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First of all, a noteworthy point about the handle shape: blades in the Ma Lin series share a very well-designed handle for Chinese penhold that is super easy to grip and alternate pressure between thumb and index finger. Cannot stress enough of that since it is the most comfortable design I have encountered, tested personally and with beginners.

Ma Lin Carbon performs like an enhanced wooden blade with increased speed and support from inner layer carbon when called for. In low force range, the soft outer layers provides great touch. There is some flex and the overall feeling is around medium hardness leaning towards the soft side. Control is akin to wooden blades. In medium force range, the carbon seamlessly activates and the blade feels mildly stiff while retaining sufficient flex. There is no abrupt 'kick in' although one can notice it from the difference of sound or vibrational feedback. This enables proper mid distance game although it is not exactly its strength. The insufficiency in power only happens in long rallies or far distances. In high force range, if one exerts and maintain the effort in good position, it can stably reach low end OFF speed close to mid distance.

Over a decade and more, this versatile blade is still completely relevant in today's game below advanced level. Pair with soft rubbers for control and hard/bouncy rubbers for speed. Recommended to anyone wants to enjoy a carbon blade with woody feeling.

A truly special point to note about Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offense is its handle for Chinese penhold. The thickness and shape is designed in a way that one can learn the cpen grip and corresponding swinging motion extra effectively. It has been tested on a couple of absolute beginners and the consensus is that it encourages a certain way of movement comparing to a few other popular cpen blades. The width may not suit smaller hands but sanding the sides could solve this problem.

For playing properties, close to the table, you get exactly what you give. The touch and playing results are super coherent. Control is easy and there is some amount of non-disturbing vibrational feedback. The hard veneer provides immediate speed and the relatively softer core provides proper bounce - they work in good balance. The blade is a little hard but very flexible. Everything is comfortably linear.

However, in the era of 40+ plastic balls and carbon blades, speed and power is insufficient. While having acceptable speed, it is nowhere as fast as a basic carbon blade or 7-ply stiff wooden blades. The power is also lacking during continuous smashes and can be returned with relative ease. Moreover, no rubber can make up for the lack of support from mid-distance onwards. The blade suffice in most playing styles from ALL to OFF- with its huge compatibility in rubber pairing but it cannot reach competitive OFF level as advertised. Not the best with pips but possible.

Excellent price and manufacturing quality. Blade is highly durable. Recommended especially for penhold learners, and all beginners to intermediate amateurs who look for good feeling and control.

Unnecessarily large amount of force has to be exerted for a very low increment of result/feedback. The sponge suppleness actually works against control in many scenarios since there is almost no support. If one chooses to use this rubber for some reasons, a stiff and bouncy blade is recommended.

There are two utilities for this rubber I can think of. First, it can be a good tool to learn spinning for very beginners due to having a grippy topsheet with almost no bounce in the sponge. Even though the actual spin is at best average, the feeling of spinning the ball is commendably clear. It also has a convenient upgrade path to the regular version: retaining the same feeling from topsheet and adjusting only to a harder/bouncier sponge. Second, it can aid transition to stiff blades jumping a long way from a soft one. Other than that, even multiball feeding and defensive purposes has better options.

Having the above said, RX-S is a quality-built rubber and there is no wrong in using it if one desires. Be extra cautious when changing rubbers since the soft sponge can easily be damaged in the process. Hence an averaged (8) for durability: (9.5) for good durability if stuck on the same blade and (6.5) for sponge fragillity upon rubber removal/glue removal.

It may be a brother of the regular RZ but the characteristics are quite different. The overall feeling of RZ-EH is more direct and less bouncy. Throw angle is medium-high, trajectory is longer, tackiness is 15%-20% lesser, weight is even heavier and sponge feels very much harder. Spin is still pretty high but slightly lower comparing to RZ. Speed deficiency of RZ is fixed by increased sponge hardness and this rubber can be a medium-fast spinny powerhouse if one has to capability to always hit it through. If not, the touch can at times be thick and mushy.

