wood or carbon?

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also let us not forget that the table tennis companies want the top players to play with composite blades, because these blades are way more expensive than wood blades

for example Samsonov in his best years played an all wood blade and later on he played (following tibhar) a Samsonov carbon blade

I would also like to say that even if maybe (see previous reply) 60% of the top 10 in the world plays composite blades , i truly believe that minimum 70% of the world top 100 players play a wooden blade !!

Also i believe for amateur players (99,9% of visitors of this site !?) all wood is the way to go
 
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So why would they do that?
I myself am only to play with Limba outer blades it seems (to full potential that is).
However on some days when im playing bad and I take out my Viscaria for fun. I sometimes play like a dream aswell..
Ah well im just sticking to all-wood with limba for now :D
 

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Carl, maybe I'll feel like you one day, but the blades I have loved the best have been TBS, Calix II, Arirang, and Inca. These are all OFF class composite blades with great feel and balance of power and spin.

Maybe one day I'll run across a wood blade I will love in the OFF range, but I haven't yet. An All wood Andro Core OFF so far has been the closest.

Haha plus 1. I hope I feel like Carl one day to considering those stats regarding world champs :) I am a man of carbon blades to, I think this Ma Long wood blade HL3 could be for me tho.

To date, the only two pros who were using a Carbon blade when they won the world Championship are Zhang Jike and Werner Schlager. And Zhang Jike is using a blade with Carbon and Arylate. All other world champions were using wood when they won the title. I think that is worth knowing.

On the current Chinese National Team Ma Lin uses all wood, Wang Hao uses all wood, Ma Long, I believe is using an all wood blade, Xu Xin uses an all wood blade.

I have got to be honest, that is enough for me. :)

But wood is definitely better for players who are not at the elite level.

That is very interesting indeed Carl.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy
 
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Carl, I have tried only a clone of the clipper and well, I didn't buy it. Haven't tried any of those other Stiga blades you described. I tried OFF Classic, actually traded away a blade to get that one and man, that thing vibrated more than a severe earthquake! After that, I was pretty turned off about Stiga blades.
 
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Carl, I have tried only a clone of the clipper and well, I didn't buy it. Haven't tried any of those other Stiga blades you described. I tried OFF Classic, actually traded away a blade to get that one and man, that thing vibrated more than a severe earthquake! After that, I was pretty turned off about Stiga blades.

I do know people who like the Stiga Offensive Classic but I have never liked that one. It feels strangely hollow to me. But if it had that much vibration, you might have had a bad one or the rubbers might not have gone well with it. There is vibration on the OC but not earthquake style. Still, OC is not a blade I would ever want to use myself. :)

If you ever see someone with a Clipper, a Ebenholz V or even better a VII (I say even better because I think you will like that one better), a Rosewood or a Stiga Intensity, get them to let you try it. You would probably like the Rosewood V and VII better than the XO. I am basing this on the information that you like blades that have decent weight. Rosewood XO is very light. The VII's are heavier than the Vs. Imitation Clippers are just that, imitations. There is a reason Wang Liqin won't use the DHS imitation of a Clipper and still uses a Clipper from Stiga with a DHS handle. :)
 
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This is my opinion. Advantages to Carbon: extra speed, reduces vibration and reduces the effect of the inconsistencies of wood on your shot.

Downside of Carbon: extra speed, reduces ability to feel the ball, reduces dwell time.

Substances like Arylate and Zylon when used with Carbon, are used to help give more dwell time, spin and control.

Advantages to wood: More dwell time, more feeling, better touch, better control, better spin.

I would take wood over carbon any day.

Fully agree with Carl here.

I have been using Ma Lin Carbon and Yinhe V4 (Innerforce ZLC clone) for 2 to 3 years now.
I'm back to Yasaka Extra (an Allround wood blade), and I'm loving it.
I can now hit "harder"/with more power and the ball will be on the table.

The extra feel is great to have.
I guess my rubbers are too fast on fast blades and I lost some feel in the past.

No real correct answer here, just as long as what you getting and what you missing out on.
 
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All wood blade for penholders

Hi there, I have been following this thread with interest, I am a penhold player who has tried many wooden 5 layers, Ma Lin YEO, Hurricane Hao I, Hurricane Hao II, Stiga offensive classic, Stiga Intensity, Rosewood NCT V and currently OSP Virtuoso + and only one carbon blade, TB ALC.

I have been playing table tennis just under 2 years but I have been lucky to have many strong players at my local club (including one really strong modern penhold player) and so I have gone from beginner to maybe around 1800 USATT really quickly. All blades are different (even the same blade but different batch is different) but I totally agree that almost all wooden blades have better hand feel than carbon blades (right amount of vibration) and the reason most strong penhold player with normal rubbers (not long pimples for example) have wooden blade is for the extra touch, since the short game is a small advantage for the penhold player (i.e. pushing short or forehand flicks or even feint short shots). I now also play shakehand (at a noticeably weaker level than penhold) but I feel that the wristy short shots are definitely easier with penhold. On the other hand for me, both forehand and backhand loops, drives are noticeably better with shakehand (even if my accuracy with shakehand is not as good as penhold). I know many people feel penholders have a harder FH drive but I actually it's very much the opposite, simply put, with shakehand you are holding the racquet with more fingers than penhold (this is not really literally true but hopefully you know what I mean) and definitely can generate more power, the question is whether you can control this power :)

Funnily enough though, I have found recently that the reverse pendulum side or top spin variation are easier to serve with shakehand than penhold but for most other serves I find penhold is easier to serve short with more spin.

