OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi everyone,

Sanwei has a quite unique penhold brand which is super comfortable, but for some reason, these blades are not promoted at all outside of China.

It took me a great deal to find and get a hold on them, but after trying it out I just fell in love.


My story started with this blade Sanwei SU-A9, I bought this around 3 years ago when I was still a basement player, this is still available on Sanwei's official website, however, Sanwei not producing this blade anymore and if you try to buy it they will kindly offer you from the new type of this blade. I know this because I liked this blade and wanted to have a spare one if anything happens so that's how I found out that there is a new version, which is on a whole new level. After that, I started investigating the Chinese Sanwei Shop and found all the new SU blades.

I will post a few photos and comments on the blades I have.

Sanwei SU-A9:
This blade is unavailable and not as great as the new versions.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

There are two types of the new SU blade, the cheaper ones which are similar to the normal penhold blades but the index finger part is leaning so it's much more comfortable.

Sanwei SU-Training:
This blade is the cheapest version of the new SU blades, a premade bat with an even 5Ply all-wood structure nothing too fancy, but it's very comfortable.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
You can buy this from XVT on ALI express
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000447 ... 6e87PGYSU8

Sanwei SU-C:
This is the same as the previous but from a better quality of wood, still, 5ply all wood but the middle ply is much thicker which makes it faster.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
You can buy this from XVT:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000447 ... 71368KlPAd

The other type of these blades is the Numbered SU blades, where the left side of the blade is longer and contacts your thenar which makes the grip more stable and comfortable.
You can only buy this contacting Sanwei directly, I recommend Clark Mu([email protected]), he is super kind and helped me to buy from these blades.
The original website where I found the blades https://item.jd.com/31549452829.html

From these blades I have

Sanwei SU-2:
This is a 7ply all-wood blade quite similar structure to Fextra7. I haven't tried it yet.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Sanwei SU-3:
This is a 17 layer blade, 9ply wood + 8 soft carbon. I used it a lot and this blade is amazing, It's quite flexy and if you touch it's slow but if you hit hard it's becoming super fast.
Unfortunately, the feel is quite subtle, so you have to listen very hard to feel the blade, I prefer the all-wood feeling.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

There are two more blades from this type which I don't own:

Sanwei SU-1:
5Ply wood 2 Carbon

Sanwei SU-5:
This one is a Koto ALC blade I couldn't find the specification, probably seven-layer.


So this is all I know about this SU type blade, I shared it because it's a remarkable craftmanship and I think it should be more known and also it could save a lot of time if someone got a trace on these blades and wanna find out more.

Cheers,
Arnie

I hope to read your review soon...

_________________
Expert II crwi C-Pen
Red Acuda P1

Ah...

https://sanweisport.com/english/product ... u/type-su/



Looks like several different wood options available. All seem to be "out of stock", however.

Also check out the "Type 96" - a similar "leaning handle bat". Though I'm not sure if it's penhold or not... "Easier for the beginning players of these who want to use holder bat not used penholder bat before."

https://sanweisport.com/english/product ... 6/type-96/



What do they mean by "hangingbat problem", one wonders. I've seen "leaning handle bats" from other manufacturers. too - it's not exactly a new idea. Also if you're a left hander, you're out of luck... (I HAVE seen left handed pistol bats on sale at Eacheng, though..)

Iskandar

Sanwei are well known for their weird blades as the pisto grip blades, those are looking like some jpen blades.

I feel very comfortable with my cPen collection

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk

I actually do have a pistol grip blade (it's the "artistic" one, with the red butt monkey on the face), I bought it from the Sanwei dealer who was exhibiting at the WTTTC in 2016 (which was the Year of the Monkey). I haven't tried playing with it extensively, though. Yeah, it feels normal for topspin driving, but other shots - pushes, blocks, chops.. I suppose one could get used to it. Also, serving could be a problem - you'd have to modify your grip to get the full swing of the wrist. I should get it out again and give it another shot. There was a high level player (probably about 1900 level) playing with one at the Chiang Mai club some years back.

Iskandar

I've just found Su blades on SANWEI official website which seems to be the new ones, I'm not sure if I can attach the link here but it's easy to find on the website anyway, in the Next Generation Blade section, and a new page of the description of the Su blade.

I also found a SANWEI Australia website link at the bottom of the official website, looks like it's an online store.

I picked up the premade "training" bat out of curiosity; and I must say that it is very comfortable for my hands. As a penholder, this design seems to line up the centerline of the blade so much more naturally in my hand. I don't know if it's the pincer "j", the lack of the bottom handle scale, or a combination of both! I have always used regular or cpen handles and just ignored the fact that it felt mildly awkward on the meaty part of my hand (between thumb and forefinger).

Now I am wondering if I should try to get the better version of the SU blade or try out a traditonal jpen as it seems to have the same grip style. I have never played with jpen before, or even thought about it - the squarish blade and single side seemed so different to me! Any advice is much appreciated - although it doesn't appear there are too many players out there using the SU series...

There's more variation on Japanese Penhold blades than you'd think - there are more rounded blades out there, and ones with different grips - check out the Armstrong catalog to see what's available. Supposedly the large rectangular blades are for back-from-the-table play while the rounded ones are for over-the-table styles. There are "rotor" blades meant for twiddling (the first was the Butterfly Rotor from the late 1970s). There are Armstrong blades with undercut handles (no idea what they're for).

