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Nexy Designer's diary Selection

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    Posted: 11/05/2015 at 1:11am


In this page, I will upload some selected articles from nexy designer's diary which seems quite useful for people. To make this place well organized, I kindly ask people not to upload any of your personal posts. If you want to share your thoughts, please use nexy designer's diary. Thank you for your cooperation! Wink


Edited by Nexy - 11/05/2015 at 1:33am
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Common Materials For the Blade Surface:  Hinoki, Limba, and Koto.

 

This topic will be very interesting for members on this forum. I'm not sure how much you will agree with my analysis because it's about more than mechanical calculation. In some ways, this part should be about considering each player's style, e.g., type of swing, what angle is comfortable for a backhand and forehand stroke when looping, how long the ball remains on the blade when making a spinny shot, the impact of the swing movement when generating powerful topspin, ball friction when maximizing a pips-out rubbers' effect, and so on.

 

So, this article will be a general one — please don't expect me to be a fortuneteller for table tennis blades.

 

Ok, let's start with the "staying moment,” which is the term I use to explain my thoughts about surface materials. When making a topspin shot, some players keep the ball on the blade for specific amount of time, which is long enough to help them generate a massive spin on the ball. Normally for beginners, this movement goes slightly around, grazing the ball without penetrating deep. The blade draws a big round circle. But as players become faster and more powerful, the movement becomes easier. Some players use their wrist when they make a topspin shot, from backward to forward, not only from downward to upward. If this movement occurs at a short point of impact, the loops will be more extreme and difficult for an opponent to return.

 

When playing against top players, you will often experience having to return a faster, spinnier ball than what you normally would encounter. Watching high-level players play is much different than actually playing them! You will need to keep your blade tight and be stable when you block because the ball seems to shove your blade back. And you may be thinking, “Why isn’t my topspin like this?” “How can I make my topspin this fast and spinny?” And some of you might have tried to make a faster swing movement, but only to discover that this is not the practical answer. As previously mentioned, sometimes it's about wrist movement, arm folding, or other factors. But, I can say one thing for certain — It's about impact! When you hit the ball with your blade, the blade is at the highest speed, and the ball needs to be smashed both ways, from down to up, and also from back to forth. It may seem like too simple of an answer, but consider what will happens to the ball and rubber when you make that powerful shot. In that moment, the ball goes into the rubber, from top sheet into sponge, and finally into the wooden surface. For strong loopers, this impact happens all the time. They know how to make the ball sink deep even into wood. So, when you make such a powerful shot, even if you are not looping, you can still hear the loud sound of the ball's impact on the wooden surface of the blade. If you don't hear the sound, which normally happens when you smash without a spinny movement, then it means that you are not effectively doing a high level shot. Anyway, it's not the most important factor in table tennis. As far as I know, there are some good players who cannot make this "bang" sound when they loop, but still they are really powerful and win many matches.

 

By the way, whenever I make a blade, I discriminate the "staying moment" for general swing movement from the "bang" looping movement. Some blades can be good for a general swing, but not good for a "bang impact".

 

Often, when you land a bang impact shot on the table, your opponent will not even see the ball because it is too fast to be recognized. The ball seems to disappear. The impact generated by this kind of shot distorts the top sheet of the rubber and also distorts the sponge upon to the blade surface, making a loud BANG!

 

I don't want to degrade Chinese blades, but many of their blades are not good for a bang impact shot. They tend to focus on the feeling and power onto the table movement, which is about a small, but quick swing. So, they don't believe a blade has to be powerful with that bang impact shot.

 

Ok, now let's get to the point. From my description, you know there are two different kinds of loops. I will now explain the general differences between the three most popular materials.

 

1. General Hardness

Hinoki is normally very soft. It becomes damaged easily, so you need to be careful about it. Limba is still soft, but harder than Hinoki. Koto is hard and solid.

 

2. Feeling

I’m not sure how to express this part, but I will try. Hinoki feels sticky. When you loop, the ball seems to follow the movement of the wood. Limba feels like it embraces the ball, but this depends on how thick the Limba is that you use. Generally, most blade uses thin Limba that is less than 0.7mm, and you will feel it holds the ball into the center. Koto is hard, and normally we use a thin ply for the surface. Koto is also heavy, so we don't use it for the center ply. Generally, blade designers believe that hard surfaces would not be good for generating a big spin. But recently, they are using Koto in many blades, because with Koto they can make full use of rubber’s effect. If you use Koto on the surface, it should be very thin, if not, the blade’s overall feeling will be too solid, resulting in a dull blade. A thin ply of Koto works like a metal plate that has a positive effect on the rubber.

 

Now we have two factors — Hardness and Feeling. But this cannot be mechanically simple. For an example, many blades are using Koto on their surfaces, but most of them use very thin Koto, and in that case, it becomes like a very thin metal plate, which affects on the ball directly, but also helps the ball go into the second or center ply. The feeling of those blades also comes from the second ply, not only from the Koto surface.

 

Someone on this forum mentioned that Koto is a soft material, and I think it's because of this reason. The general feeling of Limba is embracing, but when I used it thick or doubled the feeling was not too embracing.

 

And also Hinoki, when I used very soft ones, the unique feeling became weak, and the second ply affected on the ball more directly. So, it also depends on the thickness of the material.

 

Any way, if you ask what will be the moderate thickness for them, I think for Hinoki, it will be from 0.8mm to 1.4mm. For Limba, it will be from 0.3mm~0.7mm. For Koto, it will be 0.3~0.5mm. This is my personal conclusion.

 

Ok, let's move on a little further.

 

When I design my Hinoki surface blades, I use high quality Japanese Hinoki. Hinoki has many grades. If you look into the surface, you will notice that there are lines. One line represents one year of tree growth. So, if you want to use Hinoki for a blade, then it has to be at least 200 years old. If not, the width is not enough to cover the entire surface of the blade. And generally, players don't like a blade that has several Hinoki fragments. If the line is wide, there could be two possibilities. That wood is not good. If the mother tree were young, then the lines would be wider because they are new, and the feeling is soft and speed is not very fast. Another possibility is that the material has come from the core part of a big old tree. In that case, the wood is also soft, and the speed is not very fast. But the prices of these two materials are much different. If the material is from the core of a very old tree, it's extremely expensive.

 

I use soft Hinoki for all the Nexy blades, and I prefer to use thick plies. Generally, many Hinoki blades' surface are 0.5mm thick, but I normally use thicker than that. When using hard Hinoki, 0.5mm will often be ok, but with soft Hinoki it has to be thicker. If not, the ball will be overly affected by the second ply, and players will not get the full effect of the Hinoki surface.

 

Let me give a practical example. Here are two blades, one is DEXTER and the other one is HANNIBAL. For DEXTER, my purpose was quite simple. I wanted to make a 5-ply blade, which was faster than a normal carbon blade.




So, I had to make the center ply thick and use fast spurs on the second. But if I made the blade too fast, then I was worried it would be too bouncy. So, I had to find a material that made the ball spinny, even though the staying moment of a ball was very short. In that case, Hinoki was the best choice. This blade was like an announcement for my brand. Nexy is different. It's a bold brand. And I wanted to prove it by showing the fastest 5-ply blade, DEXTER.

 

But for HANNIBAL, my purpose was quite different.




