Okay, let’s see.
If the links vvk1 provided give you what you were looking for, then that is good. And you don’t need more.
The rest of what I will write will explain the same thing a few others explained. Perhaps this will help make something a little clearer though.
So, since the terms better, and superior are relative terms, one would need to know how this term is qualified. Not just better than what, but better for what? Better in what ways.
Let’s see if I can give some examples that are related to TT blades.
For a beginner, it is generally BETTER to use an all wood blade that is 5 plies and has decent flex and feeling that is not too fast: like All+ to Off- in speed or slower.
Why is this generally better for a beginner: the slower all wood blade gives a player who has not yet developed the technique for contacting the ball for spin more control. The flex and added ability to feel the ball helps the player feel when contact was good because it feels good but it also punishes poor technique because on bad contact IT FEELS BAD. Whereas, a good carbon blade can mask poor contact and still produce an okay shot in spite suboptimal technique.
The wood blade allowing you to feel more also helps a learning player develop the ability to hold the ball on the rubber (topsheet and sponge) for longer which helps that developing player learning how to generate more spin.
For a beginner without a coach, or an adult who is learning the sport, these things can be important. However, for a child who is newer to TT who has a good coach, the coaches training could make these details much less important in modern play.
However, in some ways, a child beginner with a good coach may still learn to spin the ball effectively faster with an all wood blade than with a carbon blade.
For a high level player with well established good technique who knows how to spin the ball well, some of the ALC composite blades may be better than all wood blades because they allow you to obtain more speed from the blade without a significant loss of spin.
These ALC blades, in the hands of a more beginner player might slow their development. Whereas, in the hands of a player with decently developed technique, they may allow faster shots without significant loss of spin which also means: without significant loss of control.
So, one of the actual issues is: better for whom? better for what purpose?
And then there is simply personal preference. And no matter what data you look at, some players are going to prefer composite blades and other people are going to prefer all wood blades. So you can’t really say a composite blade will be better for someone who does not like composite blades.
Hopefully that gives a better picture of what caused a couple of people to have issue with the terms better and superior.
Good luck in your quest for data on what the word best means to different people with different needs. [emoji2]
Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy
