I used to use a Stiga Clipper with Tenergy 05. I have tried a lot of blades. Any time someone has a blade that is one of the hot new ones like the Timo Boll ALC or ZLC I see if I can get them to let me try it. A few months ago it was recommended for me to use the same rubbers with a slower blade that had more control and more dwell time so I could get more spin on my loops and short game. When I did that, it took a very short time (an hour or so training with the new set up, to get used to it) for my level to jump considerably. At first I did not have as much power and speed on my shots, but I could get a lot more spin on the ball and place the ball with much more accuracy. It also forced me to take a fuller stroke so my strokes improved very quickly after I changed setups. The end result was that, once I was really used to it, I no longer miss the extra speed and power at all because my strokes are so much better.
The person who made this recommendation gave me a Butterfly Primorac (5 plys, all wood, rated offensive minus). It has more than enough speed, especially when you add the speed and spin of tenergy. And I can feel the ball on the racket for so much longer when I hit my shots. In USATT rating I am about 1600/1700. I think a good offensive player will do well with a slower blade until their rating is around 2000/2100 and then the faster blades make more sense for the development of your game.
Also, I like all wood blades. You can feel what you are doing with the ball while it is on the racket much better with an all wood blade than with a carbon blade. I love the way some of those carbon combo blades like ALC or ZLC feel and they really do let you keep a high level of speed while keeping really good dwell time. But, even though you do not lose the control or the dwell time and you have all the speed, I feel like you cannot feel the ball on the racket quite as well with that kind of blade as you can with an all wood blade.
I have a feeling that the next world champion will be using one of those new technology composite blades. But so far, I do not think there has been one world champion who used a blade with Carbon or another composite in it. Person, Waldner, Gatien, Kong, Guoliang, Liqin, Hao, I believe they were all using wood when they won. I think this is interesting.
I recently used a Cornilleau Hinotec All+ and it was amazing. More than enough speed and power and I don't think I have felt any blade with as much dwell time or control. It had this great springy quality where you could feel the ball sink in, stay and then jump out with this nice snap that I love like a good Swedish blade. I will probably switch to that at some point. I would do it right off the bat but what I have is really quite good for me.
My setup:
Butterfly Primorac Off-
Tenergy 05 on both sides.
(She is a personal friend of mine): Lives in Sydney, still playing at age 100 and not out.
