OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Background: I've played with a Carbonado 145 for about 3 years now, back then I bought it when my strokes weren't very stable. Now my game is much more stable and consistent, so I'm looking for a new blade to spice my game up!

As Carbonado 145 is using the unique textreme carbon It was hard to make a comparison with the popular ALC and ZLC blades.

So having done my research, here is what I have deduced from the internet.

ALC blades: More dwell, softer feel, higher throw.

ZLC blades: Less dwell, harder feel, lower throw.

Koto outer: Harder feel, lower throw

Limba outer: Softer feel, higher throw

Outer carbon: faster blade, less dwell

Inner carbon: slower blade, more dwell

But here's the weird part- why is ZLC said to be "more controlled" than ALC if it feels harder and has less dwell time?

Anyways as such, moving on to what I have narrowed down as my top pick for blades:

1) viscaria - a classic, I heard its strength is in it's ease in close/mid table counter topspins, I assume due to koto which reduces throw and ALC which provides dwell.

2) hurricane long 5 - this blade is sooo popular among the top amateur players in my country, like 1/5 top players choose this blade. I believe its strengths are it's opening loops and mid/far table counter topspins, probably due to its limba, ALC combo with provides high throw. Slower than viscaria due to inner carbon?

3) Harimoto innerforce ALC - HL5 clone from its composition? Reviews online says it may be a tad slower.

(Not gonna consider the default Innerforce ALC as I'm too lazy to work for those far from table counter topspins)

4) Xiom AZXI - basically a HL5 forehand with a ZLC backhand, which I assume provides "more control", and a lower throw (which I don't know if it's even beneficial for a backhand).

(Note: AZX is said to be way faster than viscaria, which is the limit as to how fast I would like a blade to be, so I won't be considering it)

5) all the other "koto ALC blades" similar to viscaria like zhangjike ALC, Timo boll ALC, lingaoyuan ALC, etc - probably plays too similar to viscaria that the difference in build quality would probably offset any differences in like handle, weight, size and stuff.

Leaning towards either AZXI and Harimoto ALC for dat strong opening game.
Or should I straight up just go for viscaria/other butterfly ALC blades and adopt that low throw, mid table counter playstyle?

Thanks all in advance for any advice/corrections for me!

Curious why you aren't considering a carbonado 245?

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Yoko Ono

Carbonado 145 feels like it already gives a good depth on the table when opening up against backspin balls, I'm afraid 245 would be too fast for me to control.

Was actually considering Carbonado 190 though, I'm heavily leaning towards trying lower throw equipment to aid in my counter topspin game.

But yeahh I'm putting that idea on reserve first as I wanna try out more different equipment!

The most influential property is blades' thickness. Throw and speed depends on blades thickness.