Marcos Freitas using Marcos Freitas ALC

[UpSideDownCarl]

As far as you, doraemon, this is what I think you should do:

Get yourself a Tibhar Stratus Power Wood. Put whatever rubber you want on it.

TSPW is a great blade. It is a little slower than the ALC blades. But only a little. Being a 5 ply all wood blade, it is good for developing technique and learning to hold the ball longer for more spin. The slightly larger head size (151x158mm) does make it a little head heavy. But it adds some extra speed and feeling. Both of which are worth having.

That should be a good blade for you and it is much less expensive than the ALC blades that are worth buying. So, since price is an issue, that really should be a good blade for you.


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[rokphish]

Actually, since he said it's Butterfly land over there, he might just do well to get Petr Korbel instead. Same reasoning as above.

Or, going with the other thread he started, he seems to prefer Donic, and keep driving toward ALC, so might as well pull the trigger on True Carbon and be done with it.

 

[Killerspintt]

Some players are more selective with their equipment.
Ma long proved none of this matters, he's used 5ply, 7ply, carbon outside, carbon inside and he beats them all.

That doesn't mean it doesn't matter to him !! When he was sponsored by Nittaku after the glue ban he switched from his Rutis to butterfly viscaria-like blades (TBS, TBalc)......showing that no Nittaku blade was "enough ok" for him at this time. To me it is showing that he is quite selective even if he played with a lot of blades during his carrier. He proved he could be the best with many different blades, with Koto outer ply as well as Limba outer ply....I agree.
But to not find a suitable offensive Nittaku blade for yourself you definitely have to be quite selective.

Interesting thing, when he didn't used a blade from his sponsor, he chosed, like many other players, a viscaria-like from butterfly.

 

[Baal]

As far as you, doraemon, this is what I think you should do:

Get yourself a Tibhar Stratus Power Wood. Put whatever rubber you want on it.

TSPW is a great blade. It is a little slower than the ALC blades. But only a little. Being a 5 ply all wood blade, it is good for developing technique and learning to hold the ball longer for more spin. The slightly larger head size (151x158mm) does make it a little head heavy. But it adds some extra speed and feeling. Both of which are worth having.

That should be a good blade for you and it is much less expensive than the ALC blades that are worth buying. So, since price is an issue, that really should be a good blade for you.


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I agree with this. Excellent blade. My personal favorite all wood (I have not tried that many, though).

 

[laistrogian]

Most players start playing TT from age between 12-16 and they make up about 80% of the registered players in Japan so Korbel instead of Vicaria is by far the best selling blade for last 10 years.

Viscaria variants are popluar amongst top players but there they only represents tiny numbers. Not sure why people are still drooling over Viscaria when TB ALC is available though. It's been discontinued in Japan a long time ago.

Viscaria is popular because of ZJK, when he got his grandslam. Before that TB ALC and TBS was praised better compared to viscaria because ML was using it


I personally find TB ALC to be better than viscaria due to the handle, it's just much more comfortable and the design is better

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Actually, since he said it's Butterfly land over there, he might just do well to get Petr Korbel instead. Same reasoning as above.

Or, going with the other thread he started, he seems to prefer Donic, and keep driving toward ALC, so might as well pull the trigger on True Carbon and be done with it.

Agree with all of this as well.

I agree with this. Excellent blade. My personal favorite all wood (I have not tried that many, though).

Yep. I think, for an all wood blade the price, the speed and the feel are all top quality and it is pretty affordable. But also can see how rokphish may have a point if he has more access to Butterfly or likes Donic. Any of the options would work well.



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[doraemon]

Agree with all of this as well.



Yep. I think, for an all wood blade the price, the speed and the feel are all top quality and it is pretty affordable. But also can see how rokphish may have a point if he has more access to Butterfly or likes Donic. Any of the options would work well.



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@Carl
I did some further research on ALC, and this is what I think I have found. I would appreciate is you can confirm this, if you can.

• When we make contact with the ball, the "feeling" we get is essentially the vibration from the impact of the ball.
• Carbon is used to increase the stiffness and therefore rebound (speed) of the blade without adding many layers of wood to achieve the same effect, which would typically drastically increase weight, which carbon does not
• Arylate,on the other hand, is softer and promotes greater control for that reason. It also has "vibration control" which, funnily enough, reduces vibration
• So Butterfly and others wove the two materials together to combine the speed and power of the carbon material with the control of arylate to make ALC
• The "increased sweetspot" due to arylate is actually due to the lack of feeling which you have due to the materials. Because of this, even when you have not hit the optimal point of the bat, due to the lack of feeling you are tricked into thinking you have, as usually the perfect stroke makes you feel close to nothing anyway

I guess the final bullet point is most likely why I felt that the ALC feels so good- the combination of good speed, and almost the illusion of superior control.

From this, I can understand why you suggest 5 ply all wood. However, as I think that I have stated before, I would like to stick with Donic. So I did more research to look for blades in a similar vein.
From your experience, what do you think of the

• Waldner Senso Carbon/Ultra Carbon
• Waldner Offensive (2016)

Thanks in advance

PS Should I have posted this elsewhere?

 

[Baal]

Viscaria is popular because of ZJK, when he got his grandslam. Before that TB ALC and TBS was praised better compared to viscaria because ML was using it


I personally find TB ALC to be better than viscaria due to the handle, it's just much more comfortable and the design is better

You are not alone. There are many very good players who use TB-ALC. But this is without question a matter of taste (as there are many great players using Viscaria also). I did not personally like TB-ALC handle as much (although in FL it was not that big of an issue). Lately I have been playing with ST handles, and I find the TB-ALC version unusually uncomfortable, but like the ZJK-ALC a lot (and the True Carbon, which is almost the same). A lot of this depends on hand size and grip I think.

