order a pair of blades with the same weight from Megaspin. They told me they had a pair of Yasaka Extras and then sent me this. I was like "oh, well, at least I am getting it for $2 less per blade than it would have cost...". My guess is that it is the Yasaka Extra with a different handle. The handle on this is very flat and squarish in straight and it fits well with my intuitions on how the stroke angle works. I am a Straight handle guy though I can play with flares.

Since Yasaka calls it one of their best selling blades of all time, I suspect it is similar to a Gatien Extra or regular Extra but just has a slight design change. So it is not fully new. I found out that it was a redesigned Yasaka Extra after my first draft of this review.

It's a fairly thin blade and definitely all round in design- definitely in that ALL+/OFF- range but easily at the upper end - I would put it at a very controllable OFF-. Here is the Yasaka Web page. Mine for the record both weigh 88g.

http://www.yasaka.se/productcategory/blades-compare/

I've played with a lot of blades the past couple of months because I wanted to settle on something that went very well with MX-S for my close to the table game. The search is over and this is the winner. In fact, this blade was the winner in June, but I decided to try a couple of well regarded Tibhar blades after seeing some players whom I respected using those blades because I was still trying to decide between T05 and MX-S - I settled on MX-S but for some reason didn't go back to the Extra. And entirely by accident, one of those Tibhar blades gave me a calloused thumb with my grip so I was so irritated in the moment while losing that match that I picked up my Yasaka Sweden Extra - it had some Victas rubbers and I lost the match even though my opponent permitted the switch. After, I stripped the MX-S rubbers from the Tibhar blade and just stuck them to the Sweden Extra... and proceeded to destroy my opponents mercilessly after that, blanking out my previous opponent in two subsequent rematches. And then I was entirely puzzled and tried to figure out why I left the blade in the first place... and realized that it wasn't anything to do with dissatisfaction and I had played many great matches with it, both with T05 and with MX-S!

With T05, I would consider the blade a bit slower than I would ideally like, though still quite usable for all out offense. But since I have put T05 to bed for now, I won't be researching that question anytime soon.

MX-S plays relatively better IMO on slower, thinner blades and becomes a high level loop drive machine from close to mid distance. The benefit of the Yasaka Sweden Extra is that it has a slightly harder outer play than the usual Limba (I suspect Anegre since it is similar to another blade I have like that). This makes it play slightly faster with hard contact when looping.

Because of the thin upper and the flat handle, which is very unlikely to be hollow, it feels more balanced towards the handle than equally heavy blades, like an ALL+ blade should, but again, with the speed of an OFF- blade.

So for people looking for ALL+/OFF- blades and who might be looking for a different kind of handle, I can recommend this blade highly. I am probably the only person I know who uses it right now, but I think there should be more, especially if you are looking for an OFF- blade with high control or a faster than usual ALL+ blade.

It may not be powerful enough for some off the table styles. But for an off the bounce style, it works great.

For off-the-bounce close to the table/mid distance offensive loopers and blockers. Reviewer is an allround offensive USATT 1950-2050 player.

I've used quite a few of the tenergy rubbers and this was my personal favourite. slightly less speed than 80 but more spin was generated and more control as well.
would definitely recommend despite the price!

for the price these balls should definitely be better, after a couple of sessions many are turning egg-shaped and even breaking, the speed and consistency are generally okay however occasionally the ball just seems to dip after bounce

I've used quite a few rubbers in the tenergy series, I found 80fx the best! I felt it was slightly slower than 80 but produced more spin and control.
will definitely be using for a while!

quality blade, quite fast but still good consistency and control. Would recommend to any all round attacking player!
Been using mine for a while now and still performing well

o describe it in one word, I would just say it's balanced. All of the Nexy blades I've used stood out in some way, making them feel very unique. However, the zealot feels so balanced that i can't say its extraordinary in any one aspect. With that being said, it also doesn't feel like it's lacking in any area.

The zealot is a 5ply all wood blade with a mystery new surface veneer made for the polyball. Although it's a 5ply blade, it feels more like a 7ply blade.

Blocking

When blocking with the zealot it's very easy to do aggressive blocks or "punch" blocks. However if you're the type of player who prefers the loose-grip passive blocking style this is going to be more of a struggle for you. The control on the blocks is superb but it's very hard to block the ball short. A player using this blade will find it to be a much easier time blocking this quickly.

Close Loops

In my opinion this is where the blade struggles the most. When doing a very close to the table loop, it's very difficult to get the ball to drop quicker and i found every loop going long and off the table. This made me extremely uncomfortable looping a ball that was close to the table and i lost confidence in even attempting these loops. The best way i found to solve this problem is to do a very hard push instead of loop at the short range. This caused the next ball to come off the table longer for an easier loop.

