slow carbon blades / ZLC - purpose

Their purpose is to help with spin and help maintain a more stable and consistent drive.

The other stuff you wrote (ZLC? what does ZLC have to do with it) is a bit off base.

I have played table tennis more than 40 yrs, with a lot good players also. From my experience ( I could be wrong ) , and also discuss with my friends about what and which bat is good. In fact most of them said, bat it depends on a lot , your style, what rubbers you put on, and how you feel after you put on the rubbers. Manufacturer makes bat with wood, they can not find the exact same wood every bat, the one your friend has and it is good for your friend , when you go to buy the same bland , it may not be the same. Sometime buying a bat depends on a bit luck. Most of the description and what your friend said are the guide line, you may need to buy a few and then eventually you will find a very good one for yourself. I have tried so hard and bought 5 bat and none of them were good, at last I bought two exactly same bland and style bats in China, I was warned they both may be very good or rubbish, I found one of them was perfect for me. That is totally by luck.

iamsan said:

i dont get the deal about the slow carbon blades, …

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It's not the player that hits the fastest balls that takes the game.

It's not the one that hits the spinniest shots that takes the game.

The one that manages to land the most shots on the other end of the table wins. I think that's why.

I've toned down from an outer layer ALC blade to an innner layer ALC blade, for that reason. I did lose some matches due to unforced errors, suboptimal receives and receive errors; even serving errors, even when heavily outgunning the opponent. Not anymore. I've yet to lose a match.

That's a matter of mastery, of course. I think you should pick the gear that lets you exert pressure, but does not take you past basic solidity. If you're solid with the Butterfly TriCarbon, the DHS Hurricane Long 5 or the Schildkröt 900, by all means go for it! (If you are that one, I salute you, Ma Long. Good luck with that final later today!) As long as you're not, tone down a bit. If you're not landing sufficient percentages on the other end anymore, you're toast.

The biggest factor for using carbon or other composites is the improved sweetspot.
In my research on light blades, carbon is an important factor in maintaining decent playing properties, stiffness and feel of a blade.

The idea that composite blades are all fast rockets, is a bit outdated. Last year I trained and player competition with a handmade 68g carbon blade that was ALL+/OFF-.

So Carbon blades can be usefull for all types of players, as long as the properties fit the player's style and level.