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Today's equipment is getting faster and faster. But the game is not just about speed.
Equally important is spin and control and this is where the Yasaka Extra comes in.

Firstly, YE (as it is known) has been around for few decades (I can't remember how long)

It is rated as an allround 5 play blade, which offers great control.
Together with offensive type of rubbers, one is able to provide great attacking shots, while controlling the ball

However with the lack of offensive speed, this blade is not suitable for far from the table player - unless you relying your power from your technique and not from your blade.

Overall, I would stat, juniors/beginners should all start off with this blade, as this can teach you how to perform your own power and not borrowing it from the blade technology and in the same time, your control and spin development can continue to improve

Impressions after several practice session (H8 on FH + Nexy Calix):


a) tackiness - it is a mildly tacky rubber, the level of tackiness is nowhere near N3 Neo. Which for me translates into slightly worse short game, and not as much spin on "brushy" serves. But still, H8 is much less bouncy than pretty much any modern tensor rubber.


b) driving the ball - easier with H8 than H3 Neo because H8 is less tacky. Same considerations apply to passive blocking.


c) looping - the grip is good, quite reliable, but one needs to engage the sponge a bit more when looping using H8 in order to generate the same amount of spin as with H3 Neo. The arc is a bit lower than with H3 Neo, as noted by other reviewers. Looping against backspin requires more effort using H8 than H3 Neo.


d) speed - at medium swing shots H8 feels a touch faster than H3 Neo, but at full swing H3 Neo is faster and spinnier.


If you want to see H8 in action, here is a video of a practice session using Nexy Calix with H8 on FH and 5Q+ on BH. I'm the player in orange shirt.




Video segments relevant to this review:
22:00 - alternating FH/BH loops against block
26:30 - FH to FH drives
29:50 - FH loop against block

UPDATE:
First match of the season using Calix 2 and H8 on FH.

I have been playing with these shoes for a while and I like them very much. It's a light shoe that is very comfortable and grippy. I have been playing with them for three month and they are very durable so far. They are pretty cheap so if you like the design I think this is one of the more price worthy shoe on the TT market that I have tried.

This rubber is so far the best suited rubber for my FH.
If you want to use it properly you have to use it on off+ or off++ blade . Do not even try it on def or all blade .(you will end with lots of balls in the net).
I really like the linear curve of speed with this rubber. If you hit softly it has a low bounce . But if you use your whole body ,then it just go fast (but not as fast as andro rasant series of rubbers ).....
This sponge of the rubber needs to get in playing condition ,so you have to play about 2-4 Hours to it get softer and more response .
The control is a little bit difficult without good technique.
The weight is medium ass all top rubbers from different brands .
Spin is just great .. especially for serves. you can hit it soft or hard there is always a great amount of spin .
I like the feel it gives me, when i`m using powerstrokes.... just perfect.
Overall i can only recommend this rubber .

when someone is saying this rubber is fast is not true .. it is somewhere in the middle .. you need a lot of power in hand. it`s slower than DHS NEO H3 and far from Andro Rasant Grip
But this soft sponge give it a lot of control near the net . Great for opening loops .
Spin is good but not as the Andro R G or DHS H3
Blocking is good and precise.
Overall this rubber is Great for short to table game ,but not to distance play (unless you have a spare arms).
The control from this rubber is incredible, you can return practically all with this rubber .But i can not recommend it to someone who is learning Table Tennis .
Robert

ps.: I have played 3 matches with this rubber (both sides 80FX, off- blade) and 3 with my Andro Rasant Grip and DHS NEO H3 (off+ blade). 3 wins for BF 80FX (with great lead ) , and 3 loses (tight) with Andro and H3. But i do not like the softness of the rubber so i will try to go for non FX version (because of lack of the speed)

I acquired this rubber very cheaply,and gave it a try.

Description:Black topsheet with a black sponge.The sponge has a glue layer already attached.

Speed:This rubber comes pre-tuned,and this provides an excellent speed,even though the rubber is tacky.The tuning gives it a very pleasant 'feel',which i was satisfied with.

Spin:Being a tacky rubber,it had excellent spin capabilities.From looping,to chopping,the spin gave trouble to opponents.

Control:A controllable rubber.Not too slow and not too fast,it it perfectly balanced.

I already have this rubber for 3 months on my blade,and the tuning effect has not yet worn of.

For those who like tacky rubbers but also speed,then this is your ideal choice.

I was quite surprised at the amount of control this blade has to offer,even though it has two layers of carbon.

