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Xiom Hugo SAL and 36.5 Deep Impact ALX
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I guess that speed might be a factor and I can relate to that. Albeit it's high control, the ALX is a fast blade. The rubbers I use are not fast ones, but there's a great feeling of push behind them from the lively and springy blade. With fast tensor rubbers things could get really wild. I wouldn't recommend the ALX for a beginner entering intermediate level. Middle to advanced intermediate or higher level players using rather hard sponges (47.5 degrees and above) could exploit it's high values.
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As a rule of thumb inner structures have lower COR (coefficient of restitution) compared to outer structures that are usually harder and stiffer, thus making inner slower than outer structures. But this is a generalization and doesn't say anything about blade power (a function of material properties - density and thickness of layers - and technology used). In real life a player might produce faster batter quality strokes with inner structures, it is a question on confidence/control.
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Cannot say anything about SAL but I've tried a friends ICECREAM AZXi and my recollection is that it's slower than ALX. Generally speaking it should be slower but YMMV.
Comparisons in these manner are usually very limited. To have a batter view one should use same rubbers , blades compared to have same mass and use same glue and gluing method. Further more, two blades of same mass can be very different, rubbers are not uniform in terms of mass, density and thickness and so on.
Producer's specs. should make more sense in guidance if it is to compare blades of same brand. Haven't seen any specs on Xiom's site though for ALX.
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I don't know about AZXi, but I own a SAL and an ALX and an AZX and the speed is SAL < ALX << AZX. They are all around 85/86g. The difference between AZX and the others is very notable. Difference between SAL and ALX is minor. All played with the same Omega 7 Pro rubbers. So I can't imagine the AZXi is so much slower than AZX.
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probably not so big a difference but the AZX just a little bit faster than the AZXi based on the structure?
tt_beginner;357246
probably not so big a difference but the AZX just a little bit faster than the AZXi based on the structure?
Things are very relative here. There are two aspects to consider when it comes to speed: Primary elasticity and Central elasticity. Please check TTGEARLAB site.
I see primary elasticity as the speed at lower energy impact and bounce (service return, drives, loops, flips, etc.) and central elasticity the speed at thicker contacts, like smash, loop kill, more direct topspins. Central deflection says much about blade power.
I see these in the three blades I own:
1. Viscaria : primary elasticity high, central elasticity medium+
The blade is fast and the power is good. Stiffness medium to medium +
2. Xiom ALX : primary elasticity high+, central elasticity medium to medium -
Very fast blade with enough power. Stiffness medium to medium -
3. Hand/craft-made blade, Viscaria structure with aramid-carbon instead of arylate-carbon: primary elasticity medium, central elasticity high
Apparently allround + blade but brutally powerful. Stiffness medium+ to high.
Handle also has an input, especially when it comes to power and spin. It's mass and geometry contribute in interesting ways.
1. Medium neck thickness: very good balance of power and spin, high power and high spin for BH; good for FH.
2. Medium - thickness: very good spin (allows highest space for wrist movement) but some lack in power in BH; OK forehand;
3. Medium + thickness: very high power but lower spin (less space for wrist) for the BH; very good stability for forehand;
Among the three Viscaria is the best for BH and the custom blade is best for FH. The ALX recovers ground with speed, superb control, feeling and very high spin potential. These are very subjective as there are no two identical hands
For the record I'm 180 cm high with average hands but thin fingers and palm.
To make things even more relative and complicated, two identical blades in terms of mass (let's say two Viscarias), same production lot, won't have same characteristics. Wood density is not identical within a tree. In average things are OK
probably not so big a difference but the AZX just a little bit faster than the AZXi based on the structure?
Things are very relative here. There are two aspects to consider when it comes to speed: Primary elasticity and Central elasticity. Please check TTGEARLAB site.
I see primary elasticity as the speed at lower energy impact and bounce (service return, drives, loops, flips, etc.) and central elasticity the speed at thicker contacts, like smash, loop kill, more direct topspins. Central deflection says much about blade power.
I see these in the three blades I own:
1. Viscaria : primary elasticity high, central elasticity medium+
The blade is fast and the power is good. Stiffness medium to medium +
2. Xiom ALX : primary elasticity high+, central elasticity medium to medium -
Very fast blade with enough power. Stiffness medium to medium -
3. Hand/craft-made blade, Viscaria structure with aramid-carbon instead of arylate-carbon: primary elasticity medium, central elasticity high
Apparently allround + blade but brutally powerful. Stiffness medium+ to high.