Mid-range Loops

Mid range loops are where this blade truly shines. I was able to get quite a bit of power off these loops, almost as if it had carbon in the blade. It provided a slightly lower throw angle than you would expect from a 5ply all wood blade, but it still maintained the ease of looping that you would have come to love from them.

Flicks

There was quite a bit of dwell time on the the blade so flicks seemed fairly easy. The only issue i found from the flicks was that they seemed a bit slow. Although they were slow they more than made up for the speed with a lot of spin. This allowed you to get ready for the next shot.

Hi.

I've been playing with the Carbonado 190 for two month now, and I'm plesantly surprised. I made the switch to the Carbonado from the Timo Boll ALC after it broke during a backhand smash. I paired the 190 with the same rubbers as the ALC- Tenergy 05 for forehand and 80 for backhand.
I thought that the TeExtreme carbon giving a wider sweetspot was nothing but marketing and that it would be of almost no significance, I was wrong.
It's a little faster than the Timo Boll ALC but a lot more controlable, making blocking and accurate placed loops and drives a lot easier, almost too easy.

I noticed the increased contol immediately during my first training session, even during my first few hits.

Now, for some stats.

Speed: This is certainly a fast blade, about 8.5 out of 10.

Control: I knew I was getting a very fast blade, and was afraid that I'd lose a lot of control, I didn't. Blocking, looping, driving, lobbing, cutting, serving, no problem at all.

Throw: The throw angle i relatively low, which is part of the rason blocks and counter hits on loops is so easy. You just land the balls fast and with a direct trajectory on the table. This makes short and mid-distance loops drives and blocks easy, but far from the table requires a lot of effort and an open bat angle, or you'll hit the ball in the net. This is part of the reason I'm pairing it with T05 for forehand, as it has a medium to high throw.

Stiffness: The blade is very stiff, which is something I really like, as it gives you great feeling when hitting the ball.

Looping: Looping with this blade is a dream. The amount of contol and spin which can be generated is incredible. But be aware, it has a low throw, which gives a very flat and direct trajectory, so I recommend you to pair it with rubbers that has a medium to high throw as it evens it out perfectly.

Driving: Giving the blades wide sweet spot and direct trajectory, driving with this blade is a dream. I felt like I had a lot more room for error with this blade than I had with the Timo Boll ALC.

Blocking: I fell like I've said this man times now, but blocking is a dream. The wide sweet spot allows you to have much room for error, making your blocks consistent, almost anywhere the ball hits your blade. Accurate plaement with a lot of speed and feeling is what this blade offers.

Conterhitting: Amazing!! The amount of speed combined with the control combined with the high speed results in devestating counter loops and drives. This is where the the 190 outshines anything I've played with before.

Close to the table: This is where the blade truly shines. Close to the table loops, counter loops and blocks are so effortless with this blade. It truly is as good as it gets.

Mid distance: The Carbonado 190 is also great for mid distance play, as it gives you excellent speed and spin. But, it requires a little more effort because of the low throw.

Long range: This is the the only raal weakspot I can think of when it comes to the 190. Long rage loops and drives requires a lot of effort combined with a very open angle of the racket. It also requires very precise timing as it's really difficult to get that nice "wide" trajectory that you need to lift the ball from under the table.

Serving: The blade is allows precise serves with a lot of spin, but it requires a bit of finesse to keep the serves short, as the blade is very fast and "active".



Summary

The Stiga Carbonado 190 is the perfect for the player who relies on fast, direct shots combined with a lot of control. If you're a close to mid distance player who like to play fast and spinny counter loops, this blade is for you. I you need a blade with a little higher throw and wider trajectory the Carbonado 145 is more likely better suited for you.
The Carbonado 190 is a high quality blade, made for world class play, but the wide sweetspot is also great for learning players.
The handle is also great and gives you a amazing grip, but it's not as comfortable as the Boll ALC handle, but nothing really is.
Overall I prefer this blade to the Timo Boll ALC, but it all comes down to your playing style.


Excuse me for any misspellings, weird formulations and a weird summary order. I'm a new reviewer and english is not my main language.

I'm suprised there's no reviews on this blade, as its one that I recommend to virtually everybody. The violin is a fantastic 5ply blade, it's the slowest of the instrumental series (violin, accoustic, tenor). but it's also the spinniest

This blade is sent from the heavens for a player that likes to load up on spin on their loops. It's the easiest blade of any that I've used for looping. The limba outer plies make it very soft and easy to use. However, since the blade is so soft and flexible, I wouldn't recommend ever using a soft rubber with it. I recommend this blade over all others for new developing players. If you have any questions about this blade I'd be glad to answer you, send me a pm or an email!

