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Yasaka Falck Carbon
Weight: 88 grams
Thickness: 5.91mm
Hardness: medium stiff
Plies: 7 (Limba outer-inner carbon-ayous or kiri core)
Speed: Off to Off+
I finally received the 2 Falck blades after some time of waiting. I had to wait for the 2 blades since the stocks were not available at that time. The 2 blades were really worth the wait and I even kept one as another one of my go to blade. The Falck Carbon is not the blade that everybody expected it to be. I and other people have speculated that maybe Yasaka will just make a remade Ma Lin Soft Carbon or maybe the Ma Lin Carbon but it was a great surprise upon seeing that the Falck Carbon is an inner carbon blade. I was surprised that it has an inner carbon. It felt significantly harder and stiffer than the Ma Lin Soft Carbon and the speed seem to be near or equal to that of the Ma Lin Carbon. The carbon layer does not look like a standard carbon because it has a cross weave of a lighter material which doesn’t look like a carbon blade but near to maybe aramid or another similar material. The blade has some flex but it is way more stiffer than the Ma Lin Soft Carbon. I would say the speed will not exceed that of the Harimoto ALC. The Alnalde is much faster than the Falck Carbon. When I bounced the ball on the Yasaka Ma Lin Soft Carbon and Falck Carbon, the Yasaka Ma Lin Carbon was obviously slower and had the lower bounce. The sound of the ball bouncing on the Falck Carbon had a somewhat higher pitch but not enough to be equal with other harder carbon blades probably because of the inner carbon structure. I understand Yasaka has their own speed and control ratings but in my own opinion, the Falck Carbon is not in the speed level of Tamca Carbon blades because for me, it should not be faster than Koto ALC blades. It’s between off and off+. I am saying this because the speed is not that of a true off+ blade if you will compare it to hard pure carbon blades. Maybe it is time to introduce speed classification of Off++ and Off+++ blades since most of the Koto-ALC blades nowadays have an off+ rating already.
I think the Falck carbon is an all around style attacking blade. It is fast enough to attack from shots away from the table provided you have the right type of rubber used but still the control is good enough that it feels you are just using an off blade. Maybe this is the sensation that I am feeling that the blade is not too fast probably because of great amount of control the blade has. At 5.9mm thickness, the blade is not too flexy but also has some stiffness in it that the speed is balanced with the amount of spin you can produce when you are looping against underspin. I used the Rakza X and Rakza 7 for the test and despite the Rakza X being a very fast rubber, the control I got was really that of an Off speed blade. Too bad my Rakza Z EH has already eroded. I think it could have been a great looping combination with the Falck Carbon Blade as the limba outer plies and semi-flexy structure permits great looping possibilities with the blade. The feel is very close to the IF ALC blade but there is some sort of extra softness with each ball bounce when I was looping the ball. The speed is probably almost in the same level when I last used the IF ALC but in my opinion I felt a better amount of control with the Falck Carbon Blade. I have observed that when using the Rakza X and Rakza 7, the arc was medium to medium low.
The control is awesome because my shots seem pretty accurate despite using Rakza X which is considered a very fast rubber. At far distance from the table, I did not feel any reduction of speed and power when doing loops away from the table. In my opinion, the blade is much suited until mid-distance from the table for optimal use unless you are using a very fast rubber on both sides. Other strength of the Falck Carbon is that its stability when blocking strong topspins is on par with other hard and heavy blades. Also, I have used a short pip rubber in the backhand and I felt it was better than the Yasaka Ma Lin Soft Carbon because I felt that the YMLSC is too soft for my liking with short pips. I understand that Mathias Falck likes the set up but the Flack Carbon has more stiffness and I believe the stiffness adds a little bit extra juice in your shots and pairs better with short pimpled rubbers.
