Nittaku Rutis Power review with Tabletennis11.com

@slevin

Nice review! I had to laugh when you mentioned you put Bluefire JP01 on it. I previously tried Nittaku Fast Arc G1 on the forehand and that was insane, hard as rock, super fast, but ok for the backhand. After changing it to DHS Skyline 2 Neo, it felt more balanced for the forehand.

I didn't find it head heavy. I agree it is very stiff and fast. When compared to Rutis, which I also owned, I enjoyed the Rutis more only because I found I was able to produce more finesse shots with it, for example with the Rutis Power it was harder to do close-to-the net backhand flick shots, and side spin around the post shots. I guess it is like a light tank vs a heavy tank, for an imagery comparison. I too found the Rutis Power harder to loop with a fast and stiff tensor rubber, but once changed to the tacky Skyline 2 Neo, it was a different story, I could do fast loops; but I agree, it is a blade best for driving and aggressive shots. Producing a flat and fast corner shot with power was quite easy. Still a great blade, none the less, but not my style so I gave it to a friend with the DHS rubber as the forehand and Nittaku Fast Arc C1 as the backhand - an absolute gem!

To be fair, Nittaku does recommend pairing the Rutis Power with their version of Hurricane 2 Neo, presumably for the forehand, and the Nittaku Fast Arc G1, presumably for the backhand - it is on their blade and rubbers pairing recommendation chart. As for the AD Carbon, it is faster than the FE Carbon, which is used in the Acoustic Carbon. Nittaku have a listing of the composite materials used in their range of blade products, but the latest materials like the AD and FE Carbons are not yet available in English. They also have a chart, albeit in Japanese, plotting the stiffness and speed of all their blades. The Rutis Power is about as stiff as the Acoustic Carbon, but much faster and it seems to be comparable to their KCZ blade. The Ludeack Fleet is the least stiffest and speediest of the ones I have so far mentioned - Rutis, Rutis Power, Acoustic Carbon and KCZ.

Also to be fair, I think the Rutis Power and Acoustic Carbon were designed with the new plastic ball in mind. The same goes for the Kasumi Special blade (basically the Acoustic Carbon but with different layer arrangements). Having said this, unless there was miscommunication a good source has told me that Nittaku will soon release new blades for the new plastic ball.

I can't wait to see the reviews on the other Nittaku blades - Ludeack Fleet and Acoustic Carbon. I hope they will report the same findings as what I have experienced. FYI, I gave the Ludeack Fleet to another friend, that blade was also a gem! I have kept the Acoustic Carbon though.

PS. I purchased mine elsewhere, though every now and then I do make purchases from TT11, they are reliable :)

Edited by hithithit - 07/02/2014 at 7:05pm

This blade is clearly OFF+. Haven't played with the blades you've mentioned but it is a shade slower than that Sardius.

Like a lot of fast, low dwell blades, it is low throw and might require a bit of looping upwards on opening loop. Once point is opened though and you're a step back though, it's great for teeing away.

I used to for hard blade like yasaka spelancer,xiom v1 Quad (walnut with 4 thin carbon),xiom hayabusa zxi,gergely,schlager. I wonder rutis power harder or less   my previous blade ,and if combined with soft rubber will it be easy to control loop?
Who ever used this blade and satisfy pls tell about your rubber or share experiences?

Great review!

Is this for the new poly ball?

slevin wrote: tabletennisx32 wrote: Is this for the new poly ball? I hope that that's just sarcasm

Haha, not sure if it is a sarcasm, but I have noticed a trend in new blades and near releases being stiffer. I can see the logic behind it - more power and arguably more spin if timed right.

So, I've put in 2 training sessions with the Rutis Power.  It's easily the most bonkers blade I've ever used.  If there was ever a blade to demonstrate the wide range of characteristics found amongst offensive blades available today, this is it.  This is the blade at the end of the scale.  The outlier.  The quiet guy in the corner at the party who, after 3 hours of just playing it cool, rips off his tear-away trousers and reveals his sparkle-y underpants before giving your grandmother a lapdance.