The nexy poly ball is among the best of the non nittaku premium polyballs. It's an exact clone of the XSF ball. If you're a U.S. Resident, you're lucky. You'll be able to order these through nexyusa which has the best customer service of any reputable dealer.

This is a fantastic rubber. I've tried used all Tenergy rubbers, and 05 is my favourite for both backhand and forhand. It provides you with amazing speed and spin, just what an attacking player needs. I'm currently using it on the Stiga Carbonado 190 and it's amazing. You can truly feel the catapult effect of the sponge, working together with the topsheet to give you huge amounts of speed and spin.

The only complaint I have for the 05 is short game, you tend to hit the ball a little high and long, which makes it easy for you opponent to attack, but, nothing practise won't fix. I love T05 for opening and counter looping, blocks can be hard to contol, as the rubber is quite senstive to incoming spin.

If you need a rubber that provides you with huge amounts of speed and spin, combined with decent control, Tenergy 05 is for you.

This is a very fast blade and definitely worth the try especially for the price. Although its fast and stiff looping is still fairly easy to do with it. This is truly a blade made for someone who's ready to finish the point. Short game is quite difficult since the blade is stiff but once you make it off the table you'll surely have the advantage. Good match with soft rubbers.

I've used Tenergy 80 with both my Timo Boll ALC (which broke!!) and now currently using it with my Carbonado 190.
The rubber offeres a great amount of contol while blocking and spinny loops. I've only used it on my backhand, and I prefer it to Tenergy 05 when it comes to opening and blocking, but nothing else.
Theres just something about this rubber that I don't like, but I'm not quite sure what it is. I'm a player that relies on hi-speed shots combined with a lot of spin, and Tenergy 80 just doesn't provide me with what I want.

If you're a player that needs control and spin, this is a great rubber for you. It's also great for the allround player that needs a mixture of control, speed and spin. If you're like me, and relies on fast, direct shots, you'll be dissapointed.
For me, Tenergy 05 is perfect for both forehand and backhand, as it's better for fast counterhits and powerful loops.

I tend to switch between the ever popular viscaria and the calix 1 over and over. The moment i hit a few balls with my viscaria i realize again that the calix is just a better blade in almost all aspects "except a bit of speed" same rubbers on both blades btw. t64 on FH t05 BH

Calix-1/>=</Viscaria


Feel------ Calix>Viscaria

The calix has more vibration than the viscaria and if what you like is to actually feel the ball before you launch it at your opponent then the calix blade wins this one easy.


Control----- Calix>Viscaria

This is caused by the feel IMO. also the fact that the blade is very thin. Even though the calix has two layers of carbon in it, it plays closer to an all wood 5ply blade than a carbon blade.


Blocking----- Calix>Viscaria


this is by a landslide. the calix makes blocking feel like a dream. Most of this is due to to feeling of vibrations when you block the ball. With more control comes easier blocking.


Speed------- Viscaria>Calix

This was an easy test. Viscaria out performed the calix in speed easily. Although over the table shots were harder to land because of the speed of the viscaria, hitting the table from mid to long distance was extremely easy to do with good pace on the ball.


Off the table Loops------- Viscaria = Calix




This was a hard one to judge, the calix out performed viscaria in a few ways while the viscaria out performed the calix in others. Loop/drives were easily more powerful with the viscaria, however the dip that the calix performed on the ball was unmatched. The calix put an insane amount of topspin on the ball compared to the speed it put out. This caused the ball to dip down very early. Slow spinny loopers would absolutely adore this. With the viscaria, when i missed the table it was from hitting the ball too far. With the calix, it would be from the ball dipping almost too early to where the ball would hit the net. But even with the ball hitting the net, it had enough topspin to often creep it's way over anyway. Again, this blade has an all woody blade feeling so looping is extremely easy to do with it.

For now the best choice ...
In training i can not tell if this is plastic or celluloid
in club we are using Tibhar ,Jola And XuShaofa star 40+ and only this one i`m not sure if they are celluloid or plastic ... when i just do multiple ball training.
.

This is a review of the Yasaka Rakza 7 Soft rubber in the color red, max sponge.


Blade: Stiga Hybrid Wood penhold


Initial observations:
Top quality topsheet.
Soft springy sponge in the color white.
Weight is avarage. Not as heavy as chinese rubbers.


