Good blades under 30 euros on TT11

[Sankhma]

Hello, I am in the process of ordering blades and rubbers for the club for the new players, or players without their bats. As I believe even a beginner bat should be good enough so I can pick it up and play most of the strokes with OK-ish quality. Since I am long past looking at budget options, I have no idea what is good and what is trash. I was planning to get Neottec Voodoo Classic, since the TT11 team does their reviews with it, I figured it's not bad, and pair it with both sides Victas Ventus Regular alpha.
Do you have any recommendations?

 

[TareqPhoto]

Since last year i started to buy a replica copy of Long 5 blade which is from those 3rd parties companies from China, i ordered from Aliexpress, and to my surprise, they are really that good, and i already have DHS Long 5X and Hurricane Hao III original from DHS, so it has kind of some characteristics of both, for example i bought a brand name "Stuor" and it has less speed than Long 5X but almost same or very slightly more speed than HH3, while the control it is higher than Long 5X but lower than HH3, so it is second in both aspects, which is very good for many players even beginners, one blade is $27.36, i bought 3 of them, and i added one with another structure which is W968 Ma Long design, it is Ebony wood top layer and it is $36.31, i didn't play with it much as i have a short pips on one side, but it sounds really nice feeling of speed and control and maybe spin.

I once bought a Cybershape replica also but i felt it is a bit heavy, so i sold it, i used DHS Hurricane 3 rubbers on it so it made it heavier, i am thinking about buying it again with lighter weight rubbers and see, it was about $53 price, and also i bought 7 plys all wood blade from "Lemuria" brand [another replica], wasn't bad, but i stopped using it because of the above replica from Stuor, i felt that Stuor has better design and quality and price then Lemuria, not complaining here, but i don't know if you can find them out of Aliexpress, they aren't available on TT11.

 

[Trevize84]

Yasaka Sweden Extra, likely the best under 30 euros. If you manage to get Donic Persson Powerplay (classic version, no senso) at 30 euro or a couple of euros more, that one is also a bargain. However YSE is a better choice for a beginner. Dandoy is another very good shop where you can find nice offers and volume discount.

 

[Manto76]

Four very good blades at (more-or-less) that price:

• Neottec Voodoo Classic
• Yasaka Sweden Extra
• Tibhar Lebesson
• Donic Persson Powerplay

The Tibhar Lebesson is probably one of the most under-rated (and best value for money) blades around. It can comfortably be played by absolute beginners, and will serve all the way to pro level (depending on play style).

 

[mightymouse]

Four very good blades at (more-or-less) that price:

• Neottec Voodoo Classic
• Yasaka Sweden Extra
• Tibhar Lebesson
• Donic Persson Powerplay

The Tibhar Lebesson is probably one of the most under-rated (and best value for money) blades around. It can comfortably be played by absolute beginners, and will serve all the way to pro level (depending on play style).

These are all proven blades, that have been used in the past by pros. Well, probably not the Neottec.
However, Neottec Voodo Classic is basically a replica of (or I should say similar to) Butterfly Korbel, which at one time had been used by many pro players. It is now still being used by few pro players.

Yasaka Sweden Extra, is used to be called Yasaka Gatien Extra, and it had been used by Gatien and Ma Lin in their pro career.

Tibhar Lebesson (based on Samsonov Alpha) is currently being used by Lebesson himself, so it is still suitable to be played at pro level using 40+ plastic ball.

Donic Persson Powerplay is another gem that people don't pay attention to, but it is a really good blade. Persson actually used it in his pro career before using another blade (Clipper, presumably). It is a 7-ply blade that actually plays like a 5-ply blade. Still relevant in the plastic ball era.

And they are all affordable.

 

[JJ Ng]

I would be third person to recommend Donic Persson Powerplay. Agree. It is a 7-ply that plays like a 5-ply but a bit faster than most 5-ply.

I am not a fan of ALL or ALL+ blades for beginner. I think one should have a fast enough blade to advance through various rubbers along the way.

