Opinions on the Hurricane Long 5 Blades

[Gozo Zyreruna]

Hi all,

This post was posted in relation to Carl's request that I try out a thinner blade. I have this Long V ( Commercial ) sitting in my drawer collecting dust and hence I took it out for some play-time and to write a short review about my play experience. For comparison, my usual equipment is a shown at my profile page.

Here goes:

• This blade ( Long V ) of mine is 90g without rubber and 5.9mm thick.
• I glued on a piece of Andro's black Rasenter R48 as FH and Xiom's red Vega Europe for BH. Total combined weight of this set-up became 191g.
• Stiff, the key word I would use is stiff. This Long V is stiff and very fast.
• It is a truly a looper's delight. It favours FH looping but one must really engage your stroke properly to be rewarded. Lazy / half-hearted stroke and the ball goes into the net.
• BH blocking is more difficult and must be active. Unlike my usual set up ( a thick 10.55mm one-ply-hinoki , blocking cannot be passive or else the ball goes into the net. You need to add a little active control. Take note, for this Long V, I was using Xiom's Vega Europe, OFF- control rubber.

Conclusion:
I wish to reiterate that with this blade I tend to want to finish my point with a FH topspin because this is where it shines. A properly engaged FH topspin can kill the ball easily. This blade would suit those FH dominant player stylist. Somehow when using it with BH, it just feels stiff and control is just not as good as my usual blade. If one loves to play FH pivot and kill most points with FH, then this the blade for you. I wish to emphasize, this Long V blade is truly a looper's delight.

This part is specific to Carl

• I did not feel much difference when I use this 5.9mm blade versus my regular 10.5mm in my usual play in regards to manipulation. To me the two feels the same. FH to BH transition is not easier nor harder in both these two blades.
• Since I don't use / unable to use those advance technique like chiquita / strawberry where wrist movement is very pronounced, a thinner blade as I see it, does not offer me much advantage.
• This Long V is a looping blade versus my hinoki which to me is more of a driving / counter-driving blade which is the style that I am currently following / developing with the assistance of my coach.
• A looping style and counter-driving style are two distinct play-style and each needs a different blade to support them.
• I prefer blocking with my thick 10.5mm blade. Being thick and solid, it offers me a great blocking feeling, much better than the 5.9mm blade.
• Hitting / counter-hitting is easier with my Hinoki versus Long V. Somehow flat-hit with Long V tend to fly into the net.

p/s I do not have any tourney in the near term, maybe I'll try to play with this Long V for little bit longer.

 

[SenseiJM]

I went and bought myself the commercial Hurricane Long V, and glued a Hurricane 3 Provincial 39 on the forehand and a Hurricane 3 Neo Provincial 37 on the back.
I have to agree with the majority of Gozo's analysis : this blade is perfect for topspins, but if you don't give your stroke some energy, the ball goes to the net. Even when doing regular blocks, I have to accompany the ball way further than with my Techno Power Contact, but that's probably also partially due to the Rakza's that are on this blade.
As my first carbon blade, I have to say that I'm in love after just 15 hours of training and 12 hours of being a sparring partner with it.
I was afraid of launching the balls in outer space with this blade, but not at all. The Long V is controlled. If you ask of the blade to be slow, it can be very slow, but if you ask it to be rapid, then the dragon that's on the handle awakens and the ball is literally catapulted out of the racket.
All in all, very pleased with my purchase. It's a blade that I (until now) can only recommend !

 

[superbackhand]

I went and bought myself the commercial Hurricane Long V, and glued a Hurricane 3 Provincial 39 on the forehand and a Hurricane 3 Neo Provincial 37 on the back.
I have to agree with the majority of Gozo's analysis : this blade is perfect for topspins, but if you don't give your stroke some energy, the ball goes to the net. Even when doing regular blocks, I have to accompany the ball way further than with my Techno Power Contact, but that's probably also partially due to the Rakza's that are on this blade.
As my first carbon blade, I have to say that I'm in love after just 15 hours of training and 12 hours of being a sparring partner with it.
I was afraid of launching the balls in outer space with this blade, but not at all. The Long V is controlled. If you ask of the blade to be slow, it can be very slow, but if you ask it to be rapid, then the dragon that's on the handle awakens and the ball is literally catapulted out of the racket.
All in all, very pleased with my purchase. It's a blade that I (until now) can only recommend !