Throw:
The Rakza 7 Soft I would say has a medium to low throw. Lower than chinese rubbers like the H3 Neo and TG2 Neo, lower than the Rakza 7 but slightly higher than Stiga Boost XT.
Compared to Rakza 7 the sponge is "bouncy" and the throw gets a boost. The throw length is perfect for my forehand game, feels really "safe". The springy feel does not suit my bachand game, but I will try to give it more time.


Speed:
Not a fast rubber, however the sponge provides bounce enough to balance the spin and is a big part of the rubbers exelent control.
This rubber is about as fast as the H3 neo was on my blade, but for different reasons. The H3's tacky topsheet needs a huge effort from you to generate speed, so does this rubber.
As a forehand rubber, the speed and bounce could be better. Perhaps the R7Soft would benefit from a softer blade, just like the H3 Neo did. Will update the review once this is tested. (Not hapening soon! )

[edit] After a few weeks I glued this rubber on an old Banda JO Waldner blade and this blade suits the Rakza rubbers much better. The speed was increased noticably! [/edit]

Spin:
Good amount of spin thanks to the top quality of the topsheet. The topsheet is a little tacky, it picks up a small amout of dust but not much. Easy to clean.


Control:
I love the control of this rubber.
The balance between speed and spin is really good.
Way more control than Stiga Boost XT making my game slower but more consistant.


Value:
Great value for your money.

This is my review of the Yasaka Rakza 7 rubber in the color black, max sponge.



Blade: Stiga Hybrid Wood penhold

Initial observations:
Top quality topsheet.
Medium soft sponge in the color white.
Weight is avarage. Not as heavy as chinese rubbers.

Throw:
The Rakza 7 I would say has a medium throw. Lower than chinese rubbers like the H3 Neo and TG2 Neo but higher than both Rakza 7 Soft and Stiga Boost XT.
Compared to Rakza 7 soft and Stiga Boost XT the sponge is not "bouncy" at all so the throw is therefore really direct. Great throw length. For me it is perfect for my backhand. Also works well on forehand.

Speed:
Not the fastest rubber on the market, however it provides enough speed to blance the rubbers spin and is a big part of the rubbers exelent control.
It is faster than the H3 neo and TG2 neo on my blade but not as fast as the Stiga Boost XT. However it makes up for it in both spin and control.

[edit] After a few weeks I glued this rubber on an old Banda JO Waldner blade and this blade suits the Rakza rubbers much better. The speed was increased noticably! [/edit]

Spin:
Good amount of spin thanks to the top quality of the topsheet. The topsheet is a little tacky, it picks up a small amout of dust but not much. Easy to clean.

Control:
I love the control of this rubber.
The balance between speed and spin is exelent.
Placing the ball is such fun.

Value:
Great value for your money.
Will buy this rubber again.

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.

Highly impressed by this rubber !! I am using a black sheet as FH rubber on Hurricane Long 5 blade.
1. hard sponge : perfectly qualifies for a good, powerful FH rubber
2. very grippy topsheet : easy to lift any kind of of underspin
3. medium low throw : good for counter topspins and blocks
4. great control both close to the table and away : but you need to get used to its sponge hardness ... cannot play casual shots close to the table and expect the ball to land on the other side...play with commitment and this rubber will deliver everything you need !!
5. it is not springy like other tensors, which proved very helpful when i was lifting underspin of opponent serves with topspin shots....

Recommend it to ppl who are at a decent level of play !!

was earlier using carbonado 190 with black-rasant[FH] and red-aurus_soft[BH] until I decided to try HL-5.
Seems to be a very good blade indeed !!
I am using black-rasant_power_grip [FH] and red-tibhar 5Q_update [BH] and it is proving to be a lovely combination. The throw angle of the blade is medium types as it is not overly stiff
The combo provides enough control for close to the table shots on both FH and backhand. I can easily lift backspin using FH and the ball stays close to net height..
thanks partially to the grip of Andro rubber and partially to the control the blade offers. It is also very convenient to do banana flicks from BH and the ball does not easily overshoot. This was slightly troublesome with carbonado 190 which was very stiff and low throw (though that helped tremendously in close table drives and blocks) (difficulty in playing these over-the-table backhand shots forced me to try HL-5 rather than sticking to 190) .. chops are controlled. blocking is also good, not the best considering the fact that I was using carbonado 190, which was amazing in this aspect. The handle is a bit thin, so it will suit you well if you have small palm size (my case..!!... this is a big reason for me to switch to HL-5 from 190.... somehow the flare in stiga handles feels inconvenient to me....personal issue though) , but the only downside I can see as of now is a bit of head heaviness....this turns advantageous when you play power shots (loop drives from mid/far).
Cheers !!
Aditya.