Need help deciding if i should get a Xiom Hugo HAL

[ttQuwerky123]

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

No not really, topspin on backspin is the only thing I can find that I might have to change my technique for.

 

[Fedex78]

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

It happened to me last year when changing my fh rubber from Z1 to bluestorm pro AM. I have never had problems opening even the deepest backspin pushes, it was one my strength actually until then. When I slapped the blue storm pro am (cause EJ illness) on my fh I began to hit the net when opening backspin pushes. So I came back to Z1 on fh and the issue was solved. For sure if you change your movement you can solve the problem but there's no reason for me. Just come back to your previous setup.

 

[jk1980]

In the direct comparison with a HL-5, I found the HAL to be creating a more straight curve and shooting over the table more while looping, so I would need to adjust my technique and have it harder to do slow don't loops (compared to a HL5).

 

[Choosikick]

Hey, I only saw your post now that you bought a new blade, but I'll give you my advice anyway, because if you keep playing table tennis, this won't be your last blade 🙂.
In my opinion, a very important factor when choosing a blade is the height and length of the player's hands and, accordingly, the length of the movements - long or short. Based on this, there are long-stroke and short-stroke blades. Long-stroke blades often have more flexibility and inner layers of carbon reinforcement - Long5, Innerforce, Ovtcharov and many others. These blades are used by medium and tall players who prefer long moves - Ma Long, Ovtcharov, Wang Chuqin (now, as far as I know, he plays Long 5, with whom he noticeably improved after playing with Viscaria), Patrick Franziska and others...
Short-stroke blades are stiffer and faster than long-stroke ones and have outer layers of carbon reinforcement - these are Viscaria and a huge number of viscaria-type blades with other names, Primorac carbon and others. These blades are used by players with short and sharp movements - Fan Zhendong, Zhan Jike, Timo Bol.
You just need to look in the mirror and figure out what kind of movements you like to play - short or long. Based on this, choose one of the groups of blades. Well, then the choice goes according to the means that are allocated, the maximum weight, over which you cannot play normally, speed and stiffness, which corresponds to your level of play and the outer layers of wood