Latest reviews

Pure Wood

Weight: 88 grams
Plies: 5 (ayous-???-ayous-???-ayous)
Blade Head Size: 150x156mm
Hardness: Medium Soft
Thickness: 5.9mm (approx.)
Speed: ALL to ALL+
Test Rubbers: Tenzone Ultra SF, Xiying 999 LP, Moon Speed

This is a simple and classic blade. It is more suited to an all around playing style or a long pimple attacking or blocking style. With its speed you can even chop with this blade. It is like an all around classic but a notch faster. Control is its best asset and is very much suited to a defensive or blocking style. You can still attack with it using fast rubbers. The feel and ball feedback are very good with minimal vibration. I would recommend this for beginners since this is a very newbie friendly blade and it could be a developmental stage blade. For all around style of play I suggest using faster rubbers with it like MX-P or 5Q power series since other players might find this slow to their liking.

My review of the Tibhar Samsonov Force Pro Black Edition

Weight: 89 grams
Plies: 7 (limba-ayous-ayous-ayous-ayous-ayous-limba)
Blade Head Size: 150x156mm
Hardness: Slightly Stiff
Thickness: 6.7-6.8mm (approx.)
Speed: OFF
Test Rubbers: Tenzone Ultra SF, Globe 999 National, Tenergy 05fx

I waited for about 6 months in order to get my hands on this blade! The Force Pro Black Edition (let's call it the FPBE) is indeed a great improvement over the previous Force Pro blade with the blue handle design that came out 2 years ago. The handle which is flared is bigger than most Tibhar flared or concave handles and is comfortable to my large hand. It is surprisingly comfortable to hold unlike those blades that are too squarish in shape. The FPBE also has a large handle. Compared to the Stratus Powerwood, the FPBE has a cross sectional size of 36x26mm compared to the SPW's 34x24mm



Speed

The Force Pro Black Ed. is convincingly faster than its predecessor Force Pro. The original Force pro is rated between OFF- to OFF. Sometimes in some shots it is quite slower than the FPBE. Among other brands, the FPBE is faster than a regular Clipper wood but slower compared to the Clipper CC or an Adidas Challenge speed blade. The FPBE is a good counter hitting or smashing blade. This is good until middle distance. Far from the table it seems have lesser speed and power in shots. The optimal distance is close to the table and middle distance.

Spinning

The FPBE can spin good but the original Force Pro seem to be easier to do spin especially on loops and spin drives because you could brush or graze the ball easier with the Force Pro. Middle distance, the FPBE seem to shine better when counter spinning the ball. The Globe 999 national version was equally good on both blades on looping with the favoring heaving slow top spins on the original Force Pro. The FPBE however spins better when you need more power and speed. The FPBE gives a medium to high arc on slow loops when using the Globe 999 national and T05 fx.

Feel

The FPBE feels a little bit harder compared to the original FP blade. The regular FP is almost similar to the stiffness of the regular Clipper but the FPBE feels harder and gives a more solid feeling when flat hitting the ball.

Control

There are times the FPBE behaves like a an OFF+ blade and so does its control. The original Force Pro is more controllable than the FPBE but I wouldn't say that the FPBE lacks it.

Overall:

The Force Pro Black Ed. is a great improvement over the original Force Pro. People need a little bit of adjustment when playing with this great blade. I would not recommend this to a beginner unless they choose a thinner rubber because the bounciness can be quite uncontrollable. Playing chinese rubbers are highly recommended because it pairs very well with a hurricane 3 or globe 999 national provided you can tolerate an increase in its weight. Also, the only draw back i can think of this blade is that you need to seal the blade surface especially if you change rubbers or reglue your rubbers frequently. I notice sort of very thin, hairlike splinters even with the use of a rubber cement glue but this is not a problem as long as you seal the blade when a thin layer of sealant.

