I think my main interest would be in combination blades. Something with a hard outer layer but slow (suitable for OX long pimples), and something more springy, softer and faster for the FH for a power looping (Chinese tacky rubber).


What sort of blade would you suggest for this Charlie?

Hey thanks Charlie and nathanso!! I'm not sure whether the Carboflex Alpha is suitable for my game (Fiddler is much closer to what I have in mind in terms of stiffness and surface hardness) - with the balsa in the Carboflex I think an OX LP blocker/hitter might be a more suitable tester. What do you think?

Hi, Charlie.

I'm curious about the difference between what you're calling "flex" and what you're calling "surface." Is it possible for the surface of a blade to be hard but for the blade to "flex" when contact is made? I'd always thought of these as a single quality, and I'm not sure I understand the difference and, most importantly, what each of the two features (hardness vs. flex) means in terms of actually playing with the blade in question.

I'm primarily a chopper and looking for a lightweight blade that allows for great backhand spin variation with grippy, soft long pips (Xiom Guillotine with a 1.2mm sponge), which, I have found, I get when I use soft balsa (Joola R*1 and my current TSP BalsaPlus 3.5) but not as much when I use stiffer blades (Matushita Pro, Nittaku Shake Defense, Rendler Taipan). I'm not sure if what I need on my backhand is softness or flex (since, as I said above, I don't totally understand the difference), but what I need is whatever balsa provides, I think. However, I'd ideally also like a bit more pop on my forehand than I get with the TSP BalsaPlus 3.5, while still retaining the ability to chop on the forehand side
effectively. I found the Joola R*1 great for backhand spin variation and firepower, but it was a bit too hard to control forehand chops, while my current TSP BalsaPlus 3.5 is great for controlling forehand chops and backhand spin variation but lacks punch when attacking. The Nittaku Shake Defense was WONDERFUL for my forehand -- it combined both great control for chopping and pop for attacking -- but I found that it was too stiff too provide the kind of spin variation I wanted for my backhand. It almost made me think that what I want is balsa on my backhand and whatever the Nittaku Shake Defense is made of for my forehand.

Anyway, I wonder if something like the Carboflex Alpha would suit me, or if you'd recommend something else.

wow, great question. let me try to explain(confidence is high) but let me know if it is clear to you. hardness usually causes the ball to leave he blade faster, less dwell time. flex increases dwell time. flex allows a "load" and then a throw. combing hardness and flex get one variations in dwell time, thus the myiad of blades made today. all rubbers have their own load and throw timings. the tricck is to get the blade and rubbers to sync so that the sum is greater than the parts. they work together or you get a disaster.

i just now explained to haggisv and Beer Belly about the 2-speed Carbo-flex(i guess i need to put more data on my webs site soon). what i like about the C-flex the most is that the carbon doesn't run up and across the blade, it runs diagonally causing stability and a bigger sweet-spot with-out the stiffness(lower dwell) of multi-carbon. on the 2-speed the usually centered carbon is off-center because of different thicknesses of wood plys.
the difference isn't grear but still suits different rubbers better. then with outer plys of softer or harder woods the speed can be changed. whew! what a mouth full. let's talk some more and see if any sense can be made.

hi Beer Belly, thanks for your quiry. what i had in mind was a "2-speed "C-flex. the single carbon is not straight up and down but on a bias, running criss-cross, stabilizing and making a bigger sweet spot without the stiffness of multiple carbon. on the 2-speed the center carbon of the regular C-flex is off-center, with different thickness of plys, causing the blade to be more suited for wildly different rubbers. i also was thinking of having you try an over-sized shape to suit the "chop til you drop" kind of guy.
i just reread your answers, Defence II shape with a flare, 90 g. Your are not stuck with my choice, let's talk some more, ok? i'll need your address and any "secrets" you might have on shipping and customs (if needed) to ship whatever we come up with.
thanks for your participation and allowing me to have so much fun, charlie

(3) Flex + soft = classical defenders. Dwell + more dwell = sloooooooooooow. Some modern defenders like these blades too but it's much harder to get FH winners due to the low speed.

I don't know anything about blade construction, but why wouldn't it be possible to construct a combi blade that is flexy and soft on the backhand side and a bit harder on the forehand side, so that the capacity to increase forehand winners is increased, while keeping much needed spin manipulation abilities for the backhand side? Wouldn't this approach -- rather than just increasing the thickness of the core on the forehand side -- be most effective, because increasing core thickness (especially if it's a balsa core) results in added springiness and a consequent loss of control for forehand chopping, while simply making the surface harder on the forehand side would allow for a crisper impact in attacking without an accompanying loss of control for chopping. My ideal blade, in other words, would be something like the Nittaku Shake Defense for the forehand side (great for BOTH chopping and hitting), but would include balsa on the backhand side for softness/flex for spin manipulation. Am I missing something?

If you think about flex taking place at the neck of the blade, then it'd be impossible to "partly" flex one side of the blade while keeping the other side stiff. Flex implies that the entire blade bends at the neck. This is why the only other controllable factor for combi blades is to fool around with core thickness, placement of different wood ply etc, and even then warping of the blade is a concern.

Speedplay - since combi blades are already under higher than normal internal stress, I suspect the warping occurs while stress is being exacerbated i.e. while playing TT. Wood fibers are typically elastic up to a certain point, but given that the wood is already stressed, getting to that inelastic point (when warping occurs) is much easier. I think perhaps this explains why balsa core is often preferred for combi blades (it helps for LP too!) is because balsa is highly elastic and is therefore able to absorb stress better.