Looking for new blade

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Hello! (this is pretty long so buckle up again)

I'm looking for a new blade to use after the holidays. For a few years I've been playing with the Intensity NCT and I want a slight upgrade/change. My problem is that it's too light (80g) and the impact is unstable if I don't put good acceleration, because it doesn't have the mass to predictably carry the stroke through the ball, also it's a bit too hard, being walnut outer, probably doesn't help with soft strokes and dwell time.

I've also tried my Viscaria (90g) and even though I can play much softer with it, ever since the Intensity I just can't go back, it's too much power. It just betrays me when I need touch, it's too heavy and responsive.

I've decided on the rubbers, 2.1mm Hurricane 3 neo provincial blue (39°) and commercial 37°, tried and true.

My first choice is the Rosewood NCT V, I'll get it at 85~88g, it's pretty much an Intensity with softer outer, more weight and thickness, also more handle heavy, that I don't mind because it makes bh super comfy and doesn't compromise fh.

My second choice is the Long V. I know it'll pair well with the rubbers but I don't know if my bh will become completely useless. Also with the rubbers having some weight I know it'll have the mass to carry through the stroke. The bh is what worries me, I don't use it that much, but it's my lifeline when I run out of juice, I'd like to know if the blade allows for good bh control.

I'd go straight to the Rosewood and not post anything but I haven't seen any reviews of how it pairs with the Hurricane, so any info on the Rosewood-Hurricane relationship is appreciated! Is the hard outer compromising its ability to grip the ball and play soft like soft blades do?

(big edit) As for my playstyle, I'm a classic attacker. Short pushes, no flicks, open ups from long pushes with spin from fh and less on bh. Pushing long to get a topspin for countering, finishing topspins on some pushes. After the game opens up, topspins from back of the table mainly with the fh, when I stay close I can't use the power I want.

So what I'm looking for, is a fh oriented blade that is soft and flexy, has long dwell, good speed and pairs well with Chinese rubbers. Also doesn't suck at bh in case it's needed.

I can upload some footage of my training in a few days if you need to see my level and style.

I think that's all, thanks for reading!
 
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If the main problem is the weight being too light, then try the Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive. Stiga pretty much made the Intensity based on that blade, but lighter for Xu Xin.

I don’t know how well it matches up with H3, but the blade was made for Ma Lin, who played with TG2. So H3 should be fine too.

Dwell is great on low impact, and because of its hardness it will go fast when you hit hard.

Also, if you really want to stay with Stiga for your blade, then the Infinity VPS V will be a good pick as well. It has the same composition but with limba instead of walnut for the top ply.
 
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If the main problem is the weight being too light, then try the Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive. Stiga pretty much made the Intensity based on that blade, but lighter for Xu Xin.

I don’t know how well it matches up with H3, but the blade was made for Ma Lin, who played with TG2. So H3 should be fine too.

Dwell is great on low impact, and because of its hardness it will go fast when you hit hard.

Also, if you really want to stay with Stiga for your blade, then the Infinity VPS V will be a good pick as well. It has the same composition but with limba instead of walnut for the top ply.
I have the yeo, it's even harder though... I did think of the infinity but I want more speed, hurricane is hard and needs some power to back it up. How is the rosewood compared to these?
 
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I think the infinity vps v would be way to slow compared to your current blade, unless you really want to slow down a lot. They are also mostly light as well and the master handle is really small.

Fang Bo pairs really well with H3 but is head heavy since the handle is small and the head itself is larger than average, about 150*159. Tho it’s not too bad with double H3, I used to use that exact combination and it was fine, in fact I loved it away from the table but it sometimes felt too heavy when needing to flick or play a quick backhand. Perhaps an over grip would solve this issue.

I think you should try Yinhe Pro 05. It’s a Long 5x alternative with a large handle so it’s not head heavy and has decent power and weight.

Or there are some Loki blades too with the same composition. If you wanna spend more for a quality blade then Harimoto ALC or innerforce ALC would be suitable
Rosewood is out of the question then? How's its hardness compared to intensity? Is it softer?

As for weight, what's the weight of the hurricane blue and 37? If they're not too heavy I could slap them on the viscaria, dignics 05 is a damn dump truck.

Fang Bo is a no then, I can't deal with head heavy, wrist is kinda weak.

Infinity is too slow, I have a friend with it.

I can get good prices on Stiga and Donic blades, and rosewood is an easy pick, that's why I'm stuck on it.
 
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Rosewood is out of the question then? How's its hardness compared to intensity? Is it softer?
Rosewood is harder than Intensity. More in the direction of Viscaria, but still quite similar to Intensity. My impression of the difference between them is that Intensity (and YEO) is better for close-to-table attacks, whereas Rosewood gives you more power from behind the table at the expense of losing some control.