R4 Black
Thickness: 2.2mm or max
Weight: Uncut 53-54 grams 171x171mm; 38 grams cut to an Adidas C500 carbon blade
Sponge hardness: about 36 degrees in a DHS Scale

Basically, the faster rubber in the R- Series. It has the same topsheet with the R6 but with a harder sponge.

FH to FH, Bh to BH:

same with the R6 but faster by 10-15%. R6 has more control and dwell time.

Pushes:

A bit more stable in the pushing department because with the harder sponge, the ball doesn't pop up.

Loops:

on fh and bh loops i liked this better since I could brush the ball better. Its really a matter f preference though since I have a somewhat Chinese stroke which emphasizes more on brushing the ball and not hitting through the sponge. The trajectory is still low a bit higher than the R6 but still considered low and long.

Countering, blocking ad Smashing:

Same with the R6 but faster and the ball has a lesser dwell time.

All in all the R6 and R4 have surpassed my expectations for their level of rubbers. These rubbers are the first generation of Adidas rubbers the company has produced. It can compete with the level of those JO Silvers and JO Gold but are faster and more controllable. I have noticed that the topsheets are much durable than that of the JO series too. These 2 rubbers are user friendly especially to beginners and intermediate rubber though I am not saying this are beginner rubbers only. These rubbers are good because they have more than enough speed coupled with very good control. The best thing about these rubbers is that both are very light and when i weighed the set up: R4 38 grams + R6 36 grams + C500 blade 85 grams = a staggering 159 grams only! That is very, very light compared to 170-180 gram blades that are already considered normal in weight

R6 Red

Thickness: Max or 2.2mm
Weight uncut: 50-51 grams 171x171mm ; cut 36 grams to an Adidas C500 carbon blade
Sponge Hardness: this is the softest Adidas rubber I have tried. By DHS Scale its about 34 degrees. My fingers really dug deep into the sponge upon pressing it.

FH to FH BH to BH:

doing speedy fh and bh drives with this rubber. I tested this mainly on the forehand and I love its very loud sound. Maybe because it was due to its softness combined with the C500 carbon blade. Having a soft sponge means I had to hit the ball through the sponge to get the full effect. Control is very good and driving is effortless.

Pushes:

Pushes are above average and can still produce very spinny balls. Need to adjust the angle of the blade when receiving pushes to compensate for the height of the ball.

Loops:

Low throw trajectory. Somewhat of a straight, long line when looping. This rubber has a very good dwell time because of its softness but you need to dig deep into the sponge to get maximum spin. Control is not an issue but i liked this better in my fh for looping.

Blocking:

This rubber excels in blocking - active and passive. The blocks are very stable and this rubber is not sensitive to incoming spin.

Countering:

Awesome rubber for countering topspins in all ranges -near-middle and far from the table. lobbers, counter drivers and blockers will surely love this rubber. Control and stability makes this rubber a hitter's dream.

Smashing:

Despite its very soft sponge this rubber is built for smashers who wants a soft and controllable rubber than its very fast.

All in all the R6 performed above average for speedy attacks and strokes which are not prioritizing spin. I would rate the spin as above average for a tensor rubber but not on the level of a donic baracuda or tibhar genius though the R6 is faster than both rubbers. I would greatly recommend this rubber for beginners (2mm) who wanted a stable and controllable rubber to develop their game and for intermediate players (max) and advanced players (max) who wants an extra speed on their game but dont want to lose a lot of control. The R6 should be paired with an off- or off all wood blade to fully utilize its spin potentials according to the blade designer which I fully agree since I tested it with a carbon blade, it suits more to an all wood blade.

My review of the Adidas Avenger 5



- 5-ply offensive blade of hard surface and 5.9mm thickness.
- Feeling : Surface is hard. But, overall feeling is quite soft, and it holds ball very well.
- Proper playing style : Continuous topspin at close area to table.
- Tagreted players : Aggressive topspin players of all level.