Carbon has been quite an attractive material for blade construction, but unfortunately, it often feels too artificial. So, some European makers tried to use it in the third position, or to use a very thin carbon layer. Some brands even claim to use it when in fact they do not. For example, they mix the carbon powder into the glue, and claim it’s a light carbon blade. But in that case, that carbon glue ply becomes shaken — little by little and eventually changes the character of the blade. Some makers tried to use only one line carbon, which meant they didn’t use carbon as one ply. While other makers mixed carbon layers with other artificial materials. Still, I still find a carbon layer to be a very attractive material, even with its potential problems. For me, the biggest problem is not only about feeling. I was more interested in how I can make it effective for a bang impact swing. As you might have experienced, many carbon blades are good when you practice basic skills, but in a match, they don't have good spin and feeling, and they lack power, even though they are fast.

 

I began to wonder how I could prolong the staying moment for a fast bang impact swing, and I discovered the solution. I used very light and resilient wood for the center ply. And I chose very soft Hinoki for the top ply, but thicker than most other blades. So, it's approximately 1.3mm thick.

 

With these two new factors, I could get very good stay​ing moment needed for a bang impact shot for HANNIBAL.

 

Someone recently asked me what blade would be good for short pips players, and I recommended HANNIBAL. This blade has a very powerful smash, but it also has enough staying moment needed for a player who wants to make use of the full range of pips-out play.

I have one Koto blade, IKARUS, and I'm going to release another, LABYRINTHOS. The reason I use Koto for these blades is I want to create a greater pips-out's effect.

 

Actually, there could be several different styles of pips-out players. And if I use soft material, then the staying moment can be longer than Koto. But in that case, the pips-out effect is also affected by that softness. Most push blockers prefer OX because that allows for maximum effect. Therefore, you can understand why I use the hard, solid Koto on the surface. If I use a soft surface, it would be like I added a thin sponge onto an OX rubber, which reduces the pips effect, i.e., reversal, wobble, dead ball, disruption, etc.

 

Regarding MUSIRO and MILARGE, I use Limba to add more control than other standard blades. This enabled more stability, even when using long pips rubbers. On the contrary, I use Koto for IKARUS and LABYRINTHOS, because I want to maximize the pips-out's effect.

 

OK, this was not a short story, but I hope most players have gotten something out of this passage. Some of my explanation will not be exact with the blade you have, because it's not that simple. Even if you use the same material, the effect will likely vary depending on several factors, including the weight of each material and on the total composition.

 

I don't expect you to accept my writing as a decisive conclusion, but rather as a way to understand your blade better.

 

Thank you for reading through this article.

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Edited by Crowsfeather - 11/15/2015 at 1:22am
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HEAD SIZE

 

I'm quite sure most players haven't given the head size of their blade much thought. I rarely did. Whenever I bought a blade, I checked the thickness and the handle. If a blade is too thin, it vibrates a lot; if too thick, it lacks feeling. It's a big problem if a handle is not comfortable. Also, many players might have their own suitable or preferable weight. For example, some women, elderly, disabled, or injured players might prefer using a lighter blade.

 

So, the size of the head was the last thing I considered. But as a blade designer, I found out that it's an extremely important factor. You can do an experiment on your own with the blade you don't use. Just trim a small piece off any blade, and the feeling will be totally different. Even 1mm could make a big difference. It will not feel like it did before.

 

Not too long ago I checked out several new blades made by a well-known global brand. They looked really great and had impressive specifications, but I could not say that their blades would be successful, because the head size was cut for show, not performance. They were very fashionable and had a comfortable handle, but the feeling of the blade was not so promising. I could tell this by the head size alone.

 

Several European brand consider head size as a brand identity. They stick to their own head size and style. They try to keep that size as a representation of their character. But in the end, many of these promising blades become a short term fad. They cannot survive the test of time. This saddens me. I do want to claim that a blade's head size is not about brand identity at all. It should be related with each blade's function and character.


 


Ok, here are some basic guidelines that most of you will easily agree on . . .

 

Smaller head results in:

 

       More vibration.

       Hard and focused feeling.

       More agility.

       Good for close-to-the-table shots.

       Not good away from the table.

       Unstable for a big, slow stroke.

       Good for short, fast movement (still not too stable).

 

 

Bigger head results in (there are very few blades with larger head size, except for defensive blades. So, I don't think I need to write about this, but I will still try to give some information. Anyway, most Chinese blades tend to be larger than blades from other countries, except for specialty blades).

 

       Unwanted hollow feeling.

       More vibration than a modest blade, but less than a smaller head size.

       Uncomfortable swing movement.

       Easy control and stability, but not agile.

 

Actually, I know many Chinese companies, and most them are making their blades the same size of Stiga blades. But they cannot are not the same because they clearly trace the head size Stiga blades by using a pencil and paper. This naturally causes their design to be slightly larger than original, especially the round part where the pencil automatically moves in a wider circle.

 

If they cut the head the same size as Stiga's, then would still they have some problems because the handle size cannot be the same as the original blade. Therefore, it would not be balanced correctly or comfortable. Regardless, I think there would still be a wide gap between the original and the copy due to the sensitive character of blades -- very small variations make big differences that are felt by players. That's table tennis!

 

Based on my experience, whenever I design, I focus on balance, which means:

 

       Weight between head and handle.

       Modest vibration.

       Great feeling.

       Overall weight balance, which is related to the sweet spot.


 Due to these factors that are related to balance, I think most of Nexy blades are very well balanced. I've never heard of any criticism about the balance of Nexy blades, and I will do my best to keep it that way!



Edited by Nexy - 11/06/2015 at 12:51am
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HINOKI - A Deeper Study

  

Character

 

When Hinoki is used for the surface of a blade, as I wrote in a previous article, it makes the player feel like the ball is sticking to the blade. If your swing movement is fast, then you will feel the fall follow the whole arc of the blade's trajectory. In this way, Hinoki feels different from other materials. So, you can make an effective topspin shot even when lightly grazing the ball. When you hit the ball, the ball follows the blade and moves slowly with a big spin, coming out too slow to be seen clearly.

 

Many Koreans can do this kind of slow but spinny type of looping, because they have been playing with Hinoki for many decades. We call this a "fake loop," because sometimes the ball comes after the blade, due to it's slow speed. If your arm moves very fast and the ball is hit very slightly, then the ball flies after the completed swing, and everybody can see the ball fly slowly after the blade. It's an awesome and surprising moment, because it takes away the expected timing for the opponent. And, sometimes even when the opponent blocks the ball with correct timing, the ball is too slow and weak and doesn't react in the usual way — it creeps onto the rubber of the opponent's blade, and then goes high, surprising the other player.

 

This is one factor I like about Hinoki material. It's good to make the ball follow the blade, but on the contrary, it's also harmful for a player to learn this kind of looping skill. In Korea, it is common to see players relying only on a "fake loop" instead of normal powerful loop, because it's fantastic to feel how it works. But sooner or later that kind of style will be defeated by a higher level player with more advanced, effective strokes. If the other player knows how to effectively block with the appropriate angle, then that kind of style defeats him. So, a fake loop is not good for players trying to improve his or her level. Anyway, I think there may be some players interested in this kind of fake loop. I used to do it when I played with one-ply Hinoki, but now I lost it. I hope I can demonstrate it someday in a video clip.

 

There is another distinction you can easily feel when using Hinoki as a surface wood.. If you block the ball, it works really well at controlling the length of the ball. If you push down your blade with good angle, loosening the power, then the ball will fall short. It's a very sensitive moment to enjoy. You can feel how the ball touches your Hinoki surface, and to goes back with a steady trajectory. The blocked ball moves in a stable way because the trajectory is higher and with good control. It will not be very aggressive, but you will feel comfortable as you hold and control the returning ball. I think this is very fascinating factor, and that's the true merit of Hinoki surface. This factor also comes from the first factor, which is its feels sticky.

