Latest reviews

The softer sponge allows for a great touch in the short game but you still have great spin and power when you need it. You can get a massive amount of spin with this rubber, has a lower throw than the normal 05 and is a bit slower. But you get way more control with the 05FX and that is why i like it so much. Good for blocks also but in the offensive game you see the attacking potential of this rubber.

Stiga Instinct are way different from their previous line of Stiga shoes. Do to the design and material used to make the shoes i think that durability will be good also. Perfect grip on every surface and very comfortable.

Hi all!

Yesterday I had an opportunity to try, this awsome blade:
Jun Mizutani Super ZLC Anatomic, FH: T05, BH: T80

The blade is a good example of fine craftmanship, well for that price it better be. Nice finish on the blade, the composite material has a really nice texture, colours and the pattern are stilysh. The blade is a bit small, just like the chinese player themed Butterfly blades (LSW, ZJK). The handle is short and thin, but it is comfortable.

Since the other two reviews are accurate and detailed, I will share some additional info. The blade has a very nice feel and a sort of linear soft kick to the ball. Nowdays the TB ALC, TB Spirit and other ALC blades are very popular, but ALC dampens or numbs resonance of the blade much. Zylon is a type of kevlar derivative so is arylate too. Carbon has a qute rigid feel and a harsh resonance when applied to a blade, but it is a undenyable what benefits it has. But this setup Super ZLC is actually perfect, it has the same feeling as a kevlar-karbon composite blade, but way more softer feel. This can be also descibed similar to the Liu Shiwen and IF ZLC but with a bit more stiffer feel and tempo. Overall the blade is a OFF type blade with a nice ALL+/OFF- touch. The setup works really well with the Tenergy rubbers (as intended from the manufacturer) way better, than any other setups I tried so far.

I hope I could help.

My first real blade. Previously i was playing with an old TSP Chinese 5-S, All around, lots of vibration and slow. It was a huuuuuuge BOOM to my experience. This blade is as fast as date lenght. At first i tried with LT PLUS BH LT SOUND FH but it was ~meh~. Then i tried H3NEO FH Rakza7 BH...too heavy and did not fell right. Then i tried LT PLUS as FH and maintained Rakza 7 as BH. Supa dupa blaster master speed!! Awesome! I was able to loop consistently with BH and fast drive/smash with FH. Awesome....but still felt strange. Now i am with Rakza 7 Max both sides....WOW. Thats is! My control short, close and mid distance improved a lot as i vary speed/spin a lot during a point, it offers very smooth transitioning. The control provided by blade is good. Not superb, but good. It flexes a bit when swing too fast, which i found in hand on those far backhand angle strokes. Speed is high. Feeling...hmm...maybe i didnt my medicines up lately but it talks with you. Whenever you are with wrong rubber, stroke poorly...it tells ya. I never saw myself blaming the rubber for that difficult stroke went wrong....i knew it was me...dem feels bro. In short Tons of fells - of course, monoply hinoki is the king in this department Control - Good, yeah...good. Speed - High o/ Hardness - HARD Stiffness - Medium id say. Short game - it lacks some control but i think its due rakza. Paired with medium-soft/medium rubbers is a looping machine. Rakza 7, Omega iv euro, Sigma II Euro would be good choices. Maybe Calibra LT Spin and Airoc M too!! Ohh, mine weights 82gr! im lucky ) If you are an intermediate player and want to take TT seriously, id highly advise this blade.

Tested with classic Srivers, both 2.1

SPEED: Obviously, choosing a blade like this, one is not aiming for a blasting speed. It performs in a decent manner, though. The carbon layers give the wood an extra "tick" of speed.

CONTROL: Great control.
short game: very good feeling, although to play carbon, your hand needs to know what it is doing.
at the table: great topspins bh&fh, outstanding blocking, sweet dropshots.
mid/long distance: need to have a good stroke technique, since this blade itself isn't going to do the work for you - one must really perform complete strokes (don't forget, not a fast wood).
serving: feels a bit stiff (due to carbon?). As I said, the blade "asks the hand to perform", it wants you to concentrate on the hand - thus, you need to have a good control of your hand (!).

OVERALL: Very good blade with great control for little money. Ideal for an all+ player, who likes to have an active control & knows what he is doing (like me ;-), in my youth an off- player (Mazunov off+, Tamca Gergely) on a national level for years, now age 35, playing for fun.). Perhaps, this blade could also be the trainer's choice for children, who want to play TT more seriously.





