Hard and Crisp(all wood)

[Ash0210]

Hey guys, just need some advice for a friend.Hes nailed all the basics down with solid coaching from the last 2 years, good third ball attacks from both wings.Currently he's using a tibhar power wood with vega pro on both sides but the feeling is quite dull and frankly boring when even I try it out. Are there any all wood recommendations from you guys which will give a hard and crisp response from the same rubbers? Preferably Tibhar and DHS as he can only afford inexpensive wood blades right now.any other brand suggestions under $60 are also welcome.

 

[Sims]

Hey guys, just need some advice for a friend.Hes nailed all the basics down with solid coaching from the last 2 years, good third ball attacks from both wings.Currently he's using a tibhar power wood with vega pro on both sides but the feeling is quite dull and frankly boring when even I try it out. Are there any all wood recommendations from you guys which will give a hard and crisp response from the same rubbers? Preferably Tibhar and DHS as he can only afford inexpensive wood blades right now.any other brand suggestions under $60 are also welcome.

Have a look at Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive or the Yasaka Silver line 9 Wood (slightly stiffer, larger sweet spot).
Imo these compare favourably with the Nittaku Acoustic. Although there is definitely 'something' about the acoustic in terms of speed with feel that the others don't have as much of, while it's nice, it's 3 or 4 times the price and also not 'necessary' to have it, especially if you have good solid basics.
The Yasaka Goiabo 5 is another fast and crisp all wood blade.
Those 3 Yasaka blades are all well within budget.

 

[\_Kairos_/]

Yes, these Yasaka blades would be a fine chioce. I have the Rose Grade, which is essentially the same blade as the Goiabao 5.
Not quite sure why it has to be Tibhar or DHS; other brands offer decent and inexpensive blades, too. If you look at Donic there is the Burn series with hard outer plies and a burned core ply. That would certainly be considered "crisp" for allwood blades...
The Persson Power Play might also be an option. But if it has to be Tibhar, I would suggest the Akkad. It is slightly out of budget at around 70$, but when it's on sale at TT11 you can get it cheaper. It is a 7-ply blade witha chunky handle and with hard outer plies (Lati aka Yaya aka White Ash) and well worth the money.

 

[Amit Mehta]

There is something about Stiga blades; all of those that I have tried had crispness and very woody feeling, For all wood, I can recommend, Stiga Infinity VPS

 

[Silver Server]

Tibhar BS1

 

[greenbeanmachine]

As mentioned above, the Yasaka blades are amazing. Ma Lin Extra Offensive is the gold standard, I think. Can't go wrong with it.

There are two qualities which might contribute to a blade feeling "crisp". The first is how hard the surface wood is, and the second is how stiff the blade is.

Hardness and stiffness are actually two different properties. Hardness refers to how much the ball compresses the wood, whereas stiffness refers to how much the blade flexes. 5-ply blades tend to be more flexible, and 7-ply blades tend to be quite stiff.

I personally have an affinity for rosewood, and so I really like Stiga Rosewood and Yasaka Goiabao. I think Yasaka Rose Grade is the updated model of Goiabao, and the Goiabao is somewhat hard to find. A lot of people like ebony as well, which is the surface of Stiga Ebenholz and Friendship Green Goblin blades. Ebony is the hardest of the hardwoods, and rosewood is somewhere in the middle of the hardwoods.

There are a few standard models of blades which could be described as "crisp", all with slightly different feeling and properties.

1. 5-ply hardwood: hard outer ply, but quite flexible. Gives a lot of dwell time, but doesn't "grab" the ball in the way that softer blades do. Gives a sense of slickness almost -- the ball "rolls" off of the blade because the surface is very hard and the blade is flexy. Good for power-loopoing.
Gold standard of this category: Ma Lin Extra Offensive
Also includes: Yasaka Goiabao 5, Yasaka Rose Grade, DHS Power G15, Friendship 729 Rose 5, Friendship Green Goblin 5, Stiga Rosewood V, Stiga Ebenholz V, Stiga Emerald, Stiga Nostalgic OFF, Stiga Intensity

2. 7-ply softwood: soft outer ply, but very stiff. Gives a lot of feeling for a blade which has very short contact time.
Gold standard of this category: Stiga Clipper
Also includes: Tibhar Samsonov Black, DHS Power G7, DHS Power G9, probably some others idk. The wood composition is typically limba-ayous-ayous-ayous-ayous-ayous-limba. Honestly if this is the kind of blade you want, just get a Clipper. This type of blade works very well with short pips, and is the standard option for short pips players.

3. 7-ply hardwood: hard outer ply, and extremely stiff. Harder to control than the previous two options, but the feeling is extremely crispy and extremely fast. Good for punching, active blocking, and quick attacks.
Gold standard of this category: Stiga Ebenholz VII or Stiga Rosewood VII
Also includes: Friendship 729 Rose 7, Friendship Green Goblin 7, Andro Gauzy SL OFF, Stiga Nostalgic VII

Tibhar Stratus Power Wood is 5-ply softwood, just so you know. It has neither the stiffness nor the hardness properties that make blades feel "crispy".