Rubbers used:
Nexy Demian(bh)
Palio CJ8000(Tacky)(FH)

With the cj8000 it felt a bit moderate in speed,and the control was excellent.The tackiness of the sheet allowed me to topspin well,as well as play a controllable short game.

On the flipside,the demian being a bit of a bouncy rubber,had less control,but still a good amount.The demian serves as a good allround rubber.

The blade had a dead feel,like all carbon blades,but that diddnt affect play in any way.

This blade has good potential.even though it is not extremely fast,it will still suit an Allround to offensive palyer

I tried this Barracuda on Stiga Maplewood NCT V CPen. My previous blade is Yasaka Musashi Deluxe JPen with Yasaka Mark V.

Although some reviews say this rubber is slow, as I have been using a more orthodox rubber Yasaka Mark V I feel this Barracuda is not that slow (although this could partly be due to the fast Maplewood.

I find the high throw is a big problem to me as the ball tends to go over the table even if I try to hit the ball very lite. This might be somewhat compensated by reducing the thickness to 1.8mm.

I usually mix some various directions of side spin when I drive, and it is obvious that this Barracuda provides better spin than the previous Yasaka Mark V. However this at the same time means I will also be more sensitive to incoming spin from opponent.

I use Yasaka Mark V on Yasaka Musashi racket (JPen). Actually this Yasaka Musashi racket was initially with Yasaka V-Stage but I felt it did not fit me very well and switched to Mark V.

Overall I find Mark V quite an "average" rubber - not particularly fast/bouncy, reasonable tackiness yet not affected by the opponent's spin too much, therefore generally speaking it suits an all-round player like myself.

On the other hand, the advantageous "average" spec could also be a disadvantage for more advanced players. Considering that more high performance rubbers have been developed nowadays, this orthodox rubber may not fulfill advanced players' demand. In that case depends on their requirement they'd better upgrade to other faster/spinner rubbers.

Not the greatest looking and most durable shoes out there. But they definitely are very good as far as the comfort and feel is concerned, it's passion to play when wearing these shoes.

overall this rubber is no good for me, not much speed, but i can get great amounts of spin with it, and its block is also alright,it is hard to control though, especially far away from the table, i just dont like it

I have played with many blades, but this one wins over them easily. You feel the game better when playing, not to mention great control and speed this blade offers. It suits the requirements of attacking game relatively far away from the table. I play with Rakza X on both sides of this blade.

this rubber is fantastic, i use it on my forehand and it is easy to loop close and far away from the table, by far the best rubber ive ever used

Played with almost all of Rakza rubbers, Rakza 7 soft, Rakza 7, Rakza 9, and now Rakza X on both backhand and forehand side. Although it makes my paddle pretty heavy (blade Stiga Rosewood NCT V, which is pretty heavy as well) and blocking is very hard sometimes, I like Rakza rubbers, it fits my requirements.

I have been using this rubber for FH. It's great looping and great control.

It can allow us to make good topspins and make good delivering balls close to table but at long distance it is a bit slower so it is kind of difficult to make strong and fast spins at long distance.

The rubber of Ultimate speed and spinny players !!! FX-version
The Tenergy 64-FX is a very fast rubber for block or loop, but he is very spinny for a very spinny loop, flick or serve. With this rubber, My playing style has reached the high level. I use this rubber in forehand and my 1st loop and topspins go fast and spinny.

The Tenergy 25-FX is good rubber for player who is aggressive play with precision. This rubber has a good control but you can hitting the ball with very fast attack !!! The less point is durability, you can play with this rubber between 6 months to 1 year.

I've had two of these blades, one 86 grammes and one weighing in at 87 grammes. I think this is a baseline for composite blades that all other blades have to be compared against. It is quite hard, with a muted feel. What really excels with the TB ALC is the precision. Blocks and passive shots are easy to perform, as the blade has a low throw and great stability. There is a great deal of power if you need it and a good touch for the short game.

I wanted to find a softer version of the Timo Boll ALC. I took a chance and bought this. I think it's a unique blade and probably useful for a lot of players.
Compared to the TB ALC, it's softer and slower. It also has a much higher throw. You can feel exactly where the ball hit the racket. My backhand has improved with this blade. The lift of the higher arc is good for third ball attacks from backhand. The balance with Tenergy 64 is perfect. i really like the dimensions of this blade, a tad bit smaller than Innerforce. The blade has a crisp feel and a harder touch in the short game. When playing away from the table the sound is just great. Away from the table the TB ALC is better, but i find the ZLF better in all other aspects. The downside is the price. I also find that the edges are starting to chip away, since I do a lot of heavy pushes which slams the racket to the table. Woody feel, but with the stability that ZL fiber has. Mine is 86 grammes.