OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Charlie has sent me the *Fiddler* to try and review

About me Im a above average level player that has played off and on for over 30 years, i have played against New Zealands best and have played and coached at our National Champs. I play very offensivly on my forehand trying to mix top spin with power flat hits ,I tend to mix backspin ,blocking and some flicks on my backhand.
I currently use the joola Kool which is very powerful on powerful shots and still ok with the short game, im no blade expert and havnt used too many types bit I used to use the butterfly firehand blade and I often swap bats with other players for fun.

The feel I can only say one thing beautiful ,never have I tried a blade that actually is made for your hand, it has this amazing scollop where your thumb sits that makes it so comforatable to hold, also i told Charlie that I didnt want a thin handle ,Im unsure if this one is a general size handle or he made it a bit thicker for me be its more like a rounded square shape than oval and its just such a natural blade to hold ,it feels like you are actually shakeing hand with the blade lol .Its contruction is Fat Cypress core with soft Mahogany skins ( i havn't measured the thickness but Charlie can make it thinner or thicker depending on your needs and weighs 87 to 88 grams. This blade is well crafted and makes you think of the special blades made in Europe 30 years ago ,A nice solid feel

Bounce on the blade with no rubbers was nice and even with a good bounce height

I have had only a brief hit ( four games to 21 against 4 different players) with no practice I like to take the deep end first lol so a update will come when I can spend more time , but for my first hit I choose Joola Mambo H 2mm and backhand (my 3 month of use old Giant Dragon Metorite .6 Long pimples as this blade is recommended for pimples (especially OX) as well as Euro rubbers but he did recommend Tensors (In hindsight I did the wrong thing by trying a new blade with two diverse and new rubbers to me. however I next try my more normal Joola express 2 max and globe 999 2mm or 2.2

Loop This blade feels more like a looping blade over a hitters blade so I went with a looping forehand whenever possible, i would say that its in between a 5 ply and a 7 ply in as far as looping ability, ( you must remember that I was using a Joola kool which is a real powerhouse for my hard hitting style so It will take a little time to gain my distance and i will have to do more arm speed anyhow it is easy to loop with and its has a fairly low tradictory. Against the KOOl it just didnt have the same speed but its not realy made for that in my opinion but my loops were fairly acurate and with more time and my other rubbers I believe it will improve as I get used to it ( So more to come)

Block Blocking seemed fairly easy and its easy to control back

Forehand to Forehand drill This was easy If you think I was using a new blade and a new rubber , So counter looping was not hard to do

Backhand well what can you say lol, I havn't use pimples in 6 months but I did ok in the games i played either mucking the opponent up completly or the opposite in my next game . I played 4 games to 21 against 4 different players for 2 wins and 2 looses. I didnt realy try backhand to backhand counter hits but i will later

Serves Well no problems but I think this has more to do with rubbers than the blade

So ill come back with my normal rubbers and then trial a OX rubber for a fun hit at sometimes . Please ask any questions you want

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Blade Ulmo Duality| FH Tibhar mx-p Black, Dawei 388D-1 red OX
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My Blog here..How table tennis objects are made
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Good work, rodderz. Looking forward to the rest of the review

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NITTAKU SEPTEAR cpen | FH: 729 802, 1.5, black | RPB: CORNILLEAU PILOT POWER, 2.0, red
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rodderz can you please describe the surface hardness and flex of blade?

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BTY Joo Se Hyuk | BTY Tenergy 64 2.1mm | TSP P1R 1mm

Chop til you drop baby!

well first impressions are a solid deel and not too much flex, the blade almost feels like 1 ply because its so well put together, im not too sure on the hardness yet but more of a stiff feel. by the way a friend tried it and was chopping with the backhand and he could keep it low ,spinny and acurate, better than me as im more of a up the table player

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Blade Ulmo Duality| FH Tibhar mx-p Black, Dawei 388D-1 red OX
NZ table tennis selector, ask a question
My Blog here..How table tennis objects are made
Table Tennis abbreviations, and acronyms

right I have taken the rubbers off my normal blade, ill try it a little tonight , but Im coaching 40 kids so ill be mainly blocking lol

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Blade Ulmo Duality| FH Tibhar mx-p Black, Dawei 388D-1 red OX
NZ table tennis selector, ask a question
My Blog here..How table tennis objects are made
Table Tennis abbreviations, and acronyms

well I had another chance to have some hits with the Fiddler , So now ive put on Joola Tango Exteme max on my forehand and Globe 999 2.2 Im unsue if its National or japanese sponge I think National . I played at a Chinese Community center and there was not much room. Anyhow I was concentrating on looping and smashing on my for hand and general top spin on my backhand.
Looping Very easy and comfortable, it seemed to skid in with a low throw and If it came back I was sucsessful with my smash, I tend not to loop too many in a row (its just me) lol so if the ball come back ill hit it (or try ) but I found If I could take most long serves easily and aim wherever I wanted
Smash The blade feels solid and fairly powerful in this reguard (actualy more than I thought) Maybe not as powerful as the Kool but very good

Backhand top spin I don't tend to realy loop from this side but it did feel nice and stable and again very acurate and easier than than the Kool , I actually enjoyed trying to win more points and have a go at returning chop serves.

