Hi all -
I am currently using a Hurricane Hao 3 (HH3) blade, which I absolutely love for a few reasons. 1. It has really good feel; 2) it is not too fast or too slow - rather "just right" for my level and playstyle (I am am ~USTTA 1450-1500); and 3) I really like the flared handle - which seems to be much thinner/smaller than the handle of many other paddles.
The downside to the HH3 is that it is quite fragile. I am now on my third HH3 paddle in 15 months. The first one broke when I caught the edge of the table during a loop. The top ply on the second one delaminated badly when changing the rubber (I've since learned not to use butterfly chack with that particularly blade), and the current (third) one is starting to show some cracking where the handle and the hitting portion of the blade meet.
While I love the HH3 - I can't keep purchasing new ones as they are quite expensive. Might any of you recommend an alternative to the HH3? Budget is not really limited but I would like to keep it somewhat reasonable?
I've been eyeing some of the Butterfly innerforce blades or even a Viscaria - but I am not sold on them because my experience has been that the flared handle of a butterfly blade is relatively thick compared to that of the HH3, and the blades are usually too fast or lack feeling.
Thanks in advance.
I am currently using a Hurricane Hao 3 (HH3) blade, which I absolutely love for a few reasons. 1. It has really good feel; 2) it is not too fast or too slow - rather "just right" for my level and playstyle (I am am ~USTTA 1450-1500); and 3) I really like the flared handle - which seems to be much thinner/smaller than the handle of many other paddles.
The downside to the HH3 is that it is quite fragile. I am now on my third HH3 paddle in 15 months. The first one broke when I caught the edge of the table during a loop. The top ply on the second one delaminated badly when changing the rubber (I've since learned not to use butterfly chack with that particularly blade), and the current (third) one is starting to show some cracking where the handle and the hitting portion of the blade meet.
While I love the HH3 - I can't keep purchasing new ones as they are quite expensive. Might any of you recommend an alternative to the HH3? Budget is not really limited but I would like to keep it somewhat reasonable?
I've been eyeing some of the Butterfly innerforce blades or even a Viscaria - but I am not sold on them because my experience has been that the flared handle of a butterfly blade is relatively thick compared to that of the HH3, and the blades are usually too fast or lack feeling.
Thanks in advance.