Need help deciding if i should get a Xiom Hugo HAL

says EJ time has finally ended, what a relief!
says EJ time has finally ended, what a relief!
Member
Oct 2022
275
198
773
Read 1 reviews
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.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kindof99
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
🏆 Top 1% Commenter
Well-Known Member
Mar 2023
1,090
1,060
7,516
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
 
Last edited:
says anybody seen my backhand?
says anybody seen my backhand?
Member
Oct 2023
400
249
916
Read 2 reviews
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
wow, I came to this only now and I couldn't agree more. I mean, I played most of my competitive career with outer blade, but it was Moonbeam, which was on paper, similar to HAL - well, Moonbeam had limba top layer, whereas HAL has koto, but both had this distinctive, no-carbon-arylate layer. Moonbeam was a very nice blade, so far I have tried so many blades and still haven't found anything remotely similar. still looking for it and am trying to get ahold of HAL blade just to see if it will work for me.
but - last year I played whole season with Xiom AJH TMXi. wonderful blade. then I had a short stint with Xiom Hugo ALX and ... it was a miss. really didn't like it. changed it for Xiom AZXi, and it's really nice. now I have ordered the HAL, as it was resurrected and am eager to try it, to see how it will be ... on one hand I am afraid it will be hard (koto) but on the other hand I am secretly hoping to find that Moonbeam feel ...

but I definitely agree - I have long powerful strokes, I often joke that Quadru Aruna is my table tennis soulmate, and I really cannot play with outer layer blades, just cannot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Egon
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Active Member
Aug 2022
670
332
1,310
wow, I came to this only now and I couldn't agree more. I mean, I played most of my competitive career with outer blade, but it was Moonbeam, which was on paper, similar to HAL - well, Moonbeam had limba top layer, whereas HAL has koto, but both had this distinctive, no-carbon-arylate layer. Moonbeam was a very nice blade, so far I have tried so many blades and still haven't found anything remotely similar. still looking for it and am trying to get ahold of HAL blade just to see if it will work for me.
but - last year I played whole season with Xiom AJH TMXi. wonderful blade. then I had a short stint with Xiom Hugo ALX and ... it was a miss. really didn't like it. changed it for Xiom AZXi, and it's really nice. now I have ordered the HAL, as it was resurrected and am eager to try it, to see how it will be ... on one hand I am afraid it will be hard (koto) but on the other hand I am secretly hoping to find that Moonbeam feel ...

but I definitely agree - I have long powerful strokes, I often joke that Quadru Aruna is my table tennis soulmate, and I really cannot play with outer layer blades, just cannot.
My friend used moonbeam and right now he use
Mizutani zlc and super fzd alc
 
says anybody seen my backhand?
says anybody seen my backhand?
Member
Oct 2023
400
249
916
Read 2 reviews
My friend used moonbeam and right now he use
Mizutani zlc and super fzd alc
I tried FZD SALC, and while I really liked the feeling, it was a bit too pingy and way too fast. if I would still be in 7-10 times a week training process, this would be a different thing, but yes - for now, this is too much for me. I liked playing with it, but had a feeling that the ball was running away from me.
 
Top