Overall, this is a great alternative to Innerforce ALC blade because it offers a lot of potential for a well-rounded attacking style of play. Yasaka has made another high-quality blade. The design is very simple but it plays above than what I expected it to play. I highly recommend this blade even to just intermediate players because of its superb control provided they use a 1.9mm or 2.0mm rubber. This carbon blade is very forgiving even for intermediate level players.
Falck W7
Weight: 86 grams
Thickness: 6.55mm
Hardness: medium stiff
Plies: 7 (Limba-ayous)
Speed: Off to Off+
This is my favorite blade in between the 2 Falck blades. I am intending to keep it and I have been playing with it heavily since it sparked my interest on using a 7 ply all wood blade again. I was once an all wood 7 ply blade collector. I used to collected selected 7 ply all-wood blades before but got tired of them and gave away most of them. I always had a thing for 7 ply all-wood blades due to their balance of speed and control. Tranas Woodhouse has always made excellent 7 ply blades for Yasaka and for other brands and the Falck W7 is their latest 7 ply all-wood blade. The W7 carries the classic 7 ply all wood feel that all wood users love. The blade has a simple design with a 2-tone color reminding me of the Swedish flag due to having blue and yellow colors. Like the Falck Carbon, the W7 has some factory sealing and I do not think they need any more sealing. I have so far removed and glued 4 rubbers in each side but I did not observe any wood splintering or delamination. The handle is big with a dimension of 26mm x 34.96mm at the base of the flared handle and a measurement of 23.5mm x 28.5mm at the neck part of the handle. It is big but it does not feel as big compared to that of the Fextra or Force Pro Black blade if you base it on the feel of holding the blade.
I used several rubbers for this test such as the Rakza X, Rakza 7, Rakza Z EH and RITC Battle 2. The Rakza Z EH was a little worn out because of heavy usage. I had to use the Battle 2 rubber as a representative of tacky rubbers being used for the blade. Anyway, the blade is fast. It is almost in the level of an Off+ blade. The blade is thick at 6.5mm producing enough speed even at far distance from the table but like its carbon sibling, the W7 is ideal at middle distance from the table. You can still use it effectively at far distance from the table but you would need faster rubbers like Rakza X. For speed comparisons, I would rate it as faster than the Xiom Solo, regular Clipper. It could probably be a little faster than the Clipper CR that I owned years ago if my memory does not betray me. I would rate it almost as fast as the Fextra but then Fextra is a level or 2 stiffer than the W7. The Force Pro Black is definitely faster and has a more profound stiffness.
The Falck W7 is your do-it-all offensive blade. Even with faster carbon and carbon arylate blades today, using a 7 ply all-wood blade like the W7 will not diminish your powershots away from the table. This can be compensated with faster rubbers. Even at higher levels, the W7 could sustain heavy counter looping away from the table. I have observed a medium high to medium arc when looping. The strength of the Falck W7 is in its easy adaptability when using different kinds of rubbers. I have used other rubbers other than the ones I have mentioned and the W7 seem to be compatible with them. I have even used a soft short pimple rubber in the backhand and never had much difficulty using it. It is not super high on the speed and power compared to composite blades but the amount of power and speed it produces is enough for most people even at advanced levels. The weight goes towards the tip of the blade. Some will find it head heavy but I prefer this kind of set up since I loop heavily in the forehand and the head heaviness favors my stroke. If you will be using a Chinese rubber on this blade, you would need some arm strength but if you are using the Rakza Z EH version, the effort lessens. Overall, the W7 is very forgiving on all types of shots especially with powershots. For drops shots and short pushes, the control is a given strength since this is an all wood blade.
This is highly recommended to at least intermediate level players and up to competition players. This is one of the type of blades that you can never go wrong when choosing if you are conscious about the balance of speed and control. It’s very versatile and compatible to different types of plays. From an all out offensive type of player to defensive blockers, the blade is on a class of its own. I’ve had the Yasaka Max Wood in the past but I seem to like this better because it is not as heavy but still has the same classic 7 ply all wood feel and everything.
