says
Hi,
I am a life-long table tennis enthusiast and...
says
Hi,
I am a life-long table tennis enthusiast and...
Member
OSP Ultimate II Plus (I tested this blade before the OSP Ultimate II)
I have tested many 7-ply blades for Tabletennis11.com, including the DHS Hurricane Long III, Nittaku Ludeack, Donic Ovtcharov Senso V1, Stiga Clipper WRB, and Stiga Ebenholz NCT VII to name just a few. All of them are high quality blades with different characteristics ranging from comparatively soft and moderately fast (e.g., Hurricane Long III, Ludeack, and Clipper WRB) to hard and fast (Ebenholz NCT VII) and thus serve different player types well. My personal favorites are probably the Tibhar Samsonov Force Pro Black Edition and the Stiga Rosewood NCT VII. Both blades have five central ayous plies, but differ in their surface veneers, with the Samsonov Pro having limba outer plies and the Stiga having rosewood plies. Limba plies result in longer dwell time and a great feeling when looping, whereas rosewood is a harder type of wood, which results in a more direct feeling upon ball impact and shorter dwell time. I prefer the Tibhar for my FH where I use Hurricane 3 type rubbers, while I really like Stiga Rosewood for my BH short pips.
Over the years, I have read many raving reviews of OSP blades, and I was, therefore, very excited to see OSP release the Ultimate II and the Ultimate II Plus blades (U2 and U2+, respectively). OSP describes the U2+ as a blade for advanced attacking players who want to maintain very high spin levels. OSP used Indian rosewood as the outer veneer to create a harder and more aggressive blade vis-à-vis the OSP Ultimate II but does not provide any information about the other wood plies. The spin is postulated to be a result of a special laminating procedure. OSP sends the blades in a no-thrill flat cardboard box, which, however, offers excellent protection during shipping. The content of the box exudes quality. First off, the Indian rosewood plies of the OSP U2+ are stunningly beautiful and clearly the blade is exceptionally well made. Also included in the box, is a flyer that offers suggestions on how to handle and care for the OSP U2+ and a little booklet (with a small sheet of surface veneer for repair jobs), which lists technical data for the blade (dimensions, weight, handle type, build date, etc) and provides a brief description of the blade. My OSP U2+ blade had the following dimensions: height: 158 mm, width: 149 mm, thickness: 6.4 mm, weight: 93 g. The exceptionally smooth SQST handle has the following dimensions: length: 102 mm, width: 28 mm, and height: 23 mm. The blade has a resonance frequency of ~1356 Hz.
Unboxing: https://youtu.be/OK1J8Wn7nqI
Testing procedure: I tested the OSP U2+ using well-used sheets of Nittaku Hurricane Pro 3 Turbo Blue (black, 2.0 mm) and Nittaku Moristo SP AX short pips (red, 1.8 mm) in my FH and BH, respectively. The rubbers were attached using a layer of Revolution 3 normal viscosity glue. I tested the set-ups over several sessions, playing drills and matches against my usual training partners using the Nittaku J-Top training balls.
Playing impressions: First off, the set-up was much heavier than what I am used to at nearly 200 g. Despite this, the blade felt well-balanced with the center of gravity oriented toward the head. The feeling generated upon ball impact is direct with an absolute minimum of vibrations. The first couple of FH and BH drives quickly revealed that the blade is fast (OFF level) and hard, producing a low throw angle. FH loops, played against blocks, have a fast and deep trajectory, which I found to work better from mid-distance than close to the table. Slow opening loops against backspin produce higher spin levels than would normally be anticipated from a blade that feels so hard, but still lower than, e.g., the Samsonov Force Pro Black Edition. FH blocks feel very solid but demand unusually precise timing. If mistimed, the FH blocks careen off the end of the table. I struggled a lot with BH blocking. The vast majority of the first 50 blocks went over the table. The very soft Moristo SP AX pips felt very peculiar in this aspect of the game, almost like medium or long pips with considerable spin reversal on the blocks, something that is normally not the case with these short pips. I am left wondering if the hard nature and short dwell time of the blade causes this effect. For sure my BH blocking consistency was much lower than usual. Flat hits and smashes are fast, but the heaviness of the set-up put a upper limit on the pace. Pushes, especially FH pushes, felt great with this setup. The combination of the hard OSP U2+ blade and the hard and tacky Nittaku Hurricane Pro 3 Turbo Blue rubber worked well together in this aspect of the game. I was able to keep pushes flat, spinny, and short or long, depending on my intent. The OSP-Moristo combination worked reasonably well in aggressive serve receives, which allowed me to put my opponent under pressure right from the receive. Serving with the OSP/Hurricane set-up felt great, with the blade and rubber working well in concert to enable high spin production. The massive weight of the set-up impeded my FH-to-BH (and reverse) transitions during match play. I found myself out of balance or simply not prepared for the next shot, more often than usual.
In the end, I must conclude that this is not a blade for me and/or for this particular rubber combination. This blade is likely better suited for lighter medium to medium-hard European and Japanese rubbers like Tibhar Evolution MX-P and Butterfly Tenergy 05, whose properties probably better complement the hard nature of the blade. The OSP Ultimate II Plus caters to a very specific class of players who cherish a massively solid feeling above all. The closest comparisons that I can think off is the Stiga Ebenholz VII and the Stiga Nostalgic VII. For me personally, I anticipate that the OSP Ultimate or the OSP Ultimate II might be better options, as their softer outer veneers will result in longer dwell time, allowing for greater spin production and more forgiveness.
