What's the worst blade you've ever used?

[JediJesseS]

h301

 

[Headbeancounter]

Stiga Allround Classic, I know it is probably just me who doesn't have the proper techniques, but man, this blade is slow.

 

[Ian]

I remember being disappointed with the original Butterfly Timo Boll Forte back in the day. In recent years, I was not a fan of the Stiga Carbonado 290. It felt so uncomfortable to hold and it didn't play well.

 

[netdriver]

my first racket, a no-brand cheap 3 ply jpen that played like if it was a premade bat

i am not sure what wood was used, not cypress but it smells good and spicy

 

[lodro]

Joola Rossi Attack with Fiesta rubber and a hard sponge layer between the blade and the handle pieces. What a load of crap 😁

 

[JJ Ng]

From this thread I wonder if it's common to get a 'dud' blade that plays worse than a typical one of the same model, or if it's completely down to individual preference and rubber synergy.

I've seen high praise for Yasaka Sweden Extra saying it had great feel, but I personally thought it had the worst feeling of any blade I used, and was approaching pre-made levels of deadness.

I think it is a combination. There is no way I am touching any ALL+ blade wit 10 foot pole. OFF- is my sweet spot.

People just play differently.

I am also another person who does not see the appeal of Viscaria. I have got several $30 to $40 blades I prefer over Viscaria but that's just me.

 

[TensorBackhand]

I think it is a combination. There is no way I am touching any ALL+ blade wit 10 foot pole. OFF- is my sweet spot.

People just play differently.

I am also another person who does not see the appeal of Viscaria. I have got several $30 to $40 blades I prefer over Viscaria but that's just me.

How are your new blades? Are my descriptions consistent with your findings?

 

[JJ Ng]

How are your new blades? Are my descriptions consistent with your findings?

Thank you for asking. I have been busy testing the ESN rubbers on my backhand so have not spent as much time as I should on the new blades.

I like Lemuria ZJK blade the most. It is a bit faster than my usual blade so I will need more time with it later. Like you said, I also like the touch of the Stuor Harimoto clone. It is a bit slower than I like. It is weird. That blade has this crispy carbon sound but the ball does not project out of the blade that fast. I think faster Butterfly rubbers would work very well with that blade.

Suprisingly I like the Stuor Viscaria clone. It feels solid with good bounce. Including shipping and import tax, it is like $30.

I have trouble with the Yinhe blades though. They feel a bit rough in certain spots. I can sand parts of the blades down but I don't have time to do that right now.

I need to spend more time with Sanwei F3 Pro. It has a bit of flex and vibration to it. It is faster than Stuor Harimoto clone but slower than Lemuria ZJK clone. I can see why you like that blade a lot.

Those are my preliminary impressions!

 

[Dominikk85]

Bad can mean different things. It can mean objectively bad manufacturing or bad quality materials used in an "el cheapo" blade. For example like splintering, bad glue between the wood layers and so on.

But it can also mean not fitting my playstyle and skill level.

I would guess a butterfly haritmoto alc is a great blade by production quality but if you are not skilled enough to handle it it will be a bad blade for you while a 25 dollar sanwei or a 40 dollar gewo might feel very good for you.

 

[TT Lover]

h301

Good day to you sir,

I'm found good reviews of this H301 on table tennis website and planning to buy this blade.

What is the weakness point of this blade from your idea such as stiffness - speed - control - powerless - feeling - or uncomfortable handle ?

Thank you in advance for your kindness reply and recommend.

Best regards,

 

[WingTT]

There are two main issues here. The variable nature of feel and performance in blades due to the natural material in its construction and therefore the existence of crappy outliers and of break in and change in feel over time and the subjective nature of a players preference. Most players can only comment on the one/few specimens of a blade they have owned or tried.

My personal experience with the YSE was initially it felt slightly hard due to the anegre top but controllable but now it is comfortable and natural feeling. Granted it is relatively slow but a far cry from something like a regular black tag Butterfly Kong Linghui which was so slow I could not play it. turbozed's YSE was also too slow for me on the FH but that was due to the particular Mercury 2 he had on the FH. It was fine otherwise.