Weight: 88 grams
Thickness: 5.91mm
Hardness: medium stiff
Plies: 7 (Limba outer-inner carbon-ayous or kiri core)
Speed: Off to Off+
I finally received the 2 Falck blades after some time of waiting. I had to wait for the 2 blades since the stocks were not available at that time. The 2 blades were really worth the wait and I even kept one as another one of my go to blade. The Falck Carbon is not the blade that everybody expected it to be. I and other people have speculated that maybe Yasaka will just make a remade Ma Lin Soft Carbon or maybe the Ma Lin Carbon but it was a great surprise upon seeing that the Falck Carbon is an inner carbon blade. I was surprised that it has an inner carbon. It felt significantly harder and stiffer than the Ma Lin Soft Carbon and the speed seem to be near or equal to that of the Ma Lin Carbon. The carbon layer does not look like a standard carbon because it has a cross weave of a lighter material which doesn’t look like a carbon blade but near to maybe aramid or another similar material. The blade has some flex but it is way more stiffer than the Ma Lin Soft Carbon. I would say the speed will not exceed that of the Harimoto ALC. The Alnalde is much faster than the Falck Carbon. When I bounced the ball on the Yasaka Ma Lin Soft Carbon and Falck Carbon, the Yasaka Ma Lin Carbon was obviously slower and had the lower bounce. The sound of the ball bouncing on the Falck Carbon had a somewhat higher pitch but not enough to be equal with other harder carbon blades probably because of the inner carbon structure. I understand Yasaka has their own speed and control ratings but in my own opinion, the Falck Carbon is not in the speed level of Tamca Carbon blades because for me, it should not be faster than Koto ALC blades. It’s between off and off+. I am saying this because the speed is not that of a true off+ blade if you will compare it to hard pure carbon blades. Maybe it is time to introduce speed classification of Off++ and Off+++ blades since most of the Koto-ALC blades nowadays have an off+ rating already.
I think the Falck carbon is an all around style attacking blade. It is fast enough to attack from shots away from the table provided you have the right type of rubber used but still the control is good enough that it feels you are just using an off blade. Maybe this is the sensation that I am feeling that the blade is not too fast probably because of great amount of control the blade has. At 5.9mm thickness, the blade is not too flexy but also has some stiffness in it that the speed is balanced with the amount of spin you can produce when you are looping against underspin. I used the Rakza X and Rakza 7 for the test and despite the Rakza X being a very fast rubber, the control I got was really that of an Off speed blade. Too bad my Rakza Z EH has already eroded. I think it could have been a great looping combination with the Falck Carbon Blade as the limba outer plies and semi-flexy structure permits great looping possibilities with the blade. The feel is very close to the IF ALC blade but there is some sort of extra softness with each ball bounce when I was looping the ball. The speed is probably almost in the same level when I last used the IF ALC but in my opinion I felt a better amount of control with the Falck Carbon Blade. I have observed that when using the Rakza X and Rakza 7, the arc was medium to medium low.
The control is awesome because my shots seem pretty accurate despite using Rakza X which is considered a very fast rubber. At far distance from the table, I did not feel any reduction of speed and power when doing loops away from the table. In my opinion, the blade is much suited until mid-distance from the table for optimal use unless you are using a very fast rubber on both sides. Other strength of the Falck Carbon is that its stability when blocking strong topspins is on par with other hard and heavy blades. Also, I have used a short pip rubber in the backhand and I felt it was better than the Yasaka Ma Lin Soft Carbon because I felt that the YMLSC is too soft for my liking with short pips. I understand that Mathias Falck likes the set up but the Flack Carbon has more stiffness and I believe the stiffness adds a little bit extra juice in your shots and pairs better with short pimpled rubbers.