Plies: 5 (walnut-tanne-ayous-tanne-walnut)
Weight: 87 grams (average weight is 86 grams)
Blade head dimension: 150x157mm
Thickness: 5.9mm
Vibration: Minimal
The slowest among the 3 avenger but not necessarily slow. When you remove the 2 soft carbon fleece of the Avenger carbon you would get the Avenger 5. Designed with a hard walnut outer ply and a thick core of ayous with a tanne sandwiched in between, this blade offers a balance of speed and control.

If I am a developing player who has an all+ blade and rubber set up and wanted to shift to a faster blade to further develop my game especially on an all around basis, I would choose this blade simply because it has good sense of control and feel plus some good speed to offer. If I am an advanced player who is looking for a blade that will help my aggressive attacking game close to the table without removing control on my arsenal, this would be the blade for me. While using the max P5 on this, I really find the combo one hell of a spin maker. The Av 5 has sufficient dwell time looping is its forte. It loops better and more controllable that its Av Carbon brother due to its lesser speed and more control. Slow spinny loops are very good on a delayed contact and even off the bounce aggressive loops are powerful enough. I found this suitable for an all around based game meaning you can do a good blocking game with it then switch suddenly to an aggressive attacking game. Control is abundant in this blade its very good in the short game like flicks and drop shots. The good feel of the blade helps execute strokes that are a bit sensitive to perform during a close, hard scoring game. I would recommend medium to hard rubbers for this blade. The Adidas Tenzone, P7 and P5 pair well with the Av 5. Chinese players who use hard Chinese rubbers would also benefit greatly from this controlled looping blade.




In conclusion, even these blades are still under development and are not available in the market, they show a great amount of promise once introduced to the market and the various necessary improvements made during testing will be implemented. Its like Adidas is making developments and improvements with each series of blades and rubbers they are introducing showing the world of table tennis that they have the equipment to compete with the top companies that presently dominate the market.

My review of the Avenger Carbon



- Soft carbon blade of 5.6mm thickness. (Softer than FiberTec Classic.)
- Feeling : Feeling is very soft and comfortable. It holds ball very well.
- Proper playing style : Continuous topspin at close area to table.
- Tagreted players : Aggressive topspin players of all level.

Plies: 7 (walnut-tanne-carbon-ayous-carbon-tanne-ayous-walnut)
Weight: 89 grams (average weight is 90 grams)
Blade head dimension: 150x157mm
Thickness: 5.6mm
Vibration: Minimal

The only carbon blade in the Avenger Series, this blade is not to be underestimated on its performance even though it is not as fast as other super or ultra fast blades in the market. For those who wants to maintain a woody feel when using a carbon blade, the Avenger Carbon is sufficient for this need. The placement of the soft carbon fleece after 2 layers instead of just after the 1st ply results to a woody feel. Adidas said they designed this blade especially for players who are close to the table attackers. This is fast maybe between the speed of a Butterfly Gergely and a Primorac carbon. The soft carbon fleece balances the harder outer walnut plies which when combined provides a soft feeling and at the same time helps make power shots. It has a large sweet spot that it gave my shots stability when I was looping close to the table. The blade has very good feel. The vibration is minimal and the sweet spot is large. Although it has similarities with the construction of a Yasaka Ma Lin Soft Carbon blade, the feeling is quite different and the speed is a lot more. It is faster than the Ma Lin SC blade and has more feel. Sometimes I would felt that the Ma Lin SC blade lack the feel compared to the Avenger Carbon. It was fun doing topspins over the table and pure looping with the Avenger carbon since this blade has a good feel and the dwell time is really good to produce spinny loops. Unlike its brute brother, the Avenger 7, the Avenger carbon was built for looping more. When I was looping the ball, it has a long trajectory mid distance from the table though this blade is more of a close to the table looping blade. Countering was very good as I felt my shots have stability including my active blocks against loops or drives. Chinese rubbers are good with the Avenger Carbon though I havent tried hard rubbers like the H3 or TG3 neos on this but a soft 36 degree Dawei SPrungfeder on the forehand and a medium soft Adidas Syntec Fast on the backhand. Soft to medium rubbers are ideal with this blade like the Adidas P5, Tenzone SF and the Syntec Series. This blade is also for players who would like to shift to a carbon blade but will not tolerate a loss of control and the woody feel coming from an off 5 or 7 ply all wood blade.