Initial Thoughts 

First impressions are great - the quality is high, especially the outer ply.  The ST handle is quite thick, which is a relief.  This isn't one of the munchkin Nittaku handles you can find on the Acoustic, Violin or Redshank.  The bounce test is revealing, and gives the game away from the outset - it's a very high-pitched ping.  Any higher and it would only be audible to dogs.  The sweet spot is fairly big, but there is a drop-off in pitch at the outer edges.  The head size is quite tall...

For the first session, I used my regular setup of JP03/OmegaVPro.  The second session I went with 5QSound/H3.

General Play Notes

Hard, fast, almost stiff.  The head size, combined with the overall light weight, made it feel head-heavy (compared to my usual setups).  Low throw.

Flat Game

Yes, yes, yes!  The Rutis Power is a monster blocker and hitter.  Anything above net height is doomed - it's lightning fast and rail gun accurate.  There is a lot of power available, and you can just hit through all but the heaviest spin.  The ball stays quite low when passive blocking, resulting in some awkward skiddy returns for the opponent.  Punches and active blocking is very, very sharp and fast.  Skills are required - it's very easy to send the ball long.

Looping

Nope.  Well, I exaggerate - it's not all bad.  The good news is that this isn't a totally stiff, close-up smack machine.  It does give some slight flex assistance from distance (maybe the reason for the large head length?).  But it's very demanding here.  Bat angle is very important - more so than most blades.  My regular stroke was resulting in a lot of net balls.  More upward motion was needed, which became tiring for me after a while.  On middle-effort loops, it was tricky to get the level of spin needed to create a good arc.  On full-effort loops things improved, but it takes a lot of energy to keep that kind of play up.  Easier to stay in at the table and hit everything.

Serving / Receiving

It's OK for some serves.  If you vary long topspin/flat serves, you'd love this.  The ball keeps low, and it can be so fast it becomes difficult to read.  The main issue is keeping the ball short on more touchy serves.  You need very precise technique to avoid the blade causing too much bounce on sharp wrist movements.  You can still get great spin, but keeping the ball short AND low is a challenge.

Receiving is a real blast.  Any bouncy serve can be put away with hardly any effort.  You can put real pressure on the server.  Yes, pushing short is a tricky prospect, but that is NOT why you would use this blade.

Other Thoughts

When using this blade, I ended up playing more like I did when I used short pips on the BH side.  Waiting for the mid-high ball to attack, staying in close, mixing up punches and spinnier shots.  I found it tough to adopt a two-wing looping style.

Rubber selection is incredibly important.  I found that H3 worked really well on the FH side, simply because it helped in some of the areas the Rutis Power became hard to handle (serving mainly).  Also, a brushier loop style was easier to use, and H3 supported that well.  I was going to try Calibra, but the government sent a squad around to stop me from gluing it on.  Something about the laws of physics breaking down and miniature black holes being generated around the Rutis Power/Calibra event horizon.  Good to know they're out there watching for this kind of thing.  Could have been a slightly hard to handle combination anyway.

So there you go - the Rutis Power is for a very specific style of play.  And within the confines of that style bubble, it might be the best at what it does.  A light, ball-battering cannon.  Great for hitters/blockers who take the ball early and pile the pressure on.

Many thanks to TT11 for the testing scheme!  Long may it continue!

It does play very well with tacky rubbers. Any variant of H3 on the FH side would work really well. The BH side is your call. I did wonder how a softer H3-50 might do on the BH side. Tg3 is another possibility. Maybe a Moon Pro? Tacky on the BH wing is a personal choice usually, but if any blade could make it work well, it's this one.

I got totally different impression from Rutis Power. first, nobody mentioned but it has different handle then regular Rutis. on Rutis Power handle a bit longer and thicker. more comfortable if you have big hands.
it for sure not OFF+

Edited by piligrim - 10/31/2017 at 10:02pm

bbkon wrote: slevin wrote: This blade is clearly OFF+. Haven't played with the blades you've mentioned but it is a shade slower than that Sardius. hi slevin .how is the feel when you flat hit? hollow like hinoki like primorac carbon or solid like rosewood7?

Feeling is solid while smashing. Blocking is wall steady. Very accurate. Topspining isn't bad either, but it is more demanding