Hey there! I
don’t normally review equipment but I thought I’d contribute a little by giving
a review of my latest blade: the Tibhar Samsonov Force Pro.
A little
background on the reviewer: I am a left-handed player with a playing style best
defined as a “power looper”. I’m currently rated in the high 1900s but I’ve
only been playing about 5 years so it’s constantly changing. Richard McAfee
wrote about this style here: http://www.newgy.com/ttcommunity/Archive/April2002article.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.newgy.com/ttcommunity/Archive/April2002article.html :
My last
blade was the OSP Virtuoso +, but I have also used the Nittaku Acoustic,
Butterfly Timo Boll Spirit, and Stiga Clipper for extended
periods of time(months to years). I use Nittaku FastArc G1 on the forehand and
Butterfly Tenergy 64 on the backhand. I
have been using this blade for about 40 hours of practice and play now. It
might also be relevant that I prefer wood blades over composite blades.
The prerequisites:
I really love 5 ply wood looping blades like the Acoustic or the Virtuoso +,
but felt that the flexiness they provided for easy looping (read that as slow
strokes) caused them to suffer in the blocking and flipping departments. I also
felt that for them to be effective in power looping, especially with the new poly
balls, the blade weight needs to be heavier (90+ gr). Blade weights over 90g causes
some maneuverability problems over the table for me. After trying out some of
the latest and greatest from Butterfly and feeling underwhelmed by the
performance and overwhelmed by the price, I decided to find a nice 7ply wood
blade. So after a little research, I found the Tibhar Samsonov Force Pro that
met my requirements of: weight between 85-88 gr, no thicker than 6.5 mm, 7 ply,
limba outerply.
Finish:
The blade came from Paddle Palace and was very smoothly finished. I wasn’t
expecting much for $60, but to my surprise, the handle required no
sanding. The head of the paddle is quite
smooth to the touch which is good for limba because if it feels rough at all,
you’ll probably get splintering later on.
All text and lines on the handle and blade face are straightly oriented
as well. The handle is an oval shaped flared handle.
Feeling:
After gluing up the blade, I would say the speed is one notch faster than
Nittaku Tenor; one to one and a half slower
than Butterfly Timo Boll Spirit. The blade retains surprisingly good feeling in
the hand for being a 6.4mm thick 7ply blade. It doesn’t have that rigid,
unforgiving-ness of a Stiga Clipper Classic. If you are used to the dead
nothingness of carbon, you’ll probably find it to have a lot of vibration. I found that compared to the Acoustic or
Virtuoso +, the neck had much less flex, but the sweet spot of the head itself retained
a similar feeling. Overall though, the blade has less dwell time so it is less
spin oriented and more of an all rounder.
Passive
Play: The blade really lives up to its moniker here. With its 5ply like
feeling and 7ply speed, I felt it gave me more options in my passive and
defensive play. It was easier to punch block loops and the lighter weight from
my previous blade made it easier for me to make emergency blocking maneuvers.
The lower dwell time compared to the flexy 5plys made the opponent’s serves and
shots a bit easier to redirect back at them. Being a faster blade, I think that
redirection of energy is its strong point, rather than absorption of it, in the
passive game.
Offensive
Play: The difference between the Virtuoso + and the Force Pro comes to
light most strongly in looping and the superior blade depends on your priorities.
The Virtuoso + is great when your objective is to make soft spinny loops or you
have a long slow forehand stroke that needs a blade with good dwell time. The
Force Pro works better with faster, snappier strokes that have less emphasis on
maximum spin. As my game has continued to develop, my forehand has become
smaller (from a giant stroke to a large-ish stroke!) with a faster rhythm so
this change in blade characteristics suits me just fine.
The Force
Pro is clearly the superior blade in mid-distance counterlooping, especially
with the poly ball. Opening against underspin close to the table, each blade
has its own way. The Virtuoso +’s advantage shines when you try to attack with
extreme spin. The Force Pro works best if you go for a shot with more balanced
speed and spin. Off the bounce
counterlooping, the Force Pro’s reduced dwell time and lighter weight makes
redirecting the loop back much easier. Over the table offensive play(flat flips
and spin flips) the lighter weight and reduced dwell make it easy to get the
racket acceleration required for a correct stroke and the dwell is in that
sweet spot between holding the ball and allowing the incoming spin to redirect
your flip too much.
Conclusion:
Tibhar
Samsonov Force Pro
Positives:
-Great price
for the quality
-5ply
feeling with 7ply speed
-Shines at
redirecting shots
Negatives:
-Not great
at slow spin loops
-Handle is
very oval shaped (if you are used to a square flare handle like most BTY
blades, this could be offputting)
-I am just
finding out about this great blade now
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