OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi, just so you know I use the original Xiom Vega Asia on my backhand. I consider the Asia to be medium-soft but further on the soft side, and by all opinions the DF version is even softer. If you are coming from H3, you are in for a big change. Perhaps better on the backhand. If you are looking for something in the same vein but slightly harder, try to Vega Pro. Nevertheless still soft by H3 standards. Also, just an opinion, soft rubbers and dwell time is only superficial, the Xiom rubbers are much bouncier than H3 and may feel like you have even less dwell and definitely less throw angle compared to H3, you'll have to swing much faster to get the kind of Arc you used to get with H3.

For blades, I whole-heartedly recommend Xiom. The Extreme S would give you a nice all wood feel while significantly faster than the PG9. BTW I used to have a PG9 and it was very flexible and fairly slow even compared to some 5 plies, you won't need to look into balsa carbon for significantly extra speed.

Sorry I overlooked you said light, the Extreme S leans towards the heavier side ~92 the last one I tried. For light fast carbon see if you can get your hands on an Adidas C500, I had one that was 73g and fairly fast (innerforce ULC style). If you can't find it, ask ITC if they make an equivalent, they are the spiritual successor to Adidas.