Need help deciding if i should get a Xiom Hugo HAL

[ttQuwerky123]

I am seriously thinking about changing my current blade (a clone of the timo boll ZLC called "skywalker ZLC") to the Xiom Hugo HAL. And would like to know about anybody's experiences with the blade, good ones and bad ones are all welcome in ny opinion, anything that would help me figure out if i am making the right choice.

( the current rubbers that I am playing with are Dignics 09c forehand and xiom Jekyll and hyde v47.5 on the backhand)

 

[Airoc]

I do not know your blade and not too many ZLCs anyway, but from those I know I think you´re up for a big change. The HAL is Arylate only without carbon, resulting in an almost "all wood" like feeling (first synthetic fibre for Hugo himself after several all wood blades, but he didn´t want too much "carbon feeling").
The blade is moderately fast, even heavy ones. Obviously there are some around below 80 grams, that would make them at best OFF-. I am sure it would pair well with your rubbers, since I had several different rubbers on the HAL and they all worked fine in combination.
After all, with 94 grams and balanced too much to the head for my liking, it wasn´t going to last for me.

So my recommendation here is ask yourself why you want to change. If you´re looking for something different or just looking for a super good quality blade, go for it. But if you expect something similar to what you already have better think twice.

 

[speaquinox]

Agree, too much of a change. I do have a HAL and had a TBZLC many years ago. HAL will be flexier, slower, softer. HAL is like a very good, stable and high quality 5 ply wood blade.

 

[ttQuwerky123]

I do not know your blade and not too many ZLCs anyway, but from those I know I think you´re up for a big change. The HAL is Arylate only without carbon, resulting in an almost "all wood" like feeling (first synthetic fibre for Hugo himself after several all wood blades, but he didn´t want too much "carbon feeling").
The blade is moderately fast, even heavy ones. Obviously there are some around below 80 grams, that would make them at best OFF-. I am sure it would pair well with your rubbers, since I had several different rubbers on the HAL and they all worked fine in combination.
After all, with 94 grams and balanced too much to the head for my liking, it wasn´t going to last for me.

So my recommendation here is ask yourself why you want to change. If you´re looking for something different or just looking for a super good quality blade, go for it. But if you expect something similar to what you already have better think twice.

Thankyou so much this reply has helped me alot. Yes I was thinking if changing to another carbon blade but I wanted to try out a blade that was more woody feeling instead of the stiff ZLC carbon blade i am using now. And i heard that the Hugo HAL is a blade almost perfectly fitting those specifications and wanted opinions from other people to make sure the information I gathered was correct.

 

[ander999]

I went from a timo boll alc to the HAL, and yes it was much different but it was super easy to adjust to. Really nice blade and I do recommend it.

 

[ttQuwerky123]

I went from a timo boll alc to the HAL, and yes it was much different but it was super easy to adjust to. Really nice blade and I do recommend it.

Thankyou for this. I was still worrying a but about how hard it would be to change, but this reply has put my mind quite at ease.

Thankyou everyone for the help and advice about the Hugo HAL, I will probably be buying one tomorrow. If there is any other major factors about the blade that you think another person might have missed out be sure to let me know I am wide open to all and any information that I can get my psychological hands on

 

[ttQuwerky123]

Agree, too much of a change. I do have a HAL and had a TBZLC many years ago. HAL will be flexier, slower, softer. HAL is like a very good, stable and high quality 5 ply wood blade.

Thankyou, I was wondering what the difference in flex and stuff would be

 

[ttQuwerky123]

I have brought the hugo HAL, I am now just waiting for it to arrive

 

[allethre]

If HAL is a very good and stable, almost like a 5 ply all wood blade, I wonder how Calderano is able to play it like it's a carbon blade. It makes me admire his power and technique more.

 

[ttQuwerky123]

If HAL is a very good and stable, almost like a 5 ply all wood blade, I wonder how Calderano is able to play it like it's a carbon blade. It makes me admire his power and technique more.

Yes I admire calderano becasue of this, I almost feel like if he changed to a carbon blade it would be to fast for him as in the ball would be like a lightning bolt

 

[allethre]

Yes I admire calderano becasue of this, I almost feel like if he changed to a carbon blade it would be to fast for him as in the ball would be like a lightning bolt

Let me know your impressions with HAL, I'm actually planning to buy it too sometime this year

 

[ttQuwerky123]

Let me know your impressions with HAL, I'm actually planning to buy it too sometime this year

Will do

 

[ttQuwerky123]

I used the hugo hal for the first time yesterday, and I just have to say that I absolutely love it. The dwell time on it feels much longer than my old zlc blade which allows me to place my shots with more accuracy and less fear of the ball going long off the table.
Another thing i noticed is the nice feeling of vibration especially when hitting backhands.
Blocking is also much easier along with my push game close to the net
Topspin topspin also feels nice, the blade has enough speed to consistently get the ball back deep on the table but not so much that I have the fear of hitting the ball off if I make a small mistake

 

[Fedex78]

I'm really torn about buying the HAL to compare with the 36.5 ALXi I'm using right now with rakza z and Z2.

How much does your HAL weight? I've asked the main online tt website which weights they have available for HAL flared and the weight range is pretty large, from 72 gr to 88 gr

 

[ttQuwerky123]

I'm really torn about buying the HAL to compare with the 36.5 ALXi I'm using right now with rakza z and Z2.

How much does your HAL weight? I've asked the main online tt website which weights they have available for HAL flared and the weight range is pretty large, from 72 gr to 88 gr

Oh no, I'm so sorry I knew I was forgetting to do something when I glued the rubbers on. I would takethe rubbers off to weigh it but I dont have any glue to put the rubbers back on. So sorry I cannot answer this question.

 

[dec88]

How about flex and stiff this blade? I've heard that this blade very flexible and more suits for topspins than smashes/hits?

 

[ttQuwerky123]

How about flex and stiff this blade? I've heard that this blade very flexible and more suits for topspins than

I've only had one training session using this blade, so all the thingsthat I've said are my first impressions, I as an individual find it hard to notice the differences in things like this with blades, and I only generally pick up on the bug differences. I would say though that the blade is flexible, as I the ball grab feels much longer compared to my Timo Boll ZLC clone which only felt like an instant to just angle my racket in the general direction of where i want the ball to go and hope it lands on the table.

Im also not too good with the terms like blade softness and flex and all that stuff. I'm just basing my opinions of these things on what I read the word as

 

[Fedex78]

Oh no, I'm so sorry I knew I was forgetting to do something when I glued the rubbers on. I would takethe rubbers off to weigh it but I dont have any glue to put the rubbers back on. So sorry I cannot answer this question.

It happens to me too sometimes 😄

Thanks but no please don't take your rubbers off!

 

[ttQuwerky123]

Hi all, I've been procrastinating this for way too long. Partly becasue I wanted to see if it was my error and if i could get better and partly becasue I am extremely lazy
But I have found that I struggle to open up with forehand topspin on backspin with this blade, especially if it is a deep cut ball. I'm still not 100% sure if this is because of the blade or my technique

 

[allethre]

Hi all, I've been procrastinating this for way too long. Partly becasue I wanted to see if it was my error and if i could get better and partly becasue I am extremely lazy
But I have found that I struggle to open up with forehand topspin on backspin with this blade, especially if it is a deep cut ball. I'm still not 100% sure if this is because of the blade or my technique

Interesting. Did you have some changes with your technique when you play with your HAL compared to your old blade?