The weight of this rubber is uncommonly heavy so watch out for lopsidedness between front/back side if it is a factor to consider. The hard sponge of RZ-EH can properly compensate support for a softer/slower blade but the best blade synergy should be medium-soft to medium-hard depending on playing style. Not recommended for blade too stiff/low dwell.

The tackiness makes it uncomfortably high throw right out of the package...play for around half an hour to wear out the super sticky layer, then the throw angle becomes reasonable - still high but more stable and easier to control.

Spin is the rubber's strength. The slightly tacky top sheet does the job. It will diminish over some time but the rubber itself is still super grippy. The sponge is measured considerably hard but the actual feeling is not. More like well-supported than having the need to specially exert effort to hit through it. An additional note is that the sponge stayed sturdy even after multiple re-gluing, which may not always be the case with softer ones.

Excellent performance in looping but not that easy to do a direct smash. The high throw angle will kick in and unstably mess with the smash angle/direction. Moreover, lack of speed will hinder the smash and a simple topspin stroke may as well create more threat.

Overall a unique but very affordable rubber. Pairs well with medium to stiff blades. May be too slow with softer blades.

hello everyone I have a question please. is this rubber (2.0) suitable for xiom offensive s wood? it would be a back side. thank you very much for the answers.

One of the best rubber in terms of price to durability ratio. Medium to medium-high throw. Very linear output with low upper limit. From observation, good BH choice for developing players although it is also a FH choice for some. It lacks an obvious character but the overall feeling is comfortable. Can be a good or bad aspect, depending on what a player demands. If one does not know what to choose, this rubber may be a good one to start with.

Speed:
Blades with a hard veneer is preferred if one wants to have medium fast speed, otherwise it lands around medium. For perspective, a competitive player would call it a slow rubber but an average amateur may find it controllably fast.

Spin:
Super easy to create spin but not very spinny in actual performance. The clear feeling on gripping and spinning the ball creates an illusion of generating huge spin, while in reality the effect is average at best.

Durability:
Very playable for a long time if you do not mind the sides chipping a little over time. Not too affected by humidity and temperature overall.

Control:
Best suited for developing players who started on slower rubbers. It is just about controllable enough for a complete beginner but on the speedy side. Very controllable from intermediate level.

The Timo Boll ZLF is my fourth blade and has exceeded my expectations. I currently have a TBALC, Primorac Carbon and Innerforce Layer ZLC in my collection as well. I use Fastarc G1 for both sides of the TBZLF, TBALC and IFZLC, which helps when comparing the blades.

The ZLF is the slowest of all the blades. However, because it has the most control, I am more confident in taking bigger swings / exerting more power in my strokes. Unless you are a professional or elite club level player, the ZLF's speed is more than adequate, including for loop drives and smash shots.

In terms of touch it is softer than the TBALC (both TBs have koto outer, but the ZLF has no carbon), but slightly harder than the IFZLC, likely due to the latter's limba outer + 2 wood outer plies. Both the ZLF and IFZLC are great for short service receives. Blocking with the ZLF is comfortable and reliable, but you will need to rely more on placement than pace to win the point.

Dwell time wise, the ZLF is just a tad less than the IFZLC. However, the ZLF's looping arc (especially when exerting strength) is higher than the ZLC and hence, affords more safety and forgiveness. My coaches have observed a marked increase in my consistency when I use the ZLF to open up from backspin with a backhand loop, compared to the other blades. They have also pointed out that my forehand loops are spinnier when using the ZLF. That said, players who rely on lightning fast loop drives to score outright winners during third ball attacks should look elsewhere

Overall, I am extremely pleased with the TBZLF and will highly recommend it to intermediate level players, or even up to the advanced level.

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Timo Boll ZLF FG1 FG1 180g
Timo Boll ALC FG1 FG1 181g
Primorac Carbon D09c T05 184g
Innerforce ZLC FG1 FG1 189g

The Shang Kun is a very good inner carbon blade from Tibhar. The blade is not so fast like the other innerforce blades. Therefor the SKAC is a good choice for the non pro players.

