DHS W968 review

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I got back from Hong Kong where I had a wonderful time playing with wonderful people in wonderful places.

So here's the deal. I kinda made the mistake by only taking 1 blade to HK which was the Zhou Qihao S-ALC.
Don't get me wrong it's a fantastic blade, probably my 2nd favorite but I thankfully managed to play against HK and Chinese modern defenders. Very good ones at that too. I honestly felt I could not create much power with the ZQ SALC blade, I was playing with the new Mantra Pro rubbers which are pretty good actually, FH the XH and BH the medium. Very easy to play with, super lovely to use both. But when I played against defenders I just couldn't hit through them very well which was a new experience for me. Maybe the hall was huge and my feeling is that large halls slow the ball down so I was at a disadvantage and also the balls they used were a bit unusual to me. Some Kokutaku ball, probably some old DHS plastic ball, which many players complained about in the past.
But I felt the racket was just not very suitable against them. To stiff, no flex kick, too hard too.

So now I'm home, I've ordered a pair of new Glayzer and G09c, glued them on my W968 and it's much better.
In fact they feel better than the first time I bought the Glayzers in the spring. Now I have black G09c and red Glayzer, before I had them the other way around.
Especially the G09c is faster than before, I'm pretty sure I said one needs an active block or the ball doesn't even reach the net, now I don't have this issue at all, it feels pretty bouncy. The normal Glayzer kinda feels like a harder Mantra Pro medium, I need to use the same strokes with it.
With the W968 I feel the ball is contacting the racket for significantly longer. So with faster blades I felt that I don't need to make a full stroke as the ball leaves the racket soon, but with W968 I must do a full stroke or else there is no power or quality. But when I do the full stroke the quality of the ball is higher than what stiffer and harder blades produce.
I also think I prefer the flex of the blade and how it gives the ball an extra kick unlike the harder ZQ SALC blade, which doesn't have this effect at all.
I still love the W968 handle and head shape design. I wish more manufacturers followed the DHS or Stiga head shape.

I guess I should mention that this time I used a Sueke glue, before I probably used Revolution, but I can't really remember. I like this Sueke glue. Before I assumed it was DHS no 15, but no. It's similar but when I peeled it off it is very different. It's like a middle of the road between the German glues and DHS no 15. Not sure if it influences the bounciness of G09c or just this sheet is more bouncy by itself but I like the end result a lot either way.

Today at the end of the training I practiced against an anti-chopper and I loved this setup on both BH and FH. It feels much more powerful and safe to use against defenders and I actually love the W968 on BH a lot. I'm probably a weirdo for loving this blade on BH more.

Also in HK I tried a lot of peoples blades, HL5 normal, Innerforce ALC, the Wang Chuqin blade from DHS, the Sun Yinghsa blade too, Harimoto SZLC, Zhang Jike SZLC, Carbonados, 190, 45, dang I forgot a few I guess.

Of course, they had various rubbers, but I really liked the Wang Chuqin blade, I think that one is a great one from DHS. It had a H3 blue sponge and a D09c, both boosted, but it felt awesome. HL5 commercial with 2 boosted H3, BS and OS felt also pretty good, just the handle is a bit thin.

Anyway, after trying D05 and D09c again I don't really miss them compared to Glayzers...
I also think G09c with the W968 is more versatile and possibly better than most H3 people use or can boost up. No question the G09c is more versatile but also faster, and easier to use. W968 works great with it. Probably Innerforce ALC or Harimoto ALC is also a great choice and I guess no wonder Butterfly was demonstrating the Glayzers on Innerforce ALCs in their videos, but the actual blade properties of W968 or even just HL5 to me are better than Innerforce ALC or Harimoto ALC. But no question the fit and finish of the Butterfly bladers is far superior. DHS doesn't give much thought to fit and finish if I have to be honest, DHS just cares about performance.
Like I said I'm probably a weirdo but I like my blades rough and having burrs and being not so pretty so I don't need to care too much about them getting uglier.
 
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I got back from Hong Kong where I had a wonderful time playing with wonderful people in wonderful places.

So here's the deal. I kinda made the mistake by only taking 1 blade to HK which was the Zhou Qihao S-ALC.
Don't get me wrong it's a fantastic blade, probably my 2nd favorite but I thankfully managed to play against HK and Chinese modern defenders. Very good ones at that too. I honestly felt I could not create much power with the ZQ SALC blade, I was playing with the new Mantra Pro rubbers which are pretty good actually, FH the XH and BH the medium. Very easy to play with, super lovely to use both. But when I played against defenders I just couldn't hit through them very well which was a new experience for me. Maybe the hall was huge and my feeling is that large halls slow the ball down so I was at a disadvantage and also the balls they used were a bit unusual to me. Some Kokutaku ball, probably some old DHS plastic ball, which many players complained about in the past.
But I felt the racket was just not very suitable against them. To stiff, no flex kick, too hard too.

