Customer review for Donic Waldner Black Devil Carbon Balsa

External Review for Donic Waldner Black Devil Carbon Balsa on December 11, 2021

A black gem in the right hands.. Moved to this blade coming from Donic Epox Offensiv (5ply all wood) and what I felt upon first touch are: blade is considerably lighter (mine weighed around 84-85g) and immensely faster especially on flat shots/smashes. Head size is slightly smaller (about 2mm shorter than typical wood blades) and cutting/finishing is a bit rough. The Koto/balsa material is fragile, you can put on edge tape if you want.

Just like its name, the BLACK DEVIL is a difficult blade to control. Expect a few bouncy, over the table hits when first using it. DO NOT use this blade if you just started out playing table tennis - use an all wood instead, stabilize basic strokes and control techniques first.. only then you can move to this blade if you feel confident enough...

Personally, this blade is gonna be my stepping stone to further sharpen my techniques before I decide to get an ALC blade sometime in the future.

Typically people will suggest to use medium/soft rubbers with this blade. I first put Donic Bluefire M2 and Yinhe Mercury 3 Euro Soft on FH/BH. Control is pleasant enough without compromising much speed. Close/mid distance to table plays are quick and deadly; however a problem persisted when playing far from table, my shots occasionally lacked power to go over the net with such setup, maybe it's the characteristics of softer rubbers or at that point I just simply wasn't skilled enough to control this blade ?.

After a few intense weeks of taming this little devil.. I moved the M2 to BH and put Friendship (729) Battle 2 Provincial on the FH to turn the blade into a mid/far distance looping beast. Speed+super spin obliterated anyone who dared to put up their blade :)
Yes, a hard Chinese rubber on a stiff/fast blade , either I am confident enough in my skill improvement or I am an outright table tennis masochist. LOL ?

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