A good downgrade from Fan Zhendong ALC?

[JJ Ng]

My advice: Gambler Blackout. It is a $40 blade. Fast but not too fast.

Forehand, try Xiom Vega Pro. It is like a poor man's version of Tenergy 05. Cheaper and a bit a slower. You will like it. Xiom Vega X on the forehand is fine too.

Backhand: Xiom Vega Europe if you want soft and a bit catapulty. Donic BlueFire M2 or Xiom Vega Japan if you want it a bit harder and a bit faster.

I like Rozena on backhand too. I mean, Xiom Vega series is a lot cheaper than Rozena once you get 30% discount on the Vega Series.

Glayzer is junk. Well, it is not bad but for $48, you can get like two sheets of Xiom Vega series. For example a sheet of Xiom Vega X is on sales for $27 on tabletennis11 right now. Don't listen to Dan on everything.

 

[amitmnagarwal]

Five months ago i switched from a carbon blade to Petr Korbel with T05 FH and T64 BH. It's the best setup i used so far. I know, it's only a 5 ply all wood blade, no cabon or ALC. But it offer tons of control, the short game is easy, and it offer great speed. Feeling is awesome. I don't think i will go back to carbon anytime soon.

You can put your actual rubber on an all wood, put tacky or slow rubbers on your FZD, and see which one you like better, or give you better results.

Sometimes we need to take a step back and find something that better suit our game style.

Correct, acoustic wood also in same league as korbel if not better

 

[Manto76]

I'll add another 'vote' to those who've said to slow everything down, and that begins with the blade.

Depending on your budget, go with any of the following:

• VODAK Miroslav Hořejší Off EnTech
• Butterfly Korbel
• Xiom Offensive S
• Tibhar Stratus Powerwood
• Tibhar Lebesson
• Butterfly Korbel SK7 (7-ply)
• Stiga Clipper (7-ply)
• Avalox P500 / P700 (5 / 7-ply)
• Donic Persson Powerplay (7-ply, sort of)

Assuming your technique is sound, then the differences between using an allwood blade compared to carbon will probably be roughly as follows:

• FH attacking shots: There'll be very little difference in the power (i.e. combination of spin and speed) unless you're talking about very high-level players. By very high-level, I mean semi-pro upwards. Below that level, there's a good chance you'll produce higher quality shots more consistently with an allwood blade.
• BH attacking shots: Noticeably more speed with carbon; noticeably more spin with allwood.
• Pushes FH and BH: More 'touch/feel/control' with allwood.
• Serves: More spin and control with allwood.
• Serve receive: More 'touch/feel/control' with allwood.

By the way, I'm talking about the above shots in actual gameplay, not in training drills! Many of us can hit loops just as powerfully as the pros in training drills.

You can always go back to your FZD, but try an allwood for a year or two, there's a good chance you'll play better (i.e. win more points in competitive games) with it.

 

[timdm]

If you suffer in the short game and receives, I would also choose a slower blade instead of other rubbers.

 

[Chang]

Hey guys I recently played a tournament and lost in the round of 16 using a FZD ALC with T05H FH and D05 BH (I am intermediate level and play mostly powerful FH play but have recently started to be a two-wing looper). I didn’t play all that well and suffered very much with my receives as they bounced up quite high as well as spin reading. I think that my FZD ALC and rubber combo is too fast for my level of play, can anyone recommend some good combinations for an intermediate player where looping is good without sacrificing too much speed and is good at control in short game and less spin sensitive? I was thinking STIGA Clipper Wood with either D80 both sides or Vega X both sides, but would love to hear your guys’ opinions. Thanks!

Hi. I will tell you what I´ve recently come around. I played with inner carbon blade. Just for the sake of nostalgia, I bought a blade that I had before, but destroyed, which is DHS PG7. I put older used Tenergy 1,9 on bh. I instantly felt the ball better, the feeling for the ball, therefore the control of it was like ten times better. With some more training, I felt that I had improved backhand. A few years back, when I changed from Max rubber thickness to 1,9, I played also better.

I am convinced, that even though the inner carbon blades are presented with a wooden feel but faster when hit hard, it is still carbon, thus taking a lot of vibration away. Feeling the ball on the blade is important, more for intermediate players. And the thickness of the sponge is also important. Tenergy in max has less feeling for the ball than 1,9.

I would recommend getting a good feeling all wood blade, doesn´t have to be PG7, though it is very good price/performance ratio. Some Petr Korbel Japan Version, Tibhar Stratus Wood, Stiga Clipper and many others seems very promising too and put your rubbers that you like in thinner version on them, 1,9 in case of BTY rubbers.

Let´s be honest, FZD ALC is a really fast blade, probably with zero vibration. Not a good blade for an intermediate player.
1,9 vs 2,1 is not that much slower, you can feel the ball better and it could really help with receiving services.

Also avoid Rozena at all cost, that rubbers sucks on so many levels.

 

[Fantastic_Muffin_D]

My advice would be different. You don't need to downgrade your blade, you should change your rubber. All-wood blade have smaller sweetspot which means that the area that you can hit the ball effectively is small. ALC technology help increasing the sweetspot without speed up too fast like a solely carbon blade. Some ALC blade is slower than all-wood blade, you wouldn't believe it. FZD ALC is already almost a beginner friendly blade and it can take you to any level that you want.
I just think you just need to change to a slow (more condensed rubber) and get coach. Your return pop up because you read the wrong spin, it's not the blade fault. And your rubbers are combination that make your situation worse. D05 and T05H are both very spin-sensitive, not for beginner since those are default fast and bouncy, only people that train decently can handle those rubbers. Change both sides to 2 Hurricane 3 no boost (BH get 37 degrees, and FH get 39 degrees) and then you can learn from there. I don't really like the idea of changing to some softer ESN, it can be safe in few shot, but when you're passive, the rubber is less densed and thereby bounce faster out of your blade, so it doesn't really help.

 

[Stella]

Tibhar K2/K3 FH
Nittaku Fastarc G-1 or Tibhar K2/K3 or Stiga Mantra Pro M or Butterfly T64/05 BH

 

[S-Pin]

DHS GoldArc 8 ? It is more controllable, easier to play than D/T05, less spin sensitive, but still fast and spinny.

Vega X is a good rubber, but might be too bouncy, to me it's just a toned down T05, but the difference is not enough to seriously improve the game if you struggle with D/T05, it would be still too difficult to control in a real match situation for an intermediate player on a fast carbon blade. But it's fun to knock the ball with a friend, that's for sure.

There's not much difference between GA8 and Vega X in terms of speed and spin, but to me GA8 is less bouncy, more forgiving and more composed in high gear, which gives you some confidence if you are a really strong intermediate.

I have GA8 and Vega X on one of my spare blades (Nitt. Ludeack) and my shots percentage with GA8 is higher, especially in high gear.

 

[joshmak10]

Hi guys thank you for your advice. I have decided to order a Tibhar Hybrid K3 for Fh and Bh and keep my FZD ALC. I will let you guys know how it plays and if my short game improves. Thanks again!

 

[joshmak10]

UPDATE: So I bought the Hybrid K3 and also got a slower blade (Tibhar Felix Lebrun OFF-) to help with my short game and consistency. It took a while to adjust to K3 on my forehand but once i figured out to close the racket angle my loops and drives were deadly. My backhand flick was very good and backhand strokes were all very easy. My short game improved massively and i was able to easily receive my opponents spiny serves. The blade is making me work hard to get the power I want for both wings, which i feel will help me. Once my technique improves i will put K3 on my FZD ALC, but I’m in love with K3 and the Lebrun OFF- blade.