I use Rosewood NCT V with Skyline TG2 FH and Hurricane 3 BH (this is usually my main blade, I've just been on a short pips kick recently, for which I think YEO is better-suited). Hurricane 3 works well for power-loops and flicks on backhand -- the flicks are medium-speed but they have lots of spin. If you liked H3 on Viscaria, then you'll probably like it on Rosewood. TG2 also works very nicely with Rosewood imo.

There is definitely a degree to which Rosewood does not "grab the ball softly" like limba. It takes a while to develop the right kind of touch to play soft spins with Rosewood -- you have to focus on keeping your wrist very loose. If you can manage this, it's not a problem. But if you like to play with a stiff wrist, you're probably better off with some version of Long 5 / B2. Even though Rosewood NCT V is hard, it is also flexible so it gets quite a lot of dwell time. My training partner plays with Long 5 and I've used his racket a lot, so I am familiar with thiskind of blade as well.

I will say that Rosewood is very nice for counterattacking -- but it is more of a countersmash / active block than a counterloop. Counterlooping requires a very loose relaxed stroke, which can be an issue for some people. Lifting backspin works very well, especially with Hurricane 3. If you are accurate enough, you can even smash against a backspin.

One of the things I've noticed about the Rosewood is that it plays VERY differently when you have a stiff wrist vs when you have a loose wrist. Playing with a loose wrist will let you take advantage of the flex of the blade -- you get a lot more control, allowing you to do very precise serve-returns and chop-blocks. Playing with a stiff wrist will allow you to smash the ball quite hard, and attack the ball directly after the bounce with deadly countertopspins.
 
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Rosewood is harder than Intensity. More in the direction of Viscaria, but still quite similar to Intensity. My impression of the difference between them is that Intensity (and Ma Lin Extra Offensive) is better for close-to-table attacks, whereas Rosewood gives you more power from behind the table at the expense of losing some control.

I use Rosewood NCT V with Skyline TG2 FH and Hurricane 3 BH (this is usually my main blade, I've just been on a short pips kick recently). Hurricane 3 works well for power-loops and flicks on backhand -- the flicks are medium-speed but they have lots of spin. If you liked H3 on Viscaria, then you'll probably like it on Rosewood. TG2 also works very nicely with Rosewood imo.

There is definitely a degree to which Rosewood does not "grab the ball softly" like limba. It takes a while to develop the right kind of touch to play soft spins with Rosewood -- you have to focus on keeping your wrist very loose. If you can manage this, it's not a problem. But if you like to play with a stiff wrist, you're probably better off with some version of Long 5 / B2. Even though Rosewood NCT V is hard, it is also flexible so it gets quite a lot of dwell time.

I will say that Rosewood is very nice for counterattacking -- but it is more of a countersmash / active block than a counterloop. Counterlooping requires a very loose relaxed stroke, which can be an issue for some people. Lifting backspin works very well, especially with Hurricane 3. If you are accurate enough, you can even smash against a backspin.
Sounds like me, I do have a loose wrist. Do you play shake or pen? If shake then how is the balance with the hurricanes? When I played 2.2mm hurricane 41° on the viscaria I found it decent, I mainly care because my wrist is weak and a back heavy blades help with brushing the backhand.

Also, how is the dwell on the rosewood compared to other blades you've tried? I have a viscaria, clipper, intensity and azalea off for example.
(I'd use the azalea but even though I love it, it's 95g, it almost broke my wrist when I used it)
 
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Do you play shake or pen? If shake then how is the balance with the hurricanes?
I play both actually. I have the Yasaka Goiabao 5 (imitation of Rosewood NCT V) in shakehand, also with Skyline 2 and Hurricane 3. I play with unboosted TG2 and lightly boosted H3, both 2.2 mm and 41deg. It's 193g in weight, slightly head-heavy but you could probably cut that down by playing with boosted rubber and softer sponge. I also asked for the heaviest blade in stock (95g) so you could ask for a lighter one.

Also, how is the dwell on the rosewood compared to other blades you've tried? I have a viscaria, clipper, intensity and azalea off for example.
Dwell is much more than Viscaria, but it still has a similar "click" feeling when you hit the ball hard. I don't have a Viscaria but I've tried my friend's with D05 on both sides.

I have a Clipper as well and I use it with short pips on one side. Comparing it to Rosewood is tricky. Clipper is much stiffer than Rosewood, but Rosewood is much harder than Clipper. I think the Clipper offers an entirely different kind of dwell compared to the Rosewood.

When you hit with a Clipper, the ball will penetrate the top layer of limba (because it is soft) and "stick" to the paddle for a while, so you can use the rubber and the sponge to "grab" and "lift" the ball. And once you've "grabbed" the ball, it will shoot off the paddle with somewhat of a catapult effect because of the stiffness of the blade and the softness of the wood.