The notable 'worst' blades I've used is the Timo Boll CAF - it combined the worst characteristics of a wood blade and a composite blade somehow, Butterfly Kong Linghui - due to strength sapping slowness, Tibhar Akkad - speed limited top end with a strange response linearity, Tibhar Stratus Powerwood - uncontrollable when hit hard due to its outstanding speed with too much flex. Last two mentions, Akkad and TSPW, others would probably find controversial.

 

[turbozed]

There are two main issues here. The variable nature of feel and performance in blades due to the natural material in its construction and therefore the existence of crappy outliers and of break in and change in feel over time and the subjective nature of a players preference. Most players can only comment on the one/few specimens of a blade they have owned or tried.

My personal experience with the YSE was initially it felt slightly hard due to the anegre top but controllable but now it is comfortable and natural feeling. Granted it is relatively slow but a far cry from something like a regular black tag Butterfly Kong Linghui which was so slow I could not play it. turbozed's YSE was also too slow for me on the FH but that was due to the particular Mercury 2 he had on the FH. It was fine otherwise.

The notable 'worst' blades I've used is the Timo Boll CAF - it combined the worst characteristics of a wood blade and a composite blade somehow, Butterfly Kong Linghui - due to strength sapping slowness, Tibhar Akkad - speed limited top end with a strange response linearity, Tibhar Stratus Powerwood - uncontrollable when hit hard due to its outstanding speed with too much flex. Last two mentions, Akkad and TSPW, others would probably find controversial.

I played that YSE with 3 different rubbers for months. And Mercury 2 has felt fine on 3 different blades. So I don't think the 1 minute you spent using the YSE was telling you the whole story. The YSE sucks (at least for me)

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

Last two mentions, Akkad and TSPW, others would probably find controversial.

I have 4 SPW myself, rough weights come out to 86g 88g 89g and 92g, the lightest one I would say matches your account on SPW moreso, it is the most flexible and "thin" feeling SPW I have, and the vibration feels "shakier" than the others. It doesn't feel like the response to impact scales as linearly as the others in my kit, and I felt like it had the tendency to shoot the ball more than what I was anticipating when it came to giving it the beans. The 89 and 92g ones are much more solid and predictable in my experience

 

[turbozed]

I have 4 SPW myself, rough weights come out to 86g 88g 89g and 92g, the lightest one I would say matches your account on SPW moreso, it is the most flexible and "thin" feeling SPW I have, and the vibration feels "shakier" than the others. It doesn't feel like the response to impact scales as linearly as the others in my kit, and I felt like it had the tendency to shoot the ball more than what I was anticipating when it came to giving it the beans. The 89 and 92g ones are much more solid and predictable in my experience

Your experience seems to be evidence in favor of my theory that there are some blades that are 'duds' or 'lemons.'

I guess with the high variance in the properties of wood (and maybe issues with gluing and construction as well) it might just be too difficult to have consistency in play. We know that even high quality all wood blades from top-of-the-line brands like Nittaku and Butterfly can sometimes have a variance of 10 grams in weight. It's only reasonable to expect a similar variance in how it plays. The only solution would be to have the blades play-tested, but we know that's just not feasible.

At least for me, I'm convinced that the particular model of YSE I got was lacking in some way, since I gave it a fair shake and I don't think people are lying or deluded when they say it plays great for them.

 

[NextLevel]

There are two main issues here. The variable nature of feel and performance in blades due to the natural material in its construction and therefore the existence of crappy outliers and of break in and change in feel over time and the subjective nature of a players preference. Most players can only comment on the one/few specimens of a blade they have owned or tried.

My personal experience with the YSE was initially it felt slightly hard due to the anegre top but controllable but now it is comfortable and natural feeling. Granted it is relatively slow but a far cry from something like a regular black tag Butterfly Kong Linghui which was so slow I could not play it. turbozed's YSE was also too slow for me on the FH but that was due to the particular Mercury 2 he had on the FH. It was fine otherwise.

