Nittaku Acoustic vs Nittaku Acoustic Inner Carbon

[joesan-tt]

I recently got another Nittaku Acoustic with a much lighter weight (83 grams) to experiment how I play with it. I have been playing with the Acoustic Inner Carbon with T05 and T19 and with the Acoustic, I'm using Andro Hexer Grip SFX on both sides. I played with both these rackets on a training session today. I noticed that against the same opponent, I won more with the Acoustic set up than with the IC setup. The FH topspins on the IC was good, but on the Acoustic I was sending the ball more out more often. The short game on the Acoustic was much better and controlled than the IC. My opponent is mostly someone who likes to push left and right and to play with such an opponent using the Acoustic meant that I won more points and eventually won the game.

Now my questions:

1. The Acoustic with Andro Hexer, overall weight of this set up is 166 grams while the IC weighs about 184 grams. What do I loose and what do I gain with this weight difference? For me, I have more confidence with topspins on the heavier IC.
2. I feel that the Acoustic offers me more control than the IC. Is it because of the rubber or because of the wood?
3. Blocks on the Acoustic feels much more controlled when close to the table, but a meter and a half away from the table, I need to be more active with my blocks with the Acoustic than the IC. Here the IC shines. Could using a T05 on the Acoustic change this and make the blocks away from the table using the Acoustic feel like the IC?
4. Pushes short or long, is more easy with the Acoustic and more predictable than the IC. So the Acoustic is clear winner here.

If I look back at the matches that I lost so far, most of the points that I gave away was with the lack of control on the short, long pushes. Either they go into the net or go out of the table. With this very same opponent I lost last week and today he was absolutely beaten with my controlled game and controlled attack when the opportunity presented.

Should I believe that a slower setup like this is what I need?

 

[d3nium]

I've got a 96g Acoustic g-rev and it's a beast. No need for the IC version imo, when this hits the ball, it stays hit.

 

[steve888]

I have the N IC version g-revision, great blade however I found it depends on your rubbers you use. I found with Rozena rubber it was to bouncy for the blade and I lacked control in the short game. I moved to Razka X, harder rubber got the right mix of control and speed now.
The NIC version I suspect it is normally 10-15 % faster than the acoustic version and better for the attacking game away from the table. Also weight of the blade makes a difference too, some acoustics can be as low as 82 g and others 95+ and that makes a significant difference in power and speed too.

 

[joesan-tt]

@steve888 I'm using T05 on FH and T19 on BH for my IC and the short game with this combo is not that great. I have to be very careful returning chop blocks back especially on the BH. For example., I lost 3 continuous points where my chop returns on the BH went directly into the net. But I did not make the same mistake on the Acoustic.

 

[steve888]

You using different rubbers on different blades, maybe swap them and see if it's the rubbers that don't suit your blade

 

[joesan-tt]

@steve888 Is the Nittaku Acoustic Inner Carbon a stiff or a felxible blade? How about the Nittalku Acoustic? Is it stiff of flexible? What kind of rubbers go well with a stiff blade and what kind of rubbers go well with a flexible blade? I meam for example., do soft rubbers go well with stiff blades and hard rubbers go well with flexible blades?

 

[steve888]

@steve888 Is the Nittaku Acoustic Inner Carbon a stiff or a felxible blade? How about the Nittalku Acoustic? Is it stiff of flexible? What kind of rubbers go well with a stiff blade and what kind of rubbers go well with a flexible blade? I meam for example., do soft rubbers go well with stiff blades and hard rubbers go well with flexible blades?

That is a hard question. On hard blade I tend to go a little softer rubbers, on a soft blade I tend to go a little harder rubbers. Trial and error for me.
The N A IC Its more on a flexible side for a inner carbon bat, as its fairly soft outerply wood (limba) I found it worked better with harder (mid-hard) rubbers. On the forehand - Butterfly Rozena (midsoft) I found to catapulty (bouncy) on that blade so a Razka 7 or even X (X is pretty fast though).

 

[NetProphet]

I've got a 96g Acoustic g-rev and it's a beast. No need for the IC version imo, when this hits the ball, it stays hit.

The Acoustic is plenty fast, that I can attest to.
I've just taken my rubbers off it and back onto the Ma Lin Extra Offensive to compare the difference tomorrow.

 

[joesan-tt]

I can attest as well that the Acoustic is pretty fast enough for a 5-ply blade.

 

[Nash77]

The Acoustic is plenty fast, that I can attest to.
I've just taken my rubbers off it and back onto the Ma Lin Extra Offensive to compare the difference tomorrow.

wondering how does the Acoustic compare to Ma Lin Extra?

Did you had a chance to play both?

 

[NetProphet]

wondering how does the Acoustic compare to Ma Lin Extra?

Did you had a chance to play both?

Hi
I did. I still own both blades and have played them extensively, and with the same rubbers.

As 5 ply all wooden blades they are both (imo) very good blades.
The Acoustic is faster. Even players at my club commented they were surprised by the speed and expected slower from a wood blade. It does have lovely feel and a nice sound to my ears. There's a crispness to it that's quite nice but at my level and my technique I make more mistakes with it, it's just a bit less forgiving.
It's a good blade for looping certainly but it was just too quick for me overall and I never got 100% comfortable with it. I personally struggled with it closer to the table and would often go long. The small handle didn't really help either tho....
But for players with better technique than me I understand the love of it. Great feel, good speed, very usable in short and mid distance.
The MLEO is a fantastic blade for the money, only €40 when I bought it and it suits me better than the Acoustic. It a little more muted and perhaps less vibration felt from it but it still gives enough feedback for me.
It's also easier to master than the Acoustic, is great for looping and also counters close to the table are easier for me. No issues further back either, it's quite linear and you can get more from giving more certainty whereas the Acoustic had a faster lowest speed if that makes sense, just more rebound from it.

What I've learned from owning:
a €30 Yasaka Silverline All Wood
a €150 Nittaku Acoustic
a €40 Yasaka MLEO
a €150 Butterfly Innerforce ALC
is that Yasaka make very very good blades for the money and my EJ syndrome is now completely cured, I will never buy another blade (unless I break or lose one) and in all honesty I should have saved €300 towards coaching rather than spending it on TT blades 😬. Sad thing is I knew this before buying them but I just got an itch I had to scratch.
The innerforce and MLEO I will keep and the others 2 will be sold or donated...

The innerforce by comparison is similar to MLEO in many ways except gives you an extra few feet on the ball easily when counter looping from further back, you do notice the carbon then but really I don't notice it at all in short play and close to the table play, both are very easy to use so I've found the blade for me.

How do you like the Acoustic inner??