Handle also has an input, especially when it comes to power and spin. It's mass and geometry contribute in interesting ways.
1. Medium neck thickness: very good balance of power and spin, high power and high spin for BH; good for FH.
2. Medium - thickness: very good spin (allows highest space for wrist movement) but some lack in power in BH; OK forehand;
3. Medium + thickness: very high power but lower spin (less space for wrist) for the BH; very good stability for forehand;
Among the three Viscaria is the best for BH and the custom blade is best for FH. The ALX recovers ground with speed, superb control, feeling and very high spin potential. These are very subjective as there are no two identical hands
For the record I'm 180 cm high with average hands but thin fingers and palm.To make things even more relative and complicated, two identical blades in terms of mass (let's say two Viscarias), same production lot, won't have same characteristics. Wood density is not identical within a tree. In average things are OK
I bought the SAL (87g) during T11 Black Friday sale, my initial thoughts after todays 4 hour session.
I really liked it with Vega X (max). Can’t really go wrong with this on either side, the throw angle is just right and gives really good confidence when performing any attacking shot - high arching looping, flatter loop driving, smashing and active/passive blocking. The medium hardness of the sponge and catapult felt great straight away. On the negative, I’m having issues on service (going too long and not as much spin) and touch receives, though by the end it was much better. With another 2-5 sessions I believe I will have these back close to my usual level, though not exceeding. As a positive, on receives it just made me banana flick everything, it’s quite fabulous in this respect.
On the other side I had Rakza Z Extra Hard (max). Initially I played on the backhand side for the first 2 hours and then switched to forehand for the last 2 hours. For me Rakza Z EH needs a softer and more catapulty wood as I found it just a tad too slow and I couldn’t get it to sink/hit into the sponge enough. It seemed to leave just slightly too quickly compared to thicker kiso hinoki outer ply blades that I play really well with - Gergely 21 (OFF+), Xiom Zetro Quad (higher end OFF) and Dr Neubauer Hercules (ALL+) as the most recent examples.
Passive blocking and spin loaded short pushes was the highlight followed by drive looping kills on forehand and bigger swing backhand loops. Smashing on forehand and active blocking on backhand was not great at all, it was abit of a disaster actually and didn’t get too much better by the end. For me, it’s definitely the hardness of the sponge not matching with the blade and not technique related as when I use my JRE with Rozena 2.1 these types of shots are clear strengths.
For me, I believe the matching for SAL for Euro/Jap type rubbers is sponge hardness less than 52.5 deg. I’ll keep with this current combination for the next month at least and see if anything changes.
I only practice for fun 2-3 times a week so my preference is Euro/Jap or Hybrid rubbers. I did use XuShaoFa/Globe 999 for 2 years when I trained every day in the 90’s, though going back to H3 is too much hassle due to spin sensitivity. I do have a brand new Gold Arc 8 50 deg and Xiom O7C Ying 60 deg that I may experiment with next to see if my initial suspicions on sponge hardness are correct.
I really liked it with Vega X (max). Can’t really go wrong with this on either side, the throw angle is just right and gives really good confidence when performing any attacking shot - high arching looping, flatter loop driving, smashing and active/passive blocking. The medium hardness of the sponge and catapult felt great straight away. On the negative, I’m having issues on service (going too long and not as much spin) and touch receives, though by the end it was much better. With another 2-5 sessions I believe I will have these back close to my usual level, though not exceeding. As a positive, on receives it just made me banana flick everything, it’s quite fabulous in this respect.
On the other side I had Rakza Z Extra Hard (max). Initially I played on the backhand side for the first 2 hours and then switched to forehand for the last 2 hours. For me Rakza Z EH needs a softer and more catapulty wood as I found it just a tad too slow and I couldn’t get it to sink/hit into the sponge enough. It seemed to leave just slightly too quickly compared to thicker kiso hinoki outer ply blades that I play really well with - Gergely 21 (OFF+), Xiom Zetro Quad (higher end OFF) and Dr Neubauer Hercules (ALL+) as the most recent examples.
