Butterfly Timo Boll ALC

Rubbers used: MX-P, Sanwei Target National, T05, Bluestorm Z2
The first thing I noted when I started playing with this blade is that it does not perform very well in close to the table counter or drive rallies from the bh side. This blade's forte is backing up a little and playing topspins with as much quality as you can. It's also surprising to me that despite the crisp and relatively hard feeling you get, the ability to grab and spin the ball is very strong. Opening up is pretty much effortless and the spin you can generate is very high. Still I would not recommend trying to play hard and agressive with the blade as the ball tends to overshoot when you try doing so and that's not what Butterfly designed the blade to do. You have to go for spin and placement over speed. The gears that this blade has are one of its biggest strengths. Even with MX-P on the bh I was able to push quite short to the table or go for a soft spinny flick off a low push and then follow up with a much stronger shot. Another thing I noticed is that the older ALCs (without the hologram) tend to be a bit faster than the newer ones with the hologram (Similar case with Viscaria). The blade pairs very well with Tenergy and MX-P but the Bluestorm felt a bit too slow. The Target was very good on the forehand but I would not recommend using a very hard or tacky Chinese rubber like Hurricane 2. All in all, if you know how to use it, this blade is one that is very hard to go wrong with.

Spin is good but, dwell time is less than Butterfly Moonbeam AL(not carbon) blade. Thus, you end up with less spin, faster game. It is like you are wasting half of your energy on full stroke. Your racket move has to be precise. Less forgiving... If your legs are not fast enough, you will struggle a lot.

My other problem with this blade is backhand top spin after fh drive, spin or any fast game. I couldn't be successful on backhand top spin as my Arylate blade. Ball always goes out of the table. I need to close the blade. I tried for 4-5 months and still my game no where near with my BTY Moonbeam. So, I am back to it.

I recommend this blade to the people who needs extra power.

edit: OK guys! This blade is very attracting. I accept the fact that it is really hard to resist to not use this blade when you have already. I will give this blade a chance, even if my game worse than BTY Moonbeam AL

Hi TTD. I would like to talk about the equipment am using and why I selected them..I am using timo boll ALC blade with tenergy 05 rubbers.

I selected timo boll ALC because of the speed and control. It’s a very nice blade and it’s suitable for my style,It had improved my game beyond a reasonable doubt. This is my 3rd carbon wood after using gergely tamca 5000 and kreanga carbon. I have been using it for 2yrs and I would like to say it’s really good,fast and it has a great control.

I recommend it for players who likes to block and loop like timo boll..you can always try it with tenergy 05.

I bought my first TBALC in 2009 after I played with Primorac Carbon and Schlager Carbon, played with TB ALC until mid 2011, moved to Sardius, Gergely, and stick with M.Maze ALC in the end of 2011 until 2016. Come Back to TB ALC in mid 2015, 2016 changed with TB ZLC and Viscaria.. and in 2017 ended up with only TB ALC. It is the Third TB ALC I bought, it has quite consistent production through the years, mine now with that pearl at the back handle (The two Previous were the original kind of shield emblem / plate).

I have put a lot of different kinds of rubbers onto this blade for FH and BH, surpisingly it always have good speed, good spin. My Best Setup for this are T05, T80, Evolution ELS and FXS.. those are the best rubbers for this blade in my opinion and trials. Not too heavy and balanced weight with these rubbers.

Chinese Rubbers like Hurricane 350, 8 are good with Forehand but it needs more power and stamina to play.. Chinese rubbers fits better with M.Maze ALC in my opinion, felt softer.

Very good in attacking with loop from both wings, close, and mid distance from table, great in blocking passive or even active, the ball lands short or deep table depends on the opponents attack and my hand. Good also for lobbing from far from table.

The balance of speed and spin TB ALC produced during my shots are my favorite compared to other Butterfly Blades I have owned and used.