Tibhar Stratus Power Wood is another good choice. I mean you are going to buy lots of blades for many beginners, you should get at least 20-30% bulk discount. That should push Donic Persson Powerplay and Tibhar Stratus Power Wood to under 30 euro place.

I also own a Neottec Revolution. My daughter actually picked that blade instead of Donic Persson Powerplay and Tibhar Stratus Power Wood because it feels comfortable in her hand. So that's her main blade now. You cannot go wrong with any of those three blades.

 

[tAz-07]

At that price I really like the Donic Waldner Allplay that is very versatile and a good bridge for faster blade later if needed.

 

[Trevize84]

26 euros on T11 there's also Donic Appelgreen Allplay

 

[Der_Echte]

Donic Persson Power Play (reg or V1 or V2 senso handle) is under 30 Teuros.

Donic Bluestorm X3 is a soft modern dynamic rubber that is just over 30 Teuros before tax if you make a 300 Teuro order and is a great match for that blade.... well appropriate for a beginner or an advanced player.

I use 2/3 of that combo myself and play every bit as powerful as I did with faster blades and harder rubber. (I play at the table more now)

I might have bought half their stock in 2023, so many players see me playing that blade and want one when they hear how inexpensive it is.

 

[disaster3]

Can anybody tell me how to interpret statement "Donic Persson Power Play req is 7ply blade but plays like 5 ply one"? as I got lost. I thought that if someone would like to stick with allwood blade but accelerate a bit than choose 7ply as a natural upgrade. Such blades are bit stiffer, faster and you will not suffer for lack of power from mid-distance which is mostly mentioned by anyone who feels that playing 5ply wood blade.
If this above statement is true why not to stick to 5ply then? When it comes to price that's right it's bargain. One of the best value for money but maybe I missed something between the lines. I would appreciate if someone could elaborate a bit.

 

[Lazer]

26 euros on T11 there's also Donic Appelgreen Allplay

Appelgren all play is a great blade, unless You don’t like vibrations…

It’s the single most vibrating blade I played.

An all blade paired with Rakza 7 wold be a good beginner blade. A faster blade I would pair with Mark V.

Cheers
L-zr

 

[turbozed]

Can anybody tell me how to interpret statement "Donic Persson Power Play req is 7ply blade but plays like 5 ply one"? as I got lost. I thought that if someone would like to stick with allwood blade but accelerate a bit than choose 7ply as a natural upgrade. Such blades are bit stiffer, faster and you will not suffer for lack of power from mid-distance which is mostly mentioned by anyone who feels that playing 5ply wood blade.
If this above statement is true why not to stick to 5ply then? When it comes to price that's right it's bargain. One of the best value for money but maybe I missed something between the lines. I would appreciate if someone could elaborate a bit.

I'm not as experienced in equipment as a lot of other guys here, but I've played with three popular 5 plies (Nittaku Acoustic, Yasaka Sweden Extra, Donic Appelgren), a '7 ply that plays like a 5 ply' in the Sanwei Fextra (I actually have 3 of them) and a regular thicker and stiff 7 ply in a Nittaku Ludeack.

All the 5 plies I played with were thin and very flexy. They all felt unstable and blocking was noticeably sub par with all of them. The Acoustic felt far and away the best and had the most top end speed, but the lack of stability meant a lot of errant shots for every shot that felt good.

The Ludeack is great for blocking and felt very stable but there was just a lack of liveliness. I expected a bit more power out of it with the thickness at 6.6mm and feeling stiff but the whole thing just felt kinda dead (maybe because it was ALL+ speed). Also was noticeably more difficult for spin generation.

The Fextra was like the best of both worlds with good blocking and stability but still felt lively and was good for looping. I preferred the $20 cheapo Fextra over all of the above.

I think when people think of a 7 ply they think of the Clipper which is a significant increase in thickness and stiffness. 7 plies like the Fextra and Power Play are thinner at around 6.0mm and seem like a natural upgrade to a 5 ply for the new ball (more stability and less flex given the larger mass).

