Stiga Infinity V Blade Review

Nice second review, it always pays to give the equipment a good amount of use to wear it in before you get enough info to review it accurately. The second review is much more accurate of the infinity, a blade which we actually have a special deal coming out on for our FB fans and newsletter subscribers FYI ;)

UPDATE: Tenergy 80 is definitely not the right rubber for this blade. Either 05, Chinese or something high-throw. Also I'd suggest a 05FX on BH.

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I have to agree that the blade is quite unusual (but I think ultimately will be a keeper)... I've had it for a week now and played 4 full days (3-hours each) with it. I feel that I better understand its strengths/ weaknesses. Of course the limitation here is that is ONLY been a week and I have always felt it takes months to get fully adjusted to new equipment.

For background, I'm coming off a 5-ply wood 70g Butterfly Jonyer Hinoki that's considered OFF-. My Infinity weighs in at 76g and is Legend style flared. I'm using T80 on FH and T25FX on BH, the same 4-month old rubbers I moved over from my Jonyer. I play close to table style, which is the ONLY style this blade will suit, I believe.

While the craftsmanship is substantially better than the usual Stiga, (quite good in fact, but not as good as BTY), my initial impression playing with it was horrible... the blade and setup felt dead, weird mix of slow, then too fast shots on shots where you accelerated, and generally quite clumsy (despite being a 5.8mm thickness blade).
For those who care, I paid $70 from NYC local area dealer (who I am happy to recommend if you wish to PM request).

The thing with this blade that makes it weird is that there is very little flex (almost Clipper like in that regard), and the blade doesn't have any of the qualities of the new-generation blades such as the Boll ZLF or Innerforces, where you can really "feel" and use the materials to "massage" shots onto the table, and the multiple gears you can differentiate. The Infinity only has 2 gears: slow and fast. (But really do you need more?)

First day I played with it was really bad,... lost to players I can dominate. Just lots of misses over the table, into net, and then long when I was looping. The blade has a medium-LOW throw, which I will solve by switching to higher-throw rubbers (i.e., T05 on FH). When I finally adjusted to the lower throw by Day 2, I was finding the T25FX workable on BH but still suffering with the T80 on FH. However I was playing much better and less regretting my purchase. On Day 3, I was finally winning some 2000-level players, but it was all from the BH... the Infinity interestingly gives alot of power and explosion on high 3rd and 5th balls and 1-2 steps off the table, while still keeping a stable defense. Blocking was excellent, touch not as good as my Jonyer, but ball response was super-predictable and more precise which made up for that.
Still though, I am having problems opening flips on BH and FH heavy underspins that I could before open through somewhat reliably with my old blade.

I think the take-away is that the Infinity is strong for close to table, control, precision, and BH oriented play. I like it overall and think I understand why FZD would use this blade. He is using Chinese rubber on FH and more of a brush technique- both of which would solve my FH issues. (As a result I will switch to T05 on the FH for the higher throw as my FH technique is more driving than brushing). The really good thing about this blade is its overall weight balance, which seems to be more a factor for consistency and technical shot-making than the different gears provided by the new-gen blades.

I chose this blade for several reasons, but caution folk to not rush out and buy it. The new TBS it is not.
It is however super stable and predictable, and players over the table who don't need extra power should try it. Mid-distance players should stay away, and FH oriented players will find it a hit (if they are control oriented players who can generate their own power) or a miss (many will hate it). The blade produces average spins in my estimation, and thus serving is not enhanced, but again its very precise. It is of average (OFF-) speed, although my coach said he felt it was slower, more like All+. FWIW, the coach loved it, due to the weight balance (not being head heavy) and control - which he feels helps you to use the same stroke for offense and defense.

Also note that the head size is smaller than usual by a few millimeters. My BTY Jonyer is exactly the same size, and I much prefer this size, especially for over the table Play and its more quick/ aerodynamic? feeling when switching between FH and BH (including the grip).

Happy to answer any questions.




Edited by smash_fan - 01/06/2014 at 3:31pm

jonyer1980 wrote: Im thinking about getting it. Im planning to cover the gap between my Violin&Acoustic. I love my Violín specially on short game, but sometímes i feel ir lacks a bit power once yo step back a little. My acoustic is so light(79) but bits too bouncy with esn tensors on the bh and misses the great feeling of Violín. Both share terrible straight handles and even worse FL's.