So now I'm home, I've ordered a pair of new Glayzer and G09c, glued them on my W968 and it's much better.
In fact they feel better than the first time I bought the Glayzers in the spring. Now I have black G09c and red Glayzer, before I had them the other way around.
Especially the G09c is faster than before, I'm pretty sure I said one needs an active block or the ball doesn't even reach the net, now I don't have this issue at all, it feels pretty bouncy. The normal Glayzer kinda feels like a harder Mantra Pro medium, I need to use the same strokes with it.
With the W968 I feel the ball is contacting the racket for significantly longer. So with faster blades I felt that I don't need to make a full stroke as the ball leaves the racket soon, but with W968 I must do a full stroke or else there is no power or quality. But when I do the full stroke the quality of the ball is higher than what stiffer and harder blades produce.
I also think I prefer the flex of the blade and how it gives the ball an extra kick unlike the harder ZQ SALC blade, which doesn't have this effect at all.
I still love the W968 handle and head shape design. I wish more manufacturers followed the DHS or Stiga head shape.

Tôi đoán tôi nên đề cập rằng lần này tôi đã sử dụng keo Sueke, trước khi tôi sử dụng Revolution, nhưng tôi thực sự không thể nhớ được. Tôi thích loại keo Sueke này. Trước đây tôi cho rằng đó là DHS số 15, nhưng không. Giống nhau nhưng khi bóc ra thì khác hẳn. Nó giống như một con đường giữa keo Đức và DHS no 15. Không chắc liệu nó có ảnh hưởng đến độ nảy của G09c hay chỉ bản thân tấm này có độ nảy cao hơn nhưng tôi cũng rất thích kết quả cuối cùng.

Hôm nay, khi kết thúc buổi huấn luyện, tôi đã luyện tập với một kẻ chống cắt bóng và tôi thích cách thiết lập này trên cả BH và FH. Nó cho cảm giác mạnh mẽ và an toàn hơn nhiều khi sử dụng để chống lại những người phòng thủ và tôi thực sự yêu thích W968 trên BH rất nhiều. Tôi có lẽ là một kẻ lập dị vì yêu thích lưỡi kiếm này trên BH hơn.

Ngoài ra ở HK tôi đã thử rất nhiều lưỡi kiếm của mọi người, HL5 normal, Innerforce ALC, lưỡi Wang Chuqin của DHS, lưỡi Sun Yinghsa nữa, Harimoto SZLC, Zhang Jike SZLC, Carbonados, 190, 45, tôi đoán là tôi đã quên một vài cái .

Tất nhiên, họ có nhiều loại mặt vợt khác nhau, nhưng tôi thực sự thích cốt vợt Wang Chuqin, tôi nghĩ rằng đó là một mặt vợt tuyệt vời của DHS. Nó có miếng bọt biển màu xanh H3 và D09c, cả hai đều được tăng tốc, nhưng cảm giác thật tuyệt vời. HL5 thương mại với 2 boost H3, BS và OS cho cảm giác cũng khá ổn, chỉ có điều phần tay cầm hơi mỏng.

Dù sao, sau khi thử lại D05 và D09c, tôi không thực sự nhớ chúng so với Glayzers...
Tôi cũng nghĩ G09c với W968 linh hoạt hơn và có thể tốt hơn hầu hết mọi người sử dụng H3 hoặc có thể tăng tốc. Không nghi ngờ gì nữa, G09c linh hoạt hơn nhưng cũng nhanh hơn và dễ sử dụng hơn. W968 hoạt động rất tốt với nó. Có lẽ Innerforce ALC hoặc Harimoto ALC cũng là một lựa chọn tuyệt vời và tôi đoán không có gì ngạc nhiên khi Butterfly đã trình diễn Glayzers trên Innerforce ALC trong video của họ, nhưng đối với tôi, đặc tính lưỡi thực tế của W968 hoặc thậm chí chỉ HL5 vẫn tốt hơn Innerforce ALC hoặc Harimoto ALC. Nhưng không nghi ngờ gì nữa, độ vừa vặn và độ hoàn thiện của Butterfly Bladers là vượt trội hơn nhiều. Thành thật mà nói, DHS không quan tâm nhiều đến việc phù hợp và hoàn thiện, DHS chỉ quan tâm đến hiệu suất.
Như tôi đã nói, tôi có lẽ là một kẻ lập dị nhưng tôi thích lưỡi kiếm của mình thô ráp, có gờ và không đẹp lắm nên tôi không cần quan tâm quá nhiều đến việc chúng ngày càng xấu đi.
You tried carbonados blades? Can you give some comments about them when compare to butter joola or dhs blade. I also know that in Hk or china, there are middling people playing carbonados blades.
 
