damszelfly's Blade Ratings/Reviews

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Here are damszelfly's ratings and reviews. These ratings are useful because damszelfly has his/her own standard and will rate and review the ping pong equipment accordingly, giving you accurate and useful ratings and reviews to aid you in your next online purchase.

Andro (1)

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Andro Timber 7 OFF

Speed	8.7
Control	9.2
Stiffness	5.0

Hardness	3.7
Consistency	10.0
Overall	9.3

Review of Andro Timber 7 OFF

This blade seems to be Andro's version of TSP SWAT. The wood plies used in this blade are so similar, that I may safely say, that those are identical between the two blades. Heat treatment is visible on all of the plies, except one pair surrounding the core ply. The vibration created by the ball contact on the Timber 7 feels a little bit different compared to my sample of SWAT, and the sound is also more hollow (maybe this blade is a bit more cooked). But overall, the playing characteristics are also seem to be identical, which means, that with slower rubbers, this blade is perfect for beginner/intermediate players, but truly offensive rubbers will be necessary for more advanced play. As TSP SWAT is rebranded as Victas and got a price bump, this blade has clearly better price/performance ratio.

Nov 29, 2021

Dr. Neubauer (1)

Dr. Neubauer World Champion OFF-

Speed	9.1
Control	8.8
Stiffness	10.0

Hardness	3.7
Consistency	10.0
Overall	8.6

Review of Dr. Neubauer World Champion OFF-

Very light blade with good craftsmanship, but with one important issue. The handle is the lightest which I have seen so far (probably, because it is Balsa), which renders it to be so slippery, that I need to be really careful about it (and I made it even worse by purchasing it with rounded ST handle) - maybe an overgrip tape would fix that. Otherwise, the blade is very appealing visually: the outer layers are semi-thin Limba, the middle plies are thicker heat treated Ayous, and the thick core seems to be made of a very soft heat treated light wood (manufacturer text says, it is not Balsa, but very similar) - resulting in a 7.7mm overall thickness, significant stiffness (practically no perceived flexibility) and medium soft touch with some good vibrations. I made a poor decision on one of my rubber choices as well, as my forehand rubber was too soft and slow (Victas VJ > 07 Regular), but my backhand choice seemed to be more sensible (Barna Legend Half Long - medium pips - with max thickness sponge). I can evaluate this blade to a high Off-minus rating - mostly usable from near table to mid-distance, as because the weight, it lacks some power from behind. Aside from the slippery handle, this blade can be a good choice for extremely light configurations, because with the previously mentioned rubbers, the racket weighed only 145g (initially, it was heavier, but the core lost a significant amount of water /~7g/ during few months of storage). I will probably replace the FH rubber to a more dynamic one.

Jan 27, 2022

Tibhar (1)

Tibhar Balsa Allround 50

Speed	9.3
Control	8.9
Stiffness	7.0

Hardness	5.2
Consistency	10.0
Overall	9.2

Review of Tibhar Balsa Allround 50

A balsa core blade with rather unique playing characteristics. Workmanship is of high quality, and the flared handle is thick and rectangular, which provides very comfortable grip. Physically, the blade has an over 8mm impressive thickness, of which, the balsa core is only 5mm thick. The woods used for the upper plies is fineline (not an actual wood species), which doesn't seem to be really hard and dense, and its thickness helps to provide some feeling and a good touch on slow hits. The blade is definitely stiff (it produces noticeably high pitched sound on ball impact with mild vibrations), but the surface is not hard. I think, it is somewhat misleading to rate it as an "allround" blade, as it exhibits very high dynamics. For slow ball impacts, there is almost no catapult response from the blade, making it a dream to play drop shots and pushes with various lengths, but dwell time is at most average. Adding pace reveals the potential of the thick balsa core though, with steep, but gradual increase in response. At the higher gears, this blade even enables playing at solid OFF speeds, but a drastic reduction is noticeable in dwell time, which will mean, that looping ability will mostly depend on the installed rubbers and your wrist technique. Thus, the blade does not really favor looping playing style. When you loop with it, expect very flat and long trajectories. The blade's top speed is enough for stepping away a bit from the table, but then, looping will be even more difficult due to the short dwell time. For players, who prefer varying pace suddenly, and win points by fast hits and precise placements (short pips users?), this could be a good blade to try. (My setup only consists of inverted rubbers though, weighing 171g in total out of the box (but three months later, 163g as the balsa core lost water) - I have Victas VJ 07 Stiff max. on FH and VJ 07 Limber max. on BH. With these rubbers, the blade feels perfectly balanced, and it is easy for my wrists.)