Passive blocking and spin loaded short pushes was the highlight followed by drive looping kills on forehand and bigger swing backhand loops. Smashing on forehand and active blocking on backhand was not great at all, it was abit of a disaster actually and didn’t get too much better by the end. For me, it’s definitely the hardness of the sponge not matching with the blade and not technique related as when I use my JRE with Rozena 2.1 these types of shots are clear strengths.
For me, I believe the matching for SAL for Euro/Jap type rubbers is sponge hardness less than 52.5 deg. I’ll keep with this current combination for the next month at least and see if anything changes.
I only practice for fun 2-3 times a week so my preference is Euro/Jap or Hybrid rubbers. I did use XuShaoFa/Globe 999 for 2 years when I trained every day in the 90’s, though going back to H3 is too much hassle due to spin sensitivity. I do have a brand new Gold Arc 8 50 deg and Xiom O7C Ying 60 deg that I may experiment with next to see if my initial suspicions on sponge hardness are correct.
Gold Arc 8 Max and Omega 7 China Ying Max both play well with SAL.
The issue was with Rakza Z EH not harmonising well with this blade. The feeling with the rubber is too numb with the slight stickiness not helping. I still stand by Rakza Z EH and thicker Hinoki surface pairing great together.
Back to the SAL, if I wanted to play to my highest potential level or needed to restructure my strokes to make a level jump I would definitely choose this blade as the control is amazing and the sweet spot is across the whole face. It’s an excellent backhand blade no doubt, no vibration, so as long as I perform a decent stroke the ball will drop in, it’s very forgiving.
However as table tennis is now for exercise/fun I need something with a little bit more pop and excitement, the SAL for me doesn’t have this extra acceleration/finishing power for my technique that makes me go wow.
Even though Hugo uses the slightly faster HAL I really respect his dedication and technique to be able to generate so much speed and finishing power on both wings - especially his backhand.
The issue was with Rakza Z EH not harmonising well with this blade. The feeling with the rubber is too numb with the slight stickiness not helping. I still stand by Rakza Z EH and thicker Hinoki surface pairing great together.
Back to the SAL, if I wanted to play to my highest potential level or needed to restructure my strokes to make a level jump I would definitely choose this blade as the control is amazing and the sweet spot is across the whole face. It’s an excellent backhand blade no doubt, no vibration, so as long as I perform a decent stroke the ball will drop in, it’s very forgiving.
However as table tennis is now for exercise/fun I need something with a little bit more pop and excitement, the SAL for me doesn’t have this extra acceleration/finishing power for my technique that makes me go wow.
Even though Hugo uses the slightly faster HAL I really respect his dedication and technique to be able to generate so much speed and finishing power on both wings - especially his backhand.
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I have been using Hugo HAL for almost a year and recently purchased the 36.5 ALX. Just wanted to leave some feedback for anyone who is thinking about getting this blade in the future.
I am amazed by the 36.5 ALX, even though it has a viscaria-type composition it feels alot softer, and alot more controllable. It really feels similar to an all-wood blades at times, and I was able to switch from the Hugo HAL to the 36.5 ALX without any adjustment time. This is impressive to me because when I used Viscaria / Zhang Jike ALC, the blades had this typical metallic ALC feel with vibrations that I couldnt get used to easily. Only when hitting really hard the BTY ALC blades had a good feedback, but I am not at a level where I can consistently hit hard during match play. With the 36.5 ALX, at any gear (slow - medium -fast ), the feeling is soft and comfortable. 36.5 ALX is really the perfect entrance into carbon blades if you have been using blades with KOTO outer layer before. Slightly slower than Viscaria but still packs a punch, good in the short game, excellent feedback, and fairly easy to play if you are an intermediate level player.
And one of the big plus for me, the build quality of the 36.5 ALX is very high, great craftsmanship, while on sale it only cost 90€. I really do believe this is a steal for this kind of blade. If you are an advanced player, I guess Viscaria is better, but if you are anything below that, just go with the 36.5.
