STIGA Rosewood XO + Calibra LT Spin Review

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Jun 2013
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Here is the pictures of the blade and rubbers.

First of all, i would like to thank STIGA for giving me this opportunities to work with them and giving me a STIGA Rosewood XO to review on it.
So after almost a month of review, this is my review on the STIGA Rosewood XO and also some on STIGA Calibra LT Spin.

I put DHS Skyline TG3 on the forehand and with STIGA Calibra LT Spin on the backhand on this blade
For me, this blade is light as I mostly play around 90+g. The craftsmanship is excellent and the texture feels great. STIGA say that this blade is stiff, but I think it is not very stiff. I think it is around the same as Ebenholz V. It is good for both looping and fast attack near the table. It has a middle throw and definitely a long trajectory, which I love it a lot. When I loop from middle/far from table, it reach the opposite table with speed and power. Dwell time is okay from me, not too long nor too short. One thing I like about Rosewood XO is that it is more crisper than my previous blade( STIGA CC5). This is better for me as it is better for short games and flicks, which is the essential for a penholder like me.

Okay, let me introduce my playing style: I am a right-hand Penholder, with more of fast attacking near table and looping style. I rarely use the reverse backhand unless the angle of the ball to my backhand is very wide. My serves are usually side spin with combination of backspin, abit like Wang Hao’s serve, and it usually goes to the middle/far table. As for service return, as a penholder, it is normally a push or flick. Forehand wise, I attack the wings of the table.

I will use fast attack when near table while looping more when I get further away from the table.
Fast Attacking near the table is one of Rosewood XO’s strength. As the blade is lighter than the one I normally use, I can recover fast enough to constant fast attack, which gives problem to my opponent. Blocking near table is also easy. For an all-wood 5ply blade, it has excellent power, although when compare to the Carbon blades, it may seems that it lack of power by a bit. The control that Rosewood XO gives is much better than normal all-wood 5 ply blades.

While attacking from mid table is still good. Ball placement is easy and still full of power. Some says that it lacks of power at mid-table, but I disagree with these statements. Forehand Topspin from mid-table is easy, same as fast attack. But sometimes, fast attack from the mid-table goes into the net as the throw angle is mid-low.

Far from the table, which the problem start to arise. When I am far from the table, it is mostly when I am defending and waiting for chances to counter-attack. But when I counterattack, mostly the ball seems to be not so powerful, and mostly touch the net or goes into the net.
Backhand wise, as a penholder, it is normally our weakness. But using it is controllable. My backhand pushes, tradition backhand attack and reverse backhand works fine. I rarely use the reverse backhand, but mostly the ball will still go over the net with ease.

I use STIGA Calibra LT Spin on the backhand. I would not say that it is a substitute for Butterfly Tenergy as it stands out in its own ways. This rubber is spinny, fast but not deadly fast. But you could kill of your opponent with devastating spin shots. I think that Aggressive and fast attack players may want to give this rubber a try. The throw angle is medium and the sponge is soft, which gives you good control, but not losing any speed. But the con for this rubber is that you have to take very good care of it, or it will break easily. Clean it with either water or cleaning foam is fine.

I play a competition with local Chinese in Tian Jin today. I won the match (4-3). My opponent say that my balls are spinny and especially when I use the reverse backhand. Most of my points come from my services and 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] ball attack. I lost more point on looping near table, while fast attacking near table is very accurate to the place that I want it to go. Points gain by service wise, almost 50% while 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] ball attack around 20%. The locals try my bat and say it is quite heavy. What I feel good about this bat is that the counterlooping from mid-table is the highlight for this blade.

Nevertheless, I give this blade a rating of 9 out of 10, and rank it an OFF blade. It is good for penholder, short game players and also fast attackers.
 
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says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
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Dec 2010
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I have a training partner who has the Rosewood XO. I really like that blade. I think it may be Stiga's best blade overall, and one of the best all wood blades out there. When I first heard about it, I did not think it would be that different than the Rosewood V NCT, but it is, and it is much better. I also think it is one of Stiga's lightest all wood blades that does not have a WRB handle. I would use that blade any day. It works well with lots of rubbers. I have tried it with Tenergy 05 and Tenergy 05FX but I can feel that it would be good with the Xiom rubbers I use as well.
 
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