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Yasaka Ma Lin Soft Carbon - Chinese Penholdby Yasaka
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See also: Shakehand version MA LIN SOFT CARBON has the same outer veneer as the famous EXTRA blade. Its medium soft characteristics is appreciated by players who want increased ball feel. In SOFT CARBON Yasaka is using a special, very thin Carbon fibre to improve the speed and enlarge the Sweet-spot. Together with the thicker wooden middle veneer it gives good power. The combination of the “power part” (carbon+thicker middle veneer) and the softer outer veneer makes Ma Lin SOFT CARBON the perfect choice for power players who need a good ball feel for best performance. Speed: 92 Customers who purchased Yasaka Ma Lin Soft Carbon - Chinese Penhold also purchased:
Additional InformationBlade FAQ and Guide - what you need to know when buying a blade. Compare Blades - blade rating comparison chart. Blade Weight Variations - Actual blade weight may vary by up to 8g. Blade Sealing/Varnish You may add blade sealing for this blade. Sealing prevents wood splintering.
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Reviews of Yasaka Ma Lin Soft Carbon - Chinese Penhold (21)
This is mostly for those players who are "advanced beginners" or "early intermediate" players like me (consistency isn't quite there yet, but I have most of the strokes down and read spin okay). Nittaku Fastarc C-1: FH, Fastarc S-1: BH.
This blade gives you speed that a wooden blade won't give you. You do sacrifice some control, but this blade has fairly good feedback. Pushing felt difficult when I first got this blade, mostly due to not being used to the stiffness of a carbon blade. However, over 3-4 months of adjusting, pushing consistently is no longer a problem. Blocking is also a huge plus, as you can feel how much a shot sinks in but is still reactive enough to effectively block when timed well. This comes in handy with its gears. I can go from pushing to an on-table flip to blocking all within the same rally. It's got a large sweet spot. ~85% of vibrations aren't felt unless playing against very powerful stroke. This was a problem with my old wood blade, especially since most players I practice with are better than me. When looping/counterattacking mid-distance, its sometimes hard adding more spin onto the ball, but I chalk that up to lack of training/rubber. It's a me problem and not a blade problem, as my coach used it once with no problem. For far-distance counterattacking, I can really let this rip and test out my forehand stroke. It definitely offers enough power. One thing a lot of people get hung up on is about how slow this blade might be. While its a valid concern, I've found that you dont want a blade that is too fast for you, especially if you are still learning the game. I find this blade to be a little fast at times, but as I have grown over the years, it has really helped me adapt to ball speed changes and general ball-tracking. Overall, not a beginner blade, but I think it's a good blade for someone to take that next step from beginner to intermediate player or for trying out carbon blades. I feel this is a good blade to "grow up" with.
So this was my earlier blade when i started playing after 8 years.Now after reading a lot of blogs and getting educated i read a interesting info that chinese players get high flex blades and apply polyurethane to the top layers to make the wood harder and more stiff without loosing the
looping ability.So i wanted to practically apply this info so i applied miniwax fast dry oil polyurethane (home depot 8 0z 11 dollars) total 5 coats on either side to this blade with a cotton cloth and rub the oil into the blade(great instructions by tommyzai) and after 5 coats surface very smooth and hard so sanded with fine 220 dry wet sanding paper and applied my h3neo 2.2 on BH and Skyline 3 neo on FH. Then i tried it at my club vow,it sounded like a pro blade with the same sound which we hear in youtube videos now i can feel what all the pros do probably they too apply the polyurethane to their blades.Also the blade lost a little bit of flex but has become stiff and hard great for block and rebounds.The looping ability has not been lost and it still is there as this blade is a great looping blade. Update: WIth this technique the ball sinks into the hard sponge with more effect .blade has transformed from off minus to off but the springiness has decreased a bit and improved the close to net play.Reason for applying the oil based polyurethane,it makes the blade more hard and stiff without loosing the looping ability,easily penetrates the wood and prevent wood splintering and water penetration and protects the wood its the best.can be easily removed with sanding with 100 grit sanding paper if needed and the needed hardness can be easily adjustedThe oil has VOC in it so after applying it leave it to dry adequately before applying the rubbers,It will protect ur blade for 5 to 8 yrs post application so u dont ,need to apply lacquer again while changing the rubbers,apply once and forget it. Prevents water from water based glue from increasing the blade weight.
I bought this blade and I must say that Yasaka is really doing high quality blades.The rubbers I had on was FH Yasaka Rising Dragon Max, BH Yasaka Rakza 7. My backhand has really become great with the blade. It has the perfect speed for me and feeling. My first and last carbon blade. The best carbon blade for me. I wish I could sponsor with Yasaka because of their high quality products.
I will never switch blade and want to become a professional player.
Was my first blade as I was afraid to go straight into the carbon and my choice was proven good. Nice blade fast in the beginning but after a few games I had very nice control and was fast enough for my taste.