May 25, 2021

TSP (1)

TSP Swat

Speed	8.7
Control	9.3
Stiffness	5.0

Hardness	3.7
Consistency	10.0
Overall	9.5

Review of TSP Swat

One of my favorites. Based on the appearance, 5 layers out of 7 had some kind of heat treatment (hence they have darker color), and workmanship is very high level. The FL handle fits my palm very good. The upper layers are fairly thin, thus care is necessary not to get them damaged during assembly. Despite being a 7 ply blade, it is still somewhat flexible with its 6.0mm thickness (manufacturer specs), which helps a lot during the short game. From outside to inside, the wood ply thicknesses are progressing like the golden ratio (thickness of two outer plies roughly equals of the inner ply). The power response is very linear, but the thin and soft outer layers (and the flex of the blade) have a bit of dampening effect, which requires you to play your attacking moves at least half-decent, but also lets your defensive strokes to be filled with spin easily (I love brush looping and pushing with this blade). The blade gives good feeling with mild vibration on ball contact. It is definitely OFF-, but with more dynamic rubbers, finishing points are fairly easy by speed as well (for half-distance play, this is necessary though). Based on my experiences, this is an extremely good blade for variable offensive looper players (controlling ball placement by looping is very effective), and while smashing is not its main strength, it is still possible with it. In general, dwell time is clearly above average for both slow and fast strokes. (My setup consists of Victas VJ > 07 Stiff max. on both sides, making it just a little bit head heavy and weighing 175g in total. These rubbers seem to be pairing up very well with this blade, because I can get almost as many balls back onto the table, as I want.)

Feb 16, 2021

Xiom (1)

Xiom Solo

Speed	9.1
Control	9.3
Stiffness	7.0

Hardness	5.2
Consistency	10.0
Overall	9.7

Review of Xiom Solo

This is my most recent favourite all-wood blade, which mostly has the structure of "the" classical 7 ply all-wood blade (e.g. Stiga Clipper, or TSP SWAT, which I am more familiar with), but with a few twists. The most notable changes are, that for the outer ply not the medium/medium soft Limba is used, but the semi-hard Koto, and its thickness is almost the same as the second ply - this means a noticeable speed and some stiffness boost for this blade compared to e.g. TSP SWAT, and some reduction in vibration, but the blade has still good feedback to remain soulful, and the flex becomes noticeable only on more powerful shots, making this a dream blade of powerloopers. The blade plays very linear and precise, but with slightly more direct arc due to a slight reduction of dwell time compared to its thin Limba-top siblings. I recommend using this blade with semi-hard/hard sponged rubbers with a slightly reduced initial catapult/bounce to match the blade's qualities in the best way (I use it with Tibhar Evolution MX-S and Nittaku Fastarc G-1 - these seem to pair well with this blade). On less powerful shots, the blade does not flex significantly due to its rather, but not overly large thickness (~6.4 mm), which also helps precise blocking. To mention details about craftsmanship, I think, the overall look and feel is top notch: ply choices are flawless (the azure coloured handle is also the best possible combination with these), sanding around the edges are evenly smooth - and I love, how this Xiom all-wood blade is balanced (with these rather heavy rubbers, it is still only somewhat head heavy). The flared handle has also sufficient dimensions and smoothness to be comfortable and firmly gripped, when necessary.

Jan 27, 2022

Yinhe (Galaxy/Milkyway) (1)

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