7 Reviews for Nittaku S-5

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Review by tjwilczek for Nittaku S-5 on February 3, 2025

I love this paddle. As a matter of fact, I love it so much I ditched my Nittaku Acoustic and bought a second S-5 - heresy, I know. I think what sealed the deal for me was playing against an 1800 at my club (I'm a 1300) and having him ask me what I was playing with expecting it to be a carbon paddle. The combination of power and precision with this paddle is tremendous...touch when you need it and you can confidently crack it when you want to finish a point, something I really didn't find in the Acoustic. I thought the Acoustic had great feel, but that increased feel and flexibility came at the expense of accuracy when ramping up the speed. With the S-5 I feel like have both. Also, the Acoustic handle is terrible (way too small) and I find the handle on the S-5 sublime. The fit and finish is just exquisite on the S-5, better than the Acoustic. I really think this will be a long term paddle that I will grow with and I'll simply dial up the hardness and speed of the rubbers I select in the future as my game improves (current rubbers: FH - XIOM Vega X 2.0, BH - Andro Rasanter R42 2.0). Highly recommended.

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External Review for Nittaku S-5 on March 27, 2021

Blade has a very nice feel with good touch. Installed Bluestorm Z2 Max on both sides. Nice speed with awesome control and ball placement comes easy with top-notch blocking. Very nice blade to have in your collection. Recommended.

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External Review for Nittaku S-5 on October 21, 2020

Nice blade that has great feel. Blade has speed when needed and offers excellent control for ball placement. The blade handle is very comfortable and feels very nice in hand. Blade is similiar to the Donic Ovtcharov Feat with a just a little more weight. QUALITY BLADE and well constructed with top-notch craftsmanship. Give it a try.

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External Review for Nittaku S-5 on February 15, 2020

Sold as a all+, but it's off -. Same speed like a Stiga Infinity. Soft touch , no unpleasant vibrations. And yes flat hitting isn't the strongest suit. High throw angle. Control gets mushy with soft sponge rubbers. I got the best results with fastarc g1 and c1. Excellent craftsmanship and German construction knowledge by Mr Schneider from soulspin.

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External Review for Nittaku S-5 on August 27, 2019

Excellent with Xiom Vega Pro and Yasaka Rakza 7 Soft. Awesome control with quite good speed.

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External Review for Nittaku S-5 on July 28, 2019

Blade is 5 ply Spruce, 6.1mm. Mine is 88g. Handle is perfect for small/medium hands and very well finished. I believe it could be considered an OFF blade, or at least a fast OFF-. Speed is comparable to my Tibhar SPW. Blade is most enjoyable when playing any mid distance offensive strokes (eg looping), but also blocks well close to the table. Pushes and flicks work well enough, while flat hits aren't it's strongest suit. When hitting hard counter drives or loops the blade makes an incredibly nice cracking sound, which feels like driving an old Italian car (for those familiar with the feeling) at high RPM's, quite lovely really. Paired with new 'clicky' Tensor rubbers, one gets a simultaneously click-crack type sound, which I'm a fan of. Has quite a high amount of feeling, vibration and feedback, which is great if you're sick of lifeless blades, although may not be fully appreciated by those coming from harder carbon or some ZLF composite type blades.

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External Review for Nittaku S-5 on December 9, 2017

The S-5 is a 5 ply Spruce blade with a medium-soft feel -- Spruce is softer than Limba but harder than hinoki. The core ply of the S-5, which seems to use a somewhat softer selection of Spruce than the outer plies, is still slightly firmer than the core ply of the S-CZ blade--which has a Kiri core. The S-5 is also moderately stiff (slightly stiffer than the S-CZ) but with a bit of "give" due to the soft-ish Spruce core, which allows the ball to penetrate somewhat before being catapulted out. I normally like a slightly more flexible blade for looping but the catapult and soft touch of the Spruce make this a very good looping blade.

Altogether, the combination of Spruce plies gives the S-5 quite good touch in the short game, as well as the capability to perform both slow loops and fast loops -- i.e. it has gears. For a speed rating I rate it as solidly offensive but with slower gears as well.

The feedback of this blade is exceptional -- the best I've ever felt (better even than Septear, Virtuoso+, Expert All+, V'King, Hurricane King, Temper Tech Off+). I haven't tried the Holz Sieben or a single-ply Cypress--so can't compare. With the right rubber, it gives a wonderful cracking sound and feel when looping. This blade has character, unlike the Ovtcharov Feat (Spruce, Spruce, Kiri, Spruce, Spruce) which, though having good playing characteristics, is muted in feedback, feel, and sound. Also, with the right rubber, the precision and control of the S-5 are top-notch.

If you've tried the S-5 and were not impressed, it may be because of the rubber/blade combination. I initially tried the S-5 with Rasant PowerGrip and wanted to return the blade ("this is awful", I said). But then I tried it with regular Rasant and Tenergy 05fx and was sold ("wow, this is incredible").

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