wait until you play someone that put a lot of pressures on your game - then you’ll come back here and say “hey guys, this blade is too slow and hard to control…”

 

[SenseiJM]

wait until you play someone that put a lot of pressures on your game - then you’ll come back here and say “hey guys, this blade is too slow and hard to control…”

Well, the opposite happened today. My coach put someone that puts a lot of pressure at the other end of the table, and I was at ease with my movements thanks to the blade. Yesterday, same thing. One of my former coaches (now my teammate) played against me. He knows all the tricks against me, and I still managed to keep control of my strokes, and oh boy did I see some fast balls coming out of this setup ! He lead 2-0, came back 3-2 for the win (14-12 in the decider).
Still happy with this blade

 

[SlowPower]

Well, for me superbackhand's comment seems to make sense.
I restarted to play table tennis 15 months back and tried several setups since. Settled on a viscaria like Xiom Vega Euro blade for a bit and then tried a HLV copy (ovtcharov No1 senso) because i was curious.
The HLV is slower and more forgiving, better to go along with slow games in my low league. But when i compete in tournaments and have some strong opponents its easier to block and go against with the outer carbon blade. Especially bh blocking isnt fun with the HLV as its more spin sensitive and mushy and balls go out behind the table.

So for me the question is where is the higher potential? Settle with the HLV as its easier to open the game on backspin and short short or keep the Vega Euro which gives me safety vs better opponents but lacks the easiness on backspin?

 

[jk1980]

You can always speed up your game by using different rubbers. A blade uncontrollable in the short game will not need easily tamed by slower rubbers without severely limiting your attacking options

 

[SlowPower]

For me its not about speed. The Xiom Euro is also great in short game maybe only a little bit more unforgiving as it is harder and stiffer.

Main point is that the HLV is not well controllable when the game gets faster, though it is slower and more controlled in the slow game...

I hope you can understand my point.

 

[jk1980]

I do get your point, but if your profile is up to date, then you using the Joola GTPS has probably more to do with the controllability of that setup during the short game than the blade

Of course I can take the fastest blade and put an unboosted hurricane on it and make it controllable. You do give up on other things. In you case the opening up against backspin on the backhand will be much more difficult.

 

[SlowPower]

Yes, prifile is up to date and I have the same rubbers on both blades.
I wouldn't say it is much more difficult with the outer blade. The Xiom blade has a lower trajectory than the HLV, but the G1 has a fairly high trajectory and arc. The difference is noticeable but it is not impossible with the outer carbon blade as its a very light and flexible one (81g).

The difference in blocking is much more obvious id say...

 

[MarekD]

Hello. Can you please explain to me how you explain that even though the Long 5 is a classic, commonly used composition of blades that are not that fast, it is still rated as the fastest of all the blades in use.

Can you recommend another blade that would be closer to the Long 5 blade in terms of features and feel?
Thank you.

 

[Stella]

Hello. Can you please explain to me how you explain that even though the Long 5 is a classic, commonly used composition of blades that are not that fast, it is still rated as the fastest of all the blades in use.

Can you recommend another blade that would be closer to the Long 5 blade in terms of features and feel?
Thank you.

Why don't you try Butterfly's innerforce zlc or alc？

 

[dingyibvs]

Hello. Can you please explain to me how you explain that even though the Long 5 is a classic, commonly used composition of blades that are not that fast, it is still rated as the fastest of all the blades in use.

Can you recommend another blade that would be closer to the Long 5 blade in terms of features and feel?
Thank you.

It's not that fast of a blade, but it has good dwell when hit hard, allowing you to brush a bit less and hit a bit more, which gives it a bit extra speed as well as security due requiring less precise brushing. In other words, the blade itself is not very fast, it's the looping motion it allows that lets you generate more speed with some added security. The key is that this characteristic only happens with very hard shots, and you can feel and hear when that happens.

This is also why it's not considered a great BH blade, because few people can generate the power for the HL5 to even come close to say a Viscaria with BH shots. You really need to engage the body, arm, and wrist, everything fully to get good speed on it. For me for example, I drive very hard on the FH side so I can access it fairly often on my FH, but I can rarely generate the power to make good use of it on my BH side.

 

[OSA]

You're not misreading it, I think maybe he's misreading your post. The absolute values correlate with speed, the ratio correlates with flex, and in the Korbel vs. Long 5 case both the absolute values and the ratios are similar. So yes, they should have similar playing characteristics.