If you hate them so much, you should trade them for my Xiom Hayabusa Zxi in the sale section :)

jonyer1980 wrote: Im thinking about getting it. Im planning to cover the gap between my Violin&Acoustic. I love my Violín specially on short game, but sometímes i feel ir lacks a bit power once yo step back a little. My acoustic is so light(79) but bits too bouncy with esn tensors on the bh and misses the great feeling of Violín. Both share terrible straight handles and even worse FL's.

FYI the handle on the Infinity Legend is nice and thick, feels very comfortable and I didn't feel any wrist or hand pain that smaller size handles often cause me.

I was pretty excited about this blade, so i picked it up and i put YinHe Moon Pro (fh) and Adidas TenZone (bh) on it. To sum up my experience: Absolutely horrible. I was gutted! 

Edited by zrrbiteDK - 01/04/2014 at 10:07am

Thank you, Seguso.  A brilliant and succinct review.   I trust your word.  You are "the Stiga OC(+variants) master" 

Edited by king_pong - 01/04/2014 at 11:00pm

i decided to test again this blade

I love this blade. Best wood blade I have tried so far. Stiga has managed to make a stiff blade from soft woods somehow.

My latest pick up.

I will be doing my first training with this blade tomorrow but I was able to practice my serve earlier and here are my impression:
My previous blade is a Clipper CR. Compared to the Clipper, the feel of this blade is a little softer and slower but better overall feel. I was able to brush the ball more thinly with the Infinity making my serves spinnier. It is not as bouncy as the Clipper CR so I was able to keep my serves shorter as well. I also felt a lot more dwell time as the ball was not too eager to bounce of my racket.

Can't wait to train tomorrow.

I did an hour and a half of training with the blade today. I have a sheet of H3 Neo black on my FH and Tenzone 2.0 red on my backhand. The Infinity has better control compared to the Clipper CR. Dwell time was also excellent, I can really load up shot with heavy spin. Serve receives are more precise.

I was expecting a slow bade based on the reviews I have read but this is not true. If you are a player who likes to lean on your shot and generate your own power, this blade can be fast. I did not get the chance to do any blocking today so I cannot comment on that yet. The Clipper CR is excellent on blocks I hope the Infinity can do well.

Will be training a bit more in the coming weeks. :)

I just add a point to this thread that the blade is quite picky about rubber selection (as opposed to my previous blade NCT OC).

I have tried following:
FH
1. S1, MX-P (a total disaster but they worked well on NCT OC)
2. Bluefire M2 (Good if you are a pure looper and not hit or block much)
3. Barracuda (my current set up)

Possible ones that might work better:
 T05 (similar to M2 only when you do not hit or block much)
 Tibhar 5Q or EL-P

Any more suggestions?

BH
1. Barracuda (not bouncy enough, lack of power)
2. T64 (current set up)

I guess most people should be happy with a T05/T64 setup.


 

Thanks for the advice. Are these options for the forehand? Some of them (like the Ultra SF) seems to be too soft for forehand?

On VPS, MX-P is simply too hard. I can handle Barracuda but it would be great if there is a similar rubber (high arc / spin, reasonable blocking/hit) a bit harder / faster than that.

yogi_bear wrote: I'd go with EL-P or Tibhar 5Q VIP and Adidas P7 or Tenzone Ultra SF

I glued a max P7 black on FH and my old Tenzone 2.0 on BH. This setup plays like a dream! It is fast yet controllable. I somehow get a spring effect when I hit the ball a certain way. The feel is very addicting, it makes you want to play harder. Compared to my Clipper CR, the arc on the spin I get on P7 seems to dip sharper on the opponent side of the table. Although it is slower than the Clipper on similar power output, but the Infinity gives you the confidence to swing harder and stronger resulting in fast, powerful shots.

Finally tried the P7 as the VPS FH. I can confirm it works very well on the blade. Hit, block, loop like a dream!

Currently testing 5Q for the BH and will see how it goes.

So far I found baracuda not bouncy enough. T64 bouncy enough yet controllable for me.