Yasaka Ma Lin Soft Carbon - Chinese Penhold
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
Control: 83
Ply: 7 (5+2)
Weight: 89 g
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Reviews of Yasaka Ma Lin Soft Carbon - Chinese Penhold (29)
It is stiff enough as I wished, but not to the point I would overshoot the ball out the table due to he soft balsa. And does NOT bend down on my defense when the opponent sends me a heave ball. It is everything I wanted. After years of use, I decided to get a new one!!!
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.
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 will never switch blade and want to become a professional player.
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 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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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