My review on the Adidas Avenger 7

- 7-ply offensive blade of hard surface and very unique construction. 6.2mm.
- Feeling : The mixture of hardness and softness. Very strong feeling.
- Proper playing style : Aggressive topspin from all area.
- Tagreted players : Skilled players who want speedy blade.



Plies: 7 (walnut-ayous-tanne-ayous-tanne-ayous-walnut)
Weight: 92 grams (average weight is 90 grams)
Blade head dimension: 150x157mm
Thickness: 6.2mm
Vibration: Minimal
This blade has thin outer plies and a thick central ayous core. The outer walnut plies provide stiffness and speed to the blade. The ayous and tanne layers provide a feeling of softness and control to the blade. The thick central ayous core provides additional speed to the blade.

This is the powerhouse of the Avenger series. They rated this as OFF but its clearly OFF+. I placed a 2.0mm Adidas P5 black on this and a Dawei Sprungfeder G3 red max. I immediately started doing fh to fh drills and bh to bh drills with this beast and i noticed right away how fast it is. Lets just say its faster than a Mazunov blade, A stiga Ebenholz 7 or a Clipper CR blade but with a softer feel. Apparently, Adidas has found a way to mix both hard and soft wood layers that produces a soft feeling when doing power shots enabling control and sensitivity. Having tried a lot of 7 ply blades and collected a few 7 ply all wood blades in the past, I would say Adidas is on the right track making this kind of blade for the reason that it offers a unique option among 7 ply lovers. I would attribute the feeling of softness despite the hard outer plies to the tanne layer. Tanne as what I have read about is a Fir tree related to Cypress. The blade designer told me that it has a mixture of softness and hardness on feel, I really agree with him when I tried it. On power shots, I didn't feel the hard impact like what i felt with the Ebenholz 7, it felt a bit soft but my shots were fast especially on fh drives, smashes and spin drives. This blade is good for close-to-the-table and mid-distance shots. This is more of a hitter's and spin driver's blade rather than a pure looping blade. Though, I suggest getting a 2.0mm medium soft rubber or a chinese rubber to pair with it if you want to loop with it. I still find my shots spinny enough using the dawei and 2.0mm P5. On passive shots like blocking and drop shots, the tanne layers really help absorb the shots and provide a great amount of control. It is surprising that for a beast like the Avenger 7 it is not hard to do controlled shots. I love blocking with this both punch blocks and passive slow blocks.

I would recommend this blade to aggressive players who do not want to use a carbon blade. It takes some skill to fully utilize this and also some muscle because this blade is a 90gm blade (-+3 or 4 grams). Also good for players who want a hard blade but doesn't want the excessive vibration produced by other hard 7 ply blades.

I decided to glue it on my stiga eb7 blade. this bright red rubber with the same topsheet as tenzone regular differs in the sponge hardness. The regular tenzone has a 39 degree hardness and the tenzone sf has a 36 degree hardness in the dhs hardness scale according to my estimate.

Fh to FH & BH to BH drives:

i love the sound of this soft rubber and its loud, louder than the regular tenzone. The ball sinks into the soft sponge and you can feel it through your blade. Control is above average.

Loops:

Using it on both fh and bh loops i would say this is a looping rubber than a hitting rubber. Slow loops are very good and when i looped with this rubber (pure looping) i found it faster than the regular Tenzone. 2 things in its arsenal are spin and control on loops.

Pushes and serves:

Pushes are very spinny with some adjustments. Serves are very spinny also. This rubber is not sensitive to incoming spin. Sidespin and underspin serves favor this rubber. Looping arc is medium to high. Its very easy to loop spinny underspins with this baby.

