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Diff between ALC and ZLC. *(SOLVED & Closed)
Hi guys! I've been using TB ALC for 2 years now and have become very accustomed to it. The problem is that I don't like the feeling that much and want to change. I'm considering a ZLC blade but would like to know the difference between the ALC and ZLC in more detail in regards to touch, feel and control.
I'm also wondering if there's any one who tried the new innerforce layer ZLC as the old one is discontinued and that the innerforce series seems to be an answer to my problem: I want a carbon blade that has a wood feel, JM ZLC (not Super) seems like a TB ALC but with a ZLC coating and being slightly softer only which may not solve my plight. I hope to hear from you guys!
Reference: I've tried viscaria with same rubber setup and the feeling is so much better than TB ALC even if its slower and less powerful. Im not bothered with speed and power as my technique more than compensates for it.
Rubbers I like: Soft or medium rubbers with slightly above average tackiness and Tacky Chinese Rubbers.
Considering: T64 BH and Nintakku fast arc P1 FH
*EDIT: After discussing with my coach, consulting with friends and online discussion/research, I bought a JM ZLC (not SLZC). Will be testing it with T64 & Nintakku Fastarc P-1 in a about a week's time. At best this purchase will solve my problem, at worst I get to know the difference between ALC and ZLC in person. Since I've tried TB ALC and Viscaria, I will compare this new blade with them. Hopefully it will help others with similar problem make a decision.
*UPDATE I finally got the chance to test out my JM zlc with nintakku fastacr p-1 and t64. This is my first impression of ZLC vs ALC.
SPEED:
ZLC is faster but not game changing faster than ALC. Whats interesting is trajectory of flight. ALC travels like a direct bullet while ZLC feels like trampoline, accelerate and dropping down towards the end, like an arc.
CONTROL:
Both ALC and ZLC are very controllable. Whats to note here is how easy/hard it is to adjust to the playing properties of both carbon. ZLC is harder to get use to due to the flex which engages quite easily, but once you do, it is very controllable both in the short play and loop. ALC is just consistent so you can adjust easier than ZLC but its still as controllable to ALC once you get used to it.
FEEL OF STROKE:
ALC is softer but rigid, therefore when you hit the ball, there is no resistance and your strokes will be fluid.
ZLC is hard but flexible. Theres resistance when you hit hard balls and some people might hate it. Personally Im indifferent towards this resistance.
FEEDBACK of BALL:
ALC is rigid so you cant feel the ball at all when you hit it which i dont like
ZLC is flexible so despite being hard, you can certainly feel the ball. Almost like wood but slightly less feel which is great for carbon.
LOOPING:
ZLC is better in my opinion as the carbon will flex during a counterloop/loop, it negates some spin while ALC has a higher margin of error.
SWEETSPOT:
I could not feel much difference in sweetspot size, but I would like to talk about artificial sweetspot where artificial sweetspot being the spot where a normal wood blade will not be a sweetspot but is presence due to the carbon in composite blades. In ALC, you could not tell if you hit an artificial sweetspot but in ZLC you can. The ball will still travel nicely if you hit an artificial spot but you can certainly feel it so you make adjustments if you still developing or in the middle of a rally.
TOUCH:
ALC wins here as it is consistent while the ZLC will only flex when theres a certain amount of force and this amount is quite small. Therefore if you have bad touch you will engage the flex of the ZLC and the ball will go long/high which is bad. It took me a while but i could master it quite quickly. Not everyone is like me thou so reflect on yourself here.
SPIN:
No clear winner here
SERVE:
Similar to TOUCH, sometimes the flex of ZLC will engage which might affect the serve adversely if you dont intend it to do so. I still need time to master this unlike the short touch but Im confident that personal skill and practice and overcome this problem. But for unbias reasons, ALC wins as it is easier on the serve.
OTHER UNIQUE PROPERTIES:
ZLC seems to compliment a full arm chinese style loop. This is great for me as this is how I loop. European style doesnt work as well but its not impossible. Also, you have to hit it at the side and come forward more compared to ALC. Therefore its quite hard to loop backspin on the BH side.
ZLC also seems to punch everything and win including backspin. ALC could not do this
CONCLUSION:
Personally, ZLC does not seem to be for everyone. It is for me. ZLC is more suited for a one wing looper with full arm swing. ALC is a jack of all trades and suitable for 2 wing loopers. On a balance of merits, I would say ALC is surperior if you have great technique which is probably why most professionals (male) use them over ALC due to its consistency. You only want to use ZLC if it suits your style which it does for me as the performace between the 2 carbons are not significantly different unless you're at a high level (like World top 10 level) which most people are not. I hope this helps you make a decision.
WHICH BLADE TO GET?
I have not tried all blades but from online reviews and personal experience.....
ALC:
Go Viscaria as it has great feel for an ALC. It also works great with chinese rubbers. I prefer this over TB ALC as TB is only marginally faster,powerful and controllable to viscaria but viscaria has significantly more feel and better rubber synergy (in my personal opinion)
ZLC:
Similar to ALC, go JM ZLC for same reasons but exchange TB ALC with JK ZLC. I heard SZLC are not worth it as it's too powerful that it harms the players performance more than it helps them. Probably why JM and JK dont use them anymore. Not to mention the absurd price plus some owners of SZLC dont feel that much difference in performance compared to their ZLC counterpart other being slightly more powerful that it goes out of the table.
