All wood blades - Fast 5-ply vs Slow 7-ply?

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I like to play with 5 ply all wood blades. The high feel and large sweet spot are a must for developing my form.

5-ply all woods have small sweet spots. Carbon blades have large sweet spots. The feeling you get when you top spin and you hit the ball around the edges of your bat is mostly because energy is dissipated because of vibrations that occur because you’re hitting the ball outside of the sweet spot. In carbon blades, it’s much less, and you get less feeling, but the ball receives all that energy and goes faster compared to all-wood.
 
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Xiom solo and Tibhar force pro blue are examples of slower and flexy 7 ply blades. To some extent, dhs pg7.


Yogi,what do you think is the point/advantage of using these then? Why not just use a 5 ply blade? I guess when you say slower you are speaking in relative terms - Slower than traditional 7 ply but still faster than traditional 5 ply?
 
The ones i have mentioned are slower than some 5 ply blades like stratus power wood. It is really the extra stiffness that people want with 7 ply blades wherein some would not like their blades to be too flexy.
 
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Old thread, still would like to chime in.

I'd say koto/limba top ply is not the biggest factor.
As I returning player I got some EJ and tested some combinations.

In the past I used to play with Xiom Diva koto top ply 85g, 5.7mm thickness and Hexer + Barracuda for some years. Tried Xiom Vega Europe and Pro as well, Europe was bottoming out too easily whereas Pro was a bit too hard.

For plastic ball I've slapped Hexer Grip and Hexer PowerGrip SFX on my good old Diva, it was ok except feel of too much flex on blocks.
Bought Xiom Offensive S, limba top ply 87g, 6.0mm and transferred rubbers to it, wow, it's quite a beast. Feels much faster despite limba top ply. Short game requires soft hand but blocks became considerably more consistent.
To be honest I rarely drive, mostly loop, even high balls close to the net, occasinally I smash high balls on my FH, but on BH i still prefer to loop, as my BH smash is too unreliable.

Also I've got a Tibhar Bernadette Szocs 1 7ply exactly to get a "slower" 7 ply, limba 85g 6.2mm thick again with Hexers but went a notch harder towards Powergip/Grip, no SFX versions. It indeed feels stiffer, loops and block require a bit more open angle due lower throw. I'd say it's in between Diva and Off S about speed. Short game is easier, I've noticed I began hitting flat more often and suddenly my BH slap started winning points. Also it's a bit easier to return balls when I am out of position, like reaching wide balls.

I still have no strict opinion which one is better for my game. I am going to play both Off S and BS1 for a while and then will see.
 
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