The notable 'worst' blades I've used is the Timo Boll CAF - it combined the worst characteristics of a wood blade and a composite blade somehow, Butterfly Kong Linghui - due to strength sapping slowness, Tibhar Akkad - speed limited top end with a strange response linearity, Tibhar Stratus Powerwood - uncontrollable when hit hard due to its outstanding speed with too much flex. Last two mentions, Akkad and TSPW, others would probably find controversial.

Not at all, I used a lot of SPWs and played some great rallies with it, and I would *never* recommend it to anyone today. The build is just cheap and crappy, flexy neck which cracks over time as you hit the ball hard, as well as a hollow feeling that I am sure some like, but I didn't later. But I would be a liar if I said I never played great matches and points with it, but I ended up disliking it quite a bit. Akkad, I never really liked, even though I liked the Arche that it was supposed to follow other than being the same plies on both halfs. Might also have had something to do with hollow feeling handles there too...

 

[NextLevel]

I played that YSE with 3 different rubbers for months. And Mercury 2 has felt fine on 3 different blades. So I don't think the 1 minute you spent using the YSE was telling you the whole story. The YSE sucks (at least for me)

Yes, but his main point still stands that using 5 ply all wood blades with ALL+ speed and a rubber like Mercury 2 is sadistic. When I wrote my positive reviews, I was using T05 and Evolution MX-S.

 

[piligrim]

Butterfly Innerforce AL

 

[Lazer]

There are two main issues here. The variable nature of feel and performance in blades due to the natural material in its construction and therefore the existence of crappy outliers and of break in and change in feel over time and the subjective nature of a players preference. Most players can only comment on the one/few specimens of a blade they have owned or tried.

My personal experience with the YSE was initially it felt slightly hard due to the anegre top but controllable but now it is comfortable and natural feeling. Granted it is relatively slow but a far cry from something like a regular black tag Butterfly Kong Linghui which was so slow I could not play it. turbozed's YSE was also too slow for me on the FH but that was due to the particular Mercury 2 he had on the FH. It was fine otherwise.

The notable 'worst' blades I've used is the Timo Boll CAF - it combined the worst characteristics of a wood blade and a composite blade somehow, Butterfly Kong Linghui - due to strength sapping slowness, Tibhar Akkad - speed limited top end with a strange response linearity, Tibhar Stratus Powerwood - uncontrollable when hit hard due to its outstanding speed with too much flex. Last two mentions, Akkad and TSPW, others would probably find controversial.

I agree with you on the Tibhar akkad. I feel it works similar to a music compressor. Speeds up slow hits and slows down hard hits. Still I don’t hate it…

Cheers
L-zr

 

[turbozed]

Yes, but his main point still stands that using 5 ply all wood blades with ALL+ speed and a rubber like Mercury 2 is sadistic. When I wrote my positive reviews, I was using T05 and Evolution MX-S.

I interpreted his main point was the YSE was 'fine otherwise' suggesting that his 1 minute with the racket was conclusive versus my months spent with it. But using it with other rubbers like Fastarc C-1, S-1, Xiom Vega Intro didn't feel fine. It wasn't even the slowness that bothered me, just a dead feeling. Even a Donic Appelgren felt better and that's even slower. I guess I could be convinced that it was all down to my poor technique, but at least subjectively it felt the worst to me.

 

[NextLevel]

I interpreted his main point was the YSE was 'fine otherwise' suggesting that his 1 minute with the racket was conclusive versus my months spent with it. But using it with other rubbers like Fastarc C-1, S-1, Xiom Vega Intro didn't feel fine. It wasn't even the slowness that bothered me, just a dead feeling. Even a Donic Appelgren felt better and that's even slower. I guess I could be convinced that it was all down to my poor technique, but at least subjectively it felt the worst to me.

Nah, the YSE does have a dead zone for sure. But I thought it was slightly faster than say the Yasaka Sweden. But it is splitting hairs. But I wouldn't use those blades today I think, I think there are better ways to get to the same destination that using those blades was intended to get you to.