Butterfly Timo Boll Spirit

Blade Size: 157x150mm. It is heavy, hard and stiff with no flex or vibration making blocking and chopping easy but on the other hand the dwell time is low and the feel of the ball is not great. Tensor/springy rubbers make the feeling worse and the game close to the net difficult. I use hard, heavy, tacky, Chinese rubbers because they increase the feel, control and they force me to improve my technique. Chinese rubbers disrupt the weight balance (becomes head heavy). It feels more balanced when you put Butterfly rubbers on it but is still heavy. Use Yasaka rubbers (Rakza 7 or Mark V HPS) if you want to keep the racket a bit lighter. Timo Boll Alc has more weight in the handle than the Spirit so head heaviness is less of an issue. Spirit is fast even far away from the table, if you have the right technique and physical strength. The flared handle is a bit slim and slippery on the upper part. I have changed rubbers 4-5 times and still no sign of splinters. Solid craftsmanship that can sustain a lot of hardship during training. With slow rubbers it behaves like a perfect all-round blade. With tensor rubbers it can be crazy fast. I would start with hard, slow, easy to control rubbers (like Mercury II) and, if needed, move to faster ones. Only suitable for intermediate and advanced players. Somewhat overrated and definitely overpriced. There are equally good Butterfly blades, like Petr Korbel and the Primorac, or Stiga blades, like Stiga Infinity VPS, at a 3rd of its price

Wonderful blade. Mine is 93 gr. FH DHS H8 and BH Rasant Beat. Topspin vs backspin on FH, Block and punch with BH quite easy. Speed/control ratio is extremely high. Can not miss any shot :)

Wonderful blade. Really nice for blocking as well as other aspects such as Looping, serving and smashing. I always try changing to different blades but always seem to come back to the Spirit every time

Is allways identical with a very good spin, speed and control to advanced players.

I came around 2 Boll Spirit blades recently from China Team. They say these blades have been made for Ma Long: what I can say for sure is that they have a double code international player authentication and are extremely well made. One is black tag and the other silver tag. I tested both with Helix Platinum and Helix Hybrid both sides. These are the most incredible blades that I ever played, because short game is perfect, as well as blocks. Topspins are very heavy and speed can go from very slow to very fast, all with absolute control. Works well from any distance but going far from the table requires more engagement than FZD Golden alc. I've tested many blades (both commercial and pro versions) and this is by far the best for me. Although I'd say FZD Gold player version is a perfect 10, this one would be 11. Even perhaps 12 for black tag because of enhanced ball feeling and a handle that feels more full, though it doesn't change match results significantly. It's a shame that this blade is not widely available to the public, since it gives an unfair advantage.