New Cybershape from STIGA

[Doppelschlag]

The HAL isn't true carbon, it feels more like wood but with the enhanced sweet spot and stability of fiber reinforcement. I don't know if I would classify it as a learner's blade but it's probably a good compromise if you don’t want to buy a wood blade and then invest in a carbon/fiber blade later. It's going to be faster than the Cybershape Wood or Pure, though maybe not the Clipper.

The CS Wood would be a very good beginner blade but I don't know that it's worth 120€. You can get plenty of blades with a similar composition for much cheaper.

I don't have any experience with the Pure (or 7-ply blades in general) but it looks like a good blade and probably where I'd start if you really want to focus on learning and don't mind upgrading to something faster later (if you feel the need to do so).

Thanks! HAL is intriguing, for sure. Would I miss anything in terms of learning curve or feel, going for it directly? I almost do not feel worthy, haha …

What other offensive 5-ply can you recommend?

I think I’m looking for the most allround offensive style blade with good feel. I don’t really know why, but from reading a lot on this forum, my gut feeling is that 7-ply is not as loved and embraced as both 5-ply and carbon-styles. Is it a in-between style with worst (rather than best) of both worlds – some stiffness (but less than carbon),but less feeling?

 

[golden_son]

I've never tried 7-ply so I can only speak in generalizations but it seems to me 7-ply offers greater speed with similar feel to 5-ply since it's all wood. 7-ply can be faster than some carbon blades, but you don’t get the increased sweet spot and stability of carbon/fiber, which is why I think more people gravitate toward either 5-ply (wood feel, more control) or fiber-reinforced (speed away from the table, shot stability).

I started on the Yasaka Sweden Extra and it's a fabulous 5-ply but a little slower than OFF. Recently I've tooled around with the Sanwei Fextra 5 and I kinda like it a lot. Unfortunately that's the closest to a true offensive 5-ply I've personally tried.

As for the HAL, I think the only thing negative for a learner is it has more "easy speed" than a typical 5-ply so it won't help you learn to use your body to power your shots. Otherwise it has great feeling, it's why I like it more than carbon blades I've tried.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

...I’m looking for the most...

I'm saying this as a longtime EJ, but I think that at this point it would be much more valuable to you to actually just buy something and play with it, than to keep expanding your pool of potential options by asking more and more questions. Not to say that doing research by asking others opinions isn't a good thing, but rather that there is a point of diminishing returns where the most constructive decision you can end up making is actually just to take action in order to conduct the research and gain knowledge for yourself, through your own hands. There are positives and negatives to any piece of equipment you will pick up and the opinions of other people can only inform you so far before the only thing left is for you to learn about it firsthand

 

[Table10Ice]

Thanks for answering. Yes, the HAL looks very intriguing. Would I miss anything – feeling, learning curve – skipping the all-wood?

BTW, seems to exist two batches/generations of HAL, which one do you have? Probably doesn’t matter if I didn’t own one already though …

Also, did you EJ:ing include any Cybershapes, and what do you think of them?

Personally, I wouldn't say you'd miss anything, going directly to the HAL. But that's only my limited view. Maybe someone with more experience could second that opinion or argue against it?

I have the second gen. The first one sold out before I could snatch one; by the time I became interested in the racket it was an almost five year old model, released in 2020 or 2021 so low or no stock almost everywhere.

I have only tried one model with Cybershape head and it's the Truls one, way too fast for me and very little control. Have not tried the other ones. Almost got me the Cybershape wood, but I read somewhere that the Cybershape head shape encourages or is optimized for flat hitting and punches, and I'm a two-winged looper, so lost a bit of interested in the series.

 

[Doppelschlag]

I'm saying this as a longtime EJ, but I think that at this point it would be much more valuable to you to actually just buy something and play with it, than to keep expanding your pool of potential options by asking more and more questions. Not to say that doing research by asking others opinions isn't a good thing, but rather that there is a point of diminishing returns where the most constructive decision you can end up making is actually just to take action in order to conduct the research and gain knowledge for yourself, through your own hands. There are positives and negatives to any piece of equipment you will pick up and the opinions of other people can only inform you so far before the only thing left is for you to learn about it firsthand

Your observation is painfully correct and hits a sensitive spot in my character! Thanks for checking in before the Upgraderitis Virus infects me!

However, I must point out that I don’t do this research instead of playing, but rather as a on top of that, and out of curiosity and an insatiable interest. I already have an equipment (gifted to me from a friendly club member) which and can handle fairly well and which I train 3 times a week. Just looking for something more controlled. So I am in no rush, will chill ’til upcoming deals and snatch something! Furthermore, I cannot train 14 hour a day.

(And … research is in itself very fun!)

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

...insatiable interest...

We are of similar character then 😉

 

[jk1980]

Honestly don’t know if I have any specific style of play, or what my level is, in absolute terms. I’m definitely not a player with a pronounced looping style (wanting to practice it, though), rather pretty all-round with a wish to practice my offensive side, since I tend do back away, getting a bit defensive.

Nittaku looks nice, but the CS Wood has almost the same values on revspin and is available in my store.

Do you still use any of these blades, by the way?

I sold the two cybershape Woods that i had because it was more fitting for a power drive, block and smash style instead of spinny looping. Sold the two HAL as well. Sticking with the Nittaku Acoustic currently.

 

[Doppelschlag]

I sold the two cybershape Woods that i had because it was more fitting for a power drive, block and smash style instead of spinny looping. Sold the two HAL as well. Sticking with the Nittaku Acoustic currently.

Good info. Curious what you find better with Nittaku (is it the all-wood version? – both in regards to CS Wood, but primarily compared to Nittaku? (Acoustic seems to be a smooth operatior for sure.)

 

[MORTtheORT]

I doubled with a Cybershape player a few weeks back....felt like a madman with an axe playing next to me!!!

 

[jk1980]

Good info. Curious what you find better with Nittaku (is it the all-wood version? – both in regards to CS Wood, but primarily compared to Nittaku? (Acoustic seems to be a smooth operatior for sure.)

For me the Acoustic had the best mix of feeling and feedback of the strokes and where I hit the ball, while not being too limited at the power department away from table. This fit well with the above 50° esn scale rubbers that i like to play. I am talking about the full wood version of the Acoustic.

It might also be psychological, but i feel that i have an easier time to incorporate stuff that my coach tells me and i am kinda afraid that this would get harder if i switched to a less "feely" blade.

i plan to keep on adding techniques to my repertoire and once i feel i have them down to a reasonably stable level i have a baseline that i can compare my performance with other blades with. One thing i basically never do is a forehand flick and when my coach told my "now we are going to do short balls and you are going to flip them" i was actually laughing out loud because it was a ridiculous proposal, because of how bad i was when i ever attempted it. Now after a few hints i was able to adjust and got to an "ok" execution in regular drills like the one below.

This is probably still a year from me attempting it in a match scenario, but hey, you gotta somewhere.

of course just like every EJ i am looking forward to being able to switch to my beloved w968, but as of now i just dont wanna risk any progress.