I thought I would tag on to this review with some thoughts of my own on my W968, rather than starting a new thread - hope that is ok Zwill?
My blade is a 2019 letters model (new) which has the smaller head but larger handle - I also have a base HL5 and an HL5x but my recent blade has been the FZD ALC. I have enjoyed using both the HL5 and 5x but felt both were lacking something - the HL5 was a very small handle and a little mushy feeling unless I used very hard rubbers and the 5x was much stiffer and harder and more like an outer ALC blade in speed and feel, which I liked but always felt a lack of control. Both has bits that I liked (mostly the feel and confidence around FH/BH loops and the ability to spin the ball)
I am an intermediate player - I play in the local top division league but am only 12 months back into the game having played a lot as a younger man. I probably play 9h/week and have coaching once a week. I am an offensive player on both wings and my focus is on opening up and topspin whenever I can make that opportunity. My weakness is being drawn into pushing rallies on half long balls to my BH that I really should be opening up on...
I used rubbers on the W968 that I am very familiar with in order to make some meaningful comparisons - these are Tibhar K3 on FH and Rakza 7 on BH (neither were new but not well used) My session last night was a typical club session of 3h consisting of some practice, a match vs a guy I play a lot (evenly matched) and then some competitive doubles (always good for my BH practice)
My impressions;
1. Handle - 10/10 and I really appreciated the larger size and more chunky feel. Much more like my FZD that I am very comfortable with.
2. Feel - I could tell when bouncing a ball up and down before playing that this had a very different feel to either the HL5 / 5x, and this was borne out when playing with it. I would best describe it as having more "feel" but less vibration - it feels very solid rather than hollow and that in turn gives a feeling of the ball being absorbed through the sponge onto the blade before the shot is complete. This might be described as dwell or hold I guess and certainly means there is a feeling of more spin and control being imparted to topspin shots. Interestingly, I am never someone who uses backspin behind the table but last night I found myself hitting this shot for fun when practicing because there was just a higher confidence level around the ball being absorbed into the sponge.
3. Speed - frequency of circa 1390 put this somewhere between HL5 and FZD/5x and I would say this is about how it felt. There is no doubt it has plenty of speed when you put the effort into a decent topspin, but it never felt too bouncy or fast when playing slower shots of a topspin nature. I will agree with Will however that it felt a little bouncier than Hl5 when playing short touch around the net.
4. Weight - mine weighs 90g which is perfect for me, and with these rubbers weighs in at 188g. It felt perfectly balanced, helped by the handle size no doubt - not as head heavy as the HL5/x feel.
Early days but initial impressions very positive and meeting my expectations - certainly very different from the 5 and 5x. I had planned to keep these as back up but in all honesty they are not that similar (5x may stay at a push but if anybody is looking for an HL5 to try give me a shout)
Rubbers were a good fit - K3 is perfect given it is fairly hard but feels relatively soft. R7 - not sure but will be trying a few others (T05FX that felt too soft on HL5 and also T80) - I am also intrigued by the Vega Asia recommendation so keen to know more about this one when Zwill puts it on.
That's about it for now - hope this is of some help to anybody considering this investment...
