W968 vs Butterfly

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I notice some players in the CNT have switched from Butterfly to W968 - Wang Chuqin, Liang Jingkun. Sun Yusha and Wang Yidi in the women’s team are also using W968.

I thought with the ABS ball BH speed has become the foremost strength in the sport? Hence w968 (designed for the FH dominant play in old era) will gradually fade away. I guess you can say the CNT is trying to be patriotic by using W968. That can be an explanation?

So I assume W968 isn’t popular in professional athletes outside China?
 
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I would hardly disagree because the speed players can bring to the table with their fh is still far superior. There are many reason why every good player trains to sidejump to their fh on the bh side and perform a fh topspin.

​​​​​Additionally the equipment changed too and therefore many players are capable of bringing much spin into their shots.

I suppose the reason for the switch especially from the chinese national team lies within their training and their technique. Someone on this site described that blade as whip for the fh at least which would help drastically with consistent fh killshots/topspin.

Overall i wouldnt say using it is a patriotic thing, especially not because high class players are still playing different stuff and always did like FZD. It is more for training and technique reason and the deals they have with the companies.
 
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I have never played with w968, but apparently w968 has crazy gears, which means its fast. I suspect inner carbon has a more desirable feeling as well (I personally like inner alc too). Also, ma long uses it, so that's a plus. Also, CNT are DHS sponsored on a team level for rubbers. So it makes sense to choose this blade over any other inner carbon blade.

I doubt it's for patriotic reasons, because they are primarily interested in winning, other CNT players use BTY blades and rubbers even if not directly contract sponsored, and there are others DHS inner force blades to choose from.

Some of the Korean players use w968? (maybe wrong, might be long5, but same handle at least) The primary reason for non Chinese players to not use w968 is due to cost and availability vs so many other options.That's my take, anyways.

 
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H3 has been the FH rubber of choice for the CNT for ages, ever since the old era... so um, it's just personal preference and technique.

Do you know if there has been any Chinese literature or authoritative commentary on why H3 has been the choice for CNT for ages?

Is it because the spin is objectively better than others?

Is it because the rubber allows the most booster?

 
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Do you know if there has been any Chinese literature or authoritative commentary on why H3 has been the choice for CNT for ages?

Is it because the spin is objectively better than others?

Is it because the rubber allows the most booster?

Like I said, it's just personal preference and technique.

 
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I guess after cnt, korean players are the ones who use w968 second most. Jeoung younsik used to play with it until the lauched of ice cream blades. Cho seung min is dhs sponsored player. I suspect jang woojin too? I've seen on online threads about w968 jang woojin limited editions. An jaehyun was using it at 2019 world championship as well. Jang and Cho are also still playing with w968 at the very present. An jaehyun and Cho daeseong are also former w968 users until they have switched to xiom TMXi. There could be alot other players too.
Between , what are the differences between commercial, provincial and national w968 apart from price? commercial around $145 on tt11, national around $700 or maybe even more? and provincial for about $270 as I saw on 247 table tennis.
would love to know a comparison between one and the other. Any explaination or an existed thread please🙌
 
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JWJ is Victas sponsored and I believe recently that CSM changed his sponsor to Xiom. You can tell that on his apparel from recent tournaments. A lot of the KNT is using the W968 especially on the women’s side.

W968 adds more flex and feel when using H3’s. Could also be it adds more safety to their game as it is not as fast as Viscaria.

W968 comes in different head sizes, but most common is 160x150mm. Commercial ones are standard head size 157x150mm
 
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I played W968 national and Viscaria and honestly I don’t think W968 is slower than Viscaria. It is perhaps a little less dynamic, I mean Viscaria is perhaps bouncier on soft touch but W968 is more powerful than Viscaria. I think the reason why many chinese players move to W968 is DHS blade is bigger and more powerful and is more for a middle standing from the table. It is less compact than Viscaria which is more for playing fast, off the bounce, as Zhang Jike or Fan Zendong. But many chinese players prefer powerful forehand topspin and have astonishing physical condition and are able to manage heavy and head balance blades. Just as Ma Long, Fang Bo, etc…
A player like Ovtcharov who is not so fast but really powerful, plays with a inner force ALC blade oversized… he could play a W968, it’s almost the same as his Ovtcharov…
 
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I want to know all the difference between those DHS Long 5 blades including W968.
I once tried Long 5 blade of someone, i bought myself Long 5X, and now i also have a replica Long 5 in Cybershape but still not assembled yet, i am happy with this Long 5X really, before i used BTY JM ALC normal and ZJ blue dragon and also Stiga Carbonado 190 and then DHS Hao III before L5X, from all those L5X became my favorite and best overall playing blade for me over all others, in fact even one friend i have practice with for a while he was using Viscaria and he offered it for sale and envy me having DHS Hao III, i don't know what he will say if he saw my L5X then, and also two players moved away from Viscaria too and didn't feel they were regretting that.
Butterfly is the best brand or company in table tennis doing promotion for their products, not only blades and rubbers, so no wonder why i see more people choosing that over another brands even if it is available in their countries, so Stiga isn't getting popular in Sweden maybe? and DHS isn't gonna dominate in China? What about Donic and Nittaku then?
 
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Long 5 build favors the FH. the BH dominant players like Fan ZD and Zhang Jike plays Viscaria, not Long 5.

Perhaps, but keep in mind that there are BH dominant players who play inner carbon (like Harimoto). I think which feeling you prefer (crispy vs muted) plays a big part in deciding a blade, just as much as one being "better" for FH or BH.

 
I notice some players in the CNT have switched from Butterfly to W968 - Wang Chuqin, Liang Jingkun. Sun Yusha and Wang Yidi in the women’s team are also using W968.I thought with the ABS ball BH speed has become the foremost strength in the sport? Hence w968 (designed for the FH dominant play in old era) will gradually fade away. I guess you can say the CNT is trying to be patriotic by using W968. That can be an explanation?So I assume W968 isn’t popular in professional athletes outside China?
Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha are using DHS W968 with thinner outer ply and thicker core which make the blade faster as compared to the DHS W968 that Ma Long is using. There are rumors or news that DHS plans to release a blade that named after Sun Yingsha.Some players commented that the DHS W968 with thicker core plays quite close (does not mean exactly the same) to outer carbon blades, e.g. Butterfly Viscaria.I am not sure the DHS W968 version that Liang Jingkun and Wang Yidi are using.
I guess after cnt, korean players are the ones who use w968 second most. Jeoung younsik used to play with it until the lauched of ice cream blades. Cho seung min is dhs sponsored player. I suspect jang woojin too? I've seen on online threads about w968 jang woojin limited editions. An jaehyun was using it at 2019 world championship as well. Jang and Cho are also still playing with w968 at the very present. An jaehyun and Cho daeseong are also former w968 users until they have switched to xiom TMXi. There could be alot other players too.
Between , what are the differences between commercial, provincial and national w968 apart from price? commercial around $145 on tt11, national around $700 or maybe even more? and provincial for about $270 as I saw on 247 table tennis.
would love to know a comparison between one and the other. Any explaination or an existed thread please🙌
The difference between commercial (Long 5), Provincial (Long 5 with serial number ending "F" for Year 2021/2022 onwards), and National (W968) is definitely the quality. Some players commented that the newest Provincial and National W968 blades are harder and faster.
 
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This information was mentioned in other table tennis forum and players who played with old and new DHS W968 (National) did a comparison.

You can choose not to believe.

DHS has confirmed that the newer HL5 and W968 have slightly thicker core and thinner top ply.

However, we don’t know if ML is using the old or new one

 
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