TB ZLC has more speed and power but great control with higher throw angle, this suits for mid-far from table loop and Chinese Rubbers are suitable for it. My position mostly close to the table so TB ALC fits better.
Viscaria has a bigger handle, and more weight in the handle. Has quicker rebound, so it is fast but not that spinny, worked well with Bryce Highspeed.

TB ALC is not too fast and hard as Tamca Sardius, Gergely, Primorac..

This is good in serving and receiving for short balls.

I will suggest it for players for has good transitions for attack and defence, play close to mid distance, focus on spin, prefer to hit the ball when it drops to the net or table height with this blade, it has great arc and lands near the lines..

So, try it out

2020 Updates:
I use it with Dignics 05 for FH and Tenergy 80 For BH. I loveee this setup.. more psinn, more accurate..

Blade: Butterfly Timo Boll ALC
Weight: 88g
Thickness: 5.8mm
Type: Carbon OFF
Composition: 7 ply (Koto, ALC, Limba, Kiri, Limba, ALC, Koto)
Rubbers used with the blade: Tenergy 05

Hi guys, it’s Dan here from TableTennisDaily. Finally, after years of waiting and thousands of requests we are reviewing The Butterfly Timo Boll ALC, with none other than the legend himself Timo Boll. In November we were lucky enough to visit Borussia Dusseldorf to film the review using their unbelievable facility, where Timo Boll trains and represents his club in the German Bundesliga.



Written Review

Sweetspot and Control

The Timo Boll ALC is one of Butterfly’s flagship carbon blades and you can instantly feel the large crisp sweet spot on contact which helps to produce a very stable medium to high throw angle when playing topspins. I like this a lot about the Timo Boll ALC the feeling and sweetspot is crisp.

The amazing stand out quality of the Boll ALC is the sheer amount of spin it gives you on both your forehand and backhand. This is due to a large sweet spot, that offers incredible dwell time and feeling when you contact the ball.

Although the dwell is fantastic, the blade is still relatively hard which allows for powerful shots which work very well away from the table. Another great attribute about the Boll ALC is that it's so easy to control at high speeds.


Speed

Because the Boll ALC is very responsive you need to have good timing in order to make use of its full effects. However if you do time the ball correctly it is almost effortless to produce high amounts of speed, spin and control. I personally love the amounts of speed the Boll ALC gave me as for me, it's the right amount of speed where it's easy to play outright winners, without being so fast that it requires massive amounts of precision, like with the super ZLC series. In a sense the Boll ALC does a lot of the work for you, which gives you confidence in your strokes.


Spin

The Boll ALC excels when opening up against backspin, The dwell time and throw angle the blade produces is optimised for this type of shot.
The blade not only allows you to open up well but also lets you play hard on the follow up ball. The blade also has many gears which allows you to vary your spin and speed effortlessly when playing topspins.

Timo was getting some serious amount of spin and depth in his shots against my backspin. I have to say I struggled at times with blocking his shots, but I mainly put this down to the difficulty of playing against Timo. As you may be able to tell in the video above he really didn’t go easy on me. I think if I had a slower blade with softer rubbers I would have been able to control slightly easier, but having said that the Boll ALC, for an offensive carbon blade, still has a lot of control.


Counter Topspin

The Boll ALC is superb for countering, the hard outer koto layer helps to direct the ball quick. Sometimes the ball can fly out as like most carbon blades they are fast, the Boll has good stability in this area.


Serving and Flicks

The Boll ALC is great for generating spin whilst serving, as it gives you good feeling. However, due to the fact it is a fast blade, if you do not time the ball correctly it can drift long, giving your opponent the chance to capitalise on your mistake.

The crispness of the Boll ALC really helps when playing flicks and long digs, as the ball really bites into the blades surface. This also gives you the ability to really direct where you want the ball to go.


Away from the table

As mentioned previously the Boll ALC is superb when playing from mid distance to away from the table. The combination of arylate carbon and the harder wood outer plys gives you high end speed but enough flex to produce high arc which results in great depth. Landing the ball deep on the table being a key element when competing in top to top rallies.