In contrast, the Rosewood is very hard but not stiff. The ball does not penetrate the outer layer of wood, but it does cause the blade to flex. To me, it feels like the ball stays on the racket for a longer period of time compared to the Clipper, but the blade does not really "grab" or "stick to" the ball in the same way. Instead, it feels like more of a "rolling" motion, where the ball rolls along the surface of the blade rather than sticking to it. Momentum and spin are transferred through this "rolling" motion rather than through a "catapult" motion.

I should also say that with the Rosewood, you can vary the amount of dwell time by varying the stiffness of your wrist. If you hit with a loose wrist and let the ball push your wrist back, you can get quite a lot of this "rolling" dwell time because of the flex of the blade. If you play with a stiff wrist, you can smack the ball and get the kind of sharp clean clicking shots that you can do with a Viscaria.

Compared to my Ma Lin Extra Offensive (roughly same thing as Intensity), the dwell time is the same on soft shots, and less on hard shots. YEO/Intensity has the same "rolling" feeling as Rosewood, I think. But there is something about the Rosewood that seems to "activate" on the hard shots with a stiff wrist, and this doesn't happen as much with YEO/Intensity.
 
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I have the yeo, it's even harder though... I did think of the infinity but I want more speed, hurricane is hard and needs some power to back it up. How is the rosewood compared to these?
I don’t know, I never played with Rosewood. Not many people have. And I see you already set you mind on it and you will probably buy the Rosewood anyways.

But purely looking at active users (people currently using the blade) on Revspin:
Infinity: 47 current users
Rosewood V: 8 current users

Make of that what you will. Blades are populair for a reason. I have some experience trying out blades not many people use, and don’t have much positive experience with it.
 
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I play both actually. I have the Yasaka Goiabao 5 (imitation of Rosewood NCT V) in shakehand, also with Skyline 2 and Hurricane 3. I play with unboosted TG2 and lightly boosted H3, both 2.2 mm and 41deg. It's 193g in weight, slightly head-heavy but you could probably cut that down by playing with boosted rubber and softer sponge. I also asked for the heaviest blade in stock (95g) so you could ask for a lighter one.


Dwell is much more than Viscaria, but it still has a similar "click" feeling when you hit the ball hard. I don't have a Viscaria but I've tried my friend's with D05 on both sides.

I have a Clipper as well and I use it with short pips on one side. Comparing it to Rosewood is tricky. Clipper is much stiffer than Rosewood, but Rosewood is much harder than Clipper. I think the Clipper offers an entirely different kind of dwell compared to the Rosewood.

When you hit with a Clipper, the ball will penetrate the top layer of limba (because it is soft) and "stick" to the paddle for a while, so you can use the rubber and the sponge to "grab" and "lift" the ball. And once you've "grabbed" the ball, it will shoot off the paddle with somewhat of a catapult effect because of the stiffness of the blade and the softness of the wood.

In contrast, the Rosewood is very hard but not stiff. The ball does not penetrate the outer layer of wood, but it does cause the blade to flex. To me, it feels like the ball stays on the racket for a longer period of time compared to the Clipper, but the blade does not really "grab" or "stick to" the ball in the same way. Instead, it feels like more of a "rolling" motion, where the ball rolls along the surface of the blade rather than sticking to it. Momentum and spin are transferred through this "rolling" motion rather than through a "catapult" motion.

I should also say that with the Rosewood, you can vary the amount of dwell time by varying the stiffness of your wrist. If you hit with a loose wrist and let the ball push your wrist back, you can get quite a lot of this "rolling" dwell time because of the flex of the blade. If you play with a stiff wrist, you can smack the ball and get the kind of sharp clean clicking shots that you can do with a Viscaria.

Compared to my Ma Lin Extra Offensive (roughly same thing as Intensity), the dwell time is the same on soft shots, and less on hard shots. YEO/Intensity has the same "rolling" feeling as Rosewood, I think. But there is something about the Rosewood that seems to "activate" on the hard shots with a stiff wrist, and this doesn't happen as much with YEO/Intensity.
Thank you so much! I get what you mean.
 
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Make of that what you will. Blades are populair for a reason. I have some experience trying out blades not many people use, and don’t have much positive experience with it.
Rosewood is not a very popular blade -- they're hard to find and I think Stiga stopped making them. YEO and Intensity are much more popular than Rosewood. But those who like Rosewood like it a lot. There are a few at my club, they swear by it. They also all use it with Skyline 2, Skyline 3, and/or Hurricane 3.

If you like YEO and Intensity then there's a good chance you will like Rosewood. Rosewood feels a lot like YEO when playing gently, and has some extra crispy power when hitting hard.

Rosewood NCT V was also used by several of the best players in the world, including Xu Xin and Wang Liqin. Can't be said about other unpopular blades.
 
