OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hey guys, I'm wondering which blades you might consider as the the "Top 3 slowest, stiffest blades". I do love my current setup with my Aurora, but I am always willing to experiment. My style is a close to the table blocker style, occasional attack with the LP, and I like to loop with the FH, but seldom more than 1 meter away from the table. So, from what I've heard and read on the forums, such a slow and stiff blade might suit my style well. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

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USATT rating - 1999

Blade - Rendler Smart FH - Hurricane 8 hard black BH - Grass DTechs OX red
Blade - BBC 9/10/9 FH - Hurricane 8 black BH - Dragon Talon OX red
Blade - Hallmark Aurora FH - Hurricane 8 black BH - Joola Badman OX red

1. TTMaster Evolutive Defense
2. Dr. Neubauer Barricade
3. RE-Impact Hydra

All these are also less than 60 grams.

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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

If you are looking for a stiff blade, you shiould forget blades that have balsa in their composition. Balsa was very good with frictionless pips, but with friction pips, it behaves too much like a trampoline and it's hard to keep the ball low over the net and short.
I have played for more than a year with Neubauer's Barricade with Xiying Ox on the BH and when I think about it, the throw angle was too high, chopping was difficult and blocking at the table was ok but once again the trampoline effect of balsa gave a high throw angle.

The 3 blades that come to my mind are :
_ TSP Toccata Carbon Def. Quite slow but with enough power to attack effectively
_ Joo See Hyuk
_ Nittaku New Defence : the slowest blade, with a very very good control. It is less ''punchy'' than the other 2, but still you can attack with some power thanks to the 2 carbon layers.

Cheers,
Ma'man

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Fringe rocks big time!!!!!

Blade : TSP Toccata Carbon Def
FH : Shark II 33° 2mm Black
BH : Octopus Ox red

Gambler Oversize Carbon
Gambler Oversize Kevlar
Yasaka Sweeper

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Galaxy Hinoki 350 Year - Galaxy Apollo V2 (2.2mm) / Galaxy Apollo V2 (1.8mm)

Galaxy Hinoki 200 Year - Galaxy Apollo V2 (2.2mm) / Galaxy Mercury II (1.8mm)

Galaxy Hinoki 200 Year - Galaxy Apollo V2 (2.2mm) / Galaxy Pluto (1.0mm)

Well, considering all three blades I listed are balsa, I obviously disagree with you. For close-to-the-table blockers, there's nothing wrong with slow balsa blades and the ones I mentioned above all have little catapult effect. Besides, you're more of a chopper aren't you? I agree that Xiying isn't any good on any of my blades.

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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

i like Hallmark Strategy for my d.techs.
I have tried it on barricade, didn't think disturbing was that good.

regards
Ged

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1. Blade : NSD : Grass D.Tecs 0x red : Tibhar 1Q 2 mm black : Main Blade
2. Blade : NSD : DM Predator 0x red : Secret Flow 1.8 Black : On try
3. Blade : SL Defender SL DG 0x red : Secret flow 1.8 black : Against other LP players.
4. Blade : ST Fire-starter: Easy P 0x red : Air Illumina MAX Black : Incoming
Maybe I will try sponge some day!
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Hallmark Strategy is a terrific blade also. My only complaint is it's a little heavy.
Barricade is a great blade for the Phantom 007 and 0012. It's also not bad for CK531a.

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The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
Table Tennis Video Links: itTV | laola1.tv | ttbl | fftt | Challenger Series | mnnb-tv

My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

My favorite for friction LPs is the old Butterfly Retriever with backhand top-ply almost completely sanded off, but I broke the only one I had and couldn't find another... A distant second is the Matsushita Pro Special w/ same sanding treatment, which is what I am using right now. Because of its arylate-carbon layers instead of just arylate as in the Retriever, it feels a bit too stiff against really strong loops.
Among balsa blades, I find Firewall Plus very, very good with friction pips like Dawei Saviga V ox in black, or 388D-1 and Palio CK531A in red.

I have always been wondering about Hallmark Strategy; have not been able to find any reviews anywhere.

Ged and Bob, can you post a review? How does Strategy compared to KungFu?

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The Dark Side: "Quicker, easier, more seductive" - Yoda

Pogo and Fire Wall Plus seems to be a good combination for defensive game as well as for an attacking game.

Gambler Toxic 3 may be a consideration.

I tried the neubauer barricade def blade a number of years ago and while it was slow and light, i did thought mine had the stiffness of a well cooked noodle.

I haven't tried kungfu...

Stategy is rather heavy, 93g, thin, very good disturbing effect. A little faster than barricade
but i feel much more "power" in both fh and bh.
I like pogo 0x on my barricade...

Regards
Ged

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1. Blade : NSD : Grass D.Tecs 0x red : Tibhar 1Q 2 mm black : Main Blade
2. Blade : NSD : DM Predator 0x red : Secret Flow 1.8 Black : On try
3. Blade : SL Defender SL DG 0x red : Secret flow 1.8 black : Against other LP players.
4. Blade : ST Fire-starter: Easy P 0x red : Air Illumina MAX Black : Incoming
Maybe I will try sponge some day!
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Lots of good recommendations for me to consider, guys! Thanks so much for helping out. Now the experimentation process begins...

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USATT rating - 1999

Blade - Rendler Smart FH - Hurricane 8 hard black BH - Grass DTechs OX red
Blade - BBC 9/10/9 FH - Hurricane 8 black BH - Dragon Talon OX red
Blade - Hallmark Aurora FH - Hurricane 8 black BH - Joola Badman OX red

Making a direct comparison as i have used Hallmark Aurora a lot, i find the Andro fiberComp Defplay to be very stiff and slowish!

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Tibhar Stratus Power Defense is pretty stiff too.