As for the commercial Long 5 vs the 968 vs Viscaria thing, I used TBALC + T05s for 2 years, the Long 5 + D09c/D05 for 3 months, and now the 968 + D09cs for 2 months. The HL5 plays like a faster 5-ply blade, it took me little to no time switching from the Yasaka Sweden Extra + D09c to the HL5.

The 968 is a completely different blade because its composite layers are different. The HL5 only has carbon+composite running in one direction, while the other direction is composite only. The 968 has carbon+composite running in both directions. This makes the 968 much stiffer, with the flex more difficult to access. While you can access the flex of the HL5 any time if you swing hard enough, the 968's flex can only be truly accessed if you swing hard AND the incoming ball is also fast.

With that said, the 968 has thicker top plies and a denser core, so the short game touch is better and when you do access the flex it really kicks. You never feel like you're too far from the table to launch a quality shot with the 968. Basicaly it's a completely different blade from the HL5. While it was a breeze for me to switch from the YSE to the HL5, took me 2 weeks max to feel comfortable, it took me almost 2 full months of playing/training to feel comfortable after switching from the HL5 to the 968.

The TB ALC (I have a Viscaria, but I haven't used it much, and when I do use it it felt very similar to the TBALC) feels like a stiffer 968. It's much more crisp, with much easier to access power. It's a potent weapon for smaller motion shots like quick counters, so great for the BH. You can't really rip one from the BH side with the 968 without using your body, but you can with the TBALC/T05. When you really hit hard though, the dwell is much shorter, resulting in shots with not enough spin and control, and there's relatively little extra kick.

Is it worth the switch yasaka sweden extra to long 5?

 

[BIGBALWOW]

I have two No.1 W968 national/numbers edition for $1000 each

Are you selling one of them ?

 

[TareqPhoto]

Is it worth the switch yasaka sweden extra to long 5?

I have Yasaka Extra the cheap regular one, not sure if that is what you have or a better version of it, but my DHS Wang Hao III just outperforms it in all aspects, and my DHS Long 5X is just a killer, in fact even the replica of Long 5 i have is WAY better than Yasaka Extra and Hao III blades, i didn't go with Long 5 because i feel it is the worst version/model of Long 5.

 

[NasiRendang]

Tried all 3 blades before.

W968 is definitely an enigma, I have several friends that use w968, all of theirs feel different, however, the general consensus is that the w968 feels heavier than the HL5/HL5X. When I tried it, it limited my swing speed and ability to switch between backhand and forehand, however, the heavier blade definitely gave me an increase in power.

HL5 to me, is a blade specialized for looping, the blade is light, lighter than most other offensive blades (easy to switch between backhand and forehand). The blade is also soft, allowing you to spin the ball hard without the ball flying out of the table. Blocking with it is pretty slow, the bat is really able to absorb the opponent's power well. Carbon kicks in on shots above a certain strength, giving you a visible increase in speed.

HL5X is a similar blade to the HL5, it is said to be built with a thicker core and thinner outer limba layers, this pushes the carbon into a position closer to that of an outer carbon blade. I don't know how exactly it affects the blade but I do feel that in general the HL5X is:

1. Light, as light as the HL5
2. "Crispier/harder feeling"
3. Is very transparent (even on low strength, on a flat hit, the carbon kicks in really easily)

In summary, with HL5 as a base where the blade's playing characteristics are that it is light, soft, retains good control when you hit hard, you can either go down either of the two paths and go for w968, where the blade gets heavier, more deadly, and retains its unique characteristics (just that you need more physical strength to fully utilize the blade). Or you can go for the HL5X, which I would say is a blade that switches it up to something similar to outer carbon blades, basically, easy power with soft feeling.

Note that all 3 blades' backhand are more difficult to generate power and require some time to get used to. Personally, the softer feeling required me to have to hit/"push" the ball harder on my strokes, whereas for a viscaria when I did the same stroke the ball flew back faster and spinnier. Though, after using the HL5X for about a year now I realize that this may not be such a bad thing after all; it allows me to switch up the pace in the middle of a rally, something that I probably wouldn't have the touch for if I was using a viscaria.

i know it's late, bc u have a experience with the blades. i want to ask, what is the spinniest blades? between viscaria and long 5x , and long 5, thankyou.