Hi guys! I've been using TB ALC for 2 years now and have become very accustomed to it. The problem is that I don't like the feeling that much and want to change. I'm considering a ZLC blade but would like to know the difference between the ALC and ZLC in more detail in regards to touch, feel and control.
I'm also wondering if there's any one who tried the new innerforce layer ZLC as the old one is discontinued and that the innerforce series seems to be an answer to my problem: I want a carbon blade that has a wood feel, JM ZLC (not Super) seems like a TB ALC but with a ZLC coating and being slightly softer only which may not solve my plight. I hope to hear from you guys!
Reference: I've tried viscaria with same rubber setup and the feeling is so much better than TB ALC even if its slower and less powerful. Im not bothered with speed and power as my technique more than compensates for it.
Rubbers I like: Soft or medium rubbers with slightly above average tackiness and Tacky Chinese Rubbers.
Considering: T64 BH and Nintakku fast arc P1 FH
*EDIT: After discussing with my coach, consulting with friends and online discussion/research, I bought a JM ZLC (not SLZC). Will be testing it with T64 & Nintakku Fastarc P-1 in a about a week's time. At best this purchase will solve my problem, at worst I get to know the difference between ALC and ZLC in person. Since I've tried TB ALC and Viscaria, I will compare this new blade with them. Hopefully it will help others with similar problem make a decision.
*UPDATE I finally got the chance to test out my JM zlc with nintakku fastacr p-1 and t64. This is my first impression of ZLC vs ALC.
SPEED:
ZLC is faster but not game changing faster than ALC. Whats interesting is trajectory of flight. ALC travels like a direct bullet while ZLC feels like trampoline, accelerate and dropping down towards the end, like an arc.
CONTROL:
Both ALC and ZLC are very controllable. Whats to note here is how easy/hard it is to adjust to the playing properties of both carbon. ZLC is harder to get use to due to the flex which engages quite easily, but once you do, it is very controllable both in the short play and loop. ALC is just consistent so you can adjust easier than ZLC but its still as controllable to ALC once you get used to it.
FEEL OF STROKE:
ALC is softer but rigid, therefore when you hit the ball, there is no resistance and your strokes will be fluid.
ZLC is hard but flexible. Theres resistance when you hit hard balls and some people might hate it. Personally Im indifferent towards this resistance.
FEEDBACK of BALL:
ALC is rigid so you cant feel the ball at all when you hit it which i dont like
ZLC is flexible so despite being hard, you can certainly feel the ball. Almost like wood but slightly less feel which is great for carbon.
LOOPING:
ZLC is better in my opinion as the carbon will flex during a counterloop/loop, it negates some spin while ALC has a higher margin of error.
SWEETSPOT:
I could not feel much difference in sweetspot size, but I would like to talk about artificial sweetspot where artificial sweetspot being the spot where a normal wood blade will not be a sweetspot but is presence due to the carbon in composite blades. In ALC, you could not tell if you hit an artificial sweetspot but in ZLC you can. The ball will still travel nicely if you hit an artificial spot but you can certainly feel it so you make adjustments if you still developing or in the middle of a rally.
TOUCH:
ALC wins here as it is consistent while the ZLC will only flex when theres a certain amount of force and this amount is quite small. Therefore if you have bad touch you will engage the flex of the ZLC and the ball will go long/high which is bad. It took me a while but i could master it quite quickly. Not everyone is like me thou so reflect on yourself here.
SPIN:
No clear winner here
SERVE:
Similar to TOUCH, sometimes the flex of ZLC will engage which might affect the serve adversely if you dont intend it to do so. I still need time to master this unlike the short touch but Im confident that personal skill and practice and overcome this problem. But for unbias reasons, ALC wins as it is easier on the serve.
OTHER UNIQUE PROPERTIES:
ZLC seems to compliment a full arm chinese style loop. This is great for me as this is how I loop. European style doesnt work as well but its not impossible. Also, you have to hit it at the side and come forward more compared to ALC. Therefore its quite hard to loop backspin on the BH side.
ZLC also seems to punch everything and win including backspin. ALC could not do this
CONCLUSION:
Personally, ZLC does not seem to be for everyone. It is for me. ZLC is more suited for a one wing looper with full arm swing. ALC is a jack of all trades and suitable for 2 wing loopers. On a balance of merits, I would say ALC is surperior if you have great technique which is probably why most professionals (male) use them over ALC due to its consistency. You only want to use ZLC if it suits your style which it does for me as the performace between the 2 carbons are not significantly different unless you're at a high level (like World top 10 level) which most people are not. I hope this helps you make a decision.
WHICH BLADE TO GET?
I have not tried all blades but from online reviews and personal experience.....
ALC:
Go Viscaria as it has great feel for an ALC. It also works great with chinese rubbers. I prefer this over TB ALC as TB is only marginally faster,powerful and controllable to viscaria but viscaria has significantly more feel and better rubber synergy (in my personal opinion)
ZLC:
Similar to ALC, go JM ZLC for same reasons but exchange TB ALC with JK ZLC. I heard SZLC are not worth it as it's too powerful that it harms the players performance more than it helps them. Probably why JM and JK dont use them anymore. Not to mention the absurd price plus some owners of SZLC dont feel that much difference in performance compared to their ZLC counterpart other being slightly more powerful that it goes out of the table.
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