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I don’t know, I never played with Rosewood. Not many people have. And I see you already set you mind on it and you will probably buy the Rosewood anyways.

But purely looking at active users (people currently using the blade) on Revspin:
Infinity: 47 current users
Rosewood V: 8 current users

Make of that what you will. Blades are populair for a reason. I have some experience trying out blades not many people use, and don’t have much positive experience with it.
My club works with a Stiga and Donic supplier so we get good prices on Stiga and Donic equipment, I have a lot of experience with Stiga blades and don't trust Donic, so I'm biased. I just don't wanna make a mistake that I'll regret.

For the Infinity, I've tried it, I felt like it lacked speed with rakza 7, and felt a bit empty to me.
 
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I don’t know, I never played with Rosewood. Not many people have. And I see you already set you mind on it and you will probably buy the Rosewood anyways.

But purely looking at active users (people currently using the blade) on Revspin:
Infinity: 47 current users
Rosewood V: 8 current users

Make of that what you will. Blades are populair for a reason. I have some experience trying out blades not many people use, and don’t have much positive experience with it.
Honestly, either the rosewood or some limba inner carbon. Hurricane Sun looks promising, heavier on the handle with less speed than long v, I was looking into it before I got my viscaria, maybe I'll look into that again.
 
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If inner carbons are taking your interest, check out the Anders Lind blade (and by extension I guess the True Carbon Inner). They are basically just inner Viscaria construction, my A Lind is softer and milder than the Viscaria constructions I own but it can still put the ball away. When I went to buy it the seller said that out of all their stock the heaviest sample they had was 89g so I assume that finding one around 85g would be easy. Flared handle is slightly smaller than Viscaria though slightly larger than Stiga Master style
 
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Have considered Stiga Dynasty Carbon? Never played with it myself, but from what I've read it feels like an all wood blade until you hit harder more powerful shots, and it seems like you prefer hard wood blades.
I'd like to stay away from outer carbon blades for now, I have a viscaria waiting if I decide to get back to them, I figure it's not too far from the dynasty.

If inner carbons are taking your interest, check out the Anders Lind blade (and by extension I guess the True Carbon Inner). They are basically just inner Viscaria construction, my A Lind is softer and milder than the Viscaria constructions I own but it can still put the ball away. When I went to buy it the seller said that out of all their stock the heaviest sample they had was 89g so I assume that finding one around 85g would be easy. Flared handle is slightly smaller than Viscaria though slightly larger than Stiga Master style
Construction is similar to Hurricane Acb right? It could be interesting, weight distribution it more towards the handle right?
 
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I'd like to stay away from outer carbon blades for now, I have a viscaria waiting if I decide to get back to them, I figure it's not too far from the dynasty.
Dynasty feels very similar to Rosewood NCT V. It's in between Rosewood and Viscaria but closer to Rosewood imo. The carbon layer is almost invisible, it's so thin.
 
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Dynasty feels very similar to Rosewood NCT V. It's in between Rosewood and Viscaria but closer to Rosewood imo. The carbon layer is almost invisible, it's so thin.
It's also 250€, that's the absolute top of my budget for my entire setup...😅

I've found the long 5 and rosewood 5 each for 140€ and the rubbers for a combined 70~80€. It's why I'm sticking to these two.

Today I played a few matches in a tournament, I ended up playing only forehand, tons of ripping topspin on pushes and lots of slow spinny topspin on pushes. Then footwork and fh everywhere. So I've changed, my bh is non existent, I only used it for blocking/punching and softly opening up pushes when I got injured. I'll lean to a fh oriented setup, I'll stick to what I'm good at and go with it, no point pushing myself into something that isn't natural.
(didn't get any footage too, my bad...)

So I guess I'm looking for a blade with lots of dwell with slow loops so I can put a lot of rotation and flexible enough where I can kill pushes. My 2 choices as of now are DHS Hurricane Long V and Stiga Rosewood NCT V.

By the way, does anyone know if forward sport store on aliexpress is trustworthy and this Long V that it sells is real? It seems finicky...
 
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Construction is similar to Hurricane Acb right? It could be interesting, weight distribution it more towards the handle right?
Similar yes but the ACB balance is head heavy (assuming shakehand) like all DHS blades.

And the Dynasty is actually very nice. Even though its outer the feeling is quite woody and natural, and it has good flex too but it has a bigger sweetspot and better support than allwood blades.
 
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So I guess I'm looking for a blade with lots of dwell with slow loops so I can put a lot of rotation and flexible enough where I can kill pushes. My 2 choices as of now are DHS Hurricane Long V and Stiga Rosewood NCT V.
Honestly you can't go wrong with either one. If you get Rosewood I highly highly recommend a Skyline rubber on FH -- it really makes the hard shots "pop".
 
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