I think there’s more to it than just classifying OFF as ALL. In the 40+ era, I think we need a different scale completely. ALL used to mean that it was suitable for an all rounder player. But most ALL blades now can be used for nothing but defensive styles. They’re just too slow for 40+ ball. I think the current all rounder players should go for OFF- blades, and we need another category of OFF++ to describe some crazy fast blades. I’m not sure what blade qualifies as DEF- anymore. Also, there’s a world of difference between OFF- carbon and all wood blades.
Sometimes it occurs to me that maybe there’s really no objective way to describe the speed of a blade without considering other factors such as rubbers, weight, etc. and this categorisation might be useless anyway.
Defensive blades usually have a much larger head size. So an allround blade used as a defensive blade is usually slower and riskier because the smaller head of the allround blade does not give as big a window of room for error.
The larger blade face gives a little more speed and a lot more feeling and flex. So they can design the blades where it would be slower if the head was the size of an offensive blade head. But this also makes the racket speed and recovery speed not as fast on the offensive shots.
Head size options that OSP gives for one of their defensive blades are:
small: 161mm x 155mm
medium: 163mm x 157mm
large: 165mm x 159mm
A standard size for an Off+, Off, Off-, All+ or All blade would be around: 157mm x 150mm.
There are blades with smaller heads than that. There are blades with larger heads than that. But that is very standard. Here are a few that have that head size:
TB ALC, TB ZLC (all TB blades really), Viscaria, ZJK series, Stiga Clipper, Primorac, Stiga Allround Classic, Allround Evolution, Offensive Classic.....I could go on.
Two blades that have a smaller head size than 157x150 are Stiga Rosewood XO and Stiga Allround NCT.
Two blades that have a slightly larger head than 157x150 are the Korbel and the Stratus Power Wood. Which is why these two are faster than one might expect. And also why they can tend to be head heavey.
So, control and head size are often part of what defines a Defensive blade rather than speed. Whereas, an Allround blade is supposed to be okay for everything without necessarily being exceptional at anything.
I do think, in spite of the new ball, a beginner using a blade that is too fast will hamper their development much more than a beginner using a blade that is a little on the slow side. The slower blade makes you work harder and your technique develops faster. The faster blade makes beginners cut down their strokes so they don't hit the ball long and slows the development of good stroke technique.
Stratus Power Wood is not an Allround blade regardless of the ball. And it may be an okay blade to start with. But it is likely a little faster than it should be for someone who is lower level than say, 1500 (USATT). So, that would actually be someone who usually would usually think of himself as an intermediate level player although I might think of that as a beginner.