I can personally attest to the quality of Friendship 729 Rose 7 and Green Goblin 7, and these are cheap blades (since that matters to you).

 

[Tyce]

Other idea, since you play Viscaria:

Does he like how your blade plays? If so, a Yinhe Pro 01 might be a good idea

 

[Ash0210]

Other idea, since you play Viscaria:

Does he like how your blade plays? If so, a Yinhe Pro 01 might be a good idea

Yep he loves the feel of a viscaria but isn't a fan of its short game, and he hates tacky/hybrid rubbers

 

[Gozo Aruna]

Hard & Crsipy: Stiga blade comes to mind, e.g., Clipper ( because @Tyce says its not ) & Rosewood.

 

[Tyce]

I don't understand why people consider a Clipper as hard or crisp? I feel it is a soft but stiff blade which is kind of the other way around imo.

 

[vossi39]

I throw in a Tibhar Samsonov Force Pro (if you need a bit of extra speed, take the Black Edition).

 

[netdriver]

Hey guys, just need some advice for a friend.Hes nailed all the basics down with solid coaching from the last 2 years, good third ball attacks from both wings.Currently he's using a tibhar power wood with vega pro on both sides but the feeling is quite dull and frankly boring when even I try it out. Are there any all wood recommendations from you guys which will give a hard and crisp response from the same rubbers? Preferably Tibhar and DHS as he can only afford inexpensive wood blades right now.any other brand suggestions under $60 are also welcome.

yasaka goiabao 5 is nice (and affordable if you look in the right places)

 

[K.K]

Try:

DHS Wang Hao
DHS Hurricane King 1-3
Butterfly Hadraw
Butterfly Falcima
Stiga Nostalgic ALL or OFF
Stiga Rosewood
Xiom Fuga

for your request of Tibhar: i think they don't have any crisp blade in their range of offensive blades (the blades mentioned before are not crisp), but even the butterfly blade there are quite cheap with 70€ at least in germany

 

[K.K]

for me what creates the feel of 'crisp' is an hard outer with an softer inner + core. that is the reason the most famous crisp blade is Butterfly Viscaria, because it has an hard outer (Koto + ArylateCarbon) + soft inner (Ayous) and a even softer core (Kiri). so you just need to find a blade with that kind of compositions, doesn't matter if it is 5ply, 7ply, Outer Carbon, as long as it get's softer the more you get to the core. That is the reason why Inner Carbon blade mostly will not feel crisp.

the composition of most 7ply blades will not feel crisp either but rather soft and stiff just because they mostly where made based on stiga clipper and that has an really even hardness composition, so i sometimes even saw all out the same wood (Ayous)

even my own blade Hugo HAL doesn't feel really crisp. though it is close to the composition of Viscaria, but they chose a really hard inner (Dark Limba) and that makes it already less crisp then you would think compositionwise.

so my advice for choosing a crisp blade is looking for the right composition in wood layers with an hard outer ply and the rest must be really soft like the blades i mentioned

 

[Way Zooted]

Limba top ply blades are kinda dull depending on the rubber/sponge/blade composition. Anigre top ply would probably be the next step up in "crispness". Sweden Extra is a good option. For example, anigre top ply works much better than limba for hardbat, because its not as dull. But I prefer limba top ply for my harder Chinese rubbers on my acoustic carbon inner and my sandpaper bat.

 

[rbtitco]

It's not all wood, but has he ever tried a DHS 301?

 

[\_Kairos_/]

for me what creates the feel of 'crisp' is an hard outer with an softer inner + core.

Hmm, I tend to agree with that, yes.

the composition of most 7ply blades will not feel crisp either but rather soft and stiff just because they mostly where made based on stiga clipper and that has an really even hardness composition, so i sometimes even saw all out the same wood (Ayous)
...

Sure, many 7ply-blades are/were designed after the Clipper, but there are still other 7ply allwoods out there...

...for your request of Tibhar: i think they don't have any crisp blade in their range of offensive blades (the blades mentioned before are not crisp)

I suggested the Tibhar Akkad, which has White Wenge (aka Lati/Yaya) outer plies. Wenge is certainly a hardwood, and the full composition is:
White Wenge - Ayous - Ayous - (burned) Kiri - Ayous - Ayous - White Wenge
In short: the Akkad is hard/crisp, stiff and fast and it is not designed after the Clipper; it is designed after the Tibhar/Nexy Kim Jong Hoon. Both the Akkad and the 7ply Nexy Arche are variants of the KJH.

 

[Ash0210]

Thanks a lot for info guys, will definitely help him out!👍

 

[Airoc]

Stiga Ebenholz? One would have to find it at a good price used, though.

 

[WingTT]

That is funny, I have the Akkad and that is the last blade I would consider fast. Mine has an unusual ball speed to racket speed relationship and a prominent speed limit to me. It's slower than my Tibhar Stratus Powerwood, which is one of the fastest 5 ply all wood I've owned.