Buying guide - Buying a blade for my brother.

[ayush_vrma]

Hello Folks,

I needed some help to suggest a all wood blade to my brother.

Unlike me he used to take normal TT coaching when he was young , kinda left TT post that.

Then had been playing with Killerspin Jet 200 casually. ( I gave that to him as I had one to spare 2 years ago).

He has started to become regular now. (3-4 times in a week).

I was thinking of a basic 5-ply all wood blade only. (Have no info on 7 -ply wood)

His Playstyle.. relies on loopy spins at times plays general , counters when the opponent puts pressure. ( All-round - offensive player like me but spinner..). He doesn't rely on blocks the way I do. ( Coz maybe he has better technique lol 😂).


But generally plays casual.

I was thinking of the following blades:

Stiga Clipper wood ( hard to find near me).
Xiom Offensive S
DHS PG7
Sanwei Fextra
Tibhar Power Stratus Wood.

For rubbers: I have a few sheets of Xiom Vega Asia's and Rakza 7 to spare in 2.0mm so will put them on for him.

Looking forward for guidance.

 

[Tyce]

Half of those are 7ply but honestly I wouldn't worry about it.
In fact, Fextra or PG7 are quite good options especially for budget. Make sure you seal them so you don't pull out splinters when changing rubbers.
I would say, pick the cheapest, save some money to improve later

 

[pong99]

First thing to try is new rubber on the killerspin premade if you can get the rubber off easily. It is a decent premade blade. If removal is too big of a hassle then good value wood blades are Yinhe U series or W6 for a little more money.

 

[Nash77]

I can recommend the Nittaku Acoustic G-Revision IF he's passionate about getting better.

This blade offers great control for intermediate level players but at the same time enough speed to be suitable for higher level players. If won't limit him in the foreseeable future so no need to "upgrade" anytime soon. If he has a knack for the sport and trains regularly it's a great choice, build quality is also excellent.

 

[Archosaurus]

I wouldn't really recommend the Stratus Power Wood; build quality and materials seem bottom tier and it's a bit pricey. Feedback is also strange, maybe the vibration amplitudes of the handle vs the head aren't balanced. I will be changing from it later.

I can't imagine that the cheap Chinese blades are worse. The Fextra would be first pick right now.

 

[ayush_vrma]

I don't mind paying a little extra for my brother. ( But not too much)

So you can give me better options as well. Thanks for all the replies tho.

I am trying to check if shops here have sealing services unfortunately most don't.

Oh yes. He mentioned me this.

" He doesn't like a head heavy blade".. or a setup. He prefers it balanced.

@Nash77 I have heard about the Nittaku Acoustic when I was choosing my 5-ply all wood.

How is G revision different from normal acoustic.

He prefers thinner handles as killerspin has that. I see g revision has a thinner handle. Is the weight distribution more handle centric in g revision?

 

[SKARIZARD]

Sanwei Echo is a surprisingly solid 5-ply for the price. It's not fast though, so he may grow out of it fairly quick. If so though, you're not out much.

 

[chinacurious]

Can't go wrong with Yasaka Sweden Extra imo. ~85g if you can chose.

 

[Nash77]

I don't mind paying a little extra for my brother. ( But not too much)

So you can give me better options as well. Thanks for all the replies tho.

I am trying to check if shops here have sealing services unfortunately most don't.

Oh yes. He mentioned me this.

" He doesn't like a head heavy blade".. or a setup. He prefers it balanced.

@Nash77 I have heard about the Nittaku Acoustic when I was choosing my 5-ply all wood.

How is G revision different from normal acoustic.

He prefers thinner handles as killerspin has that. I see g revision has a thinner handle. Is the weight distribution more handle centric in g revision?

G revision different from normal acoustic

I don't mind paying a little extra for my brother. ( But not too much)

So you can give me better options as well. Thanks for all the replies tho.

I am trying to check if shops here have sealing services unfortunately most don't.

Oh yes. He mentioned me this.

" He doesn't like a head heavy blade".. or a setup. He prefers it balanced.

@Nash77 I have heard about the Nittaku Acoustic when I was choosing my 5-ply all wood.

How is G revision different from normal acoustic.

He prefers thinner handles as killerspin has that. I see g revision has a thinner handle. Is the weight distribution more handle centric in g revision?

G revision different from normal acoustic Because it has a slightly wider/bigger handle, and it allows for a deeper grip because they changed the angle of the wings. This is explained in this pictuers and text :

https://tabletennis11.com/en/nittaku-acoustic-g-revision

Regular Acoustic has a thinner handle, so if he likes small handels..you have that option too. Both versions are top notch.

 

[ayush_vrma]

Okay thanks. Could you guide me for a 2 raquet case too?.. how is Xiom lab square?

 

[jonol]

I found the Stratus Power Wood to be fantastic, and if you get one on the heavier end (90g or more) it has plenty of room for growing into a more offensive game. The handle is slightly thicker than most other blades.

If you want to buy something more premium with a smaller handle, Nittaku Acoustic is a great choice.

The Offensive S is also a pretty great choice. Xiom build quality is quite good, from the ones I've seen.

 

[passifid]

For a well established player I would actually suggest something like
Budget:
Yasaka MLEO

More spinny:
DONIC WC89 appelgren all+ (outer zlc blade but not too fast with excellent spinny cypress outers)

Then whatever sensible rubbers you can find

 

[ayush_vrma]

Hey guys ,

Thanks for the suggestion. I took my brother to the shop. With my spare rubbers.

He checked all the blades available in the shop.

Allroud S , Offensive S and Tibhar Power stratus wood.

He liked the Power stratus wood handle.

He wanted the handle somewhat like mine ( Butterfly Hadraw VK). He checked Power stratus and Offensive S.

Liked the handle of power stratus so went ahead with it.

I had checked the raquet before ..so told it's good for play. Unfortunately the blade has now become heavy.

I wasn't aware it is an oversized blade.

We did put on rubbers yesterday.

Xiom Asia 2.0 , Yasaka Rakza 7 2.0

I dunno how he adapts. He is kinda okay with it. The raquet in total weighs 186 grams.

I checked the killerspin one that he was using was 193 grams in weight.

So it's definately the balance of the raquet.

I checked the weight of Tibhar stratus wood ply.. when in plastic was 89 grams. Removing the plastic I would consider 2-3 grams less so that would be 86-87 grams.

Just wanted to update. He will try out the blade today along with me in the club.

I changed one of my rubbers to Xiom Vega Asia too.

It was cheap too. He tried the Viscaria he loved that blade , unfortunately it was crazy too much for me to buy at this tage. I told him maybe in 2 years.

Got him the Tibhar Power stratus wood for 4k INR ( $35).

Betterment:

I wanna know for worst case , what can I do to improve the balance?

Should I sand the blade along the perimeter of the head and can that help?. ( If it bothers him too much).

The blade head size is 158*152 I guess.

My blade is 157*150. So I was thinking to take a cut out spare rubber as measure and sand the perimeter of the blade along with wings to lessen the weight.

Just need few experienced players to help me out here for sanding.

Or any professional who does sanding of blades.

 

[steve888]

Butterfly Primorac or Butterfly Korbel or Nittaku acoustic. If you want cheap - Nittaku Amin - plenty of control, feeling and some speed.