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this blade has a soft feel and blade is good for looping and blocking with great control and feeling

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What a disappointment this was for me. This was my first new blade in 15 years, my old one was Joola Rosskopf Fire. Having tried my mates' blades, I finally decided to invest in some quality equipment. I bought this blade because I wanted more speed and more control than what I had. So I chose a carbon blade, but a Soft Carbon. I thought Yasaka and Ma Lin were supposed to be a guarantee of a good blade. Alas, it was not. For +50 euros, this blade is a very bad buy, there are lots of better choices out there. The blade has a very poor speed to control ratio. According to Yasaka, the blade is supposed to have an extra-large sweet spot, but still it feels to function properly only when you hit the ball pretty much in the middle of the blade. The blade vibrates unpleasantly and the blade feels sluggish if you don't hit the sweet spot. There is not much dwell-time with this blade, so getting a good spin on the ball is quite difficult unless you have excellent technique and a suitable rubber. Tenergy 64 might be a good fh-choice here, since it adds some dwell time and is fast enough. For the bh, I would have to recommend something very lightweight, otherwise the weight will be too much for comfort. Dawei Inspirit Quattro Ultra Light H35 (SV35) or H40 (UL) 2.0mm or max might work just fine. I tried this rubber also with a soft (H35) attacking pips-out rubber, and it just didn't work, for me at least. Finally, my blade weighed in at 96 grams, although it was rated at 85 grams. I have contacted Yasaka several times both in Sweden and in Japan about this anomaly, but have got no answer from the emails on their website. Unless I hear back from them pretty soon, I will never ever buy Yasaka products or recommend them to anyone. This blade was supposed to have it all for me, but it turned out to be the exact opposite. I know some top players have used this blade (e.g. Mattias Karlsson, world #361 Dec.2009) but I can't see that they have been using the same blade as this. Pros: -workmanship is fine -blade comes pre-sealed Cons: -extremely heavy, 11g more than rated -poor speed/control -not much dwell-time for a "Soft Carbon" -smaller sweet spot than expected -handle is too thin (flared) -poor customer support from Yasaka

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What a bummer! I was in the market for a new blade after many years. After trying a few blades, I decided to buy this blade because I wanted more control and speed than what I previously had. So I chose a Yasaka Ma Lin Soft Carbon blade. I was sure those names were supposed to be a guarantee of quality, but I was fooled. For over 50 euros, this blade has lousy value.

The blade has horrid speed/control. Yasaka says the blade has an extra-large sweet spot, but it feels to work as it should only when the ball hits pretty much the middle of the blade. The whole blade vibrates nastily and it feels sluggish if one doesn't hit the sweet spot. There is very little dwell-time, so generating a sizzling spin on the ball is pretty difficult unless you have excellent timing, technique and a proper rubber. Tenergy 64 should be good on the fh, since the dwell-time is decent and the speed is more than adequate. On the backhand, I would recommend some very light rubbers, otherwise the weight will skyrocket. The Dawei Inspirit Quattro UL H35 or H40 max or 2.0mm should be just fine. I also experimented briefly with a soft (H35) attacking pips-out rubber, but it just wasn't for me.

Last, but certainly not least, my blade weighed in at a whopping 96 grams, although it was rated at 85 grams. I've contacted Yasaka on several occasions both in Japan and in Sweden about this defect, but haven't got an answer from their contact emails posted on their website. If I don't hear back from them soon, I'll never buy Yasaka products or recommend them anymore. This blade could have had it all for me, but in fact it offered very little. I read that e.g. Mattias Karlsson, world #361 Dec.2009 used this blade at one point, but it's hard to imagine that they had used my blade very successfully.

Pros:
-blade is factory-sealed
-the finishing is ok

Cons:
-superheavy, +11g compared to rated weight
-lousy speed to control ratio
-very little dwell-time for a Soft Carbon
-sweet spot smaller than marketed
-(flared) handle is too thin
-customer support is non-existent

View all 11 Reviews