Carl, if....
Another example at a less personal level is Fan Zhendong.
This is why I said:
In the end, it would be your choice.
And this:
Apolonia blade is great. It might. Be very good for you. If you are at a level where you have played some international matches it might be excellent for you.
But regardless of those statements, the question was why do I think the Acoustic could be better for him.
As far as I'm concerned he is probably at a level where he can use anything, at least based on his stated level. But that does not change the fact that, from a sub-cortical neural response standpoint, a wood blade would cause his technique to top out at a higher level.
It would have done that with FZD too which is scary to think about. And it would have done that with the older gent you referenced.
I know plenty of people who are trying to improve and are still in the early stages of developing technique who chose a blade like a Viscaria or a TB ALC and still develop quite well. So you can do it. But they would have developed even better and even faster with an basic, 5 ply, all wood blade.
Then you have to consider what you are playing for too. So, if it is about fun and the addiction to speed, which a good carbon blade can really get you hooked on, that really may be okay. I love blasting the ball from mid-distance with any number of carbon blades. Totally fun and it feels great in your hand.
But a carbon blade also causes you to not feel certain things that, if you felt them, it would help you refine your feel, touch and contact. With the right all wood blade those things would refine themselves on a Sub-Cortical level (on an unconscious level). You wouldn't even know those things were improving and they would improve because the feel and flex of the all wood, 5 ply blade would allow you to feel that much more.
Here is how that works: on a great composite blade like the Apolonia, good contact feels good. Bad contact feels almost as good as good contact because the carbon actually masks your minor and even, to a certain extent, your larger, mishits. So a mishit still feels good and the shot is still acceptably good.
With an all wood blade of the caliber of an Acoustic, good contact feels good and you are rewarded with a better shot. And not so good contact feels, not so good. Your brain picks up the difference because there is no carbon to fix those micro mistakes for you. So your brain and your nervous system, without you even realizing it or understanding it's happening, starts refining and improving your quality of contact and touch. Your bad contact, that feels bad and, yes, same thing, your brain and nervous system adjust and refine things without you even knowing. Personally, I think that is pretty cool.
Again, you don't need this. I know guys who got to pretty high levels, like 2600 USATT while using a carbon blade.
But the I interesting test would be to see what would happen if you could do the sliding doors, parallel development test and see the same player develop with carbon and without.
That would be cool to see 2 FZDs, one only carbon and one with with wood till 19.
Another interesting experiment is Abe Gold. He spent his first 2 years developing with a Viscaria and Tenergy/H3 and got from Zero to about USATT 1300 that way. Then Der_Echte gave him an all wood blade with more controllable rubbers, and his level very quickly shot up a lot more. I think he is now 1820. We all know it is easier to get from 0 to 1300 than it is to get from 1300-1800.
One more piece of info that is worth knowing: in 2006, 10 years ago, 8 of the players in the top 10 used all wood blades. Right now 1 of 10 top players use an all wood blade. But the guy who does, Xu Xin, is pretty awesome without the carbon. All this says is that, YOU DON'T need carbon to be a top player.
But when a player is really technically solid, it does not matter as much and they can really use anything. And, on some level, anyone can use anything. It's just that there are reasons an all wood blade is really worthwhile for anyone who wants to develop their technique a small amount faster.
Sent from the Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy