Want to know why Yinhe Pro 05 is so head heavy?

[Tyce]

Did you ever wonder why the Pro 05 is such a head heavy blade? I did, and I wasn't going to use the blade in its original state anyway, so I figured what the heck and opened it up.
I'd seen the Pro 01 opened up before, you can find it in the forums, so I had an image in my head of what I was going to find.
I fully expected hollowed handle scales, but what I found was WAY beyond my estimation...

I'm honestly not sure what I'll put in there now, there's just so much room!

 

[plunder]

so what's the exact weight of the blade

 

[\_Kairos_/]

...
I'm honestly not sure what I'll put in there now, there's just so much room!

Wood paste and lead balls (or nails).
Then put (boosted) Nittaku Hurricane 3 Blue and Orange on the blade and you will have a racket that is at least 250 gr. heavy...

 

[Tyce]

so what's the exact weight of the blade

I weighed it at 91g before, so it's heavy to start with.

 

[kapahoo]

Why, oh why?

 

[AMonteiro]

Almost all blades are like this. They just don't inform us.

Recently fixed a Xiom AJH TMXi and it's hollow like this one.

 

[SDC]

I recurrently have to say this to my customers: most commercial blades nowadays have hollow handles.

I've removed a lot of handles from commercial blades over the years and the great majority had been weight reliefed to some degree. Many times my customers want completely solid handles and have no idea they are playing with a hollow one. There's this bias towards them, but they are the norm nowadays. There's also a bias against blades heavier than 90g, so sometimes manufacturers choose weight over balance. And sometimes it really has to be like this, some compositions are heavier than others and there's no way to have a reasonable weight unless the handle is hollowed. I also know for a fact that some brands do this to get an exact weight. So for example, one blade in that model might come out with 90g exactly, but another one comes out with 95g, so they remove 5g to match the weight. The second blade will be more head heavy, and will feel very different than the first, even tough they are the same model and weight.

 

[Julzig]

You mentioned that you dont want to use this blade in its original state. What are your plans with it?

 

[Julzig]

I recurrently have to say this to my customers: most commercial blades nowadays have hollow handles.

I've removed a lot of handles from commercial blades over the years and the great majority had been weight reliefed to some degree. Many times my customers want completely solid handles and have no idea they are playing with a hollow one. There's this bias towards them, but they are the norm nowadays. There's also a bias against blades heavier than 90g, so sometimes manufacturers choose weight over balance. And sometimes it really has to be like this, some compositions are heavier than others and there's no way to have a reasonable weight unless the handle is hollowed. I also know for a fact that some brands do this to get an exact weight. So for example, one blade in that model might come out with 90g exactly, but another one comes out with 95g, so they remove 5g to match the weight. The second blade will be more head heavy, and will feel very different than the first, even tough they are the same model and weight.

Do you know if the Xiom AZXi has a hollow handle? It feels so much more dense than my Yinhe blade even with very
similar weight

 

[Tyce]

I'm not against hollow handles, and I think hollowing the scales happens a lot. It can actually improve the hand feeling of a blade for some, so why not?
In this case, it's by far the head-heaviest blade I have. It's also strongly reverberating on hard flat hits, which is uncomfortable too.

You mentioned that you dont want to use this blade in its original state. What are your plans with it?

I'm going to fill up the handle and see how it plays then. It's a nice solid playing blade when you disregard the balance and the high impact vibration.
A quick test showed that even adding just 5g near the end of the handle moves the balance by 4-5mm which brings it into balanced territory.
In my mind I would like to fill it with something wooden, that feels like it should be in there. But that's just me being somewhat autistic about it.

 

[Julzig]

I'm going to fill up the handle and see how it plays then. It's a nice solid playing blade when you disregard the balance and the high impact vibration.
A quick test showed that even adding just 5g near the end of the handle moves the balance by 4-5mm which brings it into balanced territory.
In my mind I would like to fill it with something wooden, that feels like it should be in there. But that's just me being somewhat autistic about it.

Sounds nice, looking forward to the final product.
I want to mod my Yinhe V-14 aswell, either alter the handle shape or change it comepletly. And while I'm at it I can check for any hollowness and what balance I prefer aswell.
So any insights regarding to this stuff is very welcome for me.