 

Demerits of Hinoki

 

Yes, there are demerits in Hinoki. It's not a magic material. The first thing is, once you are accustomed to this material, you will no longer be comfortable with other materials because Hinoki has it's own distinctive swing trajectory. Using Hinoki will change your swing movement. This happens little by little over time. You will fold your upper arm faster, and will get better speed and impact, but the angle of the blade can be different from other playing surfaces. Your swing might become faster, but you will lose the general movement that many players think is fine. I can say this because I've experienced it while studying and comparing Hinoki to other materials. Another demerit will be price. Hinoki material is extremely expensive.

 

History of Hinoki

Most Korean and Japanese players used to play with Japanese penholder grip, and that style is totally different from normal shakehand users. The most popular blades were one-ply Hinoki, and if a player wanted to have enough speed, the bladed needed to be about 10mm thick. Therefore, the one-ply thick Hinoki plate was, and still is, needed for production. But if you use that Hinoki plate, then it needs to come from one tree trunk. It cannot be glued together from different pieces of different trees.

 

If you look closely at a piece of Hinoki material, there are vertical lines. Each line represents one year of growth, because it is made according to the speed of growth. When it's warm, it grows fast, but in winter, it's speed is slow. So, when it grows slowly, it yields a darker color, which results in darker lines.

 

Normally, one blade needs a width between 150~200 lines. If a tree is 100 years old, then it will have 200 lines; 100 lines from center to each other end. So, we can say that if we want to make a blade without joining pieces, then the mother tree needs to be at least 100. But it's not only about width. If a tree is 100 years old, then the blade will be soft and not very speedy. Young parts are softer and weaker, while old part are harder and more solid. If a blade is made from a big old tree, around 300~400 years old, then we can cut one blade from one part, and another in the middle, and the best one in the center. So, the width of the tree determines how we can get the Hinoki plate to make a table tennis blade. And one other important thing, old trees have more vibration, making the ball seem lighter when hit. Old trees also have less deviation than younger tree.

By the way, all those big old trees are reducing in numbers, so the price of raw materials is increasing steadily.

 

Hinoki blades can be categorized by several factors

 

( 1) Are they soft and weak? Or hard?

 

If they are soft, then they are from a young tree or from the inside of old tree. If they are from young tree, then their price can be cheaper, but if they are from old tree's center part, their price is priceless. But in fact, they are not very different. Actually, blades made from the inner part of a big old tree are almost the same as the one from small young tree.

 

Recently, the price of the blade from that old tree's center part is two or three times higher than several years' ago. But I think the difference is not very wide from the one cut from young tree, if we are making a several plies' shakehand blades. I mostly use that soft part for my blades. But still that material's price is very expensive compared with other surface material, and that's one reason that I cannot sell our hinoki surfaced product inexpensively.

 

There are several brands using American or Taiwanese Hinoki. Those Hinokies are inexpensive, and their characteristic is quite different from Japanese Hinoki. Taiwanese Hinoki is heavier than Japanese Kiso Hinoki, and the function is very different. In my own opinion, I don't think it's a good surface to use as a blade material.

 

(2) Do they have vertical lines with constant distance, or are lines getting wider in one direction?

 

If a material is cut exactly on the center, then the lines will get wider in both directions. If not, it should get wider from one side to the other. Normally, it's not easy to find all the lines keeping the same distance, because young parts close to the outer are wider, and also the part heading south grows wider than the part headed north. So, normally, a wooden ply cannot keep the same line width throughout the entire blade surface.

 

For many years, Korean players have known that narrower lines means a better blade, but I found that that’s not always correct. If the lines are narrow, then it means they are hard, which is not good for all-around play. If a player wants to have a big "bang impact," then the surface material must be kept modest.  If not, the ball does not stay on the blade which means there is no time to make a “bang impact.”

 

(3) Are they heavy or light?

 

I think you already know the answer. If the material from inner part or from younger trees, they tend to be light. Anyway, that's why expensive blades are light. Most expensive blades are cut from the inner part of an old tree, and they are soft and light. So, some brands are making them 10.5mm thick, not 10.0, because they need to cover that lightness with a light material.

 

(4) Are they brown or white?

 

Hinoki typically has it’s own range of color. Some are very white, and in that case, most blades are from the inner part. If Hinoki wood is brown, it’s probably from the outer part of a big tree, which is more expensive than the part from young tree. We can also guess it’s character by looking at it’s color.

 

3. How I designed Nexy's Hinoki surface blades

 

Ok, so far, I've reported general information about Hinoki blades, but the more important thing for me is how I design Nexy blades. I use expensive and qualified Japanese Hinoki materials on several of my blades. I will explain one by one, how I intended to make them:

  

DEXTER, HANNIBAL, COLOR, OSCAR



 I prefer to use a soft Hinoki material. If I use a hard surface, then the overall specs will be different. But when I develop new blades, especially for Hinoki models, I try to demonstrate Nexy's character, which is harmonized and well-balanced.

 

With the soft material, I use a little thicker outer ply than other general Hinoki surface blades. In many cases, the Hinoki surface is about 0.5mm or thinner, which it's not easy to get a "bang impact" effect. If a thin Hinoki surface is capable of making a speedy topspin shot, then it will not guarantee enough "staying moment" needed for a "bang impact." So, I chose to use soft Hinoki, but thicker than 0.5mm, and I calculated in each blades how to harmonize that thickness with the other plies.

 

Among the 4 blades listed above, the Hinoki is softer for HANNIBAL and OSCAR. I use a very soft material for both, because I need to employ a better feeling into those blades, which are mixed with artificial materials.

 

If you look at most well-known Hinoki carbon blades, they are using a 0.5mm or 1.0mm Hinoki surface.But if it's 0.5mm, the ball is too bouncy; and if it's 1.0mm, you don't have good feeling onto your hand. But I solved these seemingly incompatible problems by using a soft, but thicker Hinoki, matching it with a secret light and bouncy center ply.

 

So, when you play with HANNIBAL, you will be surprised to know that this blade is very soft and it grabs the ball inwardly deep as well as very soft and light. With this softness, you can feel the balance between the fast carbon layer and soft touch of the Hinoki outer ply.

 

With OSCAR, I spent over a year and a half experimenting to ascertain an extreme natural feeling, which was not seemingly attainable with an arylate carbon ply. I studied every possibility by mixing and matching different thicknesses for the surface, and that was the time when I was sure that I decided to consummate the constitution of OSCAR as it is now. I used a thick, but not too thick play to help carry a good feeling and power needed for this well balanced blade.

 

Regarding DEXTER, I thought I would open my new brand with something surprising and outstanding — something much different from all other 5-ply blades — something impossible to overlook. So the result is the most speedy 5-ply Hinoki blade. If I used other material for DEXTER, then the blade will not be catching the ball enough to make spinny shots. But I chose Hinoki for the surface, you could make a spinny shots when you have a high impact.

 

By the way, I think if your swing movement is not as speedy as an average Asian player, then you will not be able to think that this blade has good spin. So, I thought I had to make another one with better spin and good balance, and that became the reason for my next blade COLOR, which became an attractive item for many players.



Edited by Nexy - 11/12/2015 at 2:56am
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Hi nexy,

so Dexter and Color have the same composition 5ply hinoki but different thickness ?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote arg0 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/14/2015 at 4:56pm
Sorry for stepping in: may I disobey the instructions myself and ask everybody to refrain from posting in this thread, as requested by Nexy in the first post?