Overall, this is a great alternative to Innerforce ALC blade because it offers a lot of potential for a well-rounded attacking style of play. Yasaka has made another high-quality blade. The design is very simple but it plays above than what I expected it to play. I highly recommend this blade even to just intermediate players because of its superb control provided they use a 1.9mm or 2.0mm rubber. This carbon blade is very forgiving even for intermediate level players.
Falck W7
Weight: 86 grams
Thickness: 6.55mm
Hardness: medium stiff
Plies: 7 (Limba-ayous)
Speed: Off to Off+
This is my favorite blade in between the 2 Falck blades. I am intending to keep it and I have been playing with it heavily since it sparked my interest on using a 7 ply all wood blade again. I was once an all wood 7 ply blade collector. I used to collected selected 7 ply all-wood blades before but got tired of them and gave away most of them. I always had a thing for 7 ply all-wood blades due to their balance of speed and control. Tranas Woodhouse has always made excellent 7 ply blades for Yasaka and for other brands and the Falck W7 is their latest 7 ply all-wood blade. The W7 carries the classic 7 ply all wood feel that all wood users love. The blade has a simple design with a 2-tone color reminding me of the Swedish flag due to having blue and yellow colors. Like the Falck Carbon, the W7 has some factory sealing and I do not think they need any more sealing. I have so far removed and glued 4 rubbers in each side but I did not observe any wood splintering or delamination. The handle is big with a dimension of 26mm x 34.96mm at the base of the flared handle and a measurement of 23.5mm x 28.5mm at the neck part of the handle. It is big but it does not feel as big compared to that of the Fextra or Force Pro Black blade if you base it on the feel of holding the blade.
I used several rubbers for this test such as the Rakza X, Rakza 7, Rakza Z EH and RITC Battle 2. The Rakza Z EH was a little worn out because of heavy usage. I had to use the Battle 2 rubber as a representative of tacky rubbers being used for the blade. Anyway, the blade is fast. It is almost in the level of an Off+ blade. The blade is thick at 6.5mm producing enough speed even at far distance from the table but like its carbon sibling, the W7 is ideal at middle distance from the table. You can still use it effectively at far distance from the table but you would need faster rubbers like Rakza X. For speed comparisons, I would rate it as faster than the Xiom Solo, regular Clipper. It could probably be a little faster than the Clipper CR that I owned years ago if my memory does not betray me. I would rate it almost as fast as the Fextra but then Fextra is a level or 2 stiffer than the W7. The Force Pro Black is definitely faster and has a more profound stiffness.
The Falck W7 is your do-it-all offensive blade. Even with faster carbon and carbon arylate blades today, using a 7 ply all-wood blade like the W7 will not diminish your powershots away from the table. This can be compensated with faster rubbers. Even at higher levels, the W7 could sustain heavy counter looping away from the table. I have observed a medium high to medium arc when looping. The strength of the Falck W7 is in its easy adaptability when using different kinds of rubbers. I have used other rubbers other than the ones I have mentioned and the W7 seem to be compatible with them. I have even used a soft short pimple rubber in the backhand and never had much difficulty using it. It is not super high on the speed and power compared to composite blades but the amount of power and speed it produces is enough for most people even at advanced levels. The weight goes towards the tip of the blade. Some will find it head heavy but I prefer this kind of set up since I loop heavily in the forehand and the head heaviness favors my stroke. If you will be using a Chinese rubber on this blade, you would need some arm strength but if you are using the Rakza Z EH version, the effort lessens. Overall, the W7 is very forgiving on all types of shots especially with powershots. For drops shots and short pushes, the control is a given strength since this is an all wood blade.
This is highly recommended to at least intermediate level players and up to competition players. This is one of the type of blades that you can never go wrong when choosing if you are conscious about the balance of speed and control. It’s very versatile and compatible to different types of plays. From an all out offensive type of player to defensive blockers, the blade is on a class of its own. I’ve had the Yasaka Max Wood in the past but I seem to like this better because it is not as heavy but still has the same classic 7 ply all wood feel and everything.
