Has anyone tried the new Timo Boll CAF?

me, I really liked it.
topspin blade with very weird trajectory

Table tennis blades are a little bit like presidents.

Is this a purely new design or just a relabelled blade?

somebody in polish facebook group name this blade " TIMO BOLL SPARK"

no stiffness limba outer ply
no mushy feel
its play near zylon-carbon without direct hitting, isnt fast as IFZLC
is not spinny as zylon
is more lively if I compare to ZL dead feeling
balance is more on handle, I called on polish group as muted ZLC because trajectory is high as ZLC but you have more gears

on slow shots ball have high whirl- maybe design for sp?
very well play with rasanter V47

Are we sure the fiber is not arylate (AL)? It's red too. The blade's in the same range of price as IF AL used to be. But they had taken AL blades off of their catalogue for a couple of years.

Of course, the colour is probably more of a marketing code than some material related constraint.

its not ARYLATE, I google it.
CAF on google is asbest and works like zylon
but I made mistake and
https://plastics.ulprospector.com/generics/10/cellulose-acetate-ca
here is CA material.
if you google, you will see Cellulose Acetate is brown.

What's the design of this blade?

3ply of wood + 2 CA fiber
limba- ca- kiri?
i think its kiri because this is white core.

I'm interested in this one as well. Hint hint for anyone looking to get rid of one

FruitLoop said:

What's the design of this blade?

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woody said:

Also don’t think it’s Cellulose Acetate, I think it’s just wood particles pressed together with the help of some chemicals.
You say it’s less spinny than ZLF?

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It's sawdust??

woody said:

Has anyone tried the blade and can review it?

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I got this new blade a few days ago and have been testing it out. Here is my review.


Equipment
Blade: Timo Boll CAF
-87Grams
-Flared handle

Rubbers:
Forehand Rubber: Tenergy 05 2.1mm - Black
Backhand Rubber: Tenergy 80 1.9mm - Red

Duration of Time tested:
4 days/sessions (around 8 - 10 hours)

Feel
Initially it has a more muted feel - mix between all wood and carbon (I never tried an Innerforce blade) but I imagine could be similar. Also felt a bit stiffer, more like a ZLC blade (I had Mizutani Jun ZLC and it kinda felt like that a bit). However it also feels a bit like my current favourite blade Stiga Nostalgic Allround (which is a good thing!). Its like a mix between Mizutani Jun ZLC, Stiga Nostalgic Allround and a Timo Boll ALC.
Awesome feel when looping. Very crisp and with awesome dwell time. One of the best overall feels when looping for me (with my fav Forehand rubber T05).
When blocking it feels very crisp and controlled.
Short game feel is good.
On close and slow shots, hitting the ball feels more like wood but not quite the same. Almost like a muted hard wood feel, hard to explain and I've never felt this with the 12 - 15 blades I've had/tested. When hitting slow, the blade feels more woody, when looping faster, it feels more like a carbon blade but with more feel than a carbon blade).

Speed
This blade has so many gears.
Speed on fast loops is awesome and more than fast enough to loop winners and over power opponents. The speed rating by Butterfly (10.6) is the same rating that Butterfly lists for the Butterfly Korbel blade and the Maze Performance Blade (both are 5 ply wood and I own both of these blades) so I was worried that the blade would be similar speed (which is probably a tad too slow for my liking). But to my pleasant surprise, it was way faster than those 2 blades in my opinion. I was looping against a good player at one of the clubs I practice at, and this guy was having trouble blocking back my fast loops after 2 or 3 loops which was surprising to me (to my delight!).
I'm super happy with the speed!!! I think it could be my ideal speed with T05 rubbers (mixed with the control etc).

Control
Control is just excellent for this blade. This is just as advertised! I am very shocked with the technology in this blade. It is very easy to loop with at fast, medium and slower speeds. Lifting back spin is a breeze and looping medium and low height balls is so easy. Its also easy to get good angle for forehand loops for example. For an attacking looper, every ball is up for attack from mid table and further. Blocking control is off the charts with this blade. You can absolutely return everything with this blade. It is not very spin sensitive which adds greatly to its control. Blocking is almost effortless. Short game is just so good with this blade, you can really do what you want with this blade!!