Smashing, hitting and counterhitting:

Smashing is average and so is hitting though this may come down to personal preferences since i prefer harder rubbers in smashing and hitting. On counterhitting and counterlooping this rubber is in the level of Tenergy 05 fx, Hexer ++ and Calibra LT Sound. Control is very good with these strokes.

Initial Impressions:

I love this rubber and im planning in keeping this. Its not as fast the regular tenzone but its way better in terms of spin and control. Don't get me wrong this rubber is still very fast and bouncy. i love the feel of this rubber especially when the ball sinks into the sponge. This is better near to mid distance from the table. I think i would describe this as a soft genius rubber with the good qualities of hexer and acuda s2 combined. I would recommend this to intermediate to advanced players.

Tenzone Max Black

The Tenzone max black is a high quality rubber from adidas. when i saw the rubber for the first time i was impressed with its production. from the looks, the topsheet is less grainy compared to joola x-plodes' topsheet. i would say it looks identical of the genius' topsheet but differs in the pips structure and topsheet thickness. The Tenzone has a thicker topsheet than that of the genius. The sponge when i pressed it and played with it is medium hard. In the DHS scale hardness i would rate it as 38 degrees.

FH to FH & BH to BH drives:

Tenzone is very bouncy. The sharp and crisp sound produced when hitting the ball is distinctive of being an ESN rubber. The control is there but not its biggest asset.

Loops:

Tenzone produces a low to medium arc on both bh and fh. Tenzone is good for on the rise loop drives above the table. Spin is above average for both and fast loops and is enough to lift heavy underspin balls. during the first 2 days the rubber wasnt that spinny but now its very spinny after some time breaking in the rubber

Pushes and serves:

Spinny pushes are not hard to produce though you have to make some adjustments not to let balls pop up when making pushes but the adjustment is easy. serves on sidespins and underspins are average but fast knuckle or dead balls and topspin serves are very good due to the rubber's speed.

Smashing, hitting and counter loops:

These are the areas that this rubber shines. i think its built mainly for speed than doing spins. Topspins are easy for countering mid distance to far from the table. Its power doesnt diminish that much. Smashing is awesome coupled with its nice whacking sound. On these 3 areas countrol is very good.

Initial impressions:

Overall the Tenzone rubber can be labelled as a very fast with above average spin rubber. Its speed is comparable to that of Tenergy 05, Hexer and Calibra. Its like Calibra LT but a little bit spinnier. Its built for speed and it has lots of it. i enjoyed playing counterhitting and smashing with this rubber far from the table. Receiving spinny serves are good since this rubber is not sensitive to incoming spin. This rubber is above average in blocking also. I would recommend this rubber for advanced players only because this is not everybody's toy.

Stiga Emerald VPS

Weight: 92 grams
Handle: legend flared
Thickness: approx. 6.1-6.2mm
Plies: 5 (ebony-spruce-ayous-spruce-ebony)
Speed: OFF
Hardness: Stiff
Test Rubbers: Stiga Airoc M max, DHS Neo Provincial H3, Globe 999 National

Stiga to gave me this piece of art for review, I got this on my mailbox. The Emerald or "Green Ebenholz" is a complete overhaul of the preview Ebenholz 5 blade. Yes, they have the same wood composition but I will showing some of their differences. I have obtained also an Ebenholz 5 which Stiga provided for because I am very sure a lot of people will be curious on what are the similarities and differences of both blades.



Stiga has spent a great deal of effort in making the packaging of the Emerald VPS into a more elegant and classy look. The Emerald, out of the box, is unlike anything I have seen from Stiga. It boasts of a different logo design which departed from the usual plastic lens with blade name. It has been replaced by metal logo including the stick at the bottom of the handle.