You can't really see the upper layers...

i now play with tenergy 80 on both my forehand and backhand. not so fast but good control and good spin. tenergy 80 suits my offensive game style great. the price is a little to much i think but otherwise i like them very much.

First of all the blade is 3+2 layered, not 5+2 as mentioned in the product description. A very thin 5,6 mm blade with a hollowed handle (Senso handle). Despite it is a carbon blade, it has a very nice feel. It is an agressive allround looping blade with outstanding control. I have tried 3 of the m and the production of the blades are quite similar, only minor differences in speed. It has a softer touch and a spin-elastic construction. Ideal for nearly all european rubbers, I have tried it with tenergy 05, bluefire M3, JP3, JP1, and even MAXXX 500. When the FH and the BH rubbers are the same, the blade vibrates very pleasingly. But if you play a hard FH rubber with soft BH rubber, the blade begins to resonate disturbingly. With nearly every rubber, this blade is very spinny.

Recommended for every shot type with spin, but note that the blade lacks the power for smash hits. So this is a problem when flicking over the table, not stiff enough to generate the required speed. Also the counterspins from mid distance are weak, many of them will fall into the net. Close to the table this is a looping monster with very good control. Dropshots are very nice, this blade has a very good feedback vibration, absolutely not disturbing, when the blade is symmetrical. If the blade is asymetric I found that the JP01 is the hardest rubber, which can be played if you have a softer rubber on the other side. If you use a harder rubber it will feel dead, you have to hit really hard to engage the sponge of the rubber, and the blade will vibrate very disturbingly.

Because of the hollowed handle many users complain about the head heavyness. For me The best setup was JP1 FH and M3 BH and the weight was 180g and moderately head heavy which helped me to do most of my BH loops and flicks with huge spin. This way the vibration was a bit higher than normal, but playable.

So I really loved this blade, I had to narrow the blade's neck because it was wide for me and I could not grab the handle well. Quality product, very good for old style european looping, agressive allroundish game with nice blocks and clever play.

This year (2015) the manufacturer came out with straight handle version too, which is a bit bigger then the original flared version. Similar like the innerforce series straight handle. So the straight handle version has a bit wider connection between the handle and the blade which results in less vibration and just a bit stiffer feel and comfortable to male / bigger handed players.


I tested the flared version. The blade is a quality product, nice finish and design. Small chinese style handle, even small for my girlfriend. I tested the blade with Donic Bluefire JP01 on FH and JP03 on BH.


The blade has a sorft touch and a nice woody feel, but not much vibrations. Speed is around ALL+/OFF-, but because of the soft touch and the bit tacky JP sheets feels ALL+. The blade is very linear in terms of speed, with high dwelltime gives inormous control. This blade is a looping blade smashes are only good close to the table, midrange strokes are very weak. Looping is very efficient even in midrange, because of the high dwelltime every type of topspin play can be achieved. Spinning up heavily chopped balls are piece of cake. Counterloops are fine. The other big thing is dropshots and drop pounches. These defensive elements can be preformed with very good control and nice speed.


My girlfriend is using this blade at the moment and I recognised, that her loops became stable, with this blade she plays more consistent.
Overall: very good blade for looping and close to the table. Ideal for girls who play counterhit game but want to loop, strategy ALL/OFF-, quality product.
Bit small handle, costs a bit much.

Best blade, this blade will do what you want to do. Easy to control the ball, but fast enough for every kind of stroke. Trully this blade will make you a point catcher.
My best set up for this blade
FH : Hurricane III neo Black
BH : Tenergy 64 Red

Have been playing with this blade for 3 weeks now. Tested with brand new BlueFires M2 both side, a rubber I know very well. Glued with Revolution n?3.

First, I must admit when I recieved the my order, I coudn't believe how much the blade was beautifull, was thinking that it won't be that magnificent dark brown from commercial pictures.......but it is, it's even more beautifull in real
For a very fair price (bought mine new for around ?47), you get a REAL premium blade, you wonder why this blade is not in the ?100-150 range. The blade is factory lacquered.

Some Pictures of my setup :





Blade alone was 86-87gr, the setup is well balanced.