 

[JJ Ng]

Can anybody tell me how to interpret statement "Donic Persson Power Play req is 7ply blade but plays like 5 ply one"? as I got lost. I thought that if someone would like to stick with allwood blade but accelerate a bit than choose 7ply as a natural upgrade. Such blades are bit stiffer, faster and you will not suffer for lack of power from mid-distance which is mostly mentioned by anyone who feels that playing 5ply wood blade.
If this above statement is true why not to stick to 5ply then? When it comes to price that's right it's bargain. One of the best value for money but maybe I missed something between the lines. I would appreciate if someone could elaborate a bit.

I played for years on Tibhar Stratus Power Wood which is a 5-ply wood blade. Then I played Donic Persson Power Play for a couple months after that, which is a 7- ply wood blade. Donic Persson Power Play gives me almost the same control as Tibhar Stratus Power Wood but a bit more power.

I think that's what that means.

 

[disaster3]

Ok I will give it a try once again 😉 but will put G-1 on my FH keeping Donic Bluestorm Z3 on my BH

 

[Lazer]

Ok I will give it a try once again 😉 but will put G-1 on my FH keeping Donic Bluestorm Z3 on my BH
View attachment 27070View attachment 27071

I would put a tiny amount of booster on that rubber to make it flat. I just hate it when they are bent that way.

Cheers
L-zr

 

[disaster3]

I would put a tiny amount of booster on that rubber to make it flat. I just hate it when they are bent that way.

Cheers
L-zr

Hmm, I heard that G-1 plays better with small lick of booster but for ESN/jpn Falco is more appropriate and Seamoon for Chinese dense sponge.
I've already put 2nd layer of DHS #15 before I read it above, would it be good to put 1 layer of Seamoon (I don't have Falco) and tomorrow, put 1 layer of glue and stick with the blade, blade is already covered with glue as I was not planned to boost it. I hope that it can wait till tomorrow w/o any issues or should I also put one fresh layer glue on the blade?

 

[Lazer]

It’s probably OK, but when it is curved this way the sponge has shrunk and it’s probably a bit old. It’s gonna make it a little bit harder to glue, but in the process you will stretch the sponge. This part I think is more convenient to do chemically.

But if it’s curved the other way it’s even harder to glue, but you know this already.

Cheers
L-zr

 

[ttarc]

Can anybody tell me how to interpret statement "Donic Persson Power Play req is 7ply blade but plays like 5 ply one"? as I got lost. I thought that if someone would like to stick with allwood blade but accelerate a bit than choose 7ply as a natural upgrade. Such blades are bit stiffer, faster and you will not suffer for lack of power from mid-distance which is mostly mentioned by anyone who feels that playing 5ply wood blade.
If this above statement is true why not to stick to 5ply then? When it comes to price that's right it's bargain. One of the best value for money but maybe I missed something between the lines. I would appreciate if someone could elaborate a bit.

Technically the PPP is a 5+2 blade. Koto, compressed paper, ayous, ayous, ayous,, compressed paper, Koto.
Donic calls that compressed paper an "anti-vibration film" / "special damping film".
The 3x ayous core structure is similar to typical 7-ply blades therefore stiffer than the 1x ayous used in typical 5-ply blades and more powerful from mid-distance. On the other hand the PPP is thinner than most 7-ply blades which results in more flex. The damping film could be anything from just compressed paper to some sort of resin bonded paper (e.g. Pertinax / FR-2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FR-2).
That's how I would explain the special characteristics of the PPP.

From top to bottom: Current PPP, old PPP (white lense, grey + white handle, around 1986), Sanwei Fextra

 

[disaster3]

After 1 layer of Seamoon, rubber was flatten need to wait 24 hrs to soak properly into the sponge, an hour has passed

 

[disaster3]

was playing yesterday Donic Persson PowerPlay with boosted G-1 on FH and Donic Bluestorm Z3 on BH. I was really impressed, had to adjust a bit because boosted G-1 on allwood blade on block was much more responsive for opponent FH loops than D09C which was like a wall.
I was really impressed of short push play. Soft bouncy rubbers seems to be uncontrollable but I could place the ball everywhere I wanted to. I really enjoyed yesterday training session with above setup.
Looking forward on today's session with my coach (1:1) (yesterday was a training session in the club)