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Nexy Tuvalu Review |
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tommyzai
Premier Member Senior Animator Joined: 02/17/2007 Location: Tucson AZ USA Status: Offline Points: 9289 |
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Posted: 05/11/2014 at 8:56pm |
A player who will remain nameless grabbed my Nexy Tuvalu before I could try it. As payment for the loan, he agreed to do a review. Here's his review . . . Head Size: 165 x 154mm Thickness: 9.5mm Plies: 5W+1C on FH (E-A-C-B=SM-B-A-WA) BOUNCE TEST I dropped a new Premium 3-star ball from 40mm onto the center
of the naked blade, which was freely lying flat (handle handing off edge) on a
solid wood table. ◦
FH= 32 mm rebound ◦
BH=33.5mm rebound* *In play, the FH side is clearly faster, but a passive bounce was higher on the BH side. https://www.dropbox.com/s/h6t3evy0latgsoo/Nexy%20Tuvalu.mp3
REVIEW BY UNKNOWN Tommy Zai, renowned EJ of this forum, recently acquired a Nexy Tuvalu. But
before he had a chance to play with it, I took the liberty of “borrowing” the blade from him. INTRO The Tuvalu is a balsa core blade. My bad experience with the
Dr Neubauer’s Titan (Re-Impact Tachi) years ago almost prompted me to give this
blade back immediately. It is 9.5mm thick (so is the Titan) and weighs 90 grams.
The Titan I had only weighed 60 grams. Lately I have been playing with a
“borrowed” Medusa, which weighs about 60 grams so the heft is VERY noticeable. It
is also VERY stiff with absolutely no noticeable flex – reminds me of the
Dynamix 17 that I once had. RUBBERS I did not have any rubbers to test with, so I ordered 2 rubbers
that I never tried before: 1.8mm Air Illumina and Sanwei Code OX. So off to my
friend’s garage with him hitting balls to me. BACKHAND SURPRISE, SURPRISE and SURPRISE. Looking at that thick balsa
core I thought blocking with the Tuvalu was going to be all over the place. Well,
blocking with LP on the backhand side of the Tuvalu was a dream. Blocks were
low and very controlled. I was able to block almost every hits and loops back
on the table. Just close the blade to the right angle and the ball would drop
back on the other side. I have played with quite a few blades since I started
playing LP on my backhand side: TSP Balsa 5.5, Titan, Kung Fu, Hercules, Aurora,
Medusa and even a Ross custom blade. I can easily say the Tuvalu and the Medusa
I am using are the best blocking blades for LP’s. The Tuvalu even has a lower
trajectory than the Medusa. The feel of the Tuvalu is at the opposite end of
the Medusa, however. The Tuvalu feels hard while the Medusa feels very soft. Pushes
and rolls are also very controllable but with a lower trajectory than the
Medusa. Yet, before I got used to it, I was pushing and rolling balls into the
net. FOREHAND Very stiff but has a medium soft feel. Actually the feel is
kind of muted probably because of the carbon layer underneath; or maybe it is
the rubber I am playing with. I have been playing with all wood blades, which
have a more pronounced feel of the ball, and I do not like the loss of feel
here. Nevertheless, blocking is effortless; the heft of the blade really helps
here. Another surprise: short pushes and plays over the table were precise and
controlled. I was able to push with good underspin and serve with decent spins.
The blade can also generate good speed on hitting and smashing. For a balsa
blade, it behaves quite linearly. Hitting/Smashing with the Tuvalu does not
produce a sharp ping sound as with other carbon blades I had played with in the
past. I have only tried a few loops with the blade. The ball went where I
directed; but I am not feeling the ball at all. Again, the trajectory/throw is
quite low – not sure if this is the blade of the rubber. I have not tried any off-the-table looping or chopping as my
friend’s garage space limits tests to the above stated strokes. I will report
back when I have a few more hits at the club. SUMMARY Overall, I like what the Tuvalu can do. However, with just after one brief session of testing, I do not know it will replace the Medusa I am playing with. While the Tuvalu is functionally capable, I am not used to the hard feel on the backhand side and less feel on the forehand side. The forehand side also has a lower throw than I am accustomed to. These are merely personal preferences, and I am sure someone would prefer these characteristics. For more information: http://nexy.com/shop/step1.php?number=1318&b_code=B20091201071556&c_code=C20091202014952 Edited by tommyzai - 06/12/2014 at 6:50pm |
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tommyzai
Premier Member Senior Animator Joined: 02/17/2007 Location: Tucson AZ USA Status: Offline Points: 9289 |
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Here is what the Nexy Tuvalu sounds like when a ball is dropped on it from 40mm.
Edited by tommyzai - 05/12/2014 at 6:31pm |
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For More Info, PM or Email me: [email protected]
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tommyzai
Premier Member Senior Animator Joined: 02/17/2007 Location: Tucson AZ USA Status: Offline Points: 9289 |
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https://www.dropbox.com/s/h6t3evy0latgsoo/Nexy%20Tuvalu.mp3
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For More Info, PM or Email me: [email protected]
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