This was first adapted by the Infinity VPS blade in which the surface of the blade, instead of a thick NCT coating, they made the varnish thinner and spread all over the blade extending up to the neck and handle borders. It is smooth but you can feel the wood fibers more compared to the NCT coating of the Eb5 blade. I theorize that Stiga has made the VPS blades this way because players wanted more feel on the blade at the same time offering some protection while removing and regluing rubbers on the blade. The handle of the Ebenholz 5 is rougher compared to that of the Emerald. I have been bugging Stiga to maybe try considering having a smoother handle and maybe they are starting to listen. Now if only they can sand the neck part of the handle then that would be perfect!





The first pic from this part is the picture of the Emerald VPS while directly on top is the picture of both Emerald (top) and Ebenholz 5 (bottom) on top of each other. At first look, differences may be negligible but on closer inspection you can find that the second layer of spruce on the Emerald VPS is darker in color. Either they dyed it or they used a burnt spruce to have a harder 2nd layer??? Also, you can see that the ebony wood top ply of both blades differ in thickness. The top ply for the Eb5 is thin while on the Emerald VPS, they increase the thickness of the top ply by parts of a millimeter. When I measured the approximate thickness, the Emerald has 6.1-6.2mm (approx.) while the Ebenholz 5 has approximately 5.8-5.9mm of thickness. Suprisingly, the Ebenholz 5 with having also a legend flared handle weighs only 84 grams! I have seen 83-84 gram Rosewood 5 blades in master flared but never Ebenholz 5 at this weight! The one I owned 3 yrs ago was 92 grams. I don't know if almost all of the newer batches of blades are as light as the one I have but if they do then praise Stiga! They may have increased the quality of their blades.



On a serious note, I glued the test rubbers and the Airoc M didn't feel that heavy despite having 68 grams uncut weight. I glued the globe 999 national which i have been using for a few months now and also the DHS Neo H3 Provincial replacing the Globe 999 national afterwards. I also glued the same test rubbers on the 84 gram Ebenholz 5 in order for me to have a better comparison of the 2 blades. The Emerald VPS with both rubbers glued was 200 grams in weight blaming partly on the thick amount of glue on the used Chinese rubbers and also the weight of those heavy rubbers. I was surprised that the 200 gram Emerald set up didn't feel that heavy. I have to say the blade is balanced unlike the Ebenholz 5 which tends to be head heavy with the same kind of rubbers glued on it. As of now, we all know that the Eb5 handle is hollow. For the Emerald, I am not sure it. I've been tapping the handle on its different points in order to hear different sounds when tapping different parts but I am not sure yet.

The Emerald was very easy to use. It was bouncy on the first forehand to forehand drills. It doesn't have much vibration compared to the Ebenholz 5. Speedwise, I will rate the Emerald as OFF and not OFF+. I can say that it is fast but highly controllable. On some shots the Emerald felt faster than the Ebenholz 5 but on other times they seemed to be equal. The Emerald VPS is faster than the Rosewood 5 and Rosewood XO but slower than their 7 ply versions. Overall, the Emerald seems to be faster by a few notches. The difference between their speeds is very small. On power shots and loops, I could feel the Emerald has this hard woody feeling upon impact of the ball whereas the Ebenholz 5 has a stiffer, more crisp feel. The Ebenholz 5 feels harder than the Emerald VPS, even the Rosewood 5 is stiffer all because of the thick NCT coating of the mentioned blades.

Looping-wise, the emerald was a better looping blade using the chinese rubbers because it was less stiff than the Ebenholz 5. The Eb5 was stronger for smashes and counter smashing, Emerald shines on counter loops, looping both near and middle distance from the table. If you want a more spin based game then go for Emerald, if you want a more smashing game with lesser spin then go for the Ebenholz 5.



Many would be hesitant to buy this blade because it is expensive. It is much worth it because the performance is better than all the previous Stiga blades that I have owned, tried and reviewed even compared to my intensity nct which was my personal favourite. I

The Adidas P7 comes with a high quality ESN topsheet and sponge. The topsheet is grainy and very grippy and the sponge is orange and porous. The pips are lined closer to each other than the P3 which has a bigger gap on its pips. Its nice for Adidas to include an adhesive plastic cover for the rubber also.

