Macau World Cup: The 10 Most Valuable Gear Insights, Part 2
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At the World Cup, hard blades are fewer and fewer. This again fits our god-blade definition: “soft yet powerful.” Lin Yun-Ju switching from the Lin Yun-Ju SUPER ZLC to the Super Viscaria is not an isolated case. Felix liked slower blades from a young age, easier to control. Shunsuke Togami says he is very satisfied with the Fan A’s control in topspin rallies. The Harimoto siblings went from the Tomokazu Harimoto ALC to the softer-springier, more transparent, kiri-core Tomokazu Harimoto SUPER ALC. The Lin Gaoyuan ALC, gold-label Vis and Fan Zhendong ALC, more ball-holding than the retail Vis, won favor, because athletes do not lack power and mostly do not need too-strong rebound. Kanak Jha switched from the Super Vis to the Boll A, because he wanted softer and easier control. Yes, some inner blades are slightly hardened — like the power-ply-thinned, core-thickened S968, like the Q968 a touch harder than the W968 — but essentially they are still soft blades. Soft blades that more easily produce overall deformation, with a more commanding feel, easier free control, easy to adjust at any time — those are the era’s trend. You also see my designed blades now almost all first ensure “softness.” Only so is there higher error-tolerance and more comprehensive technique deployment. Undeniably amateur styles differ person to person. But in the professional realm, in style, the loop is most people’s most important metric. And soft blades more easily deploy loop skills.
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Soft rubber has its spring too. I keep saying this. Rubber hardness always depends on your own feel. There is no rule you must use hard rubber now. Some amateurs say T80, T05’s support is inadequate now. View this dialectically — saying the support is inadequate may be relative to the harder Dignics; theoretically that is right. Under big-power pace-borrowing-defense impact, the Tenergy line (except T05 Hard) does seem a bit weak. But this does not mean “insufficient.” In fact many now cannot even drive through T05 on the backhand, including me, who only uses T05 on the forehand. I tried T05 Hard on the forehand — firing it really is lightning — but I just want rubber I can slack with when tired. I just confirmed with Hana Goda’s coach. Before she was Platinum DNA on both sides, hardness m. This World Cup, going the full seven games with Sun Yingsha, losing the decider 11-13, she glued h hardness on both sides. Honestly, when I glued the Cybershape 6 before, I felt h on the backhand was not hard, just right. And Hana, gluing m on both sides, won the African title. This bout with Shasha, her backhand flick and forehand attack were very sharp. So what hardness suits you varies by person. Of course, I have another thought. For those with better power, or who prefer firing themselves, sometimes softer is better. For those who like borrowing pace, sometimes harder rubber, though not driven through, is conversely suitable. But ultimately, go with your feel. I have met a retired provincial player thriving with F2 on the backhand; he said: “I feel grounded when I fire.”
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Forehand-dominant choose inner blades, backhand-dominant choose outer blades. Or: if you want to use the forehand more, inner; want to use the backhand more, outer. This is a plain truth. Besides, close-table choose kiri core, backing-off choose ayous core. Also a consensus. Both inner, the more close-table Tomokazu Harimoto and Moregard chose kiri cores; the more willing-to-back-off Hugo chose an ayous core. Kiri core mainly transparent and crisp; ayous core mainly energy-storage and deformation tension. Of course, there are exceptions. But for most, forehand-inner, backhand-outer is more like “going with the current,” easier to succeed.