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Shahin Akhlaghpasand

Ask The Experts: Shahin Akhlaghpasand, No. 390

Butterfly Table Tennis Question and Answer

Question:

Hi. I’m struggling to choose a butterfly blade.
My playing style is simple, i stand close to mid distance from the table and like playing aggressive topspin shots. My physical strength is great and i can generate quite a lot of power. I would prefer a blade that grasp the ball well and at the same time providing high resilience and adds a lot of power on the ball, and emphasizes on shot quality.
I have played some butterfly blades before. I don’t prefer the feeling of viscaria blade, it was quite stiff but it doesn’t give me a great feeling. I like the feeling of zhang jike super zlc, it’s perfect at small to medium power but the ball bounce off too fast at large power, and it doesn’t impart lot of spin on the ball.
The Boll ALC has a good feeling, the shot quality was enough, but i want to have another blade as boll alc is a bit out-dated.
My friends suggested some butterfly blades, the Lin gaoyuan alc, harimoto alc, mizutani zlc, harimoto super zlc and the dimitrij ovtcharov alc(they’re not sure as this blade wasn’t released yet).
I did tried borrowed harimoto alc from my friend once and played for awhile. I love its feeling, it has perfect control, dwell, spin and forgiveness but i’m not sure whether the shot quality is enough. I’m sure the Lin gaoyuan alc and mizutani zlc have good feeling but i’m not sure about their shot quality and whether their ability to add power to the ball is enough. I have no idea about dimitrij ovtcharov alc as it is not released.
Can i be advised on the choice of the butterfly blade that suits me the most? Which of the blade from the above suggestions from my friend may work best for me? Or are there other blades that work even better? Please help, thanks!

Answer:

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Your Ask the Experts question was answered by Shahin Akhlaghpasand. Coach Akhlaghpasand is an ITTF Level 1 Coach and a Coach at the Austin Table Tennis Club and his response is as follows:

Hi Kevin,

 Your description of the woods you tested was complete.

 I think the Mizutani ZLC blade is more suitable for you according to what you expected from the woods. Of course, you can get a good and similar feeling from Timo Boll ZLC wood, which is also one of my favorite woods, which was not on your list. They are designed for play near and middle of the table.

 Depending on your body physique, these two can keep you satisfied.

 Regards,

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