Xiom Hugo SAL and 36.5 Deep Impact ALX

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can't wait for the alxi version
I guess that speed might be a factor and I can relate to that. Albeit it's high control, the ALX is a fast blade. The rubbers I use are not fast ones, but there's a great feeling of push behind them from the lively and springy blade. With fast tensor rubbers things could get really wild. I wouldn't recommend the ALX for a beginner entering intermediate level. Middle to advanced intermediate or higher level players using rather hard sponges (47.5 degrees and above) could exploit it's high values.

 
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I guess that speed might be a factor and I can relate to that. Albeit it's high control, the ALX is a fast blade. The rubbers I use are not fast ones, but there's a great feeling of push behind them from the lively and springy blade. With fast tensor rubbers things could get really wild. I wouldn't recommend the ALX for a beginner entering intermediate level. Middle to advanced intermediate or higher level players using rather hard sponges (47.5 degrees and above) could exploit it's high values.

yeah this is a fast blade, not going to get the new version if that is faster
 
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As a rule of thumb inner structures have lower COR (coefficient of restitution) compared to outer structures that are usually harder and stiffer, thus making inner slower than outer structures. But this is a generalization and doesn't say anything about blade power (a function of material properties - density and thickness of layers - and technology used). In real life a player might produce faster batter quality strokes with inner structures, it is a question on confidence/control.
 
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Are these blades faster or slower than the Xiom "AZXi" ?

Cannot say anything about SAL but I've tried a friends ICECREAM AZXi and my recollection is that it's slower than ALX. Generally speaking it should be slower but YMMV.

Comparisons in these manner are usually very limited. To have a batter view one should use same rubbers , blades compared to have same mass and use same glue and gluing method. Further more, two blades of same mass can be very different, rubbers are not uniform in terms of mass, density and thickness and so on.

Producer's specs. should make more sense in guidance if it is to compare blades of same brand. Haven't seen any specs on Xiom's site though for ALX.

 
says Looking for the BH killer shot
says Looking for the BH killer shot
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I don't know about AZXi, but I own a SAL and an ALX and an AZX and the speed is SAL < ALX << AZX. They are all around 85/86g. The difference between AZX and the others is very notable. Difference between SAL and ALX is minor. All played with the same Omega 7 Pro rubbers. So I can't imagine the AZXi is so much slower than AZX.
 
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tt_beginner;357246
probably not so big a difference but the AZX just a little bit faster than the AZXi based on the structure?

Things are very relative here. There are two aspects to consider when it comes to speed: Primary elasticity and Central elasticity. Please check TTGEARLAB site.

I see primary elasticity as the speed at lower energy impact and bounce (service return, drives, loops, flips, etc.) and central elasticity the speed at thicker contacts, like smash, loop kill, more direct topspins. Central deflection says much about blade power.

I see these in the three blades I own:

1. Viscaria : primary elasticity high, central elasticity medium+
The blade is fast and the power is good. Stiffness medium to medium +

2. Xiom ALX : primary elasticity high+, central elasticity medium to medium -
Very fast blade with enough power. Stiffness medium to medium -

3. Hand/craft-made blade, Viscaria structure with aramid-carbon instead of arylate-carbon: primary elasticity medium, central elasticity high
Apparently allround + blade but brutally powerful. Stiffness medium+ to high.

Handle also has an input, especially when it comes to power and spin. It's mass and geometry contribute in interesting ways.
1. Medium neck thickness: very good balance of power and spin, high power and high spin for BH; good for FH.
2. Medium - thickness: very good spin (allows highest space for wrist movement) but some lack in power in BH; OK forehand;
3. Medium + thickness: very high power but lower spin (less space for wrist) for the BH; very good stability for forehand;

Among the three Viscaria is the best for BH and the custom blade is best for FH. The ALX recovers ground with speed, superb control, feeling and very high spin potential. These are very subjective as there are no two identical hands :) For the record I'm 180 cm high with average hands but thin fingers and palm.

To make things even more relative and complicated, two identical blades in terms of mass (let's say two Viscarias), same production lot, won't have same characteristics. Wood density is not identical within a tree. In average things are OK :)
 
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ZFT

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ZFT

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I bought the SAL (87g) during T11 Black Friday sale, my initial thoughts after todays 4 hour session.

I really liked it with Vega X (max). Can’t really go wrong with this on either side, the throw angle is just right and gives really good confidence when performing any attacking shot - high arching looping, flatter loop driving, smashing and active/passive blocking. The medium hardness of the sponge and catapult felt great straight away. On the negative, I’m having issues on service (going too long and not as much spin) and touch receives, though by the end it was much better. With another 2-5 sessions I believe I will have these back close to my usual level, though not exceeding. As a positive, on receives it just made me banana flick everything, it’s quite fabulous in this respect.

On the other side I had Rakza Z Extra Hard (max). Initially I played on the backhand side for the first 2 hours and then switched to forehand for the last 2 hours. For me Rakza Z EH needs a softer and more catapulty wood as I found it just a tad too slow and I couldn’t get it to sink/hit into the sponge enough. It seemed to leave just slightly too quickly compared to thicker kiso hinoki outer ply blades that I play really well with - Gergely 21 (OFF+), Xiom Zetro Quad (higher end OFF) and Dr Neubauer Hercules (ALL+) as the most recent examples.
Passive blocking and spin loaded short pushes was the highlight followed by drive looping kills on forehand and bigger swing backhand loops. Smashing on forehand and active blocking on backhand was not great at all, it was abit of a disaster actually and didn’t get too much better by the end. For me, it’s definitely the hardness of the sponge not matching with the blade and not technique related as when I use my JRE with Rozena 2.1 these types of shots are clear strengths.

For me, I believe the matching for SAL for Euro/Jap type rubbers is sponge hardness less than 52.5 deg. I’ll keep with this current combination for the next month at least and see if anything changes.

I only practice for fun 2-3 times a week so my preference is Euro/Jap or Hybrid rubbers. I did use XuShaoFa/Globe 999 for 2 years when I trained every day in the 90’s, though going back to H3 is too much hassle due to spin sensitivity. I do have a brand new Gold Arc 8 50 deg and Xiom O7C Ying 60 deg that I may experiment with next to see if my initial suspicions on sponge hardness are correct.
 

ZFT

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ZFT

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Gold Arc 8 Max and Omega 7 China Ying Max both play well with SAL.

The issue was with Rakza Z EH not harmonising well with this blade. The feeling with the rubber is too numb with the slight stickiness not helping. I still stand by Rakza Z EH and thicker Hinoki surface pairing great together.

Back to the SAL, if I wanted to play to my highest potential level or needed to restructure my strokes to make a level jump I would definitely choose this blade as the control is amazing and the sweet spot is across the whole face. It’s an excellent backhand blade no doubt, no vibration, so as long as I perform a decent stroke the ball will drop in, it’s very forgiving.

However as table tennis is now for exercise/fun I need something with a little bit more pop and excitement, the SAL for me doesn’t have this extra acceleration/finishing power for my technique that makes me go wow.

Even though Hugo uses the slightly faster HAL I really respect his dedication and technique to be able to generate so much speed and finishing power on both wings - especially his backhand.
 
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