The touch is very good, I was able to generated good backspin while keeping the ball short and low, I'm not able to do that with all blades.
The blade has a direct touch, hard one, has some flex but not much, dwell is good.
You will love this blade for power loops, any distance from the table. The throw with bluefires M2 is medium-high, it's rather easy to loop backspin balls also.
I was able to keep the ball low and short in the touch game, returning serves with ease, awesome flicks, very powerfull, the speed of the blade is rather accessible.

I had some difficulties in blocks, felt like I had very little margin of error, but I had the same problem with Bluefire M2 on various blades, I guess the rubber just doesn't suit me for blocks.

The blades speed is Off+, sweet spot is very good, just like you will have one on a Butterfly ALC blade.

I give 5 stars to this blade, it's a true priemum carbon blade with noble wood outer, factory lacquered and awesome finish for a very very fair price.
Feel free to ask me any question, if you want to compare it to a specific BTY composite blade for example (I own or have owned a lot of them).

Very balanced blade, it has it all. Fast, but also controlable and dwelly. good quality and nice finish. Its worth to give a try, its good for all kind of looping, blocking style. good close to the table and away also. I tried only with Tenergy 05 on both sides(boosted and unboosted. it's good in both ways)

The Tenergy 05 rubber is spetacular! I play on both sides, with 2/3 layers of Falco Long Booster. Extremely spinny, Excelente block, good away and close to the table. I haven't seen nothing better yet, at least for my forehand ahaha

It is a well balanced forehand rubber, good for looping.

Yasaka New Era Review


Speed: 8.2

Spin: 8.3

Control: 7.5

Tackiness: 6.0 - Medium Heavy

Throw Angle: 5.4 - Low in this sense

Weight: 4.9 - Average

Sponge Hardness: 7.8 - Medium Hard

Durability: 6.5 - Lasts longer than average



As soon as you hit the ball with New Era, you will feel the difference from other rubber sheets.

As the name implies, New Era offers new possibilities. For offensive players who want to counterattack, there is a new feeling and a new way to use the energy in the most efficient way.

New Era is a high-tech product with Latent Energy Inside technology. Yasaka uses a new revolutionary gluing technique to attach the top sheet to the sponge. It keeps the rubber and the sponge in a constantly expanded form.

Speed-gluing not recommended.


Spin: Alright. Looping is a bit hard with this rubber because it has a little bit of a spring sponge thing, so after 3 or 4 hits the sponge sort of pops and can send the ball flying of the table. But topspin and drives are very easy with this rubber.

Speed: It's pretty slow. The rubber itself is quite heavy, and the rubber makes it hard to get back into your ready position. The rubber is actually pretty fast though when looping and can generate a fair amount of spin.

Control: Average. It will go where you want it but sometimes it's control is horrible with it's 'pop sponge' effect.





After using New Era for 3 weeks, I found that it is hard to control it... However the spin is very good especially the loop... New Era is suitable for the advance player.


I compared this rubber to a Mark V both of them in max. What I noticed is that is much harder and has lower throw that is what I liked about this rubber which is very good in the backhand but not as good as the Mark V on the forehand.


Here is one photo of the Yasaka New era rubber

Butterfly Tenergy 05 Review

Speed: 9.1
Spin: 9.5
Control: 7.5
Tackiness: 2.3 - Slightly Tacky
Throw Angle: 7.3 - High in this sense
Weight: 6.9 - Medium Heavy
Sponge Hardness: 6.4 - Medium Hard
Durability: 8.4 - Lasts longer than average

I was sold the moment i played my first loop with Tenergy 05. The rubber has an incredible feeling of grabbing the ball and then catapulting it out at great speed with so much spin.

Butterfly Tenergy 05 gives out a much shorter arc in distance compared to other rubbers I've used in the past, making it much more forgiving when I go for a kill shot over the table.

Although this is not a tensor, it certainly is fast enough to play like one, but Tenergy 05 has a much better short game. Overall, it is not the fastest rubber there is, but definitely one more the easiest one to play with in its speed class.