"To make this place well organized, I kindly ask people not to upload any of your personal posts. If you want to share your thoughts, please use nexy designer's diary. Thank you for your cooperation! Wink"

If an admin reads this, please move all posts in this thread that are not by Nexy to this other thread, instead, and then delete this post of mine. Thanks in advance.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nexy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/23/2015 at 10:48am
Originally posted by t64t64t64 t64t64t64 wrote:

Hi nexy,

so Dexter and Color have the same composition 5ply hinoki but different thickness ?

Yes, they share the same composition.
But they have different goals.
However, when I look back, the difference seems not big now.
Now NEXY has quite a wide range of choices, so, their difference seems narrower than before.



Edited by Nexy - 11/23/2015 at 10:48am
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Originally posted by arg0 arg0 wrote:

Sorry for stepping in: may I disobey the instructions myself and ask everybody to refrain from posting in this thread, as requested by Nexy in the first post?

"To make this place well organized, I kindly ask people not to upload any of your personal posts. If you want to share your thoughts, please use nexy designer's diary. Thank you for your cooperation! Wink"

If an admin reads this, please move all posts in this thread that are not by Nexy to this other thread, instead, and then delete this post of mine. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for your kind understanding.
However, if you have an important issue or a question to share with others, then you can step in and leave a message.
I think that can be helpful to enrich this thread.
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WHAT happens when we make a big looping shot on our racket?

 

This is the topic I planned to write quite a long time ago, but I could not start until today. I’m not a professional player, but I’ve been playing more than 20 years, and I sometimes play with top players in Korea. I also participated several junior players training camps in Germany and Hungary, and had many chances to see how players played in their own way.​

 

Basically, Korean players are always asked to make powerful shots. They are not allowed to send back their ball in a clumsy but steady way. Even though they can lose one point, still they are expected to return it with a great deal of power and speed. And from Korean players, I could learn how to make “Bang Impact” — This is the term I made up in order to explain more about blade and rubbers. When you make bang impact shot, the ball goes through the rubber and into the wood, and you can hear the sound coming from the impact on that wooden surface. It needs a quick swing movement combined with good angle and deep touch of the ball into the racket.

 

And from European players, I could learn the many ways by which they can handle their rackets and how they can be steadily in all strokes. I think some time later, I can write another report about the differences between Korea and Europe, and also provide some useful information about the Chinese training system.

 

Back to today’s topic . . .

 

Many players believe that when we hit a ball with our racket to make a good topspin shot (looping), then we need to make the ball roll on the rubber as long as possible. We might picture that the ball is rolling on the rubber, and we try to extend that rolling movement for as long as we can.

 
  
 This is the way most beginners, and even some good players, believe how we can loop. But just think more about it. When we swing the racket, this racket is meeting the ball, and the racket has a rubber and blade which are made to hit the ball with great speed. So, the idea that the ball can roll on the rubber is really not possible. If it stays in the rubber, than that cannot be rolling. That can be a moment when the ball goes deep into the rubber, and gets bounced off, leaving the rubber with a quick movement.

 

So, I can explain it this way . . .

 

The ball does not roll on the rubber. The ball is rather stabbed into the rubber, reaching as deep as it can , and then gets kicked out by the energy of the rubber as it re-coils back to its original shape.

 

Here is another picture by which you can better understand what I mean. 

 
 
 
 
 Actually, this bang impact is not only for professional players. Most loops occur as the picture illustrates. But top players can make the ball go much deeper, even to the wooden surface. If you start to understand these two pictures, then you would know why I focus on this bang impact. My blades general purpose is to give you the best chance for a bang impact.

 

I think many players will have some questions about these two illustrations. I’m not sure I can give correct answer to all questions, but I will wait for those questions and do my best.

 

If I find some more topics from those questions, I will write more about this as it relates to my upcoming line of blades.

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HOW TO MAKE BIG SPIN ON YOUR SERVICE
 
This topic is an exceptional one. It's not about my blade design, but still I found out many players don't know this.
 
As I wrote in the previous article, many players generally understand that creating a big spin requires a prolonged contact area between the rubber and ball. But when a ball hits the topsheet of a rubber, it does not roll on it. Generally, it goes deep into the rubber and makes the topsheet and sponge compress. And the rubber's topsheet and sponge makes the ball spin when it expands back to its normal shape. Therefore, it's not about rolling, it's about sinking into and springing back.
 
This is not only in rare cases. I think in most cases the ball does not roll on the surface.
 
The phrase "bang impact" happens when the ball goes deep enough to touch the wooden surface.
Even when the ball does not go deep into the wood and make a big sound, it does not normally roll. It simply goes deep into the rubber and gets repelled by the power of rubber's return to its normal shape. That's when the big spin is generated. Many players who read my previous article may have mistakenly believed that this only happens when they make "bang impact.” So, I needed to make this clearer.
 
Here is another example:  Many of you may have tried to roll the ball on your rubber as much as possible when trying to make a big spin on your service. So, you might think you need to move the racket wide to give the ball a longer trail to roll on. That may be the general belief, but in fact, if you look at slow motion video clips of high level players' service motion, you will know that this is not true. Even when you make a service, the ball does not roll. It simply goes deep into the rubber and gets expelled. It’s the same procedure as looping — the ball does not roll!
 
Just think more about the basic character and relationship of a rubber and blade. They are made to bounce off one another. The ball cannot hold onto a blade when hit by it. So, the moment the ball stays on the rubber it is not rolling, and it must be going deep and then expelling out. All the spin has to be made while the ball goes in and then out of the rubber. Therefore, when you want to make a big spin on your service, it has to be accomplished in the short moment when the ball impacts your rubber, goes deep, and catapults off. It's not only about  a big swing movement. It's about the very short but quick movement when the ball it picked up by the rubber.
 
You can easily test this theory by slicing the ball with very short but quick swing downward movement. Even though the racket does not move wide, and the angle of the racket is not possible to make the ball roll, still the ball will have the same or bigger spin than usual.


Edited by Nexy - 01/08/2016 at 11:08pm
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Ayous - The Core Factor for Nexy's Second Wave

It's been a really long time since I wrote articles about the wood materials used for the blades. As a blade designer, I often receive letters suggesting what wood material compositions would be good for players. But in most cases, they don't consider the exact features. I carefully examine and consider the wood composition for each blade. It's not easy to guess the result when using  a combination of several wooden plies, but after a great deal of experimentation and experience, I can now predict what the result would be with more accuracy than several years ago. Nexy's blade designing process now relies more on thinking, rather than on actual sample tests. Of course, I still prepare samples and demo each sample for several weeks before the final production. But now the quantity and variety of these samples are much smaller than before.

Today, I will reveal some information about “Ayous” that you might be interested in.

Nexy's second wave began with the notion that ideal blades need to have a large gap between the speed when used for blocking and the speed when used for making big powerful, spinny shots. So, I tried several blade compositions to accomplish this goal. Among the blades designed on the basis of this second wave goal (LISSOM, SPEAR, CALIX, SPARTACUS), CALIX is truly amazing. With CALIX, you can feel the balls' deep touch inside the wooden surface through it's rubber when making a powerful shot. On the contrary, when you block an opponent's powerful shot, CALIX's 5mm thickness absorbs the impact of the opponent's ball. This quality is a result of its thinness and hard character. But if some other brand tries to make a blade very thin and hard, it will most likely have small spin and a bouncy feeling. So, there must be a reason for CALIX’s conspicuous feature — How can it exert this big speed gap within it's 5mm thickness?