Rubber: Adidas P7
Thickness: 2.2mm or max
Sponge hardness: 38 degrees by DHS scale approx.
Weight: Uncut 172 x 172 mm, 62-64grams; on a 149 x 157 mm Adidas Blade Head blade
head, 47 grams

This rubber was designed and produced with the cooperation of pro and high level Chinese players. For players who do not want to go too far away from the table and those who want to acquire the needed effect on their strokes with the spin of a Chinese rubber and the speed of a Euro rubber this is the rubber for you guys.

Driving:

FH-FH, BH-BH:
The rubber is very bouncy, lively and drives very fast. Driving the ball through the sponge does not bottom out and its effortless to hit the ball because of its long trajectory.

Pushes:
Spinny on the pushes though you need to adjust your angle a little bit because the ball has the tendency to pop at the first few tries but its never a problem.

Serving:
The spin on my underspin and sidespin serves are very high. Even though the rubber is bouncy, shorts serves are not a problem. Fast, spinless serves are also wonderful with this rubber.

Loops:

One of the 3 strengths of this rubber is its ability to loop spinny, underspin balls with minimal effort. If your stroke is a brushing stroke with less sponge on contact because you are used to a chinese rubber then you would love the P7. Minus the tackiness of a Chinese rubber but with the same spin, this rubber produces a medium to high arc on loops whether its a fast or slow loop. The spin is amazing and you can feel the ball kick on the racket if you are on the receiving end.

Loop drives, loop kills, spin-drives:

One way to measure a rubber's strength is to check its ability on loop driving the ball above the table, off the bounce or on the rise contact against a low spinny underspin ball that lands almost short on the table. With the P7, if you have the skills you can do this strokes with lesser effort than with a tenergy 05 or 25. As what I have observed on what I was doing and including my coach who taught this stroke was that even if you hit the ball through the sponge when doing loop drives, its still possible to land the ball on the other side. meaning the rubber is very forgiving. on emergency situations like if yo haven't brushed the ball enough and hit more on the sponge, using tenergy 05 or 25 is less forgiving. On the P7, even with hitting through the sponge it still produces a good arc and spin clearing the net about half to 1 inch.

Countering:

The 3rd characteristic of this rubber that makes it superior to most other modern rubbers is its built also for countering and its very forgiving. Near of mid-distance (about 5-6 feet) away from the table, the power and speed does not diminish.

Blocking:
Near the table and above the table blocking are very controllable yet the ball is very fast on passive block, more so on active blocks.. Punch blocking low fast topspin balls are still quite possible with this rubber.

BH Loops:

Its strange but my backhand loops are spinnier than my fh loops. My bh loops and so does with a friend has a more profound arc and spin.

Overall impressions:

I am super impressed with this rubber for the first 2 days of testing it! This is the controlled or tamed version of the tenzone. Tenzone is still the best rubber Adidas has ever produced but it doesnt mean that its not an awesome rubber, it is at par with tenergy rubbers especially with T25. What I have noticed about this rubber is that you need to have a greater usage of your wrist in doing spins to fully utilize your spin potential using this rubber. Dont get me wrong, its very spinny even with little wrist movements. This rubber takes only a day to break in.

Recommendations:

definitely for advanced players or those with good basics. if you want something slower get the 2.0mm. blades that are off+ will still be alright as long as you have the right technique. If you are a pure looper or spinner i suggest you would get an off- minus or off blade like the Adidas C100, C300 or C500 and Adidas Fibertec Power series

Tibhar Genius is another one of those modern SGE rubbers that doesn't come close to glue feel, spin or performance... but don't hate on this rubber, even the market leader for almost a decade (Tenergy) doesn't either. There is no out of the packet rubber that will be just like, or even close to the old glory days so get over Ur drunk y'all, you are all barking up the wrong tree.