Not as slow as some people say it is. I used my friends cpen blade and it has H3 on both sides. Pretty fast, especially for the fh loop. Requires a full swing.
Current Setup:
FH: Xiom Sigma I Euro Max Black BH: Tibhar Norm 1.7 Red At first, I bought this blade because it is on sales (c. $50) and want to try carbon-fibre OFF- blade which is suitable for my style (2-wings looper) hoping for excelent feeling from carbon-fivre and enlarged sweet spot. First Glance: I find that the blade weight is not too heavy and not too light (approx 85g). The blade itself has smooth finish at racket face, but it has rough finishing on the handle. When hitting a ball, it has a lot vabration if it does not hit at the center of the racket. I think the racket sweet spot is too small for carbon-fiber blade (IMHO, the sweet spot is less than ordinary wood blade at the same price). The control is ok and the blade itself with Xiom Sigma I Euro is not very fast but still acceptable. FH Loop: The blade provide needed dwell time to openning loop in close to the table game and generating needed spin in the low arc. In killing loop, it has enough speed to finish the game with enormous spin. IMHO, you will need extra effort to finish point in long-distance looping. FH Smash/Flick: This is the depart ment where the the flex blade does not excel with. The blade can really smash but it does not produce enough speed without enough effort to killing the game. BH Loop: With current setup, it does very easy to do opening loop against back spin. However, BH loop is no go to finish the point (Without return error from opponent) for this combination of rubber and blade. BH Smash/Flick: Since I use RPB for opening loop and positioning, I does not use my BH to finish game. Chop/Push: This blade can provide good control in short game, even it has some vibration on it, but I think it is a advantage to play low power shot/in the table shot. In summary, I think this blade is suitable in short-play in the table game. It is a good OFF- blade with considerable price and finishing quality.
I handpicked one with 89 gr weight (ST). A Very good controlled offense blade. Glue some of the latest Tensors (eg. Bluefire, Evolution or even Tenergy) and you get a great looping setup. Handle and balance is also very good. Similiar quality to other Yasaka blades.
I don't understand why some reviewers are so dissappointed. It's rated OFF- and it's a very good OFF- blade. One can compare it to Korbel and it is at least as good.
It is not an off- blade actually. I feel that it is very fast when I hit it hard. It is a little too bouncy for close to table attack, but suitable for mid-distance defense and looping. In order to play well with it, a person has to relax and be able to optimize his wrist.
this blade has a soft feel and blade is good for looping and blocking with great control and feeling
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
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
Water based glue had damaged my old blade, an LKT willpower carbon arylate. I was looking for something with a nice layer of carbon for a good sweet spot, with a soft outer layer for more dwell time (like the LKT willpower). I thought this was going to be a nice upgrade, but in reality it felt more like my Gatien extra instead of my LKT willpower.
The carbon layers in this blade are very thin, an they don't really do their job. There is noticeable vibration, and you don't get much of an extended sweet spot. I also did not really like the flared handle very much. Compared to the other blades I've owned, there isn't that much of a flare on this blade. I found my hand slipping a bit out of place because of this. Its definitely not a bad product, it still plays well, but its certainly not what I expected.
Ma Lin soft carbon is a somewhat slow, a bit vibration but control is good.
ma lin soft carbon is a very good off- blade which also very comfortable using RPB due to it thin handle.very controlable yet not so slow.
however it isn't very consistency,especially in it's handle pattern.it vibrate a bit but still it perform very well in controlled offensive game.
This is a good thin, light, medium offensive blade. Due to its thin composition, it's great for on the table looping and blocking heavy loop. The thin carbon and 7 total plies make it feel medium soft while blocking. Definitely more control than Butterfly KLH Special (carbon arylate). Highly recommended. The knock back is some inconsistency in manufacturing, this is supposed to be made in Sweden.
Can produce good power for loop, and great for blocking as well. It feels soft on the touch, and the blade is thin enough for loop on the table. I question the built quality as I bought one from Asia and one from reputable US on-line vendor. I am sure these two paddles came from different batches, but for some reason the one from Asia has less vibration and feels softer on the touch. The one from the US is missing JTTAA imprint and Yasaka tag on the bottom of the handle. Go figure...
Ma Lin soft carbon is a good offensive blade with lots of control, it does not feel hard at all, but has ample power to put a fast drive. Another good aspect of this blade (unlike many carbon blade) is its relatively thin blade, make it easier to do a top spin off the bounce. At around $60, it is a great blade for medium to expert players.
I have go to say, Yasaka Extra Offensive (Ma Lin Soft Carbon) is one the best blades i have ever used. It is soft carbon, obviously, so you get killer loops and great control at the same time.
It is one of the blades out of the many that i have tried that combines these crucial elements together. It enables you to make really fast shots, but does not compromise any control. You can make devastating angled loops that are extremely fast and loaded with spin. I also really liked the handle. It feels very comfortable and does not cut on your palm. This blade is definitely worth the money. Any offensive player should definitely give it a try. 
Yasaka Penhold Blades
Table Tennis Blades
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