My opinion about Fextra 7 👎

[Newbiee]

After seeing many people speak highly of fextra 7 (I've never seen anyone say anything bad about it), I decided to try it... As a result, I didn't like it! (a full week of play)

The sweet spot is very small, it's clear that the ball loses a lot of force and direction if it doesn't literally hit the center of the blade.
Not suitable for loops, works better with flat hits.
Dwell time veeery low.
Rigid with a little flexibility.
It's seems slow for MY game (I don't know if it's really slow, i only tested it with cheap tacky Chinese rubber).
The handle is uncomfortable, it gave my hand calluses on the first day (i've never had a callus with any blade playing TT).
I found the change from FH to BH very poor and slow (perhaps because of the weight distribution + the grip factor).
Overall the feeling is not good, almost no vibration, almost no impact sound.

That's it! That's my opinion as an EJ! 😁

Note: Blade with a weight of around 90G

 

[Newbiee]

Maybe someday I'll test it with other rubbers and change my mind... (for better or worse) 😅

 

[turbozed]

Always good to hear differing opinions.

For me, I ditched my Acoustic completely after trying a Fextra.

My friend who had a Yasaka Sweden Extra also stopped using it the day I gave him my old Fextra.

Fextra maybe a bad blade if you're used to flexy and catapulty blades. But for me it feels like what a blade should feel like. Hit it weakly and the ball goes slow. Hit it hard and its the ball goes slow.

 

[Newbiee]

Fextra maybe a bad blade if you're used to flexy and catapulty blades.

Hit it weakly and the ball goes slow. Hit it hard and its the ball goes slow.

I completely agree with you on both points. I think it's just not right for me, maybe I'd have to test it more and also with different rubbers.

 

[Newbiee]

Hit it weakly and the ball goes slow. Hit it hard and its the ball goes slow.

Did you mean “hit hard and the ball goes fast”?

 

[Topspinslinger]

I liked fextra, used it with Hammond z2 and Rhythm. Fast Medium hard tensors work well on this. Good to hear other opinions about it aswel, i feel Fextra is getting overhyped. (best blade under €20 for sure tho)

 

[Newbiee]

I liked fextra, used it with Hammond z2 and Rhythm. Fast Medium hard tensors work well on this. Good to hear other opinions about it aswel, i feel Fextra is getting overhyped. (best blade under €20 for sure tho)

I think something to replace fextra 7 would be Yinhe U2 (same price)

 

[Topspinslinger]

I think something to replace fextra 7 would be Yinhe U2 (same price)

Pretty cool. My experience with Yinhe blades are good, i love Pro 01.

 

[Newbiee]

Pretty cool. My experience with Yinhe blades are good, i love Pro 01.

I'll have to try some yinhe blades.

Have you tried the Sanwei T5000? I have to recommend it to you, it's incredible for the price, I thought it was much better than Fextra 7 in every way (even though it's carbon, I can have a much more controlled game than the fextra).

 

[Topspinslinger]

I'll have to try some yinhe blades.

Have you tried the Sanwei T5000? I have to recommend it to you, it's incredible for the price, I thought it was much better than Fextra 7 in every way

Bought too many blades, not really interested in any besides W968.

 

[Newbiee]

Bought too many blades, not really interested in any besides W968.

I get it... makes more sense for those who want to test different things just for fun. Sanwei T5000 is very cheap, 4-5 bucks average.

 

[Newbiee]

Bought too many blades

Send me some, i won't mind, I'll make an effort to test them 😂

 

[Topspinslinger]

Send me some, i won't mind, I'll make an effort to test them 😂

Hahaha, I've got 3 pro 01's. All 93 grams. €60 I'll send two.

 

[Topspinslinger]

I bought: Stiga carbonado 45, 145, 245.
Sword Golden Eagle GE special edition
Planning to buy all the Carbonado 90 series

 

[Newbiee]

I bought: Stiga carbonado 45, 145, 245.
Sword Golden Eagle GE special edition
Planning to buy all the Carbonado 90 series

Nice!

 

[_ak]

7ply wood is indeed different than 5ply or even flexible 5+2. Loops are more difficult and require better technique but better blocks and smashes.

Higher throw rubbers may be preferable, which excludes many cheap Chinese rubbers.

It might be not so difficult to find around something like Tibhar Samsonov Force Pro and try it. Blue, Black or even a bit slower Bernie edition and see if it feels any better for your game, they are not too expensive as well if you decide to buy one.

 

[Newbiee]

7ply wood is indeed different than 5ply or even flexible 5+2. Loops are more difficult and require better technique but better blocks and smashes.

Higher throw rubbers may be preferable, which excludes many cheap Chinese rubbers.

It might be not so difficult to find around something like Tibhar Samsonov Force Pro and try it. Blue, Black or even a bit slower Bernie edition and see if it feels any better for your game, they are not too expensive as well if you decide to buy one.

I personally prefer fast blades with good control (usually carbon). About blocks, that's very subjective, it's like saying a 7-ply blade will always be faster than a 5, or a 5-ply blade will always be slower than a 7. This depends on many factors such as hardness, flexibility, wood, thickness, etc... But of course, normally an all-wood blade will have better control than a carbon blade. For example: The cheap Sanwei T5000 (5+2 inner carbon) is faster and has much better control/defense than the fextra 7 (7 ply all wood) IMO.

I'm only using these 2 blades as a comparison because they're a clear example of what I'm talking about and because i bought them together to test.

 

[_ak]

So you're kinda spoiled 😁 (no offence intended)
I personally liked harder inner carbon for FH with tacky rubbers but hated it on BH with tensors, H8-80 was a quite interesting option forcing to play aggressively but stupidly heavy weight made me to throw it away. Hybrid on FH and tensor on BH on 7ply was a better package overall.

 

[_ak]

At the moment I seriously flirt with limba inner ALC setup, DHS B2 to be precise. It vibrates like a good old 5ply and encourage brave shots, easier to lift underspin, but it's a bit different game model, whether it suits one or not is another question, stiff blades remain quite popular.

 

[ejprinz]

My Fextra Penhold is 77g, 1313Hz, 5.9mm, and the Shakehand is typically 95g,1356 Hz-1376 Hz, 6.4mm. Due to the Limba/Limba top layers it reacts more than the usual Limba/Ayous 7-ply blades like the Yinhe U1 or the Purple Dragon PD-437. Or the Victas Swat at 85.16g, 1150Hz, 6.1mm.
I think the Tibhar Samsonov Force Pro Black Edition (Clipper clone) with 89.23g, 1378Hz, 6.6mm has a thicker Limba top layer and the control is pretty good for the fast blade, a little similar to the Fextra.
Of course any blade needs to be sanded a little (see this YT video for penhold), so I am not holding this against any blade.
I have slower and faster 5-ply blades compared to the Fextra, so depending on my style I first figure out what rubber/blade combo I want to try and then choose the combo accordingly.
So for my (~1400 USATT) level, I can play the DHS H3 Neo on even the Victas Swat and have good control, I could also handle the U2, 437, black edition blades. However for tournaments the Victas Swat has been my goto blade, the other ones are for fun.

My algorithm for blade selection:
* Top layer: Hard (koto), not so hard (walnut, aneigre), soft (limba), different (hinoki)?
* 5ply (more flex) vs 7ply (less flex)
* Frequency (higher means less dwell time, in general)
* If carbon, what carbon type, and inner vs. external

I actually don't think the blade matters as much as other things, it just shouldn't get into the way.