Anybody played with a Mazunov?

[Wrighty67]

Hi all

I wanted to share my experience of this blade - it surprised me big time.

I have been playing with slower blades - both all wood (Xiom off S) and Innerforce ALC along with Rozena and have been enjoying the added control. I tend towards heavier blades and all of mine are 90g+.

I tried a Mazunov last night for 3h of practice - 98g and paired with softer rubbers (T80FX = total bat weight of 190g) and quite simply was blown away - had planned to have a quick hit for fun and then move back to my normal bat, but I couldn't put it down...

It was a bit faster, but not crazy fast compared to my off rated wooden / inner blades but felt very balanced in hand and I loved the handle. The combination of blade and softer rubbers gave me a real feel of security, while offering more penetration (by far) on my FH & BH loops and drives. I expected it to bite me in terms of control, both with offensive and tight, short pushes and serves - but it didn't. I almost didn't put a foot wrong last night and played some of the best TT of my life in all honesty. Now this could have been the equivalent of what we used to call a "no chain day" when I raced bicycles, so needs to be borne out by further sessions - but I was quite simply blown away by the combination of balance, feel, control and plenty of speed.

I am sure some of you have experienced this blade, so keen to hear if this is a surprise to you, or if it's reputation is well deserved.

Peter

 

[OldUser]

The Mazunov has been designed for old era rubbers that were softer than new generation ones. So pairing it with Rozenas for instance WOULD (edit) totally makes sense, BTY Tenergy FX rubbers are therefore perfect. I had to try a Mazunov of one of my club teammates in the 90's, he paired it with Mark Vs, no speed glue, with a kind of 2100-2200 USATT (old era FFTT 35-30, now 1600-1700) ranking at that time.

Surprisingly very good dwell time, a bit too fast still at that time for me though at my best ranking ever (old era FFTT 50, now I'd be 1300 USATT 1800). This blade is no joke ! a bit stiff for a 5 ply only and quite thick, so it explains a lot about its speed and stiffness, but not that much compared to a Clipper. With the P Ball now I guess it's a totally reasonable OFF- blade for blocking, punching, and spin at any distance.

 

[Wrighty67]

The Mazunov has been designed for old era rubbers that were softer than new generation ones. So pairing it with Rozenas for instance WOULD (edit) totally makes sense, BTY Tenergy FX rubbers are therefore perfect. I had to try a Mazunov of one of my club teammates in the 90's, he paired it with Mark Vs, no speed glue, with a kind of 2100-2200 USATT (old era FFTT 35-30, now 1600-1700) ranking at that time.

Surprisingly very good dwell time, a bit too fast still at that time for me though at my best ranking ever (old era FFTT 50, now I'd be 1300 USATT 1800). This blade is no joke ! a bit stiff for a 5 ply only and quite thick, so it explains a lot about its speed and stiffness, but not that much compared to a Clipper. With the P Ball now I guess it's a totally reasonable OFF- blade for blocking, punching, and spin at any distance.

Interesting, that’s what I experienced - the rubbers felt like a very good match and the blade just did everything well while giving decent feedback. Off- feels about right as a description.

 

[NextLevel]

For me, the handle was a bit too thick so it used to give me trouble, (I shaved it to make it flatter) but otherwise, it was a fantastic blade. I always played well with it, the challenge was controlling the head heaviness with hard rubbers that I liked to use. I was going to build clones but I have decided not to.

All that said, it was really helpful for me because I think that playing with it helped me transition to faster blades more easily (it has a lot of vibration relative to its stiffness), because the blocking against incoming topspin is really good and it is a looping blade with the new balls. Without my experience using it, I probably would still be using slower 5 plies. Now I use 5+2 carbons more comfortably. For the speed it produces, the feeling is amazing if you like subtle vibrations as feedback.

 

[Wrighty67]

For me, the handle was a bit too thick so it used to give me trouble, (I shaved it to make it flatter) but otherwise, it was a fantastic blade. I always played well with it, the challenge was controlling the head heaviness with hard rubbers that I liked to use. I was going to build clones but I have decided not to.

All that said, it was really helpful for me because I think that playing with it helped me transition to faster blades more easily (it has a lot of vibration relative to its stiffness), because the blocking against incoming topspin is really good and it is a looping blade with the new balls. Without my experience using it, I probably would still be using slower 5 plies. Now I use 5+2 carbons more comfortably. For the speed it produces, the feeling is amazing if you like subtle vibrations as feedback.

Interesting feedback NL - I guess the FX rubbers I has on went some way to mitigating the head heaviness, as it felt very balanced to me.

 

[NextLevel]

Interesting feedback NL - I guess the FX rubbers I has on went some way to mitigating the head heaviness, as it felt very balanced to me.

Yes, when I used it, I used it with Fastarc C1, which is slightly lighter than G1, which is what I had used with the other 5 plies.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

Shame it's been discontinued, especially now since it seems to be more sought after than ever.

 

[GregorTT425]

As a fun fact, this is the blade that was or is used by Pongfinity's Miikka. I'm not sure of their equipment, but this is the latest update we've ever got.

 

[NextLevel]

Shame it's been discontinued, especially now since it seems to be more sought after than ever.

Butterfly makes too much margin from composites, they really want wood to die and composites to become the norm. To be fair to them, wood is hard to quality control.

 

[mightymouse]

I am always curious about this BTY Mazunov. I once saw it in the TT store nearby but I did not buy them since at that time my shoulder was still OK and I prefer slower blades (and lighter blades as well)

The reason I am curious about this blade is that Samsonov used to play with that blade (with Tibhar Samsonov Alpha handle) and his style is more like a Tai Chi master (soft, controlled and yet solid) and I have never thought that such fast blade can perform very well with his style of play. I thought that hard fast blade should be more appropriate to hard looping and hard hitting players.

So I guess it is not the blade but it is the great Samsonov who really has great control (even when using fast blade).

If I find another Mazunov again in the TT store nearby, I will probably buy it and try it.