Without ZJK they would have discontinued the Viscaria long ago I think (as they have in Japan). So for that reason alone I am glad he won those championships. It is still weird that he doesn't use any of the blades with his name on it.

 

[Ilia Minkin]

As far as you, doraemon, this is what I think you should do:

Get yourself a Tibhar Stratus Power Wood. Put whatever rubber you want on it.

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If you don't mind swinging a little sledgehammer

 

[ttpshot]

You are not alone. There are many very good players who use TB-ALC. But this is without question a matter of taste (as there are many great players using Viscaria also). I did not personally like TB-ALC handle as much (although in FL it was not that big of an issue). Lately I have been playing with ST handles, and I find the TB-ALC version unusually uncomfortable, but like the ZJK-ALC a lot (and the True Carbon, which is almost the same). A lot of this depends on hand size and grip I think.

Without ZJK they would have discontinued the Viscaria long ago I think (as they have in Japan). So for that reason alone I am glad he won those championships. It is still weird that he doesn't use any of the blades with his name on it.

Oh yeah, I totaly understand handle preferences. I think that's one of the reason Viscaria went out as Japanese hands are generaly smaller.
There are few players who prefers Viscaria handle so they are forced to purchase it from overseas at much higher cost than TB ALC.

 

[Killerspintt]

Viscaria have been back into butterfly EU catalogues for many years now. In fact it is now almost the best deal you can find since TB-alc, Matsudaira alc and ZJK alc are more exensivve than the €129 viscaria. Only the TBS is less expensive and remain the most affordable "viscaria-like" from butterfly despite its price increasing again last summer (€99 -> €119).

 

[Baal]

Here at US sites, for the most part TBS and Viscaria have been the same price, at least for most of the last several years.

 

[ajtatosmano2]

There a lot of beginner uses Korbel and after 3+ year of training they get an ALC/ZLF/ZLC blade.

 

[Ilia Minkin]

There a lot of beginner uses Korbel and after 3+ year of training they get an ALC/ZLF/ZLC blade.

In my hometown Korbel is very popular among juniors.

 

[edgy]

There a lot of beginner uses Korbel and after 3+ year of training they get an ALC/ZLF/ZLC blade.

And then there are professionals like Jeoung Young-sik who make it into the world top 10 using Korbel.

 

[rokphish]

Well... Here are my Korbels... Where is yours?

 

[Garrison]

Only got an SK7 does it count? Bought it in straight handle to try it out but wasn't for me.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

@ doraemon

Unbelievably, I don't have time to go point by point. You have some things close enough about ALC and some things not quite. But it doesn't matter much.

The important info is: I don't really know a Donic blade that I would recommend for you.

Baal is right that if you do want an ALC clone then it is the True Carbon. But if you wanted an all wood blade from Donic, I just don't know any that would match the TSPW or the Korbel.

Personally, I would get one of those.

But what is your playing level? How do you play, what style: Allround offensive, defensive, chopper, all out offensive, two winged looper, blocker, smasher?


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[Raylazyfo]

@Carl
I did some further research on ALC, and this is what I think I have found. I would appreciate is you can confirm this, if you can.

• When we make contact with the ball, the "feeling" we get is essentially the vibration from the impact of the ball.
• Carbon is used to increase the stiffness and therefore rebound (speed) of the blade without adding many layers of wood to achieve the same effect, which would typically drastically increase weight, which carbon does not
• Arylate,on the other hand, is softer and promotes greater control for that reason. It also has "vibration control" which, funnily enough, reduces vibration
• So Butterfly and others wove the two materials together to combine the speed and power of the carbon material with the control of arylate to make ALC
• The "increased sweetspot" due to arylate is actually due to the lack of feeling which you have due to the materials. Because of this, even when you have not hit the optimal point of the bat, due to the lack of feeling you are tricked into thinking you have, as usually the perfect stroke makes you feel close to nothing anyway

I guess the final bullet point is most likely why I felt that the ALC feels so good- the combination of good speed, and almost the illusion of superior control.

From this, I can understand why you suggest 5 ply all wood. However, as I think that I have stated before, I would like to stick with Donic. So I did more research to look for blades in a similar vein.
From your experience, what do you think of the

• Waldner Senso Carbon/Ultra Carbon
• Waldner Offensive (2016)

Thanks in advance

PS Should I have posted this elsewhere?

I have used the waldner senso carbon but personally I prefer the all wood Waldner Dicon. IMO it matches the Korbel in terms of spin and feeling

 

[doraemon]

@ doraemon

Unbelievably, I don't have time to go point by point. You have some things close enough about ALC and some things not quite. But it doesn't matter much.

The important info is: I don't really know a Donic blade that I would recommend for you.

Baal is right that if you do want an ALC clone then it is the True Carbon. But if you wanted an all wood blade from Donic, I just don't know any that would match the TSPW or the Korbel.

Personally, I would get one of those.

But what is your playing level? How do you play, what style: Allround offensive, defensive, chopper, all out offensive, two winged looper, blocker, smasher?

@Carl
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Is loop forehand and block backhand in an allround offensive manner (not 100% 3rd ball attack stuff) and am able to properly perform all basic strokes on both sides (loop, drive, block, push), except for away from the table chop. Is this sufficient? Please tell me if you want more info.