I Think I've Found the Most Important Trait of a God Blade, Part 1
Over the past few days, the opponents I played were fairly strong and somewhat varied. There was a sixth-grader on the pro track — slick transition speed, stroke after stroke, with no small amount of power. There was a roughly-2000-point amateur backhand brute, whose backhand is more savage than an average pro’s — I always feared my blade would get rattled soft. Luckily Heima refined-craft is cheap now; if it gets rattled soft, just swap in a new one. There was even a former provincial-team main (and national-team sparring partner) — playing him is mentally exhausting; I surely cannot beat him, but to receive his dozen-odd ever-changing serves, I burn through plenty of brain cells.
Every bout against an expert deepens my understanding of blades. Is this the essence of the “equipment school”?
In the end, I conclude: for most people, the most important trait that makes a blade godly is still four words — supple yet powerful.
1
If you flip through the blades the national team has used over the years and talk godly blades, you cannot avoid these four: W968, Carbo 45, gold-label Viscaria, Lin Gaoyuan ALC.
The 968 needs no introduction. The ball-eating feel is intense, and after applying power it really shoots. The loading process is wonderful (paired with oiled Hurricane), and the ball it fires is heavy. That is “supple yet powerful.” Supple refers to that “ball-eating, wrapping the ball” feel.
Carbo 45 and Lin Gaoyuan ALC — I put these two together for convenience. They share a trait: while wrapping the ball, neither has especially strong bottom power. But did I not say a god blade must be “supple yet powerful”? Right — whether it has power is not the same for everyone. As long as that “power” is enough for the user, then it is “powerful.” In the Tokyo Olympics cycle, Carbo 45 was enough for many national players. The women then prized transition speed and did not especially stress single-ball quality.
Then the Lin Gaoyuan ALC once had many representatives: Lin Gaoyuan, Zhou Qihao, Wang Manyu, Zheng Peifeng. For them, custom or market version, that power was enough at the time.
And the gold-label Viscaria. When it first came out, I rather scoffed. It bore the gold-label name, but the bottom power was ordinary, and much of the force even felt scattered. It just added some softness, held the ball well, made lifting backspin on the backhand easier, and held the ball more on the forehand. Only later did I realize why Zhou Qihao and others first sought the 94/95g gold labels — that weight has more power. The early batches were not as good as the hype. In later batches, despite quality-control differences, some were tougher and more powerful. “Supple yet powerful” finally came true.
2
Let me say why “supple” is needed. Supple means: holds the ball well, adds spin easily, and the blade must have enough adjustability. For instance, against these recent opponents, when they serve a half-long sidespin-up or sidespin-down, and I push or flick it over (but with a poor arc), I instantly get counter-looped or counter-driven. When I cannot produce speed on the backhand, maybe I can flick a short arc, or add spin to the end line. That is, the blade must be supple enough — with a pause when it eats the ball — so that when I cannot produce speed, I still have spin variation.
For the provincial-team coach’s ever-changing serves, sometimes I only read them clearly at the last instant. Then if my blade is not supple enough, I cannot make a full adjustment. Because suddenly I may need to switch to a flick or a tear, or a light quick push down the line, or a sudden chop-long. Only a good enough blade can hold the ball and let you use your technique “on the fly.”
This is also why, among Butterfly’s outer blades, stars prefer the ALC over the ZLC. Because the outer ALC, compared to the outer ZLC, has more of a ball-eating pause — slower than ZLC, but more stable and controllable.
To be continued.