Butterfly Timo Boll ZLC

Product information

Brand
Butterfly
Category
Blades
Reviews
5
Rating
4.40 star(s) 5 ratings
Price
$230

User stats

Speed
9.2
Control
7.9
Hardness
6.9
Durability
8.8

Reviews summary

3
 
60%
1
 
20%
1
 
20%
0
 
0%
0
 
0%
Overall rating
4.40 star(s) 5 ratings

Item details

The Timo Boll ZLC is an offensive blade in the Butterfly Boll Series. Butterfly have developed a material called ZL Carbon which keeps this blade fast and the ZL fibres make it light and flexible. This is a high performance blade with ZL Carbon, enables high rebound and flexibility at the same time.

Latest reviews

Pros
  • Great touch
  • Good for blockin
Cons
  • Too fast
  • Expensive
I tried the TB ZLC with Donic's Desto F1 on the forehand and Andro Hexer Duro on the backhand side. The blade is genuinely fast, has a fairly linear stroke. One more thing i noticed with the blade was its almost consistent bounce. Due to that counter rallies + blocking is almost effortless. Smashing is quite easy too. The problem is close the the table play and opening loops. I had to be extra careful with the opening loops as due to the speed of the blade the ball sprays away from the table very easily.
All in all this is a good blade if you're looking for smash-block sort of game. If you're an old-school close to the table player then this blade probably isn't meant for you.
Speed
10
Control
6
Hardness
7.7
Durability
7.8
Pros
  • Good speed
  • Good dwell time
  • OK control
Cons
  • Poor feeling
  • Reactive to spin
I used this blade with Hrrricane 8, Tenergy 05 and Acuda S1 Turbo on my forehand. Hurricane 2 and Tibhar MX-P on my backhand.
This blade id definetly and OFF blade as it supplies good speed even when performing small strokes. What makes this blade great is the fact that the high speed does not remove it's high dwell time which allows the player to open-up well off a backspin ball and loop safely over the net with lots of spin.
I would not recommend this blade for using with hard chinese rubbers such as the Hurricane series, I will explain why later. On the other hand, using slightly softer tensor rubbers like the Acuda S1 Turbo and the Tibhar MX-P is recommended by me as that is what the blade was designed for. This type of combination will supply you with the most satisfaction out of the blade as the blade allows you to spin the ball well and attack the opponent with good placement for an offensive blade.
The downside of this blade is that it has a Disgusting feeling. Yes, this blade does not feel good for most people with a fairly average level of feeling for the ball. This is why the combiantion of a hard rubber like the Hurricane 8 and a hard stiff blade like the TB ZLC is not good. You can hardly feel what you are doing and the ball can very easily fly off the end during rallies.
Another downside to this blade is that it is very reactive to incomeing spin on serves which makes service return quite difficult, especially short touches as the speed of the blade and it's stifness make it hard to stop the ball flying long.
But it's ot all doom and gloom, if you do have a good hand and you have very good feeling (like Chris Doran for example - feel free to check out his game on youtube) you will easily be able to use this blade without any difficulties. However, even players like Timo Boll himself prefer the ALC version because it supplies the player with a greater amount of feeling and less reactivity to incoming spin. I would recommend this blade for professional players or good intermediate players with a lot of feeling.
P.S. I would rate this blade a 3/4 as the performance of the blade largely depends on the player that is using it
Mat
Speed
9.5
Control
7.5
Hardness
8
Durability
9.5
Pros
  • CONTROL WELL
  • fast for me
Cons
  • none
its the best blade ive ever used, it is very controllable but with speed and power. I super love this blade!
Speed
9
Control
10
Hardness
5.7
Durability
9
Pros
  • Comfortable
  • Good Control
  • Amazing Speed
Not bad this is a really good blade for loopers and I've just got it and I'm loving it more than the Zhang Jike Super ZLC I had tried before. Definitely is capable to add lots of speed on the ball.
Speed
8.7
Control
8.6
Hardness
6.9
Durability
9.1
Pros
  • Good Speed
  • Confortable
Cons
  • Very expensive
This is a high capacity blade with ZL Carbon that enables lightness, high rebound force and flexibility at the same time.
This is a perfect blade for the power attacker who likes to both loop and smash to win points.
Speed
8.9
Control
7.2
Hardness
6.1
Durability
8.4
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