 

[SDC]

Do you know if the Xiom AZXi has a hollow handle? It feels so much more dense than my Yinhe blade even with very
similar weight

I never removed the handle pieces on one of those so I cannot say for sure, but it's a pretty small handle so I'm guessing it's not, or at least not much. However, that density you speak of, has probably more to do with the construction itself rather than the handle being hollowed or not.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I recurrently have to say this to my customers: most commercial blades nowadays have hollow handles.

I've removed a lot of handles from commercial blades over the years and the great majority had been weight reliefed to some degree. Many times my customers want completely solid handles and have no idea they are playing with a hollow one. There's this bias towards them, but they are the norm nowadays. There's also a bias against blades heavier than 90g, so sometimes manufacturers choose weight over balance. And sometimes it really has to be like this, some compositions are heavier than others and there's no way to have a reasonable weight unless the handle is hollowed. I also know for a fact that some brands do this to get an exact weight. So for example, one blade in that model might come out with 90g exactly, but another one comes out with 95g, so they remove 5g to match the weight. The second blade will be more head heavy, and will feel very different than the first, even tough they are the same model and weight.

any solid blade is 95gr to 98gr and tend to be the preferred weight for many high level players.
so you are right.

for amateurs, they want sub 90, so the handle is one part that is sacrificed.

there was an Indian national player asked me to test his racket, and I picked it up and said is the 84 grams blade (the rubbers were on), and he said spot on.
I told him get 88grams min

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Do you know if the Xiom AZXi has a hollow handle? It feels so much more dense than my Yinhe blade even with very
similar weight

if i recall, it is not hollow

 

[SDC]

any solid blade is 95gr to 98gr and tend to be the preferred weight for many high level players.
so you are right.

for amateurs, they want sub 90, so the handle is one part that is sacrificed.

there was an Indian national player asked me to test his racket, and I picked it up and said is the 84 grams blade (the rubbers were on), and he said spot on.
I told him get 88grams min

Not saying you are wrong, but I made handle swaps for pretty high level players, also built blades for them, and the 90g threshold is still there. I cannot say who's blade this was, but his main request was: please keep it at 90g.

This was the most extreme case I've seen, now I understand the name 😂

 

[Tyce]

Not saying you are wrong, but I made handle swaps for pretty high level players, also built blades for them, and the 90g threshold is still there. I cannot say who's blade this was, but his main request was: please keep it at 90g.

View attachment 37082

This was the most extreme case I've seen, now I understand the name 😂

View attachment 37083

Wow. This might as well be a Senso at this point.

 

[mightymouse]

This was the most extreme case I've seen, now I understand the name 😂

View attachment 37083

@hipnotic:

Is there any limit to this hollow handle, such that it starts to reduce the structural property of the blade (i.e. prone to break)??
I mean, it seems too extreme for that Donic Extreme blade.

After reading this thread, I start thinking, it might be better to buy senso type blade from Donic. At least the main wood is not hollow, only the handle. So at least it is stronger at the neck.

 

[SDC]

@hipnotic:

Is there any limit to this hollow handle, such that it starts to reduce the structural property of the blade (i.e. prone to break)??
I mean, it seems too extreme for that Donic Extreme blade.

After reading this thread, I start thinking, it might be better to buy senso type blade from Donic. At least the main wood is not hollow, only the handle. So at least it is stronger at the neck.

It's not just for that blade, it seems to be standard for Donic blades made by Soulspin, here's a WC89:

Of course, and it did happen to me actually, lesson learned. But in this case the handle is structurally sound, no need to panic about that. If the blade has to break, it will do so at the point with most stress, which is just above the tip of the handle. The handle may also detach if the glue can't withstand the forces from the blade bending back and forth, but there is enough glueing surface in there.

This is not too attack any brand or put a bad reputation on hollow handles, on the contrary, they have their place and sometimes it's needed. I just wanted to show that sometimes, players are using hollow handles and they have no idea.

 

[kapahoo]

Are they doung this just to reduce weight or is there someting else as well? Seems like a lot of work.

 

[Tyce]

Are they doung this just to reduce weight or is there someting else as well? Seems like a lot of work.

It's weight and possibly also intentional balance shift. This blade is modeled after HL5X, and that's supposed to be head heavy.
I did not expect it to feel as clunky as it does, so for me the balance is not working.