Having said that the one strong penhold player at my local club (maybe 2200 USATT) plays with TB ZLC shakehand with the handle modified for penhold. His short game is really excellent (particularly forehand flicks) and mid to long distance, well lets say ZLC is a beast and really lives up to it's carbon reputation...

Anyway, I have just got FZD Stiga Infinity VPS (shakehand of course!) I am very eager to test this! I am actually also thinking about trying out Stiga Rosewood XO shakehand, gotta save up more money hehe
 
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Ma Lin has two different models of a carbon blade, the Ma Lin Carbon, and the Max Carbon.

Im pretty sure that he used both of these before the YEO was released.

I am currently using the Max Carbon, it has 2 layers of carbon in it, and its incredibly firm, and it doesn't have the bouncy feel that you get with a lot of wooden blades.

I think thought that the biggest thing to take away from this debate is how the blade feels. Even if one blade gives you more power or speed, if you don't like playing with it then why would you buy it.

As far as I know, I'm the only player at my university that has a carbon blade, and we all switch blades all the time. When I play with my friends blades, most are butterfly or stiga, they usually feel too soft. I've just grown to love the firmness of my paddle. But the worst is when the paddle feels bouncy, I feel like I don't have much control when I block, it's as if the paddle is trying to do all the work for me.
 
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I know a really good penholder player who was back in the 90s a provincial team member in china (he is chinese) and he was playing for 3 or 4 years ago still third league in germany. He told me that all the penhold players were playing 5ply wood blades because of the special feel (a lot of control but still very fast).
Ma Lin is always playing his YEO and Xu Xin is playing a Rosewood, YEO or his Intensinity right now.

I always prefer 5ply wood cause its fast but you truely feel the ball with each shot. Carbon blades are for professional players who dont have to think anymore about playing the ball like Zhang Jike etc.c But even Ma Long is playing sometimes a 7ply wood blade. I think wood blades are always better!
 
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Good points allround.
One fact is that the profit margins on composite blades are far higher than wood. It would be very difficult to sell a wood blade at £100+. But slip in some carbon and get a top player to use it and bingo you can sell the same blade for £150.00.
If I was marketing guy for Butterfly, Donic I would insist that my big name player use a composite blade. The player also gets a bigger payout.
I'm not certain why Stiga made FZD play with Infinity. Or maybe it's not Infinity:cool:. Or maybe they realise that they don't have a composite blade as yet that is very marketable. Or probably they know that their biggest market, China, loves Stiga wood blades so they are going for the volume sales.
 
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Good points allround.
One fact is that the profit margins on composite blades are far higher than wood. It would be very difficult to sell a wood blade at £100+. But slip in some carbon and get a top player to use it and bingo you can sell the same blade for £150.00.
If I was marketing guy for Butterfly, Donic I would insist that my big name player use a composite blade. The player also gets a bigger payout.
I'm not certain why Stiga made FZD play with Infinity. Or maybe it's not Infinity:cool:. Or maybe they realise that they don't have a composite blade as yet that is very marketable. Or probably they know that their biggest market, China, loves Stiga wood blades so they are going for the volume sales.

I think what you say is true, FZD is doing pretty well with whatever he is using!!
 
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Hi i was using zhang jike blade (composite), and the blade have a lot of power loops, and good speed, but now i change to pure wood maze perfomance, the soft feeling is incredible, a have a lot of control, for me the carbon blades should be used by players with good technique and excellent footwork, and the pure wood used for all types of players because they have excellent control and power.

I recommend pure wood!
 
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guys please help me i used to play with xiom quad zetro carbon blade but when i used infinity vps v i felt so different . i need advise on this please which is better all wood or carbon blade?
I used TBS blade and went back to my xiom offensive 5ply all wood, totally loved it, but sadly it wasn't mine to keep any more so bought a Timo Boll W5, will never look back. I'm far from expert but with W5 I can just feel what the ball is doing, personal choice maybe?
 
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I prefer wood actually old wood but my play level is club so I don't feel any great need to play with a hard blade just to increase ball speed. I try and improve my stroke,footwork and serves instead which to me is more fun and the reason I got into the sport to begin with! Professional Baseball uses wood bats rather then metal even though the metal bats would produce more home runs and hits they also reduce the skill that a professional baseball player requires to be in the pro's so the league focus is on player skill rather then bat technology. Frankly I think the ITTF should create a professional level for international play and only allow wood blades at international tournaments, lets see who really is the most skilled players..
 
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