The key factor will be Ayous. I used Ayous for three blades among those four blades designed by second wave concept. LISSOM, SPARTACUS, and CALIX has Ayous. The only exception is SPEAR. And all three blades have the Ayous as a second layer. So, what is the character of Ayous? Why is Ayous used as the second layer?
Ayous absorbs impact, but it scatters away the initial impact and then grabs the ball at a specific point. It's clearly different from the characteristics of Limba, which embraces the ball using the whole face of the layer. With Ayous the ball goes into one point on the layer, and that point scatters away the power and energy through the surrounding space. So, Ayous has two different aspects:  One is to absorb the power in one point, and then scatter it away. The other is to regain the energy and direct it on that one specific point. I can safely say that Ayous grabs the ball on one point, which is clearly different from most other wooden materials.

Kiri, Spruce, Basewood, and other common blade materials have space to absorb power. I would estimate that the absorbing point is about 1cm around. Limba can absorb the power with the whole face (about 5cm around), and Ayous absorbs the power only at one point (about 1mm around).

So, Ayous has a focus that absorbs and repels on the same spot, and that was what I really liked about Nexy’s second wave of blade designs. I wanted to make a blade that can absorb deep and return the ball with a great deal of power. This meant that I needed a material that could absorb and also rebound the ball immediately after receiving it deep into itself. As I expected, the ideal material turned out to be Ayous! Therefore, I used Ayous for three blades, CALIX, SPARTACUS, and LISSOM. CALIX was more peculiar than other two blades because of it’s extreme thinness.

By the way, I’m now working on another blade with this Ayous layer. This time, I plan to use a thicker Ayous than other three blades. It's layer will be 1.5mm thick. But, if I use 1.5mm thick Ayous, then it will make the feeling dull, and the blade weight will be too heavy with more absorption. This is not want I want! So, I will use burn Ayous to make it lighter and to increase the feeling. I believe this will be more ideal than the 0.7mm thickness I have been using. This new blade will have carbon layer under that Ayous, which will make the Ayous effect greater than as with LISSOM. So, Ayous's effect will be extraordinary in grabbing the ball deep and rebounding it with big spin and speed. This blade will be called “AMAZON.”

I’m also preparing two new blades that have a consideration for environmental issues. One will be AMAZON and the other will be called “TUVALU”

Regarding TUVALU, I can give a little hint about its characteristics. This blade is for long pimple rubber players, and it will have very different speed on both sides — it’s a combination blade. I inserted a new material, and I think this blade will surprise many pips players. The final sample will come out soon. The name of this blade is taken from an island country, which is about to sink into the sea.

AMAZON is a blade also using Ayous layers. But this time the thickness of Ayous will be almost twice that of the other three blades, and also I will use burnt material. So, I expect the actual function of this blade to be ideal.

Ok, that's all for now. I will try to write more about AMAZON later on and include some images to peak your interest.



Edited by Nexy - 01/08/2016 at 11:07pm
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Thickness of Wooden Layer
 
This is a very important issue, but most players don’t know much about it. I came to realize that this is a source of many untrue presumptions about table tennis blade design.
 
When we design a blade, the thickness of each wooden layer differs by at least 0.1mm thickness. So, even blades that are made with a mixture of the same wooden layers have deviation. Especially when the wood is hard, the function of the blade becomes quite different between the thin layer (less than 0.5mm) and thicker layer (more than 1.0mm). This is the reason that Stiga uses a thinner top ply than before. I’m sure Stiga realizes that using a thinner material causes a blade to damage more easily, but they still use it because a thicker material would adversely effect the feeling and function. But with a thin layer, the actual function of the blade changes as time goes on. This change applies much more to the thinner layer than thicker one.
 
Some players might agree that this is also possible, because when the surface layer is thin, the characteristic of the ​wood layer could be affected by gluing on each side. I also think that is correct. In addition to the glue effect, there is also a difference between the thin layer ( below 0.5mm) and thicker layer (more than 1.0mm).
 
Let me use an example from one of the Nexy blade:
 
When I designed SPEAR, I used a very thin surface wood, and that was one of the reasons why SPEAR is different from other similar blades. I tried to take the slight function and feeling from the surface wood. I wanted the surface wood to absorb the impact of the ball, and toss it to the second layer as soon as possible. If I used a thick limba top ply on that blade, then the final feeling of that blade would have been very dull and less attractive. So, SPEAR has a better feeling because of the using of thin limba wood.
 
Let me have another example:
 
When I designed AMAZON, I intentionally used a very thick ayous ply. When ayous is thick, the feeling of the wood is damp, and not bouncy enough. So, I burnt them, and that’s why the final blade is not damp and dull. Rather it sounds loud and acts directly against the ball.
 
So, we cannot say what wooden layer is good. We only can say what thickness and combination is harmonious between several wooden layers. I want to give additional information, but there are some details that I will withhold for Nexy next series of blades.


Edited by Nexy - 01/08/2016 at 11:20pm
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Burning / Coloring

There are two ways to transform the blade’s wooden layers. One is coloring and the other is burning. Coloring started decades ago, and burning is a new manufacturing method that started recently.

By coloring the raw wood, we can change its characteristics. Normally, it becomes a little stiffer and tougher (more durable and substantial). Coloring the wood does not make a big change in the wood’s character, while the burning process can make a big change.

When we burn the wood, it becomes lighter, bouncier, and makes a bigger sound when impacted. But this process can cause the wooden material to weaken. I think the right expression for this is “weaker tensile strength.” It becomes more powerful, but it’s more fragile when tugged from different sides (this is a general explanation). Some woods might not cause a tensile strength change. I could not test all of the wooden materials.

When we use a burnt layer, the blade becomes lighter and thinner, and the sound of the impact becomes bigger. CALIX is made with a burnt layer, and it was extremely powerful at a mere 4.9mm. Since I liked the result of the burning process from CALIX, I will also use this method for CALIX II and another new blade, QABOD. Yet, there are so many other things to try. I am curious to know the result of using the coloring and burning process together. So, sometime later, I might also try this.

This is a brief report about a couple wooden layer manufacturing techniques. I hope you can learn something from it!
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Regarding Surface Wood

I will divide my surface wood explanation into two distinct periods. One is before the announcement of the ITTF’s speed glue ban policy, and the other is after the announcement.

Traditionally, soft and embraceable materials were used for surface wood. For example, Japanese Hinoki was widely preferred by Asian market. Hinoki is a soft wood that has a sticky feeling when stroking the ball fast with spin. Limba and ayous were also commonly used, and they are also quite soft.

There were several hard woods used as a surface wood, such as white ash for the Violin (Nittaku), and koto for the Timo Boll Spirit (Butterfly). But these are exceptional cases. 
I discovered that many forum members think that koto is a soft wood. But koto is not soft. When we consider the feeling of the Timo Boll Spirit, it is quite understandable why people consider koto soft. The surface layer of the TBS was thinner than other blades' surface woods, and arylate carbon was also bit soft in comparison to normal carbon layers. So, Koto from the TBS felt quite soft due to it’s thin surface wood and soft feeling affect from the arylate carbon. Anyway, if we used a thick ply of Koto, the feeling would be very dull and hard.

Traditionally, a surface wood should be responsible for the feeling and spin of the ball, while the inner layers are responsible for speed and power. Therefore, many brands used soft woods as a surface layer because they believe that soft woods can generate more spin with better feeling.

However, after many random tests of various kinds of woods, several blades made with hard wood surface have disappeared from the market. But those blades were not a failure by any means. Some of the hard surfaced blades were quite successful, such as the Violin, Timo Boll Spirit, and Ma Lin Extra Offensive.

