(By: Darryl Tsao)

As a Butterfly contract player, I have the privilege to try out new equipment like the Lin Yun Ju Super ZLC. I paired the blade with Dignics 09c on the forehand, as well as Dignics 05 and Tenergy 19 for the backhand.

This blade is one of Butterfly’s high-end blades, and it equipped with the Super ZLC fiber. A rather stiff carbon fiber, with unparalleled speed, consistent bounce, and large sweet spot. Surprisingly, in the LYJ blade, it has a rather softer feeling when compared to other Super ZLC blades in Butterfly’s lineup, such as the Zhang Jike Super ZLC I tried before. The lightness added with the softer feeling makes this an excellent blade for players who stand close to the table and use aggressive backhand and forehand counters. Forehand feels rather average for a carbon blade, with good speed, power, and a large sweet spot makes the strokes very consistent.

The specialty of this blade is the backhand. It is tuned with just the right amount of speed, softness, and playing feel. Playing backhand was an absolute pleasure, my strokes were very consistent, and the speed as well as the feeling were perfect. The problem with this blade comes when you step further away from the table. Most of the strengths close to the table don’t appear when far table, such as the softness and power. Only the ball goes very fast, but the penetrating power a bit lacking, which is something a lot of players including myself look for. Short game on the Lin Yun Ju Super ZLC was surprisingly good.

For being so fast, it has good short ball control, and flicks are easy to execute. Once again, the backhand flicks with this blade feel amazing. Butterfly have somehow created a blade with almost a perfect backhand. However, players who cannot hit “through” the carbon layer will find this blade uncontrollable, because a certain level of consistency comes after you hit through the carbon layer. Tenergy 19 on the LYJ Super ZLC is a great combination on the backhand for intermediate to advanced players, due to its softness and ease of use without compromising speed, spin and power.

However for most professionals, Dignics 05 is the better combo since an easy to engage yet harder sponge raises the quality and consistency of the ball.  For the forehand, I recommend harder rubbers like the Tenergy 05 Hard, Dignics 05, as well as Dignics 09c with this blade, since the blade needs a harder rubber to help compensate for its softer nature. On a small note, straight handle on the LYJ Super ZLC is rather thin, making it difficult to fill out one’s hand. Even with small hands, I have difficulty keeping a consistent grip on the blade. I do not recommend this blade to beginners, since this is still far too fast and uncontrollable for them.

However intermediate and advanced players will enjoy its softer feeling and consistent bounce. It is impressive that Butterfly have managed to create softer blade with such a stiff and fast carbon sheet. All in all, the Lin Yun Ju Super ZLC is a rather unique blade in Butterfly’s high end lineup, due to its unique feeling, excellent backhand, and lightness making it a top choice for players adopting the close to the table techniques.

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