Conclusion

A huge thanks to Timo Boll for his time to review his own personal blade, it really was an honour, and also to Borussia Dusseldorf for letting them use their incredible facility. And finally a thanks to Butterfly for providing us with the equipment to review.

The Boll ALC has an incredible balance of spin, speed and control. Butterfly and Timo have found a fantastic ratio for a carbon blade and it really goes to show why this blade is so widely used. It’s dwell and crisp feeling allows for superb stability in your strokes. This blades X factor is that its fast, but very controllable. That’s what I really like about the Boll ALC. This control is due to the blade ability in allowing you to produce vast amounts of spin making the ball dip quickly after it reaches your opponent's side of the table. Although this blade is quick, It’s not as fast as an OFF+ carbon blade like a primorac carbon or the Garaydia ZLC but is still a touch faster than an Innerforce or the Apolonia ZLC.

This Boll ALC is definitely not recommended for beginners as it would be too responsive. However a player who has developed efficient strokes and is on the intermediate to advanced spectrum would benefit most from this blade, especially if carbon blades are your thing.

I am using the Boll ALC with T05 Red 2.1 for Forehand and T64 2.1 black for backhand. The boll ALC is a versatile blade with which you can play the passive game, short game and the looping game quite easily. The carbon inside kicks in when you start to play aggressive over the table counter loops or loop drives. The Blade has pretty decent flex, so you can equally play the short game effectively. I would rate this blade as Offensive. The speed is quite good but it is definitely not as fast as some of the other blades such as the Boll ZLC, the Sardius, Schlager carbon etc. All in all a great offensive blade which can prove to be very effective in almost all facets of the game. A must have if you want to upgrade from an all-wood blade to a carbon blade. Not recommended for beginner level players though.

An amazing bat in the right hand for the right style of play, I've been playing Table Tennis since the early 90's and due to life happening I stopped for around 15 years, last year I started playing again in a local club and since I've been out of the loop with current technologies and trend I bought this bat and pair it with 2 Tenergy 05 thanks to the recommendation of a good friend who's a coach. He told me "You can't go wrong with these combo".
Here is the thing, after a years playing with this combo I can see where he is coming from, the bat is amazing, it helps you in a way, top-spins are fast, initiating with loops as usually effortless on both sides BH and FH however I am about to change this blade for a slower, cheaper all-wood blade, why? you ask?
Well I happen to play close to the table most of the time with aggressive looping and flicking serves, and despite my efforts most of my blocks and exchanges close to the table end up going out of the table, the bat has indeed great control but it's still too fast for heavy aggressive game close to the table at least for me, I just feel I couldn't tame and use this bat to it's full potential, and no I am not a beginner I have a proper technique and knowledge of the game.
To sum up, this is an amazing composite blade, it does everything with little to no effort, but, keep in mind that if you are used to all-wood blades or if you play an offensive game close to the table you might need some adjusting and taming to do.

This blade is brilliant.It provides great dwell time making it easy to carry out effective open ups.This blade is also good for counter top spinning ,when timed just right.However,as this blade is a pure attacking blade your short game needs to be brilliant!This blade works well with any rubber in the tenergy series.Great blade!

Well. The Timo Boll Alc for me ist just the classic carbon blade when it comes to modern table tennis. I've played most of the Butterfly Arylate Carbon blades and some people say they all play the same but for me this simply isnt true. The perfect Boll Alc for me weighs around 86 grams and has the best ratio of touch and speed.
I've tried so many different blades but allways came back to the ALC.


For Blocking this blade is crazy stable and just overall very consistent. Players like Fegerl, who is probably the best blocker in the world at this point, rely on this blade. Yet offensive blayers like Boll or Jao Monteiro play this blade too and this sums up my feeling for the blade. Its very stable in all shots and just overall good in every point of the game. It feels kinda hard because of the Arylte Carbon fiber but its still feels more "alive" then other pure Carbon blades.
The only thing that sometimes dissapoints me is the lack of flex of the blade, so i allways have to use enough acceleration to generate enough speed. This only effekts me on lazy days though

I have had this blade ever since it launched and there is something about this blade that makes me keep coming back to it.

