says
Spin and more spin.
says
Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
Hey, fun to read this thread.
I stick by my words. Thanks for quoting me Suga D. [emoji2]
There really is nothing that feels as good as a 1 ply Hinoki blade.
And Hinoki as a wood is pretty light so even though those 10mm 1 plies are thick, they are not too heavy. They are actually a pretty nice weight. 90-95 grams is pretty nice.
However I will restate the downsides:
*That 10mm thickness does make it really hard to serve shakehand. It works better for penhold.
**Because the wood is one ply, the grain goes straight through the blade face. And if the blade is in your bag and pressed at an odd angle, the blade can split down the grain. And you won't even realize the blade is broken. You will think it is playing funny because the rubbers weren't glued on well or something. And then you take off the rubbers and the pieces of the blade fall away from each other.
At $250-$400 for a good 1 ply, that can become expensive no matter how good the blade feels.
But there is one more thing and this one I didn't say in the post Suga D quoted:
Hinoki absorbs sweat very easily because of how the wood is soft and porous. So it absorbs sweat even more than most woods do. And when it absorbs your sweat, the wood becomes heavier and, more importantly, softer. And then the blade plays totally differently than it did when it was dry.
So, for a top pro, by the 7th game of a grueling match, where you are covered with sweat, your Hinoki blade will play differently than it did at the beginning of the match.
So, on the pro level, I think that may be the biggest reason Hinoki is rarely used alone these days. This has been the case for a while. The last great player I can think of to use a 1 ply Hinoki blade is Ryu Seung Min.
But I think the consistency of play of the multiply carbon blades has made 1 ply Hinoki blades, for the most part, obsolete at the pro level.
However, if money was not an object, I would definitely have a few Darker Speed 90s in my arsenal. [emoji2]
Again, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, feels as good.
And if you are using one and love it, and it has worked for you, none of these things matter.
Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy
I stick by my words. Thanks for quoting me Suga D. [emoji2]
There really is nothing that feels as good as a 1 ply Hinoki blade.
And Hinoki as a wood is pretty light so even though those 10mm 1 plies are thick, they are not too heavy. They are actually a pretty nice weight. 90-95 grams is pretty nice.
However I will restate the downsides:
*That 10mm thickness does make it really hard to serve shakehand. It works better for penhold.
**Because the wood is one ply, the grain goes straight through the blade face. And if the blade is in your bag and pressed at an odd angle, the blade can split down the grain. And you won't even realize the blade is broken. You will think it is playing funny because the rubbers weren't glued on well or something. And then you take off the rubbers and the pieces of the blade fall away from each other.
At $250-$400 for a good 1 ply, that can become expensive no matter how good the blade feels.
But there is one more thing and this one I didn't say in the post Suga D quoted:
Hinoki absorbs sweat very easily because of how the wood is soft and porous. So it absorbs sweat even more than most woods do. And when it absorbs your sweat, the wood becomes heavier and, more importantly, softer. And then the blade plays totally differently than it did when it was dry.
So, for a top pro, by the 7th game of a grueling match, where you are covered with sweat, your Hinoki blade will play differently than it did at the beginning of the match.
So, on the pro level, I think that may be the biggest reason Hinoki is rarely used alone these days. This has been the case for a while. The last great player I can think of to use a 1 ply Hinoki blade is Ryu Seung Min.
But I think the consistency of play of the multiply carbon blades has made 1 ply Hinoki blades, for the most part, obsolete at the pro level.
However, if money was not an object, I would definitely have a few Darker Speed 90s in my arsenal. [emoji2]
Again, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, feels as good.
And if you are using one and love it, and it has worked for you, none of these things matter.
Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy
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