My New Timo Boll ZLF - The Verdict

Tuesday I received my Timo Boll ZLF FL. I paid 105 Euros which I think is not a bad deal at all. It weighs 81 grams, and is DEAD SEXY. The construction is just plain awesome.

I put Tenergy 05 2.1 on the FH and Tenergy 64 2.1 on the backhand.

Keep in mind I am coming from a mizutani.

Speed - Mizutani is definitely faster, the ZLF is slower than the ratings suggest. But it still takes a serious ego to claim that it is "too slow". It is definitely fast enough.

Control - Really good control. Better control than mizutani.

Feel - Feels a lot different. It vibrates a whole lot more, but it is nice. Blocking with this blade is REALLY good compared to mizutani. Especially with 64 on the bh, I can block in my sleep.

It can create some pretty good spin because of the dwell time.

Is it worth what butterfly charges in America? No. It is a good blade, but nothing really seperates it from some other blades out there. I think the whole zylon thing is kind of a gimmic. I don't think it really does anything.

Do I feel cheated? No. I didn't pay the $199 they want in America, and I would never. It is still a really good blade no doubt and will remain my main set up. Paired with tenergy, both 05 and 64, it is a spinning machine. It is fast enough to kill the ball when I need to, but controlled enough that I can keep the ball on the table.

I would recommend this blade to people for sure! I love how light and thin it is, yet still has substantial power.

I can take some pics of my set up if anybody wants. I don't really see the point though as you know what it looks like...but I guess people like seeing pictures that aren't the manufacturers.

Certain aspects of it. Control is better, it can create spinnier loops.

Mizutani is still a good blade though. Lower throw is better for drives and over all speed. ZL carbon and the just plain ZL(zylon) have very different feels.

nice weight...the butterflyonline says its supposed to have around 86g and yours is 5 whole grams lighter than the average..

Thanks for the review

Another note, My backhand has never been so deadly now that I have T64 on the back. I'm very happy with it. It is pretty much exactly as I expected it to be.

What are you expecting and what blade are you coming from? I can probably help you decide whether it's for you or not.

seems very promising, does it has a woody feel? is it hard or medium feel?
Malin Carbon which is a carbon blades surprisingly has more woody feel than acoustic which is all wood blade.

Do you think the ZLF has more,less or similar dwell time compared to the Photino?

Yur new setup sounds cool and you certainly like it. You did well. Way better than most of us who try out 25 things before we discover what we like. You had better like it for the price. 100 Teuros ( yeah, I spelled it right. You old school Germans who are accustomed to Deutschmarks will know that term well :) ) Then another 100 smackeroos for the rubbers. We'll you are happy and stil at a lower cost than I lot of us went through before we settled on our favorites.

peter79 wrote: seems very promising, does it has a woody feel? is it hard or medium feel?Malin Carbon which is a carbon blades surprisingly has more woody feel than acoustic which is all wood blade.

How do you like the Roxon 450 on your Ma Lin Carbon? I have a MLC myself (penhold), and still not settled on the backhand rubber.

Since the the ZLF and Photino both use ZLF, the difference can only be the thickness and the wood(what does the Photino use anyway?).  

What wood does the ZLF use?

eh, it probably doesn't have enough speed for hitting. I'd probably go with the zlc for hitting. The zlf excels at looping for sure.

pokerpete wrote: well what if i said TBS was hard enough for hitting and looping.....would you say zlf is softer and slower than TBS?......or can you comment on that?

This is the comparison I've been waiting for since those new blades were released.

lildudejds wrote: Tuesday I received my Timo Boll ZLF FL. I paid 105 Euros which I think is not a bad deal at all. It weighs 81 grams, and is DEAD SEXY. The construction is just plain awesome.

Absolutely agree with that statement. Yes, it sure is sexy. BTW, mine weighed 83 gms. And I paid $153.50 (14900 Yen with shipping charges) from Iruiru. It is still a good $50 less compared to what it would cost me here in the US. More importantly, I wanted the blade in ST handle that was not available anywhere in the US.

By the way, where did you buy it from?