Looping
Looping is awesome with this blade. Together with T05 it is a dream looping blade. I say that because it feels really good looping, has great arc (safe) and you can attack relentlessly. Loops can be fast, medium or slow - all very effective. Fast loops are very very fast and powerful (obviously depends on your technique). The blade has a lot of touch so you can easilly do medium spinny loops or super slow and spinny brush loops that fly off your opponents racquet. How a blade loops is very important to me and it needs to have a lot of gears (not just be good at kill loops for example). Spin variation in looping is important to me and this blade can do it all, and very well.
I am still trying to get used to the backhand for looping for now, but when looped properly on the backhand (T80 1.9) loops are very high arc, spinny and fast and deadly throw angle. FYI my backhand is not as strong as my forehand. I can't wait to get more used to this for backhand looping - very exciting.

Lifting Back Spin
Lifting backspin is so easy with this blade. I think the deep hold that the blade was designed with really helps it here. Also, when you lift back spin and brush the ball well it generates lots of spin and flies off your opponents racquet hahaha.

Spin sensitivity
Not very spin sensitive at all. This is a huge plus and just makes this blade so much more dangerous. I have the Timo Boll ALC and that is so spin sensitive, if you can't handle it then it will go against you more than help you against spinny opponents (along with its less feel due to the ALC layers). The Timo Boll CAF is almost cheating where you can generate lots of spin to use against your opponents but their spin doesn't really affect you. Its great!! Once again, new technology is so good for this.

Blocking
Blocking is effortless on this blade. It truly is a weapon in this area. So much control, coupled with its low spin sensitivity, its easy to block anything from super fast smashes to super spinny flicks and fast spinny loops. Speed on blocks is really good too and fast enough to do damage when placed effectively.

Throw Angle
Arc is very good (but this is based on using T05 of course). Not as crazy high as the Timo Boll ALC but a very nice safe attacking arc. Its perfect for me and with T05 its an awesome pairing. My opinion is that its paired exceptionally well with T05 and easy to control from an angle perspective - one of the best I've tried out of around 15 blades. I'm very happy with its throw angle.

Deep Hold
Has excellent deep hold, one of it's strongest features. Really helps when looping, especially when top spinning low balls (and backspin balls).

Sweet Spot
Sweet spot is really really good. Feels very large almost like an ALC blade.

Quality/Craftsmanship
Very high quality as with all Butterfly products. I personally love the handle, its just right for me (flared) and very nimble.

Short Game
Incredible short game considering the speed of the blade. Pushes are short and very controlled. Can place your returns and short shots anywhere because this blade is not sensitive to spin which adds to accuracy of the short game! Very impressive and a game changer for me.

Pushing/Chopping
Is very good here. Very easy to chop and push short.

Downsides
As someone that has been using all wood blades for the past 2 years, I think there is less feel that an all wood blade due to the CA Fiber layers. But I would say its a step in between a wood blade and a carbon blade in terms of feel. I still love the all wood blade feel, but I am willing to stick to this blade for now to see how I adapt to it. This less woody feel as compared to an all woodblade is its major downside but that can't be helped!

Summary and Conclusion
This blade I feel is a mid-way blade between an allwood blade and a full on carbon blade (such as the Timo Boll ALC and Viscaria). It has looping and attacking strengths of a carbon blade (higher speed, power, spin, large sweet spot) but has some of the strengths of an all wood blade (more control, touch, more feel, low spin sensitivity, better short game). I think this blade could be perfect for medium to advanced amateur players who are not pro level). Although this blade has a lot of control, I don't think its suited for beginners due to slight lack of feel compared to an all wood blade and that when hit hard it is relatively fast. It is definitely a loopers blade from my perspective but I have not tried smashing with it cause I am more of a looper. So this blade is like a hybrid of an offensive all wood blade and an offensive carbon blade. I am going to stick to this for now (although I miss the feel of a pure all wood blade) but I am playing really well with it so far!! Will give an update in 3-4 weeks, see how it goes. I hope this helps others because I struggled to find any detailed reviews on this blade. I am planning to play with this blade for at least 1 year before I move onto hopefully my final blade Timo Boll ALC ( its in my drawer waiting for me ...) but I will not be surprised if I stick to this Timo Boll CAF and never get to the Timo Boll ALC because speed and looping/sweetspot is similar, but Timo Boll CAF has much better control, less spin sensitivity and good enough power, better short game etc. Lets see how it goes! I think its a perfect transition blade from an all wood blade to a special material blade (before moving onto a full on carbon blade such as an ALC/ZLC blade). The fact that its 5 ply is also awesome (I love 5 ply blades more than 7 ply).

Una pregunta, para un jugador de nivel medio ofensivo?

thanks. very helpful.

Lo encontráis algo incontrolable para un jugador nivel medio?