I have tested many 7-ply blades for Tabletennis11.com, including the DHS Hurricane Long III, Nittaku Ludeack, Donic Ovtcharov Senso V1, Stiga Clipper WRB, and Stiga Ebenholz NCT VII to name just a few. All of them are high quality blades with different characteristics ranging from comparatively soft and moderately fast (e.g., Hurricane Long III, Ludeack, and Clipper WRB) to hard and fast (Ebenholz NCT VII) and thus serve different player types well. My personal favorites are probably the Tibhar Samsonov Force Pro Black Edition and the Stiga Rosewood NCT VII. Both blades have five central ayous plies, but differ in their surface veneers, with the Samsonov Pro having limba outer plies and the Stiga having rosewood plies. Limba plies result in longer dwell time and a great feeling when looping, whereas rosewood is a harder type of wood, which results in a more direct feeling upon ball impact and shorter dwell time. I prefer the Tibhar for my FH where I use Hurricane 3 type rubbers, while I really like Stiga Rosewood for my BH short pips.
Over the years, I have read many raving reviews of OSP blades, and I was, therefore, very excited to see OSP release the Ultimate II and the Ultimate II Plus blades (U2 and U2+, respectively). OSP describes the U2+ as a blade for advanced attacking players who want to maintain very high spin levels. OSP used Indian rosewood as the outer veneer to create a harder and more aggressive blade vis-à-vis the OSP Ultimate II but does not provide any information about the other wood plies. The spin is postulated to be a result of a special laminating procedure. OSP sends the blades in a no-thrill flat cardboard box, which, however, offers excellent protection during shipping. The content of the box exudes quality. First off, the Indian rosewood plies of the OSP U2+ are stunningly beautiful and clearly the blade is exceptionally well made. Also included in the box, is a flyer that offers suggestions on how to handle and care for the OSP U2+ and a little booklet (with a small sheet of surface veneer for repair jobs), which lists technical data for the blade (dimensions, weight, handle type, build date, etc) and provides a brief description of the blade. My OSP U2+ blade had the following dimensions: height: 158 mm, width: 149 mm, thickness: 6.4 mm, weight: 93 g. The exceptionally smooth SQST handle has the following dimensions: length: 102 mm, width: 28 mm, and height: 23 mm. The blade has a resonance frequency of ~1356 Hz.
Unboxing: https://youtu.be/OK1J8Wn7nqI
Testing procedure: I tested the OSP U2+ using well-used sheets of Nittaku Hurricane Pro 3 Turbo Blue (black, 2.0 mm) and Nittaku Moristo SP AX short pips (red, 1.8 mm) in my FH and BH, respectively. The rubbers were attached using a layer of Revolution 3 normal viscosity glue. I tested the set-ups over several sessions, playing drills and matches against my usual training partners using the Nittaku J-Top training balls.
Playing impressions: First off, the set-up was much heavier than what I am used to at nearly 200 g. Despite this, the blade felt well-balanced with the center of gravity oriented toward the head. The feeling generated upon ball impact is direct with an absolute minimum of vibrations. The first couple of FH and BH drives quickly revealed that the blade is fast (OFF level) and hard, producing a low throw angle. FH loops, played against blocks, have a fast and deep trajectory, which I found to work better from mid-distance than close to the table. Slow opening loops against backspin produce higher spin levels than would normally be anticipated from a blade that feels so hard, but still lower than, e.g., the Samsonov Force Pro Black Edition. FH blocks feel very solid but demand unusually precise timing. If mistimed, the FH blocks careen off the end of the table. I struggled a lot with BH blocking. The vast majority of the first 50 blocks went over the table. The very soft Moristo SP AX pips felt very peculiar in this aspect of the game, almost like medium or long pips with considerable spin reversal on the blocks, something that is normally not the case with these short pips. I am left wondering if the hard nature and short dwell time of the blade causes this effect. For sure my BH blocking consistency was much lower than usual. Flat hits and smashes are fast, but the heaviness of the set-up put a upper limit on the pace. Pushes, especially FH pushes, felt great with this setup. The combination of the hard OSP U2+ blade and the hard and tacky Nittaku Hurricane Pro 3 Turbo Blue rubber worked well together in this aspect of the game. I was able to keep pushes flat, spinny, and short or long, depending on my intent. The OSP-Moristo combination worked reasonably well in aggressive serve receives, which allowed me to put my opponent under pressure right from the receive. Serving with the OSP/Hurricane set-up felt great, with the blade and rubber working well in concert to enable high spin production. The massive weight of the set-up impeded my FH-to-BH (and reverse) transitions during match play. I found myself out of balance or simply not prepared for the next shot, more often than usual.
In the end, I must conclude that this is not a blade for me and/or for this particular rubber combination. This blade is likely better suited for lighter medium to medium-hard European and Japanese rubbers like Tibhar Evolution MX-P and Butterfly Tenergy 05, whose properties probably better complement the hard nature of the blade. The OSP Ultimate II Plus caters to a very specific class of players who cherish a massively solid feeling above all. The closest comparisons that I can think off is the Stiga Ebenholz VII and the Stiga Nostalgic VII. For me personally, I anticipate that the OSP Ultimate or the OSP Ultimate II might be better options, as their softer outer veneers will result in longer dwell time, allowing for greater spin production and more forgiveness.
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