price does not mean quality in tt. price indicates research and expensive materials. So your top Butterfly blades with use more expensive woods and highly researched carbon. Generally, more offensive blades are more expensive, because they use harder woods. Harder woods: rosewood, koto, walnut, ebony, etc, generally come from exotic climates are are more scarce, so they cost more. Ayous is a very common African wood, and used in nearly all commercial blades. It is very cheap, but grows in a way that different cuts of the wood give different hardness. So it's ideal for making tt blades. I have a 20 dollar chinese made, all Ayous five ply blade, and my coach likes it more than his Butterfly ALC blade...I've heard that in china, although they are the fore front of offensive play, they do not give offensive blades to developing players. And I completely agree. With a slower blade, it not only increases your chances of controlling and spinning the ball, it also increases your feel on the ball and forces you to put more effort into your offensive strokes. at whatever level you play at, you should be putting a hell of a lot of effort into all of your offensive strokes. If I was using an offensive blade, I would win 100% of all the 3rd ball attacks I landed. with my ALL+ blade, I win 85% of my 3rd ball attacks I land, but am successful a hell of a lot more. There are a lot of teenagers at my club that use fancy offensive carbon blades and then do somewhat lazy strokes with a lot of effect. of course, nothing will feel better than hitting the perfect shot with your HH3. but how many of those shots do you hit? probably not enough to make the blade worthwhile; if you think you blade is too fast, it's definitely too fast. If you think your blade is too slow, you may want to start hitting the ball harder and reconsider. My view is: start with a Allround or all+ blade. once you are demolishing all those around you or really really understand that your consistency is on point, but you need more speed, move up to off-. As a penholder, you will find that a lot of offensive blades and off+ are unsuitable. This is mostly because of their weight: penhold, mostly rpb, puts far more strain on the wrist than SH. but remember that as a penholder, your feel, control and spin are your greatest assets. I would not be surprised if I never move beyond Off- in speed category, because my consistency and speed are far more important.
There are lots of great PH blades that I think would suit you well. I would only go for blades 85 grams or lighter. this cuts down your options a lot! from my research I have found that the hurricane hao 1, stiga OC, Avalox BT-550, Xiom Fuga, and nittaku septear all fit this bill very nicely. I've settled on my BT for now, and yes, it is slower than my last blade, and sometimes you end up with rallies, but its a ****ing spin machine!! and the flex and feel is so enjoyable, you'll enjoy every loop that much more. if you desperately want something more offensive (which i never reccommend), the hurricane hao 2, Ma lin EO, stiga intensity, stiga infinity and nittaku violin are all high end rpb blades. my coach has an infinity and it's awesome, and I had a chance using a violin (although it was SH) and that blade is simply beautiful. so much speed but the most feeling i've ever had with a blade. but they are expensive and it's hard to find ones that are under 85 grams. it's important to remember that as SH is so much more popular than PH, brands very rarely make blades specifically with PH in mind. obviously the Ma Lin and Wang hao models are exceptions, as are Jpen blades, but mostly a blade that works for PH will invariably work SH. a blade that works for SH will in most cases be unsuitable for PH. so don't be deceived by the fact that a lot a big brands make their blades with a PH handle. it doesnt mean it was designed to be played that way...