With regard to the soft feeling of a blade, we need to consider the surface layer combined with the second layer. When the blade is made with a thin, hard surface layer and a soft second layer, then hard feeling from the surface layer does not affect much at all. The hard characteristic from the surface layer makes the soft second layers’ function clearer and more effective when they are paired with good thickness ratio. This was well proven by the new line of hard surface blades made by Stiga.
I think I can share additional information about Stiga blades as long as I don’t reveal too many secrets or harm their brand image.

Stiga’s best-selling blades used to have very soft, fragile surfaces. But when water based glue appeared to the market, those soft and weak surfaces became troublesome matter for Stiga. The top ply often splintered when changing rubbers. So, they developed a new method that involved sealing the blades’ surface with varnish. They called this a “crystallizing technique.” It was an effective idea when we consider the situation changed with the arise of water based glue. But with this new technology, they also lost something along the way.

Stiga has been known as a good blade maker, due to it’s natural feeling, but their new line of hard wood blades have lost that famous Stiga feeling. So, Stiga found a new way, leaving that coating technique behind. They still use a coating on some blades, but they use a much smaller amount.

When the ITTF banned speed gluing, many bands had to think of two things. One was to make a faster blade, and the other was to make a stronger surface. For these reasons, new materials were developed. These materials were a combination of various fibers and carbon, such as, aramid, arylate, glassfiber, zylon and so on.
Hard woods became generally acceptable for surface woods. Mahogani, walnut, white ash, koto, ebony, rosewood and akazi appeared on the market, replacing ayous, limba, and Japanese Hinoki. I think hard surfaces became popular not only because they are better in many ways, but also because many brands led by Stiga discovered ways to use these hard woods properly.

I received a message claiming that white ash is not good for table tennis blade. But I think it is a misled understanding. All those hard woods can feel very soft and will be able to make a good spin when they were used together with intentionally arranged soft wood as a second layer. The major role to use hard wood surface is about artistic and emotional value and to protect the blade. So, the surface wood does not affect function and performance very much, but we can classify them by the different types of surface wood materials and their character.

I recently released a new blade “Quabod,” and it shows how a surface wood affects on the whole blade. It is similar to Calix 2, but I carefully studied how to make the next version. I discovered how a new surface wood changes the function and characteristics of the blade. So, Qabod is similar to Calix 2, but it’s also quite different.




Edited by Nexy - 01/27/2016 at 3:19am
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Nexy’s Third Wave (1)

It's been a really long time since I wrote something about my blade design process. There are many things to tell you, and I’m prepared to pour it all out.

First, there is a rumor that the IOC is considering whether or not to keep table tennis as an Olympic event (I don't believe this is serious though). I heard that the main reason for this idea is coming from the continuous winning of the Chinese. This is true. After Waldner's resignation from world ranking, China seems to have become an undefeatable team. This is the reason behind the rumors about removing table tennis from the olympics. I decided to write stories about China and table tennis equipment, which will evoke many different perspectives among you. However, today's topic is about Nexy’s third wave blades, which include:

1. INCA (designed by me, but distributed and produced under the Tibhar brand name).

2. PETER PAN

3. ARIRANG

4. OZ

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before writing about Nexy's Third Wave, I need to clarify about the first and second wave. The aim of the First Wave was to design an ideal blade that was lacking from other brands. Here are some of ideas that I tried to fulfill. 

DEXTER:  The fastest among 5-ply Hinoki surface blades without any artificial material. The difference from other 5 ply wood blades were two fold. 1. Japanese Hinoki surface, fast 5 ply blade. 2. A very fast blade all wood blade.

HANNIBAL:  A smooth, well-balanced Hinoki carbon blade that is also good for short pips-out attackers. This blade seems quite similar to other brands' normal Hinoki surface blades, but with a smoother center ply. It has a very good feeling as if it were an all wood blade. The purpose of this blade is to make a Kiso Hinoki surface blade with a carbon layer, as many other brands produce, but with a natural wooden feeling. 

OSCAR:  A well-balanced, natural feeling blade with computerized blocking and a well-organized arylate carbon layer. This blade reveals a good feeling and natural touch that is lacking in most arylate blades.

COLOR:  A modified 5-ply Hinoki surface blade, inspired by DEXTER. It has a beautiful harmony throughout.

When you see these blades, you will discover that many of them are using Kiso Hinoki on the surface. This is a very common and popular top ply for Korean players, but still relatively new to other country players. Hinoki has recently become more available outside of Japan. So, making blades with a Hinoki surface was another big feature in the First Wave blades. Hinoki has a feeling of stickiness. When you play with it you will notice a different angle when attacking, especially when you loop and block.

After releasing the First Wave blades, Nexy revealed a different trend, which was called the Second Wave. This new wave was aiming at a big difference between defensive and offensive play. When you hit the ball with power, the ball has to feel the impact well and repel with great power. But when you block the ball with care, the ball has to absorb the power and fly more slowly and with less power. So, the aim was to enlarge the gap between offensive and defensive play. I will not repeat all the details about it. Anyway, while I try to make this second wave blade, I came to know that burnt blades have a good result that could match what I was trying to achieve. Therefore, CALIX, CALIX-2 and QABOD feature the burnt wood. I’d like to mention something again regarding the Second Wave. If you’ve already read this, you can skip the information below.

----------What was written about the second wave ----------

Nexy's Second Wave started from the idea that ideal blades need to have a big gap between the speed when it is used for blocking and the speed when it is making powerful, spinny shots. So, I tried many different blade compositions to accomplish this goal. Among blades designed on the basis of this Second Wave goal (LISSOM, SPEAR, CALIX, SPARTACUS), CALIX especially stood out as an amazing blade. With CALIX, you can feel the balls' deep touch inside the wooden surface through it's rubber, when you try to make a powerful shot. On the contrary, when you block your opponent's powerful shot, then CALIX’s 5mm thin blade absorbs the impact of the opponent's ball. This quality comes from the combination of it's thinness and hard character. CALIX exerts a large speed gap within it's 5mm thin thickness. But if other brands try to make a blade very thin and hard, then it would probably produce a smaller spin and bouncy feeling.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

In summary, the First Wave was a trial to make Nexy more complete than other brands, and the Second Wave was to make Nexy more unique than other brands. With the First Wave, Nexy began to stand out, but in the same place where other brands are standing, but with the second wave, Nexy rose up high in a very remote place where other brands dared not to venture, even though players will only feel a slight difference. After finishing CALIX II and QABOD, I realized that Nexy needed to begin something new. The answer was clear. I knew what I needed to do! The hint came from AMAZON, which combined burnt and unburnt wooden layers. When I designed AMAZON, I used burnt ayous for the center ply. Ayous is a good material, but in it’s natural form I did not like it very much as a center wood because it is heavy, and the feeling is little dull and artificial. So, I tried many different thicknesses of Ayous as a core layer for the Second Wave blades. I discovered that the optimal thickness for “Ayous” layer should be between 0.5 ~ 0.7mm, and this should be used as a second layer material. Ayous is a very interesting wood. When it's thick, the feeling is like a thick piece of bread. It absorbs the impact inwardly. When it repels the ball, the feeling is not coming from the whole space, but from one point where the ball is struck. Therefore, I did not think I needed to use a thick ply of ayous for the second layer to maximize the gap between offensive and defensive play. And when I designed AMAZON, I questioned, “How about using a burnt Ayous layer?”