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You tried carbonados blades? Can you give some comments about them when compare to butter joola or dhs blade. I also know that in Hk or china, there are middling people playing carbonados blades.
Yeah, few years ago I even had a straight-handle 290. Despite being different construction to HL5 the Carbonado 45 is not a bad alternative for it. They play similarly.
To me Carbonados have this weird sound during contact, especially the 290. If someone wants a fast blade the 290 is just about as fast as it gets in the 6mm thickness range and to be honest it's really hard to find an outer carbon blade with ayous core.
I think the 45 is their best blade and 290 is also great, but the others I did not fancy much. The 190 is nothing special and a few years ago I tried a couple of 145s and those were utter garbage. One of the worst blades I ever tried.
I never tried the 90 and 245... but I believe the 245 and 290 are discontinued for some dumb reason.

Anyways if you want a HL5-ish blade the 45 is pretty good option and they have all sorts of handles, master, legend, winner, classic... Lot of pro Chinese used it too, especially females.
 
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Vâng, vài năm trước, tôi thậm chí còn có một chiếc 290 có tay cầm thẳng. Mặc dù có cấu tạo khác với HL5 nhưng Carbonado 45 không phải là một lựa chọn thay thế tồi cho nó. Họ chơi tương tự nhau.
Đối với tôi, Carbonados có âm thanh kỳ lạ khi tiếp xúc, đặc biệt là 290. Nếu ai đó muốn có một lưỡi dao nhanh thì 290 chỉ nhanh bằng mức độ dày 6 mm và thành thật mà nói, thật khó để tìm thấy một lưỡi carbon bên ngoài có ayous cốt lõi.
Tôi nghĩ cây 45 là cây vợt tốt nhất của họ và cây 290 cũng tuyệt vời, nhưng những cây khác thì tôi không thích lắm. Chiếc 190 không có gì đặc biệt và vài năm trước tôi đã thử vài chiếc 145 và chúng hoàn toàn là rác rưởi. Một trong những lưỡi kiếm tồi tệ nhất mà tôi từng thử.
Tôi chưa bao giờ thử 90 và 245... nhưng tôi tin rằng 245 và 290 đã bị ngừng sản xuất vì một lý do ngớ ngẩn nào đó.

Dù sao đi nữa, nếu bạn muốn một lưỡi kiếm HL5 thì chiếc 45 là một lựa chọn khá tốt và chúng có đủ loại tay cầm, bậc thầy, huyền thoại, người chiến thắng, cổ điển... Rất nhiều người Trung Quốc chuyên nghiệp cũng sử dụng nó, đặc biệt là phụ nữ.
thank you very muchhhh because of your kind. One thing i hate stiga blade is that the quality of blade. There are so many blade have been crark the outer wood layer, some have been flaky the handle ,....
 
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thank you very muchhhh because of your kind. One thing i hate stiga blade is that the quality of blade. There are so many blade have been crark the outer wood layer, some have been flaky the handle ,....
Very true, i have Stiga Carbonado 190 since long time, the outer wood ply just displaces or disconnected from the carbon layer and only slightly connected from center, curled very ugly, so i hated Stiga blades and decided will never buy again even their Cybershape one.
 
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Agreed D09c is amazing for BH on this blade. Was using O7P for a while but it often felt too bouncy
I'll 3rd that. I was used to D09c on the FH, and it felt similar to a boosted H3 so I kept it on the FH side when I switched to the W968. I tried the same BH rubber at first, a T05-FX, didn't like it. I then tried T05, D05, T64-FX, and D05, but nothing felt nearly as good as when I twiddled and used D09c on my BH side.

I've since settled on D09c on both sides now, been using it for the past year (though only ~7 months of actual playing time due to an injury). I've glued up some of my other blades, like the Viscaria, HL5 (both pre-2019 and 2019-2022). I keep trying them as my play level improves, see if I have different feelings about them as well as the other rubbers. At least for now, they just can't match the fine balance of FH/BH, soft/hard, and short/long game of the W968.
 
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Greetings! New guy here.

Finally read through this entire thread and it's been very informative! I can really feel everyone's passion for TT!

Anyhoo, ordered a w968 from prott about 3 weeks ago and it should be arriving soon. Just wondering if R48 would work well on the BH. I have a sheet of H8-80 38h lying around as well. Not sure which is better so I was hoping for some feedback from you guys since you're w968 veterans :)

Thanks!
 
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