Why is my new setup so slow? DHS 301 and Rasant.

Hi guys - I recently bought a new DHS 301 composite blade after playing with my Andro Temper Tech OFF for 3 years as I wanted an upgrade. I did my due diligence and read lots of reviews online about the 301 before purchasing and most reviews seemed to be glowing. Most reviews seemed to agree that the 301 has very good touch for a composite blade but also has decent power when you need it (for example, when drive looping).

I slapped some Andro Rasants on the 301 and had a go with it last night in my first league match of the night (my Temper Tech has Rasanter R47s).

Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed as I was expecting an upgrade in speed from my Temper Tech and I found the 301 to be almost unbearably slow. In addition, I found that I couldn't get as much spin as I could from my old blade and that some of my loop shots seemed to slip off the rubber.

The Temper Tech is a 5-ply all wood blade, and, although it is an OFF blade I did think that the 301 (being a 7-ply composite) would surely be an upgrade in maximum speed. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding how these things work. I actually find my Stiga All-Round Classic (with the same rubbers) to be faster and grippier than the 301.

I find looping with the Temper Tech very good and I've never had that sensation of the ball barely gripping the rubber like I did with the 301. Did I do something wrong when gluing the rubbers? Perhaps my technique is not suited to the 301 and I need to adjust?

bircham boi said:

Why would your first experience with the new setup be under match conditions? Nothing is going to go well if you haven't practised and adjusted to the new equipment.

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That is a good point. I just came back from overseas so I didn't get a chance to practice with the new blade. I ended up switching back to my Temper Tech after the first match. I never thought the difference between my old setup and my new setup to be so huge.

lasta said:

The 301 has a fair bit of flex and slow by composite standards, whereas the Temper Techs are some of the fasts woods ever, I can also confirm DHS wildly overestimates their blade ratings. If you look at the latest compilation, 301's "vibration frequency" is in the 1300 range whereas the Temper Tech is in the mid-high 1500s (indication of very high stiffness). Sorry to rain down on your new gear, if you like the feel, keep playing and don't worry about stats.

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Yes - I have had people say that they've rarely seen an all-wood setup as fast as mine but I, perhaps naively, thought that a composite blade would be faster (or at least as fast as my Temper Tech).

lasta said:

I'm not sure which version you have, but if you want a power upgrade, move from the Temper Tech to the TTec OFF+. A thicker Clipper (7mm+) would also be good, more solid feel but maybe less spring than the TTec. If you want stiff but keep the spring (ie non-linear, high catapult feel), my latest acquisition Adidas C300 is 7.3mm thick, Vibro measures 1670!

Personally I'm missing my Temper Tech OFF+ version. Put it in long term storage thinking it was too fast at the time, might pick up another one locally!

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This is my old blade: https://revspin.net/blade/andro-temper-tech-off.html

I like it a lot, although the handle is just a tiny bit too short. Unless I can adapt to the 301, I will continue using the Temper Tech OFF, I think.

The OFF+ also looks like it could be a good next step for me. Although, with the new Andro blade catalogue, I'm not sure the Temper Tech OFF+ will be around for purchase much longer.

May I ask, what blade are you currently using the most?

I'm really trying to resist the urge to try again (and become an EJer ) with a different blade.

Lightzy said:

I've played with the H301 for about a year so I think I understand this blade pretty well..

Thing about the H301 is that it has a zillion gears. When I used it for the first time my balls wouldn't get to the other side of the table because I was used to euro setups like your previous ones.
Then I simply adjusted a bit and added power and it was a rocket.

People who think it's slow simply don't understand how to use it and will gain no benefit from it. The real benefit for me in the H301 is having more gears than any other blade I've tried. This is excellent for very short serve returns and short touches with backspin. These things are super easy to do with the H301.
On the other hand, if you use enough power (with a right angle, so need some adjustment) you will have rocket topspins, when you properly so you engage the whole blade rather than only the outer ply.




Also some blades just work weird with some rubbers. I dunno about H301 with rasanters. Never tried. I know that Rasanter and my Liu Shiwen ZLF are in serious disagreement for example.

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Thanks for that. Interesting to hear from someone who's actually used the blade. Perhaps I will give it another go with the idea of it having many gears.

Silver smasher said:

I use a 301 with Rozena on both sides. I am no expert but I think that the blade is quite controllable (or slowish) in short play but when I hit hard it does fly. My backhand smashes and blocks are particularly effective and sometimes get applauded. However a video review on the 301 by a professional states that is reasonably fast but not fast enough for him. I think this is because the carbon layer is deep in the blade and only gets involved on hard hits.

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Yeah I think I need to give it another go with a different mindset.

yoass said:

I don't know about the 301, but like it my custom blade is also a 7-layer composite blade, with the composite material next to the core.

It's damaged and making a trip across Europe for repair, so I'm playing with my backup blade, the Treiber K, now. And boy do I notice that the ALC layer gets engaged way earlier on the power curve! And that's exactly why I moved away from it. And when I did, I found my inner layer blade very slow - at first. And then I started hitting with more engagement, dropping the (unconscious) restraint in my strokes, and there was the power. I just had to find out how to engage it. I'm confident OP will too, with some patience and a lot of practice.

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You were totally right about the unconscious restraint. As my Temper Tech OFF was so fast I think I was unconsciously holding back on my stroke. I had another go with the 301 last night and what people have been saying about it having multiple gears is totally correct. I hit with my regular hitting partner for an hour and got to know the 301 a bit better. Touch shots, pushes, and blocks are very "slow". Or, I guess you could say "controlled". Last week, when I used the 301 for the first time and coming from my Temper Tech OFF, the difference in the speed of the ball coming off the bat was so vast on these shots that it was very jarring (hence me starting this thread). With the Temper Tech I really had to juuuuust touch the ball to get a good touch shot (or the ball would go out or high). Last night with the 301, I found that lots of my touch shots were not even reaching the net due to the difference in speed! So obviously I need to do some adjustment to get used to it.

Once I started looping I found that I really needed to give my swing some extra oomph in order to get the same speed as the Temper Tech. I might say that the 301 is even faster but it's hard to tell. Getting the same speed is not as "effortless" as it is with the Temper Tech. Although, I did feel like I had more safety with the 301 as my shots would not overshoot the table as often.

HOWEVER, I can see where the benefit is: if I can learn to use the 301's superior touch then my short game will benefit. Likewise, if I can learn to be less inhibited with my power shots then I will also have the speed when needed. I do feel like I need to do quite a lot more work when looping and driving with the 301 so I do find it more tiring to play with.