Speed - 9.1/10

Tenergy 05 is a very fast rubber. Its unique spring sponge makes the ball catapult hard off the rubber but the best part of its speed is when you combine it with spin. Most rubbers you have a choice you can either generate loads of spin, sacrificing speed, or lots of speed, sacrificing spin. With Tenergy they have got the balance just right and you get the best of both worlds. Although it is not the fastest rubber out there it’s still a speed demon, thanks to its spring sponge, which makes it such a lethal weapon when combined with the spin possibilities. The best asset of Tenergy 05 is its looping but what makes it better than other rubbers is the speed you can generate with the loop, power looping is absolutely lethal. Power can be generated easily from short strokes but power can be generated so easily from this rubber it can be very effective from even the back of the court.

Spin - 9.5/10

Tenergy 05 generates bundles of rotation. It is one of the grabbiest non tacky rubbers I have ever played with. Not only is it the amount of spin that Tenergy 05 can generate at high speeds it is the sheer mechanical grip of the top-sheet that makes it a world class looping rubber. When playing a brushing shot you can generate loads of rotation and it barely ever looses grip no matter what angle you try. As a result serving with Tenergy 05 is also extremely good as it can generate so much spin at slow speeds. The top-sheet on Tenergy 05 is really the best I’ve seen and looping with this rubber is an absolute dream. When you strike the ball the rubber also gives a pronounced short arc which means you can play attacking shots than you wouldn’t dream of with other rubbers. Almost looping perfection!.

Control and Consistency - 7.5/10

I think partly the reason why I keep on going back to Tenergy 05 is its shot consistency. I can play the same shot 1000 times and it will always do the same thing which is very desirable in a rubber – it is completely stable. The consistency is absolutely spot on.

There are however a few downsides to Tenergy 05 control.

Incoming spin can be extremely difficult to handle. Because the rubber has extreme grip it is very sensitive to incoming spin and as a result the ball tends to have a very strong reaction on the rubber making it hard to control. This isn’t such a problem for pro’s as they have experience and top technique but if you are a beginner you could really struggle to control the oppositions incoming spin.
The other downside is the spring sponge and high throw angle. Tenergy 05 is a very bouncy rubber which aids you in attack but not in controlling shots like touches and blocks. You’ve got to have really good touch and technique to compensate for the high throw angle and bouncy nature of the rubber. This rubber is not an ideal choice for beginners.

Durability - 8.3/10

I have always regarded Butterfly products to be really high quality but they have really shown they’re pedigree with the Butterfly Tenergy 05 rubber. The quality is absolutely top notch. The topsheet grip is fantastic, it’s durable, it doesn’t easily perish, from what I hear from suppliers there is very rarely a bad sheet. Everything about this rubber screams quality and this is what makes it stand out above the rest in my opinion – it’s just sheer quality.
A lot of players state that Tenergy 05 isn’t as durable as other rubbers but I tend to disagree. Sure the speed glue effect soon wears off like all speed glue effect rubbers do but the aspect that lasts is that grabby topsheet. I had a 2 year old sheet of Tenergy 05 that out performed a 2 month old sheet of Joola Phenix hands down, which is very impressive. It is also a strong rubber that keeps its structural integrity when scuffed on the table as opposed to crumbling.

Other Key Attributes

Tenergy 05 is quite a heavy sheet of rubber and tends to make your blade very top heavy if you have maximum thickness on both sides
The throw angle of Tenergy 05 is very high.
Shot Selection

The only thing I find tricky using this rubber is power driving and smashing the ball. All Tenergy 05 wants to do is grip the ball and this makes it the perfect rubber for looping but when you come in for the kill I find myself making more mistakes than I would with other rubbers. I find it extremely hard to find the shot between heavy loop and the big ‘ole’ slap with Tenergy 05. At first I thought it was just my style and my technique when I tried other rubbers I could drive and smash effortlessly. As much as I can kill the point with heavy powerful loops it does bug me that I can’t just smash the ball effortlessly past the opponent like I can with some rubbers.

Overall - 9.4/10

Tenergy 05 spin and arc is just incredible and combined with its bouncy spring sponge power is a true weapon! If you are an attacker this is a rubber you definitely need to try at least once because there is a reason 90% or the world top players have it. Looping with this rubber is effortless, powerful and unbelievable. For me personally Tenergy 05 is the best rubber for looping in the world – hands down and in my opinion it is still the best rubber for attackers you can currently buy at the moment.


Here is one photo of the Butterfly Tenergy 05 rubber

[h=2]STIGA Polaris Blade + Evo Review[/h]

STIGA Polaris Blade + Evo Review

Hello everyone, this is going to be my very first Review of the STIGA Polaris Blade + Evo Rubber.

