Do any pros use slower blades?

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None come to mind really, most use OFF and OFF+ carbon blades...
I remember seeing the other day that Heming Hu used Korbel (5ply) which I guess is an OFF-, something I haven't seen in a while. Honestly it's even difficult to think of more than a few allwood users.
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It depends about the player's style, Hou Yingchao won the last cnt tournament and he's a defender so the blade shouldn't be off+, I think the most important thing that should provide the blade is the control, if you want more speed, use a tensioned rubber, or a boosted Chinese rubber. Because it doesn't matter how fast the ball goes if it doesn't land on the opponent's side it doesn't worth.
 
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Aren’t quite a few french pros using relatively moderate all-wood blades - Gauzy, Lebesson, Mattenet? And what about Samsonov?

Samsonov has decided for the new Fortino Pro recently, before that CCA Unlimited (for some reason not "his own" VS Unlimited) and Force Pro Black Edition (all wood, but not slow).

Gauzy apparently uses the andro Gauzy SL already, all wood, but not slow.

Lebesson won the European Championships with a Lebesson blade and relatively soft rubbers. For a professional player, probably one of the slowest combinations you would find, but the Lebesson blade is still an offensive blade.

So, as for the offensive players on the circuit, I guess the above answers are correct. Predominantly carbon combinations, and if all wood, then a fast one like Clipper or the many variants built to its specs.
 
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It is worth looking at this thread:

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/fo...16&highlight=european+championships+equipment

It was from 2016. But there is a decent amount of all wood blades in there.

Korbel
Korbel SK7
Kong Linghui blade
Rosewood V
Rosewood VII
Yasaka Extra Special
Hurricane King
Hadraw SR

All of those I listed are all wood blades. The one that seems to appear the most is the Korbel. But I think that means there were a bunch of players in 2016 who were using all wood. Clearly a majority use an ALC blade. Not too many were using ZLC.

But, in my opinion, ALC blades are decently controllable if you are at a certain level. The Arylate in the ALC weave gives decent dwell time and lots of spin. They just are harder to learn on for mid and lower level players because they still mask ball feel and make bad contact feel better than it should. At a higher level, you will know when your contact is a bit off even if you are using an ALC blade.
 
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All of those I listed are all wood blades.

None of them an All or All+ in the sense of the original question.

Rosewood, Clipper, SK7 are surely fast enough for those who like it, not all carbon blades are necessarily faster.

I like the description of the ALC and what makes it so popular :)
 
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butterfly japan doesn't have any blade slower than korbel.
just the primorac, the same blade but 0.2cm thinner.

the rest are either defensive blades or entry level blades like xstar.
 
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I always felt that ALC blades and it's ilk play very similarly to the old Stiga/banda/ type all+ blades, but with much more leeway for control in tight situations. Plus they have that extra oomph when needed. Most players found it an easy transition to switch to these blades.
The Korbel is a little different. It is a fast hardish blade that I can't think of a composite blade that matches. Many stick with it for that reason, presumably.

It is worth looking at this thread:

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/fo...16&highlight=european+championships+equipment

It was from 2016. But there is a decent amount of all wood blades in there.

Korbel
Korbel SK7
Kong Linghui blade
Rosewood V
Rosewood VII
Yasaka Extra Special
Hurricane King
Hadraw SR

All of those I listed are all wood blades. The one that seems to appear the most is the Korbel. But I think that means there were a bunch of players in 2016 who were using all wood. Clearly a majority use an ALC blade. Not too many were using ZLC.

But, in my opinion, ALC blades are decently controllable if you are at a certain level. The Arylate in the ALC weave gives decent dwell time and lots of spin. They just are harder to learn on for mid and lower level players because they still mask ball feel and make bad contact feel better than it should. At a higher level, you will know when your contact is a bit off even if you are using an ALC blade.
 
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None of them an All or All+ in the sense of the original question.

Rosewood, Clipper, SK7 are surely fast enough for those who like it, not all carbon blades are necessarily faster.

I like the description of the ALC and what makes it so popular :)

Yeah. Not All or All+. I can't think any offensive players using an All or All+ blade. But there are players using blades that are not super fast and using all wood.

As to what Tinykin said about the Korbel, I am not sure but the Korbels I have used felt not very hard and had big feeling.

From the standpoint of composition, they are very similar to the original Innerforce blades. And the Korbel feels a decent amount like an old Innerforce ZLF to me. Not the same. But sort of similar.

And as to what Olzetezkarzo said, a Primorac also has a 150x157mm head compared to the Korbel with a 152x158mm head size. So thicker and a larger head does make it feel a little different. But yes, it is the same ply construction.
 
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