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TheOldDuffer sent me 3 blades to test them and to share my impressions:
In order to have a comparison, I put almost the exactly same combination on each of the blades:
For a reference, my current combination is: SE7EN Block and Friendship 729SST on a Grubba Variant blade (even though I'm experimenting with SE7EN short pips right now (instead of the 729 SST)
The Strange King had black SE7EN block and red 729 SST, the TTMaster Sensitive Defense had black SE7EN Control and red 729 SST and the TSP Balsa 2.5 had red SE7EN block and black 729 SST.
The first hit with the faster side (where I had the 729 SST) on the Strange King was "WOW".. Great speed yet very good feel of control when hitting with it. The combination of the blade and rubber creates very good speed and a very good trajectory.. Then I switched to the pips side (balsa surface) and the blade did well too but it's just too fast for my game. The trajectory was nice and the feel excellent but it was hard to play those short stop blocks as the blade was just too fast. The blade was great to produce those fast pressure blocks but it was important to hit/block the ball clean with it.. A slight mistake and the ball would sail long due to the speed.. I think that this blade would be a excellent choice for someone who is playing a predominately offensive long pips game but if you want to play the angles and throw in stop blocks, this blade is too fast unless maybe you are using a extremely slow long pips rubber. I only played 1 rubber on it, so I don't know how it would act with others.. For me personally, it was just a little too fast.. I'd estimate the speed on the faster side to be solid OFF, maybe even bordering OFF+ and the slower side playes likde OFF- or a very fast ALL+. However, I'd say that it's closer to OFF-
The TSP Balsa 2.5 was a excellent, slower blade with very good control and playing the angle game and stop blocks was easily possible.. Blocking hard hits was easy with low trajectory.. However, against medium speed attacks. the trajectory was too high for my taste. The Grubba Variant that I play has a similar speed than the TSP but a lower trajectory. I think that the TSP Balsa might be a very good fit for the DAWEI 388D-1 rubber as that rubber is a little faster and has a lower trajectory.. Matching that lower trajectory with the higher trajectory of the blade should produce a very nice trajectory but that's just a guess.. For me perosnally, the trajectory was too high in combination with the rubber that I used. At my playing level (mid 2100's), good opponents would kill my too high blocks easily.
The best of the 3 blades for me was the TTMaster Sensitive Defense Blade.. Good speed and good trajectory in combination with the SE7EN control. I did play the SE7EN Control on another blade before and did not like the result. However, the combination with the Sensitive Defense blade was a great match. Perfect trajectory and excellent control.. I could play my typical game, varying length and positioning of my blocks.. I could do all the shots that I'm used to and also worked very well when attacking from the pips side. So, if I personally would have to choose one of those blades, I would without a doubt choose the TTMaster blade. The other ones are fine but they just didn't work as well in combination with the rubbers that I was using. The feel on the Strange King was by far the best, just the speed was just too fast for my game.
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2010 Florida State Champion
Dr. Neubauer Firewall Plus with DHS G888 1.8 mm and Giant Dragon Dragon Talon OX National Team
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