The blade has a great sability and enough speed to play an offensive playstyle. The control is high and much higher than the other Pro Player inner carbon blades.

I think the Dyna Seven is one of the well balanced 7ply woods on the market. You have a high control and enough speed to play a variable game.

The Fire Fall FC is a great blade. The blade has a excellent feeling and is well balanced in speed and control. The blade don't vibrate much. You can play very equal and the blade won't let you down.

When you combine the blade with fast rubbers, you have a powerful, high performance setup.

This the night and day better compared to the Dignics 09c that I’ve been using for 1 year.

This blade is not very well known or talked about online, probably if it were from butterfly or branded with some pro name it would sell like hotcakes.

I stumbled upon it a bit by luck, some famous young players where signed by Tibhar and they were playing eye catching table tennis, they are the Lebrun Brothers. When I researched a bit more I found that one of them (Alexis) played with Boll ALC and the other (Felix) with innerforce (ZLC i think) but when they got signed For Tibhar they had to change equipment and they choose Shang Kun AC.

So far so good but I wasn’t completely sold on it, so lurked around on online forums, watched ttplanet21 video review on YouTube and thought, what the hell, I’ll get one and see for myself.

I’ve played table tennis for around 15/20 years, and used 5ply blades (Tibhar power 40 an old model), 7ply (Tibhar Samsonov Force Pro Black Edition), carbon blades (Primorac Carbon, Zhang Jike ALC, Viscaria, Donic Waldner WC 89, Timo Boll ZLC, DHS301, Nuytinck ZC, Donic Original True Carbon) some where mine and some from colleagues.

Anyway, when I first tried Shang Kun AC, I immediately felt an amazing stability, control and exceptional dwell time when training with it.

I was able to block much more consistently, the attack of the third ball and when serve receiving was so easy and fluid, at the same time I was able to let the ball much shorter when receiving serves. Everything felt like a whole new world coming from what I was used to. With a medium to high arc it is very safe to play aggressively.

Forehand or backhand both easy to loop and manage a great placement in the table, with great power when needed.

In competitive matches and tournaments where sometimes the pressure take the best of some players, I became a much better player because it gave me confidence, consistency and the ability to play faster balls or spinier ones, receive short, push long with better quality, everything how one thinks it should be, but often can’t really do, when feeling the pressure of important matches.

So, i can only recommend it to everyone that want to have a better control all around, a soft touch, still keeping enough power to finish any point

Very unpredictable when doing flicks and very spiny

Rozena is a good rubber for intermediate players with a good
technique that want to play with more speed than begginer rubbers while still remain a lot of control.

I played the rozena rubber in 1.9 mm on both sides on an ovtcharov s2 blade and I'm very happy with it. I've been playing with it for about 1,5 years now. For me it's a very good combination of speed and control. You can make every shot with good spin but there is nothing that really stands out. That's why I changed to tenergy 05. But I would recommend it to intermediate players who want to have a offensive rubber that's good in every department and want to get better.
Pros

• Control
• Serve and receives
• Topspins
• Close to table and mid distance
• Blocking

Cons

• medium-soft sponge
• Nothing that stands out

Controlled compared to some hybrid bouncy balls, which are only slowed down to a certain extent by their sticky topsheet but not (too) slow.

It is definitely a rubber that rewards good shot execution. With a good position and good stroke execution there is enough speed even on the backhand further away from the table to end a rally. On the FH - coming from H3 - with longer strokes this is not a problem but on the backhand it can be due to the sponge hardness. Somewhat similar to a harder H3 (>=39°) on the BH. A softer 38° or 40° (Bty) version of the G09C would be nice.

FH: Lots of spin, good feedback especially when opening up with a spinny loop, precise/controlled, fast enough, quite high throw angle but not too high for me. Definitely recommended.
BH: Just like with FH but with the restriction that you have to be really in a good position and properly execute your strokes to be able to put your opponents under pressure if you are further away from the table. Keeping the ball in play is of course possible but that's not enough for me on the BH/too much for me in real matches.