So, I was in Stockholm and went in to Intersport to buy a wristband, but then I saw a Blade called Stiga Polaris with a wristband included. The price was about 90 dollars before but now it had a discount being only 15 dollars! I was actually out after the wristband but then I bought the blade aswell. So I decided to make a review of it

I recieved the STIGA Polaris Blade in a red and a black box with a little bit of information on the back.

The rubbers I have been using for the review is Evo on both FH and BH and the ball I have been using is Stiga's Optimum 40+ poly ball.

The weight of the Polaris Blade was 93g.

I have been playing with the Polaris Blade for about 4 hours each.

STIGA Polaris

Weight: 93 grams, with Evo Rubber, 176 grams.

Handle: Flared

Speed: OFF

Test Rubbers: Evo 2.0mm rubber

Test Ball: Stiga Optimum 40+ ball.


7-ply lightweight blade

Flared handle

Evo 2.0mm rubber

ACS system

WRB system

Crystal technology

Balsa construction

NCT technology

Speed:95
Spin:86
Control:47

I was excited to try out the STIGA Polaris Blade because it's a light blade compared to my current blade that im using that is 189 grams. And because of the WRB system and the Crystal technology delivering high speed and spin. The weight was 93 grams and I noticed directly that it felt very light in my hand. The Evo rubber looked perfect on the blade!

I started of with some counter drives and the first I noticed was a decent balance between both power and control, it was a little bit faster than I was expecting it to be, and that was positive because I could feel a great power and control over the ball.

When I started to loop a bit away from the table I could feel the power this blade was able to generate. Together with my Evo rubber I was able to get a good topsin loop with great control. The only thing I noticed when I was far from the table was that I didn't have to put a lot of effort in my loops and strokes as the blade had a great power.

When I started to block and to counter-attack, the first thing I noticed when I was blocking was that it felt almost the same as my current blade with Tenergy 25. The Polaris could generate much speed from using my opponents power and I felt that I could get a good pressure at my opponent. I think that the Polaris Blade is well suited for players who likes to put pressure on the opponent close to the table and a little bit away from the table.

Short play and Serves: it was in the flicks that it required accurate timing when I tested the forehand flicks, if it got mistimed the ball would fly of the table. The blade had great control touching the ball short. With the Evo rubber I had good control over the short game and I could without any problems get really low spinny serves and returns. So a great attribute of this blade was it's ability in the short game.

Mid and Close distance and my experience overall: I could get good pressure playing at mid and close distance. My goal when I play is usually to stay close to the table and to play faster than my opponent. At far range I sometimes felt that I needed to put a little bit of effort into my loops while at close and mid range I almost didn't have to put any effort into my strokes and loops.

I would actually recommend this blade for offenive and agressive players that plays in mid to close range to the table, and that this blade suits all round offensive players very good. I must say that I had some expectations on this blade and I must say that this blade did not dissapoint me at all. I have only been playing with the Polaris Blade for about five practices, so it might be a little bit early to say exactly how this blade plays in the future but the first impression really made an impact on me What I think is that Stiga has made something really good here and this is what makes the blade worth the price

Here are some photos of the STIGA Polaris blade
​

i was using this rubber on a 729 bomb and it is fast. first of all the backhand with this was deadly. almost nobody returned my down the line lasers, or my sidespin blocks. though on forehand it lacked a bit of control, but when you did put it on the table your oponent would have no chance.

I've played this rubber from a friend and it's just a great solid rubber. Other cheap rubbers usually lack something like speed or spin. I liked the sound it does when you hit it hard, and seems to be pretty durable. My friend is using it 7 months and the top sheet still got good grip. It has that extra bounciness to suit the speed lacking beginner blade. And it comes in a price that no one will believe is true. It is also an affordable solution if someone has a table and plays with friends that tend to forget their bats !

Definitely a rubber that will guide a new player into the sport providing great fun !

I used this rubber for two years and was very happy with it. It was good for blocking and punching and could produce a fair amount of spin

I started using this blade when Tom Maynard recommended it to me, I still haven't reached Tom's level though aha! I like how much control it has even though it is very fast especially with Tensor rubbers. I am now going to try the Rosewood blade as I have discovered a chip out of my blade (not to sure what has caused this). I have used this Hybrid blade for around 4 years now and it has served me well.