Xiom Hugo Calderano HAL

A very good blade. Very good at top spin block and other elements too. It has a thin layer of red arylate. There is no sound or stiffness of carbon in the game. Definitely a blade similar in pace to a boll zlf blade, but with much better control and feel for the ball. A butterfly blade will always be more difficult than its counterpart from another company. I played bh select 1.9 and dignics 05 much better than vega asia DF and vega x because there was much less surprise on xiom rubbers. ATTENTION!!! THE BLADE IS NO PACE 9.3 !!! ONLY 8.6 !!!

I train with XIOM HAL for sixs months already and I find it a great blade. if you are looking for larger strokes, more "frank" and straightforward so to say...looping and counter looping works as a charm. great speed on mid distance, and further as well, and a very very good control on the short game. Really amazing. The noticeably increased dwell time (some players can’t get used to it) compared to viscaria, maze performance, Korbel, etc, for instance, allows you for larger strokes, and its relative flexibility (responsible for the increased dwell time) gives you a sort of whip effect; blasting speed if you go for it, and at the same time very slow and controlled racquet on the short game if you need it so. It has a really big sweet spot so it forgives many non-accurate and out-of-timing strikes. In any case, it´s recommended for use with hard rubbers. I use it with Fastarc G1 on both sides and goes very well with my level and way of playing. I´ve read somewhere Hugo uses Omega 7 Tour. The other incredible aspect it has is the feeling of the impact of the ball. You do get very clear feedback whether you´ve hit it in the center or maybe a little off. So, the so called "unconscious" automatic system of precision improvement of striking technique can continue along as good than playing with an all-wood blade (which I´ve played for a long time). At least in my experience. From what I´ve read and tried myself, Carbon blades, to the detriment of looking for speed and bigger sweet spot generally dumps this feedback feeling. I wouldn't know for sure since I’ve only tried some but never trained for long periods on one. So, all in all I think HAL is also really good for players who are still developing their techniques, as I am. Its Building quality is outstanding, and weight and balance feels just great.

I have tested a very large number of woods. My favorite so far has been the XIOM Vega Pro which gave me a lot of control and allowed me to make quick, precise trades. The XIOM Hugo Calderano HAL allows me the same thing but thanks to it I have a touch of the ball never before encountered and my attacks at mid-distance or far from the table are now much more precise but also much more often on the table. For me, the best wood in the world for those who like a controlled wood, fast when desired and with the little flex necessary for magnificent exchanges in top and top strikes. Best of all, it can be played from amateur to PRO players. This wood will make you a player who lets go and will reduce your frustrations.

Hal is probably one of the best amateur blade in the world and I had a lot of blades, I know how vectran, tamca, ulc, alc, zlf, zlc, spzlc, kevlar, soft carbon (blue one) works but in my opinion here is something special and unique and smart casual. Yeah I played three weeks with Hugo Calderano SAL, very soft, fast and with long straight parabola, great feeling very similar to vectran but maybe too little control, for my taste, it is made for very hard rubbers so Dignics 05 will work better with SAL than HAL in my opinion. OK Hal, medium hard, more curve shots, more grip, and it is real what people write here : slow and fast at the same time. What is great about this blade? It is first composite blade that play like wood and has big sweetspot okay we got this, we know about it but for me it is hard to find blade which can help you in super power shots at the same time absorbs energy from your opponent, so you can play maximum power with great spin and when he/she counter loop you you can block the ball like nothing so for m e it is big advantage to get grip and no grip after all. I like blocking and I like play slow spinny balls, Feeling: short game is little bit empty but loops are very good in terms of feeling CONS: it is not butterfly, harder to resell but yeah it is worth to buy The most important it is OFF- blade but you have all+ shots and off+ with fast rubbers and big swing, the angle free, yes if you put power and long swing the ball is going to the table when you didn't put the ball precisely so sometimes you are more comfortable with your mind and this blade forgives your mistakes too

MUY BUENA MADERA tuve la oportunidad de probarla ya que quería cambiar mi antigua madera maze performance por una mas rápida para subir de nivel, debo decir la primera sensación en la mano al toque de la bola fue como una stiga con capsula de aire de por allá en el 2005, pero luego de bolear un poco y practicar los tiros, me llevé una gran satisfacción, encontré una madera rápida con mucho control, tiene efecto catapulta por lo que debes entrenar para dominarla ya que la velocidad la decides tu en el juego, hay golpes que uno da con fallas y pareciera corregirla la pala, dentro de la mesa el juego lo dominas tú y fuera de la mesa también! si hay algo negativo que deba decir de la madera es que debes entrenar para adaptarte al golpe de ahí mas nada pero muy poco tiempo, me adapté rápido, me gusta la velocidad que le puedes imprimir y el control es lo máximo, corrige el ángulo de ataque lo que hace me hace tener mas confianza al atacar tanto de forehand y de back, al ser una madera suave el toque al sacar imprime mas spin y la velocidad de verdad que estoy muy a gusto, es una muy buena raqueta y muy buena inversión me costó 185 dólares y debo decir que si le suben el precio no me sorprendería.