What Genius does is provide stability, control and spin to all your shots. Top end gear is not a rocket, like say Calibra LT, but what Genius does well is everything... with great control and spin. It will not set a speed record, not will it generate heavy spin with a weak stroke (like T05 does), but if you want an allround rubber that does everything, but with more pace and spin than the market benchmark standard (Sriver) this is your rubber. Genius will perform on ANY blade you slap it on (just like T05 perms well on whatever blade) so you know what you are getting and can depend on it. Nexy Korea president likes to use this rubber on one side of his display test blade models in his HQ in Seoul. Same reason, good allround OFF performance that will let you know what is good or bad with the blade.

Very light weight and comfortable shoes. No blisters.

Got these awesome shoes finally after a few months of waiting! I swear I would have mistaken this for a pair of Mizuno shoes due to the design and quality.

Size: 43
Weight: 265 grams per shoe (approx.)

The Instinct Shoes are way different from their previous line of shoes. I suspect this shoe comes from different factory. The soles are soft and very much more comfortable compared to the previous Pro Swede model. Almost the larger part of the shoe is covered with a nylon mesh. It doesn't feel hot and comfortable. This is a first from Stiga in terms of shoes. They have not produced this kind of shoes up until this one which is very good. The design is not too flashy but it really catches attention. The soles are of good design and very grippy on a ceramic tile floor which where I usually play and coach. I felt really comfortable on heavy footwork drills especially on the
lateral movements.



Shining shivering splendid!

Good blade for experienced players.

Limba - ALC - Limba - Ayous - Limba - ALC - Limba.

OFF blade (not OFF- nor OFF+), good feel for the ball, with sufficient power to put any ball away. Blade weight can vary from just over 80g to 100g or so.

Shame BTY seems to have stopped producing them, but there are plenty available second hand.

Softer than T05, harder than T64, it does everything in between.

Blocks better than T05, slightly less sensitive to spin, with throw just a bit lower (hardly noticeable). Feels softer and is a bit bouncier than T05.
A good backhand rubber.

Excellent for looping and driving.

Nothing that has not been said about this rubber.
Durability used to be better than other rubbers, but they have imporoved so no more advantage here. Price however is far too high.
Rubber can be too hard on a hard blade in my opinion, but since it's very linear it's very controlable.

"Turbo"? not a high speed rubber but good enough for FH and BH rubber. Control is excellent.

Changed from Kong Linghui Special. This blade can handle play close and away from the table. Great for spinny loops and has more than enough power for put away shots. Dwell time is good for service and short play. This blade is made for tenergy but it can also go with other medium-hard rubbers.

serves: Paired with good rubbers you can easily get a lot of spin onto the ball. Short serves are very easy as the blade is not too fast. Even serves that require better timing like the reverse pendulum are easier due to the long dwell time.

receives: Just as expected from an allwood blade,the infinity performs very well in the short game. The dwell time and the good feeling of the wood help play short pushes as well as flips with forehand and backhand. Pushes and any kinds of crazy receives are easier with this blade.

open ups: The dwell time really helps on playing heavy spin topspins. You have a lot of time to generate spin and go for a good placement on the table.
topspin: The follow up topspin also works perfectly fine.

Speed: The general speed is not as high as let's say a viscaria's, but still fast. If you are physically fit, you'll have no problem blasting the ball past your opponent after opening up with heavy spin.

countertopspin: Countertopspins also work well, but require proper technique and timing.

conclusion: The infinity is a very good allwood blade that really has no weakness. You can open up with a lot of spin and follow up with a well played loop and then a kill shot. Especially for forehand oriented players this blade is fitting. Backhands are easier to play because of the increased dwell that gives the blade more control. If you're looking for an offensive blade that can play all gears ranging from slow and spinny to fast, then this is your blade. If you're using a carbon blade but struggle with service receive, then this blade is for you. If you have enough physical strength but your receive game or open ups are slacking, then switch to this blade.