When wooden layers are burnt, they become very different in many ways. They are lighter with a different feeling. You might think when a wood layer is burnt, they vibrate more than before, but generally when wooden layers are shrunken, they lose vibration. And I loved this result!

Therefore, I tested burnt ayous for AMAZON. I used it 1.5mm thick, which is almost double than the other Second Wave blades' ayous layers. I can say I tried to maximize the thickness of Ayous as a second layer. If I used 1.5mm thick Ayous without burning it, then the feeling would have been very dull, and speed would have been much slower. Yet, AMAZON's final speed and feeling was excellent due to the burnt ayous — it was a very good blade. With my limited English vocabulary, I don't know what to say about it, except that AMAZON came out exactly like what I wanted. The thick ayous second layer provides a steady and stable feeling. Little by little, I came to wonder, what about using a thick ayous on the center wood? Actually, many brands are using Ayous as their center wood, and I did not like that idea. But I thought I could try one after using the burning process. That was the moment I came to think about Nexy's Third Wave!

I will write more later . . .
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rokphish Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03/09/2016 at 2:45am
sorry

Edited by rokphish - 03/09/2016 at 8:20am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bobpuls Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03/09/2016 at 4:57am
HMMMM But burned ayous gets very fragile and i think in long term the core will tear apart .... but i can be wrong ... 
had you done some test in long term hard smash usage ?
Still very interesting designs ...   


Edited by Bobpuls - 03/10/2016 at 1:50pm
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Custom carbon off++ FH DHS TG2 BS BH DHS TG3-60 National

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nexy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/30/2016 at 5:15am
Thank you for the question.
We admit that burnt ayous layer is weak than raw wooden ayous layer.
But Nexy has been using those burnt ayous layer only for the center part, not on the surface, and it was covered by stronger other layers. So, it's seldom damaged.

We need to compare what we get and what we lose, when we run something new for the blade design, and as for now, the possibility of weak ayous' layer's damage does not win the light and pleasant touching of burnt ayous center.

However, Nexy is not using burnt ayous layers for many blades in 4th. generation. Thank you again.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nexy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/30/2016 at 5:31am
Dear friends,

I have an official annoncement.
Here is a new staff who will help the management of "nexy.com".
Her name is Hazy, and her email is "[email protected]".
If you have any question concerning "nexy.com", he will help you.

Thank you.

Oscar.

Edited by Nexy - 07/05/2016 at 9:55pm
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Edited by gekogark1212 - 05/31/2016 at 3:29am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nexy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07/05/2016 at 9:56pm
Z-Blade


This is another blade designed and produced at the request of Nexy fans’. How I developed this blade is a long story, but I finally got it out in the market.

I will try to make a long story short:
Three years ago, when I started to think about the basic concept of Nexy’s Fourth Generation, I was clear on one thing — with the new poly ball, we needed to create a series of new blades that generated greater spin than ever before.


So, what blade characteristics help to create more spin? Generally people believe that spin can be caused by the rolling movement of the ball on the blade surface, but that’s not the case. This is a common misperception that is widely off the mark. The ball never actually rolls on the blade or on the rubber.

The ball only can pinch the surface of the rubber, causing the rubber’s top sheet and sponge to become twisted. Spin is generated when the rubber snaps back to its initial form. Therefore, it’s not about how long we keep the ball on the blade but how effectively we can catch the ball in a certain point in time. That is the concept I relied on when I designed Nexy’s Third Generation, and our Fourth Generation makes great use of this concept.


Therefore, we don’t need to keep the ball on the racket for very long in order to create a lot of spin. Rather we need to catch the ball deep in a quick moment and catapult it as the racket covering (topsheet and sponge) returns to its original shape and form.


The surface wood of Z-Blade is alluring because it can generate good spin in a very quick moment. It does not need to “hold” the ball long, as Hinoki or Limba does. This top layer is uniquely different from other materials in that point.

I wanted to maximize that property, which gave birth to Olam, another fine blade. Olam has a quick response, and it does not keep the ball long, but still it generates good spin compared to its quick response. I developed Olam and Z-Blade at the same time, and unfortunately, Z-Blade was temporarily pushed aside and lost among the many sample blades, while Olam enjoyed a successful release into the market.



But many blade testers in Korea had a different opinion. They urged me to keep Z-Blade. According to our testers, “Z-Blade has unique features. It grabs the ball deep and gives good spin, urging us to use an attacking style!” They continued to persuade me, and finally I decided to produce this blade and add it to the Nexy line.


I’m still not entirely sure that I can consider Z-Blade to be one of Nexy’s Fourth Generation blades because it was not my final choice. However, the basic composition is aligned with other Fourth Generation blades, so we are proud to call it one of Nexy’s Fourths.


The surface wood has a quick response, but the second layer and the third layer work together to keep the ball longer. This causes a heavy contrast between different strokes — unbalanced responses. Powerful drives will quickly expel off the blade with great power, while wider topspin shots will remain on the blade longer, resulting in great spin. The dual speed system works well with this unbalanced response, and the blade surface has a very distinctive character.


Basically, this blade is a 7-ply blade, but the general composition follows the normal concept of a 5-ply blade. The core wood keeps the balance of power and weight, and the second layer controls the touch of the surface as well as the depth of the impact. The surface wood is related to the spin and staying moment of the ball. Therefore, it’s a 7-ply that plays similar to a 5-ply. Players will still think of this blade as one of Nexy’s family.


Overall, there is something quite different about this blade that will confuse opponents and keep them guessing. The imbalance between the character of the surface, second, and third layers will prevent opponents from being able to predict the length of the ball’s bounce. I sincerely hope these unique qualities entice you to give Z-Blade a try.
To add one more thing — I’d like to ask you to look at the design. It shows Nexy’s sophisticated touch about blade design.


In order to make a final description, I will add the comments below from my personal experience as a player, not as a designer. This blade is not my final choice, rather it has been chosen by other players.
Z-Blade is sharp, but calculative where to send the ball. You will feel very comfortable with this blade for offensive rallies, but it is not as powerful as other Fourth Generation blades.

Nevertheless, you will be attracted because you will be continuously returning the ball to your opponent in any and all circumstances. That is the uniqueness of this blade. And at some level, this blade shares characteristics with Nexy's Fourth Generation.

I proudly introduce Nexy’s mysterious Z-blade!




http://nexyttstore.com/shakehand/496-z-blade.html

Edited by Nexy - 07/05/2016 at 10:19pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nexy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07/05/2016 at 10:06pm
2016 Nexy’s New J-Pens


In 2016, Nexy opened the doors and revealed three J-Pen brothers.
Nexy does not continuously sell Hinoki one-ply blades. Top quality Japanese Kiso Hinoki woods are not easy to obtain, and the raw materials are becoming rarer year after year.

So, our production of these blades has been dependent upon the availability of raw material on the market. It was a lucky year! After a long wait, we were finally able to acquire enough precious Hinoki to create three J-Pen brothers:



Temujin +

It’s been 10-years since Nexy sold the AA-grade Hannibal J-Pen in the market. When Nexy begun, its main focus was to compete with other brands (which has now turned into making its own path), and to acquire good raw materials was quite an attractive task.

But we could make only 20 blades, which were quickly sold out. Temujin was one of our original J-Pen designed, and it is now reborn under a new name, “Temujin +.”

Meet the finest selection of Nexy. The wood is cut from the inside of an old Japanese Hinoki tree trunks. It is 11mm thick, which are seldom seen in the table tennis market. It has a soft touch, but with a speedy character. The reason why? We wanted to make this blade the most powerful, fastest J-Pen ever.