Iskandar

Thank you so much for the Armstrong link - I now see what you mean about the variety of jpen blades, I just don't have enough experience yet to know what is available. The "kase" handle is especially intriguing to me, it has even more offset than the Sanwei.

It seems though that the Armstrong products are difficult to obtain? And higher-end?

They are Japanese, so they'd be more expensive that normal. They were the first ones to sell sponge rackets, Satoh took the 1952 World's with one of their bats. I imagine you'd have to order them from Japan - Tabletennis11 does carry three or four different blades.

Iskandar

Hi Arnie ,
I actually just picked up a SU-2 for fun to see how it feels and plays. Have you had a chance to try it out? What were your thoughts?

thank you,

Hey Pokerpete1,

Sorry for the late reply, I haven't used the forums lately, also my TT training was quite hectic in the past years due to covid.

Anyhow, I can give my two cents on the blades, but please take it with a grain of salt since I'm an amateur player.

I tried the two different SU blades they call it "Big Pincer and Small Pincer".


By default, I play with short pips, but I was annoyed at myself for not improving so I decided to try inverted.
For this I tried the all around 5PLY Small Princer it's almost identical to a normal penhold blade with more comfort since the index finger part is aligned.
I used this with the Sanwei Gear Hyper on both sides. I liked the setup very much, it was easy to control with a great feeling and I could create heavy spin but unfortunately, it was too heavy for me and I started to have wrist pain and top of this I started to learn the heavy loop which caused me shoulder pain as well also for some reason I did not enjoyed this play style even tho I started to win more on my matches.

So I went back to shortpips with the Big Pincer type of blades.

The Big Pincer was much more comfortable for me, the extra thenar support and the decreased weight with the sp helped a lot. I had no pains ever since then.

I tried the 7PLY all wood SU-2 and the 18ply soft carbon SU-3. With Spectol on the forehand and Gewo neo genesis on the backhand.

SU-2 gave more feeling and was more controlled compared overall to the SU-3 but by not much, surprisingly the SU3 has a great feeling and it's different from an all wood blade but it's still there.
I tried them out a lot switched back and forth, and in the end, I decided to go with the SU-3, only because it felt better for aggressive blocking and hard-hitting. Also, it has a super high pitch sound which I like very much. It was harder to do the flips with it but it is what it is.

Since then I replaced my spectol to Spectol S3, which I like a lot, for some reason it helped me in the forehand flip section.

I play with this setup since S3 came out around a year or so and finally, I started to feel that my game is improving. I started to win a little bit more in the tournaments as well, although I still lose mostly but the games are getting longer than before.

Anyway I would love to see your experience with the SU-2 do you still using it, how do you like it?

Cheers,
Arnie

Hello Quick update here:

Recently, Sanwei introduced a new Echo Style blade, and I wasted no time in placing an order. The blade is a true masterpiece of craftsmanship. Its design is nothing short of exquisite, with a striking blue handle that imparts a cool, refined aesthetic. To complement this, I paired it with a Sanwei Gear Hyper Blue 39° rubber on my forehand and a Gear Hyper Black 37° rubber on my backhand. The overall appearance of the blade left me thoroughly impressed, it’s simply magnificent.

From the moment I held it, the enhanced comfort was immediately apparent. Sanwei has made several noteworthy improvements with this new SU blade. The handle design has been re-engineered to start higher, offering more space for the hand to rest comfortably, which significantly enhances the grip. Furthermore, the area for the index finger has been refined with a new type of design that fits much better than in previous versions.
In this iteration, Sanwei has also increased the head size of the blade compared to earlier SU models. Perhaps the most significant upgrade, however, is the blade’s reduced weight, coming in at just 80 grams. This is a game-changer for me, as my previous SU blades weighed around 100 grams. In the past, it was all too easy to reach a setup weight of 180-200 grams, which forced me to compromise on my choice of rubber. I prefer my racket to weigh around 150-170 grams, so this lighter blade is a perfect fit.
In terms of comfort, this new SU blade is unparalleled—it feels almost like a natural extension of my arm, just holding it is a joy.

One of the other significant advantages of this blade is its suitability for the Reverse Penhold Backhand (RPB). It’s notably easier to engage the wrist and adjust the blade angle for RPB compared to a standard penhold blade. As someone who enjoys executing RPB loops, I’ve found that the SU style design greatly enhances this aspect of my play.
The sensation provided by this blade is truly exceptional, it offers the best feedback I've experienced among all my blades. It’s as though I have a heightened awareness of exactly why I missed each shot. The level of control is impressive, with minimal compromise on speed. While the sweet spot of this blade is somewhat smaller compared to constructions like the Froster (ALC) or the Fextra (7-ply wood) SU blades, this is to be expected from a 5-layer all-wood blade.

Overall, the experience with this blade has been remarkable, and I believe the Gear Hyper rubbers complement it perfectly. The combination of the Echo’s more flexible blade with the semi-hard sponge of the Gear Hyper creates a truly harmonious pairing. For me, this will undoubtedly become my new go-to racket setup, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone seeking enhanced comfort while playing with the penhold grip.