Cool, looking forward to it
Just got back from practice with the Stuor Long 5.
For rubbers I put on it my old T05 and old Z3, boosted both of them with 2 layers of baby oil and let them dry for about 12 hours, it wasn't enouph and the rubbers didn't stick. So I cleaned off whatever oil wasn't fully absorbed and expected it to feel like cr@p.
To say I was surprized would be an understatement. Even with me effing up the rubbers, the blade played incredibly!
I'll compare it to the old (5,7mm) Viscaria, since it's the only other carbon blade I have, and I have a lot of experience with it.
Feel: The feel of the Long 5 was much softer than the Viscaria, understandably so because of the softer outer wood and inner arylate carbon. Weirdly enough, it didn't have many vibrations, it was pretty stiff. But again it makes sense because it's a thick blade, 6mm while Viscaria is 5,7 and the updated Vis is 5,8.
Dwell: The blade had bundles of dwell, a lot more than the Viscaria. You could feel the blade just sink into the blade and not worry for the ball shooting off like you do with the Viscaria.
Weight: Weight is a weird one, I didn't measure the weight of either blade before the gluing. The Long 5 feels pretty much the same exact weight, but has it more towards the head. If I had to guess, I would say the weight is between 85 and 90 gramms.
Sweet spot: I would say that it's almost identical. The long 5 has a taller sweet spot because it has a longer head, while the Viscaria has a wider sweet spot for the opposite reason.
Forehand: Due to the head-heaviness of the blade and with the combination of the soft outer wood and inner carbon, I haven't played with a better topspin machine, no matter how you hit the ball, it would just bite, grip and spin, bite in a good way, incredible feeling. Countering on the table was effortless because of the dwell and dirrect nature of the blade. Mid and long distance was also perfect, I have nothing to add here, just perfect.
Backhand: Here's where it gets interesting... You would expect the backhand to be weaker because of the head heavy nature of the blade and yes it was, compared the the Viscaria that has the perfect balance, even with heavy rubbers. You needed more wrist power to get a good consistent brushing and clear contact, but once you do it, it felt the same with the forehand. It does need a shorter stroke, but due to the head-heaviness, you could use that weight as sort of a catapult. So overall it was good, but not perfect. If you do a bigger motion, the backhand gets weak and looses clear feel.
Speed and Control: Speedwise, I would say that it is somewhere around the Clipper, faster when you put power and activate the carbon, but slower when blocking, unless you punch, and play around the net. That's a combination of soft top play and inner carbon. Due to the thicker construction the Long 5 gets faster than the Viscaria at the top, but you need to put a bit of effort to get it. It does maintain better control at the top speed than the Viscaria too.
Throw angle: The throw angle is medium while Viscaria's is medium high. Allows for better counters and close to the table play. The Viscaria is better from a distance and has a better backhand, due to that throw, also opening up from backspin take less effort. On the other hand the Long 5 can rip through the ball at opening up backspins due to the lower throw. When not ripping the ball, it will need better brushing, or a slightly more open bat angle.
Push/receive/backspin: The Viscaria is far more bouncy and reacts worse when receiving, it's easier to throw the ball out and into the net since there's less time on the ball, that's the effect of a harder outer ply and the outer carbon. When playing offensively though the Viscaria has an upper hand because of its higher throw and more crisp feeling, also its more aggresive bite.
Serve: Serves are totally different, Long 5 has more dwell and slower speed so it's easier to serve with more spin and more accurately. On the other hand the Viscaria is better for diceptive serves since it needs a snappier move to put spin.
Playstyle: The Long V needs bigger moves to pull the power out of the inner alc and core. Countering and aggressive play are needed to make use of the blade. The Viscaria is another beast entirely, it likes mid distance rallies and spinny open ups. It needs explosiveness to use the shorter duell to its full extent. Due to the shorter duell, it can also counter like a beast and the added power and feel only help it.
Conclusion: If you want to play attacking topspins and dominate the game with your forehand from close or even distance, control backhand and power over spin, the Long 5 is made for that. If your game is spinny, want a balance between forehand and backhand, spinny first topspin and mid distance looping and rallies with both wings, the Viscaria is better. Shorter dwell helps with countering heavy spin and allows for shorter more explosive moves, hence the backhand balance. The Long 5 has more dwell and can use the opponent's spin and power to give it right back to your opponent. The longer head and slimmer handle throw the weight towards the head of the blade and forces a longer and smoother tecnique. The Viscaria has a perfect weight balance and a compact head that allows for short moves and more use of the wrist. The balance doesn't get thrown off even with heavy rubbers and allows for a sharper backhand.
I trully hope this was useful, it's not complete of course, but it should be good enough.
Happy reading and sorry for making it that long, I was in the mood! XD