Still, the price is quite competitive. In the future, it might be next to impossible to find AA-Grade Hinoki that is suitable for 11mm one-ply blades.

There’s a good chance that this blade will be a one-time production; therefore, we made the price a little lower than the market standard. Maybe this sounds strange to your ears, but I believe it proves that Nexy tries to be fair and responsible to the needs of our customers.
These blades will not stay long in Nexy’s warehouse.

If you want one of these pure Hinoki beauties, we highly recommend that you hurry-up and grab one!

http://nexyttstore.com/japanese-penhold/493-temujin-plus.html




Iskandar +

Iskandar is another excellent Nexy blade that has been missing for a decade. It was well regarded and commonly known as a trustworthy J-Pen, but unfortunately we could not continue to produce this blade due to the lack of available raw Hinoki.

However, after a long absence, Iskandar has returned to Nexy’s product list under a new name, “Iskandar +.”

This is made of A-grade Japanese Kiso Hinoki — a fine wood with good quality. It is 10.5mm thick. It’s commonly known that Korean players prefer to have a fast blade, and Korea is the only place that players can buy a J-Pen that is thicker than 9mm.

Normally, Japanese brands specifically produce top quality J-Pen blades for the Korean market with a 10mm thickness. Some Korean brands try to make them thicker, and only a few brands have J-Pens thicker than 10mm. Nexy is one of those brands!

Iskandar + is a beautiful and powerful J-Pen created from hand-picked A-grade wood. It’s a shame that Nexy cannot guarantee to continuously produce this blade.

However, at the moment, you can lay your hands on this beauty, but you'd better hurry. The materials are getting rarer by the day. Now is your chance to experience the exceptional feel and performance of Iskandar +.

http://nexyttstore.com/japanese-penhold/494-iskandar-plus-.html




Caritas +

Throughout the years, Caritas has been Nexy’s representative Hinoki J-Pen. Along the way, Nexy has been able to acquire some "A-" grade Hinoki wood, and each time, this blade was shown to players.

Nexy will once again release Caritas, but this time under a new name, Caritas +. Like Iskandar +, this blade is also made from hand-selected "A-" grade Japanese Hinoki wood.

I cannot say this blade is better than Iskandar +. But we can consider the price gap when we compare them as both have their own special characteristics.

Caritas + is a highly attractive and compatible blade due to its surprisingly low price. A 10mm J-Pen with one-ply Japanese Hinoki wood is a rare find nowadays. Therefore, this blade is a real blessing, given the circumstances.

Japanese Hinoki trees are now getting rarer and rarer, and sooner or later this grade wood will disappear. So, if you are a J-Pen player, then now is the time to buy a lovely Hinoki J-Pen at a good price.
That’s why we call this blade “Caritas.” It’s new stylish design allows us to add a “+” onto the name.
Take advantage of this amazing opportunity!

http://nexyttstore.com/japanese-penhold/495-caritas-plus.html
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What Makes Karis Different?










It’s been a while since I promised to write more about Karis. In order to explain more details about this rubber, I will first summarize what I previously wrote:

The history of soft rubber development met a big obstacle when the ITTF initiated the “speed glue” ban. Speed gluing relies on using a chemical to penetrate deep into the sponge to soften the material and add elasticity, which increases speed and spin. After the speed glue ban policy, many brands had to find a new way to enhance rubbers.

So, we could find two different ways among rubber brands. German rubber manufacturers began making high-tension rubbers that focused on artificially expanding the sponge, such as Nimbus and Sinus.

Japanese manufactures like Butterfly turned away from high-tension rubbers like Bryce into a new line of bubbled sponge rubbers. Tenergy adopted a new sponge that has air capsules inside. This air capsule worked as a spring that helped to keep the elasticity of the sponge. But many high-tension rubbers have a problem with unexpected ball movement against powerful shots. High-tension rubbers tended to become solid and they could lose the power to catapult the strong shot by top players. Therefore, many high level players moved away from European brands to Butterfly’s Tenergy05. Note: Tenergy is not a pure synthetic rubber product — it began using a boosting technology from the beginning.

Sometime later, ESN started to produce bubbled sponges as Butterfly did, and Genius of Tibhar became the first release. These bubbled sponge rubbers could work well with hard sponge rubbers, and ESN released many hard rubbers in order to compete with Tenergy.

But, like the high-tension rubbers, those hard rubbers had stability problems, e.g., unexpected ball movement.

When we adopt a hard topsheet to drive the ball, the rubber tries to hold on as long as possible (upward movement), but in the same time, a hard sponge tries to expel the ball quickly (returning movement). Those two different directions could confuse the final ball movement. So, players experience unexpected ball motion when we play with a hard topsheet + hard sponge rubbers. MX-P is a good example for this phenomenon.

During this period of rubber development, there was another big change in table tennis. The ITTF introduced the plastic ball, which was heavier and players could not generate as much spin as they did before with celluloid balls. So, many brands tried to make a more powerful rubber, which resulted in a hard topsheet assembled on a hard sponge. But they could not solve the strange feedback problem. So, ESN switched from a hard top sheet + hard sponge to softer topsheets. A good example of this is Tibhar’s 5Q and Quantum.

At the same time, Butterfly also tried to minimize this problem. Their Tenergy05 became softer than before, and they also released many other soft version rubbers, such as Tenergy 80, 64, and 25.

To sum up, the trend in top quality rubber configuration became a softer topsheet with a hard sponge. But I thought that hard topsheet supported by hard sponge rubbers were still more attractive to many players, even though they sometimes had issues with odd rubber feedback.

I thought about how I could make a new NEXY rubber that featured a hard topsheet + hard sponge without that unexpected ball movement. This is the key reason why Karis is different from all the trendy rubbers.

Karis did not try to solve this problem by only changing the chemical recipe. We also tried to test shorter columns in order to make the topsheet move in sync with the sponge. As previously explained, we tried to eliminate the problem of the topsheet not moving in harmony with the sponge. So, by cutting the column shorter, we could build-up a rubber that moves harmoniously with the sponge.

I am revealing this secret because I know that other brands cannot easily find the optimum length with optimum materials. When we first tested several other rubbers with this shorter column structure, we discovered that many rubbers became extremely dull. It’s not easy to find the good composition with this shorter column topsheet. I will welcome other brands to use my idea, but they will have to pay the fee as I spent two whole years on this new rubber.

That’s it! Karis does not have the inherent problems that other top quality hard topsheet rubbers often do. You can trust this rubber. You will feel that this rubber shows only one strong movement, and you will like this direct motion through the whole depth.

We are sure that our rubber will be good, but it will take some time for you to get accustomed to this direct feeling. Give it a try, and you will have no more stress from the instability of powerful rubbers.

Karis will be released during the final week of October, and the price will be $50 USD all over the world. Spread the word because this is a quite a revolutionary change in rubber history, and you will see that one small Korean brand broke through a big wall that many other global brands could not overcome.

Thank you for reading this.


Edited by nexy1 - 10/09/2016 at 4:14am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Baal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/09/2016 at 11:11pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote asifgunz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/10/2016 at 12:57am
Tenergy killa ?

50$ gets us 2 vega pros and a bag of chips.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rosecitytt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/10/2016 at 10:59pm
I have heard Speed 90 is really good Jpen single ply.
How is the Temujin+ blade compared to that, is it similar performance/feel?
Thank you


Edited by rosecitytt - 10/10/2016 at 11:03pm
Darker Speed OEM 10mm Jpen
FH:Beijing Swords
RPB:Tenergy 05 2.1
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