I am amazed by the 36.5 ALX, even though it has a viscaria-type composition it feels alot softer, and alot more controllable. It really feels similar to an all-wood blades at times, and I was able to switch from the Hugo HAL to the 36.5 ALX without any adjustment time. This is impressive to me because when I used Viscaria / Zhang Jike ALC, the blades had this typical metallic ALC feel with vibrations that I couldnt get used to easily. Only when hitting really hard the BTY ALC blades had a good feedback, but I am not at a level where I can consistently hit hard during match play. With the 36.5 ALX, at any gear (slow - medium -fast ), the feeling is soft and comfortable. 36.5 ALX is really the perfect entrance into carbon blades if you have been using blades with KOTO outer layer before. Slightly slower than Viscaria but still packs a punch, good in the short game, excellent feedback, and fairly easy to play if you are an intermediate level player.
And one of the big plus for me, the build quality of the 36.5 ALX is very high, great craftsmanship, while on sale it only cost 90€. I really do believe this is a steal for this kind of blade. If you are an advanced player, I guess Viscaria is better, but if you are anything below that, just go with the 36.5.
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Can you compare the HAL to the TB ZLF you had before it? These are the 2 blades Im considering as "upgrades" from all-wood as I don't feel like I'll ever need carbon.
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EJ time has finally ended, what a relief!
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So finally someone but me discovered how great is this blade - speaking for this site.
This blade is simply the extension of my hand. Awesome product by Xiom.
maybe i can help you a bit, since i play xiom HAL and also tried a tb ZLF one time with the same rubber i had back then. for me the ZLF feels a bit harder and a bit more artificial then the HAL and has more catapult. also the handle is totally different. the throw is also a bit different due to the catapult but speedwise they are the same. i would say the ZLF is much closer to the blade you play already (nittaku acoustic), just because of the handle and how it plays. i see the HAL more as an downgrade from a outercarbon koto blades, then an upgrade from a 5ply allwood limba blades like acoustic. if you go from limba wood blade to HAL it could be that the transition takes a long time, because it plays just so different and more like a toned down and soft outercarbon. so you should try it out somewhere first! for me it was a fit, but i played hard allwood blades before.
*i don't want to confuse you with you choice, but since for me the blade is the most sensitive choice you make, because you mostly play with it over several years and it gives the most feeling, i wanna give you another advice if you want:*
i think a more easy upgrade coming from the acoustic would be a inner carbon blade. then you just need to adapt to the speed and this works easier and faster. when i looked for slower inner carbon blades people said the xiom ALXi or the Fang Bo B2/Ma Long HL5 or something like the nittaku inodori. and if you don't want any carbon, then you have the option between the xiom hayabusa ZLF blade and the Victas Gear-Fiber that are both without carbon but innerfiber blades
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Interesting that you know about me using the TB ZLF. The TB ZLF and the Hugo HAL are the blades that I used the most. I can try to compare them. All subjective impressions of course.
1. Hugo HAL's handle is alot more comfortable than TB ZLF handle. Hugo HAL handle is more like viscaria, thicker type and semi-wide. TB ZLF handle is long and thin.
2. Sweetspot on Hugo HAL is much bigger than TB ZLF. HAL sweetspot is huge and comfortable. With TB ZLF, the blade will vibrate alot if you dont hit near the center of the blade. The ball quality will still be high, but the vibrations were annoying. Also, overall, TB ZLF vibrates more than HAL.
3. Speed of the blades is similar near the table. For me, HAL is more direct, and better for hitting more into the blade. It feels more solid. But HAL can also have a very high arc, just depends on how much you open up your bat.
TB ZLF feels great for topspins near the table, with very spinny and controlled shots. But less solid. Maybe it has to do with the core or thickness of the blade. TB ZLF is alot thinner than HAL (5.4mm vs 5.7mm if I remember correctly).
From mid-distance, HAL is alot better. You can generate quite decent power even from further away from the table. With TB ZLF not really, its better to stay closer to the table.
4. In the end, if you are an average club level player, both blades are fine. It will come down to which handle you like more. And, it will come down to which vibrations and feeling of fiber you like more (hyper axylium vs zylon).
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Yes, I mostly agree. Though, I also went from 5 ply limba blade (OG version of samsonov premium contact) to Hugo HAL. It was a big change, but in hindsight, it paid of completly. Therefore, its hard to suggest a blade. He just has to try it out.
I would suggest to just go with what you want to play with the most, but then stick to it for at least a couple of months.
some questions i would have to you: what made you change from HAL to ALX? like what playing properties you wanted that the HAL didn’t give you? and is there something that you miss about the HAL compared to ALX?
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