Yes, WCQ 100% uses some chinese sheet for at least a year. I can't tell if it's H3 or H8 either.
Wang supposedly uses Viscaria blade with Butterfly rubber on backhand. Therefore, not only does he use Butterfly, but as the fastest rising star, he would seem to be the ideal candidate for sponsorship.
Ma Long doesnt use it, but with financial incentive, you could get him to switch to Butterfly, or at least use Butterfly handle. Definitely should make an exception for the biggest star in the TT world.
I am pretty sure it was the Hurricane 3 in the last tournaments because of the brighter sponge. But 247tabletennis for example is still certain about his Hurricane 8 usage...
@Michael Zhuang: If you have the chance to get World number one under contract or someone who is completely struggling back to back against many opponents for over a year now, then the decision of who to take under contract should be clear.
For Ma Long - i dont think you can have more than one contract. I suppose the regulations would at least forbid that. So getting Ma Long under the Butterfly banner wont happen in this life.
At least on their website they do not feature ZJK, but FZD. So maybe they do have him under contract too which would be quite intriguing.
It would make sense that ZJK is not featured prominently since he has retired. I am not sure if that is why. But they don't show photos of Primorac either but you better be sure that when they sell a blade with his name on it, he gets something for that.
It would make sense that ZJK is not featured prominently since he has retired. I am not sure if that is why. But they don't show photos of Primorac either but you better be sure that when they sell a blade with his name on it, he gets something for that.
Sry i should have made that clearer - i was talking about DHS and not Butterfly.
On the DHS website they feature FZD but not ZJK like he was never sponsored by them.
But they mention Wang Liqin who retired before ZJK if my nemory doesnt fail me. So that option is supposedly oht of the way.
With DHS, I think DHS sponsors the CNT. So, a player like ZJK, while he was active could have gotten all the free products he wanted from them without necessarily being under contract. I really am not sure. But I think that was the deal.
Just a little more info: When Ma Long was really young he was using Nittaku blades. He used a few but one that stands out is, he used a Nittaku Acoustic for a while. After that he used a Butterfly TB Spirit, then a TB ALC. Then, I believe it was some time in 2011, he did a serious Equipment Junkie Journey where he had DHS design him blade after blade until they designed the 968 blade that he uses now. Once he started using that blade (the commercial version is the HL5 but it is a little different than the 968 blade that he uses) he never looked back.
Why did he want to be using DHS rubber on his BH when everyone else (at that time) was using Tenergy on the BH.[BTW: I have to be honest, I have no idea what ML uses on his BH these days. But I know, when he started using the softer version of H3 on his BH, at first he was the only one. Then when other players saw how good his BH was with it, how he could still do everything he had been doing with Tenergy with the H3 37, a whole bunch of other players started using it as well. ]
Just a little more info: When Ma Long was really young he was using Nittaku blades. He used a few but one that stands out is, he used a Nittaku Acoustic for a while. After that he used a Butterfly TB Spirit, then a TB ALC. Then, I believe it was some time in 2011, he did a serious Equipment Junkie Journey where he had DHS design him blade after blade until they designed the 968 blade that he uses now. Once he started using that blade (the commercial version is the HL5 but it is a little different than the 968 blade that he uses) he never looked back.
At that time, Ma Long used Tenergy rubber on his BH. Not too long after the got the blade right, he started having DHS do the work to figure out how to make it so he could use a Red H3 rubber for Backhand. That is where the Red H3 37-degree rubber came from. Once they had a rubber that was good enough for him to use on his BH, he began to only use DHS equipment.
So, again, think about it.[BTW: I have to be honest, I have no idea what ML uses on his BH these days. But I know, when he started using the softer version of H3 on his BH, at first he was the only one. Then when other players saw how good his BH was with it, how he could still do everything he had been doing with Tenergy with the H3 37, a whole bunch of other players started using it as well. ]
I am using the 37 degree rubber on my BH whereas the front is mid hard. I do twiddle coz it is fun. 37 degree very good for slow spinny loop to break the rhythm of my opponent. The harder version is of course the bread and butter rubber. But if you use it all the time, after a while the opponent get use to it and start relaxing into a rhythm.
ÂJust a little more info: When Ma Long was really young he was using Nittaku blades. He used a few but one that stands out is, he used a Nittaku Acoustic for a while. After that he used a Butterfly TB Spirit, then a TB ALC. Then, I believe it was some time in 2011, he did a serious Equipment Junkie Journey where he had DHS design him blade after blade until they designed the 968 blade that he uses now. Once he started using that blade (the commercial version is the HL5 but it is a little different than the 968 blade that he uses) he never looked back.
At that time, Ma Long used Tenergy rubber on his BH. Not too long after the got the blade right, he started having DHS do the work to figure out how to make it so he could use a Red H3 rubber for Backhand. That is where the Red H3 37-degree rubber came from. Once they had a rubber that was good enough for him to use on his BH, he began to only use DHS equipment.
So, again, think about it.[BTW: I have to be honest, I have no idea what ML uses on his BH these days. But I know, when he started using the softer version of H3 on his BH, at first he was the only one. Then when other players saw how good his BH was with it, how he could still do everything he had been doing with Tenergy with the H3 37, a whole bunch of other players started using it as well. ]
Cool story. What did DHS specifically change for the Red H3 37d rubber? How did he get past the dead bounce on his backhand (maybe the blade makes up for it)? Why was Ma Long so insistent on having H3 on his backhand? What was wrong with Tenergy?
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ZJK extended his contract with Butterfly for another 10 years in 2018. He made a guest appearance at the grand opening of the Butterfly Tech building, along with Mizutani and Harimoto. I would venture to say he makes Butterfly as much money as Boll does, if not more. The 70th anniversary edition is proof.
Have you ever used the actual H3 37 that Ma Long uses? Do you know if it has a "dead bounce" or not? Did DHS need to change anything besides the sponge?
