Juic Kiso Hinoki

Very bad experience with this one.! Can't play with. Feel shaking all over the blade every time knocking ball. Sorry guys. I really disappoint.

Awesome blade. Changed to this blade as I broke my Gatien Extra 3D which I had some difficulty blocking fast on my backhand side due to the flexibility of it springing the ball just over the table at times (especially against midspeed DHS H3 looper). Although this blade is alot faster overall compared to GE3D I am able to block effortlessly with this on both sides placing the ball where I want it to go. Brilliant for the short game (push backspin, serve, placement shots) and blocking / smashing. I transplanted over my Killerspin Fortissimo and JO Gold BH which worked seemlessly with the GE3D. However I felt harder sponged / harder feeling rubbers work ALOT better for this type of soft feeling wood and now I have swapped over the JO Gold as my forehand rubber whilst putting Hexer/Tenergy 64 on the backhand which work much better for my controlled offensive game. I don't mind being attacked using the placement of my initial FH/BH passive block to open up the rally to finish with a forehand loopkill / backhand punchblock. For this type of game this blade works extremely well, however I find you need to be careful with forehand loop due to the low throw angle of the blade. I find the higher throw of JO Gold is much more accomodating than the Fortissimo / Andro Roxon 500 Pro / Bryce Speed extremely low throw type rubbers. At least you can opening loop, counterloop more controllably and consistently with a harder higher throw rubber, although looping against backspin in general is alot more difficult in my opinion. You may want to try Tenergy 05 or similar if you still experience difficulties in this regard. Difference between GE3D and Juic Kiso Hinoki: - With GE3D in order to make use of the blade I would be hitting most balls at 80% power+ in order to get the speed and spin from the flex. With this blade I can swing almost an allround paced game that allows for the speed of hinoki to come into play while maintaining the same pace in slow to medium speed rallies. When its time for kill shots, the extra gear of kiso hinoki kicks in and the point is effectively over. However, the downside of this is opening loops which is a lot harder to complete compared to the Extra 3D. I've almost given up attempting backhand loops now which was automatic when playing with JO Gold + GE3D. I just let the opponent attack and then use the blocking capabilities due to the confidence the blade inspires in this aspect. One shot that I am able to do that I couldn't previously is a sidespin backhand flick return from a half long body serve as the speed, softness and stability of the blade allows such a stroke that was difficult to create danger when using GE3D. Previously this stroke would be too slow, popped up too high, weak spin that was killed by any decent intermediate player. Now I am able to dictate play after using the stroke as the ball is just fast enough to make my opponent go defensive / passive when encountering it. Initially it will be difficult getting used to the weight and thickness of the blade (mine was 98grams 8.5mm thick) but after awhile you will notice you edge the ball less and feel the ball being more controllable. (After 2-3 sessions for me) Be sure to look after this blade as being a 1ply it is quite easy to split the blade. If you hit the table alot on pushes / serves you may want to stay away from this blade. Overall an incredibly awesome blade for players who know the feeling of kiso hinoki (slow on slow shots, fast on fast shots) or for those that are finding trouble passive blocking and although having a good technique need something that can get them over the line. Although cosmetically not as visually appealing as say a Darker90 in that the kiso hinoki lines are not uniformly spaced / straight I don't think it affects the playability. My next blade will be a Septear / 7P-2A.7T / AVX J-Power / Kokutaku Staysher as I want to be able to backhand loop consistently whilst retaining the properties found in this blade. If there are any recommendations for such a hinoki blade please feel free to help me out.

I got one of the heavy ones, weighing in at 97grams! It was like swinging a 2x4! Seriously, the handle is huge and only offered in FL. I ended up sanding the edges and handle to make it more ST shaped. This doesn't play like other Hinoki blades. Its stiffer(no flex) and offers less dwell time. Being stiffer does bring some good, such fast blocking and smashing. Looping and counter looping is okay, but the weight of the blade made it harder to recover from big strokes. Despite being stiff and heavy, the blade actually had good ball feeling and felt balanced. I would only recommend this blade to someone on a budget, but wanting to check out what the hinoki feeling is all about.

very powerful blade, very good for attack players, not impossible to use in control when attacked. Despite of thickness maintains a good feeling. Biggest lack its heavy weight

This is the best shakehand blade I've played with. Period. I've tried Arylate, Arylate-Carbon, 5 plies and 7 plies. None came even closer to hinoki single-ply. And this model from Juic is just perfect. Its face is bigger than Darker hinoki series. Mine has 157x151 and ST handle 100x24. This handle is a bit thick but I've got used to it. BTW if it had a thinner handle, the blade would probably become too head-heavy with two 2.1mm inverted rubbers. Weight might be an issue, but if it's possible to pick a lighter one, it's perfect. Mine weights 88g which I consider good. Most come above 95g. Playing characteristics: This blade is VERY fast with a medium-soft touch. It is most suitable to open topspins on slow balls. 3rd ball attacks are also easy to do, but I like to prepare a good 3rd ball (consistency) to try to kill on 5th ball. Blocking is another must of this blade. I can block with my backhand very easily. It makes a perfect combination with newest In-built speed glue rubbers, such as Platin, Nimbus, Sinus, EGP, etc. I'm playing with Sinus (forehand) and Pryde.