Glayzer O9C The top sheet with identical technology to that which is used in the Dignics 09C you can read butterfly homepage here https://www.butterfly-global.com/en/product/glayzer/

I use Glayzer O9C both in BH and FH, my blade is DONIC Original True Carbon Inner. Glayzer O9C is very similar to Hurricane 3 neo, but less tacky and faster. At the beginning, the throw angle was surprisingly high after adjustment and it has lots of spin when you top spin, of course you have to have good technique like the Chinese have, then the Glayzer O9C will be deadly.
In the serve you can generate a lot of spin and where this rubber shines most is on the receive. It is very easy to touch the ball short due to the stickiness and at the same time the rubber has enough power to perform forehand and backhand flicks.

Many people say Glayzer O9C is very slow but it is faster in I expected. If you don't top spin that much, Glayzer O9C is not for you but if you start using Glayzer O9C and start to develop it top spin you can develop quickly but then you have to learn the Chinese technique or is very similar to the Chinese technique because out of it best Glayzee O9C. Ps I would assume a sponge hardness of approx. 50-52° EUR. Officially, the hardness level is 42° JPN.

Its probably the best blade when you want to attack with high spin and speed, but still dont want to loose out on controll. Especially great for players who have a good base technique and want to grow with a faster blade.

On my humble opinion it has even greater control than an allwood blade. Simply because there are 2 layers of wood over the alc carbon layer you have a better feeling right before hitting really hard.

I personally use the Donic BluefireM2 on both sides and still have the feeling the spin is not crazy, which is completely fine for me. It still feels really easy to open up the game with it.

The handle is indeed really short, as mentioned here before, but still thick enough imo.

The speed again is really good but nothing crazy like a Fan Zen Dong ZLC. Compared to an allwood blade its still really fast.

And thats what this blade is. Its not the best at any of those points but is really good overall with great control. This probably the best blade for amateur players who are maybe in their 2nd - 5th year.

I'm no EJ by any means; cured of that years back. Even so, in admiration of "the spice of life" Xu Xin and his attempt towards a post-pro life in bringing Xuperman-branded rubbers to market made me curious.

Usually, Fastarc G-1 is my go-to; it has been for years. So that's my main frame of reference. My level: upper Dutch regional leagues.

So I ordered a few slabs of the Powerplay X rubber, in black, at 41º. I've been training with it for a few weeks now, and have played some tournaments with it.

It took some adapting to get full stability. That took me a few sessions.

This rubber is solid, reliable, and it's not boring. Here are a few takeaways, based upon my impressions.

1. Spin it. This is not a rubber for a flat hitter, blocker, counterer.
2. Gears. This rubber is both very slow (even dead) upon low-impact shots, but offers a lot high-end power.
3. Effort is required to produce quality, both in terms of power and spin.
4. Serves and short game are fun, and when taking care to engage the sponge (to make deep contact) high spin levels can be produced. Opponents are often surprised by the level of spin on short pushes.
5. Kill- and counterloops are deadly. If you're in position, and able to put in the effort.

In terms of results, I've been having good wins, no unexpected losses. I engaged a few national league players in tournaments, took a few games and forced them to refocus (and then destroy me). I don't credit the rubber, but even so, it certainly didn't hamper my play.

I'll be playing it for a while. However, as I'm aging I do realize the amount of effort required is rather high, especially in countertopspin rallies. I'm going to see how that pans out; I've not yet decided.

One impediment that amplifies my doubts is availability. I had to scoure Ali Express to find it, and one of the things I value deeply in the end is also to have a dependable, reliable supply. Buys shouldn't be gambits, and I'll allow no room for doubts on material quality in the mental part of the TT game.

I've been using many years Petr Korbel Japan OFF, then Jun Mizutani SZLC, then Boll ZLF. To my style I think it is best blade. You can play very hard(if you have enough power in hand), but you can play ridiculous spinny, what I love. Actually dwell time on it is awesome, you need time to master it, but it seems, that this blade will stay with me many years.