Other people looked at the blade and said it looked old and well made (as in craftmanship) I still didnt feel too much flex , It realy feels solid and comforatable to use

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Blade Ulmo Duality| FH Tibhar mx-p Black, Dawei 388D-1 red OX
NZ table tennis selector, ask a question
My Blog here..How table tennis objects are made
Table Tennis abbreviations, and acronyms

hmm I would now say soft rather than hard and no real flex, but no viabrations that I can feel but I do have max on each side.
http://www.BladesByCharlie.com
I will try and have a good go with it early next week . And if I like it even more I will use it at the New Zealand veterans .I have noticed that Greg Letts is a seed in the over 40's and Greggy from OOKT is seeded in some doubles. it dosn't look like Paul Pinky is comming ,(but did I ever tell you about the advice he gave me with the broomstick?)
I will see how things pan out ,as i have no time to try OX out just yet but if I get a chance ill put some on near the end of the event to see if Greg or Greg can have a view

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Blade Ulmo Duality| FH Tibhar mx-p Black, Dawei 388D-1 red OX
NZ table tennis selector, ask a question
My Blog here..How table tennis objects are made
Table Tennis abbreviations, and acronyms

Im b-a-c-k...

Well I had some more games last night and although I say to my self "loop both sides" " loop both sides" I tend to revert back to my game style of push and attack

Serving This blade gets more spin on the serves than my Joola Kool, a chop serves either long or short gives my opponents more trouble, but also keeps the control factor

Counter looping . is just easy and great . It might loose a bit of power too far away but control is still good , which means I can aim to the corners for an easily controled shot. backhand to backhand is also a bit better for me as Im a forehand hitter so I didnt hit as many long from my backhand when I quickened it up , and comming from me it was a nice quick top of the bounce backhand loop or flick that worked realy well.

I played many style of players last night one player was fast and always top-spined every serve I did . he just stands and attacks .I like playing him as he speeds my games up lol and I try and beat him at his game which is fast counter hitting each side. which I did 50% of the time but when I varied the serves by adding spin or length I won the last games.
I played 5 games against a defender, who dosnt mind returning serves a bit high as he can defend them so well . I can't believe how he returns them over the lights and at the end line at times lol. We have always had to fight hard to beat each other. but I won 3-0 .then he said one more anyway I thought Im attacking and ended up hitting the white tape 4 times and none went in . so im down 6-0 7-1 and 10-4. So I think why not attack from my backhand .. I got them all in on different placements and ended up winning 13-11. So he says one more lol and I beat him 11-8 with a no spin serve (I think my first one) he poped it up for me and whamo and he missed by a inch lol.

Who will like this blade I think 5 ply and 7 ply loopers. control players and pimple players

sorry no pics yet

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Blade Ulmo Duality| FH Tibhar mx-p Black, Dawei 388D-1 red OX
NZ table tennis selector, ask a question
My Blog here..How table tennis objects are made
Table Tennis abbreviations, and acronyms

Hi after the NZ Veterans, I want to put on long pimple OX on my Fiddler, I only have two at home ,Bomb talent and 8512? which one would be better away from the table?

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Blade Ulmo Duality| FH Tibhar mx-p Black, Dawei 388D-1 red OX
NZ table tennis selector, ask a question
My Blog here..How table tennis objects are made
Table Tennis abbreviations, and acronyms

8512 is best for defending away from the table. BT is best suited for a more aggressive at the table style of play.

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FH: Joola Express Ultra Max, BH: Giant Dragon Talon OX , Blade: Nexy Hannibal
FH: Tibhar Sinus Alpha Max, BH: Tibhar Sinus Alpha Max , Blade: Nexy Hannibal

MANY THANKS , MY MAIN REASON is to see if one or both of the Greggs can try it, and I may get some education too lol

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Blade Ulmo Duality| FH Tibhar mx-p Black, Dawei 388D-1 red OX
NZ table tennis selector, ask a question
My Blog here..How table tennis objects are made
Table Tennis abbreviations, and acronyms