It is a very well balance blade that is good for Looping, touch play, serving and also blocking. A quality built blade with a beautiful design.

This blade is good for players who like to loop close or mid distance away from the table and also for players who block. But want to add control to heir game.

I have been using this this Blade with Butterfly Tenergy 05 rubbers on both sides.

I am playing with this blade already for 7 years I think, I had to change it once, but it was my own fault for not using varnish or hairspray.

It is very fast, it has a great touch for looping, it is the best looping blade I played with. At the beginning I played with two tenergy 05 on the blade and also boosting them. I have a great control with my forehand, no problem, but with the backhand I have to admit it was kind of a disaster for blocking! I changed to Tenergy 80 on the backhand, thickness 1.7 and no booster, and it is still very, very fast. But blocking is now okay.

If you want to loop all the time and play a mix between far from the table and close, it is the best blade. If you like to block, I would not recommend it

The best blade out there for player who like to be agressiv close to the table with fast or really spinny attacks.
I started using this blade 2008 and my game stepped up immediately by 2 classes.
The durability of this blade is just incredible because the carbon makes the blade really stiff and the arylate provides that awesome feeling of control while brushing the ball thin.
It performs the best with T05. In my optinion there is no better blade in countertopsinning close to the table.
I also tryed H3 on the forehand which improved short pushing spinny attack close to the table, but lacks to much power against heavy backspin and counterspinning from half distance.
I would recommend it to agressiv players who have a really fast swing and play dominant with the forehand and like to step around.If u got that lifting Backspin is a piece of cake and the ball stays pretty low even with tons of topsin because of the low trajectory.Even though the blade still provides more than enough speed to perform great in half distance.
For me personally the only downside of this blade is controlling the backhandtopsin is a struggle,because you have to close the rackethead quite a lot.
Pushing,blocking and short recive is also not that eazy but the blade makes that up with it´s amazing offensiv capabilities.

Very comfortable blade (st handle), nice speed, nice stability and very balanced, this blade will optimized your rubbers. High quality blade. Worth your money.

A great blade to match any type of player! (except choppers)

180$ = Worth buying.

You can hit very fast balls without much effort and still have some control on small plays.
This blade goes great with Tenergy series or any tensor rubbers.
I personally like to use this blade with Chinese rubbers and it performs quite well.
When I loop the ball with this blade, I can hit the ball in the corner of table.
When I make small plays like stop, push or even flick, this blade gave me nice control on the ball.

Summery ; quite well made blade which goes well with any types of rubbers!

This is such an outstanding blade. I've played with Tenergy 05 in forehand and Tenergy 64 in backhand. This blade is very nice for backhand, you can block, attack well with Tenergy 64 and Spinny, speed forehand topspin with Tenergy 05; and great feeling and control in both hand. Its handle is just a bit small.

This blade is one of the best i've used. I have used a Timo Boll Spirit for a long time, however since my recent purchase of the Timo Boll ALC I wouldn't change it back. It fits very well with my Calibra Tour and Joola Rhythm. It is very fast on the backhand side, even though I have a Joola rubber on my backhand which is 3 months old, it still feels brand new with this blade. The blade makes the rubber react very well, the sound of the rubbers are very loud with a clean feel which gives me great confidence when playing.

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)

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.

Used this for 2 years.
Works really well with Tenergy rubbers. I have used the 05, 80, 80fx and 64.
This blade is really good for making slow, spinny, brush loops. Although it is a carbon blade, it has sufficient dwell time to create lots of spin.

hi i am using it like 4 months and im very satisfied.
its fast
loops are spinny and have loots of power.
its the perfect blade for any rubber.
i have hurr 3 neo nat on my fh and dhs g888 on my bh and i can say that everyone would be satisfied(except for the ones who like slower blades)
btw for the thin handle i use a tennis grip.
thank you!!!