Ice Cream review
Andy was kind enough to let me have a good few weeks using
the Ice Cream ASX blade and the Omega 7 rubbers. Now I’ve finished my matches
for the season I’ve had a good chance to put it through its paces on the
practice table as my daily driver so to speak. Here are some of my thoughts.
My Normal Setup – Donic OTC - Flared Handle and Donic
Bluestorm Z1 Max.
My Style of play – Topspin Drive.
Build and Looks.
Agree with Andy on the extra nice build quality of the
blade. Thought has gone into making a blade which is very individual and of
extra nice quality. The two tone handle design and shape were nice for me in
the hand. I liked the weight, felt distributed nicely. Weight etc. is above in
Andy’s review.
Rubbers tested
Xiom Omega 7 Rubbers in Max thickness
Joola Rhyzer 50 Pro in Max thickness
Donic Bluestorm Z1 in Max thickness
MXP in Max thickness
Butterfly T05 Max
First impressions session
1 – 3 hours
Setup – ASX + Omega 7 Max both sides.
Ice Cream ASX is pretty hard feeling and quite fast and also
quite muted in feel I thought first off. The balance of the blade in general was
excellent. I used the ZLC backhand and ALC forehand.
Started with forehand and found basic driving and blocked
pretty strong. Like the way the harder feeling gave me good feedback. Blocking
is very strong with the setup.
Forehand topspin
drive – At the table on the shorter stroke I found a bit hard to get
used to. Maybe it’s just a bit different from my normal setup but I kept
getting the ball bounce short on the table which is not so good in a real match
scenario. After a bit of adjustment and a slightly more open racket face I
start to get pretty good depth on the ball.
Forehand Topspin
Drive and Forehand Block – Combo
Once I sorted out the depth problem changing from Topspin
drive to Block was a breeze. Yes I had to be active on the shots and execution was
key otherwise things went a bit off. It will take a bit of getting used to as I
missed a lot more than normal.
Three point
Forehand topspin.
Ok starting to get used to the ASX a bit more…
Key with this blade is good engagement of shots, Angle of
stroke and correct technique. If not the balls doesn’t always behave in a good
flight path and can drop short.
Throw and power when you engage is really good. Closer to
the table it felt safe, strong.
Serve – Forehand spin
and forehand Topspin drive.
The handle being nice in the hand for me made serving pretty
normal.
(I’m starting to not like the rubbers so much I will be
honest. Something with a bit more power and speed might work for me.) Anyways…
back to the drill.
Serving is good. Short is easy and it’s good to create spin.
Longer kicking serves again are nice.
The spin up ..erm where should I start. This is one of my strengths
in my match play. With the ASX it’s hard to generate a good level of spin for
me. It has to be bang on the ball to get a good shot and then it’s really
strong almost a winner.
The Topspin drive follow up after – bang and the ball is
gone!. Simple, starting to get it and why topspin drive and counter are such
strong weapons with this blade.
Backhand Drive and
Topspin counter
OK this was dull and mute and kind of not what I was
expecting to be honest. The words are - be active, active and active. Fully engage
and throw the Kutchen sink at the stroke and it won’t really miss much. Don’t
be active and spin isn’t soo strong and again a shorter bouncing ball on the
other side of the table. ..game over for this practice.
Conclusion - so far. –
Great handle and balance – be active with it – Forehand and the backhand – full
power – full engagement of the strokes. Don’t and it’s a bit wishy washy first
off.
Second and Third sessions
– 3.5 hours and 5 hours
Rubber change – I didn’t like the Xiom rubbers – they are
not for me sorry. Want to do the review a bit more justice so I have changed to
Donic Z1 and Joola Rhyzer Pro 50.
Forehand topspin
drive
This is a good change for me. I have depth and spin and safety.
Off the bounce its good really good. Still missing the odd one but stronger and
lower quite a bit of power.
At distance – Mid and further. Hit the ball in a good position
and it goes. Let it drop and spin up it’s also good. Flight of the ball seems
easier maybe because I’m more used to these rubbers a bit more. It’s quite hard
to miss in a full power counter looping exchange if you are in postion.
Serves
Stronger and stronger the more I use the ASX – A fast racket
and quick wrist really work well.
Touch
I hadn’t done any touch play in the last session.
Did a short serve and go a touch return to retouch. Not so
forgiving ..at all. Ball was a bit unpredictable and sometime popping up much
more than I would have expected. 30 Mins of the routine later and I am starting
to get it, Early and active. I think these will be the mantra that I mention a
lot on this blade while I am writing!
Flicks
Forehand –
Knowing you have to play active is good. If you do it really works. Brushing the
ball with a quick movement engages the crispness and you have a good stable
shot. Don’t and well its like the speed of the blade and stiffness don’t like
it.
Backhand
Definitely liking the rubber change. ..
This is better the flicks are strong, stable and you can
really go for it. The more you do the more you are rewarded. I found strawberry
extra easy now and depth is getting better all the time.
Backhand Topspin
opener and counter topspin plus drive.
The opener is tricky with the ASX. Just go for broke it will
go. Don’t and not so much.
The drill – long push – Topspin opener by me- counter
topspin – counter topspin by me or topspin drive.
What’s surprising is I like the having to be very active on
shots. After a bit of getting used to things I can make a good percentage of
strong balls and consistent harder strokes on the table.
Match Play
Been hitting enough to try and play a few sets to get a
gauge.
My opponents –
County Player – Topspin – Strong backhand topspin.
County Player – Strong serves and strong forehand topspin
and backhand block punch.
Junior County Player – Strong around topspin game.
Set 1 - County
Player – Topspin – Strong backhand topspin
Actually went really well. The backhand to backhand
exchanges were favouring me as I felt I had to play strong and the balls went
on. Forehand counter from me was strong and low and deep. Spin openers were ok.
They have to be bang on mind.
County Player –
Strong serves and strong forehand topspin and backhand block punch.
Touch is a problem still and against a punch and block the
ball made the net quite a bit on the backhand until I decided to topspin
everything on the backhand. Flicks on the backhand are nice.
Junior County
Player – Strong around topspin game.
By this time I felt pretty good with the ASX. Nice and in
control and correctly swinging. I can see why this works for aggressive players
who really engage the hardness and speed to make good spin.
Forth, Fifth and
six sessions – 3 hours, 2 hours and 4.5hours
and conclusions
Session s five and
Six switched to
MXP in Max thickness
Butterfly T05 Max
Put quite a few hours in now with the Ice cream and played a
wide ranging set of players. I will say the most I have struggled is against a
defender as the ball doesn’t always dwell on the blade so long which means a
lot of work is need to keep the spin engaged. I am normally more than solid
against choppers, so guessing it is the dwell. I would be interested if Xiom
did a more wood feeling combo blade which had better dwell.
The MXP and T05 Rubbers are a cracking fit on the XIOM, I
did try T05FX as well on the backhand which is a very very good fit as well for
a bit more forgiving range of strokes.
Overall
The Ice Cream is – a step up from Xiom’s previous blades in quality
and also importantly innovation. It’s a blade I would use (If I wasn’t married
to my DOTC!) and would recommend to dedicated attacking players. There is a
very distinct difference between the two sides for me with the ZLC being the
harder and more needed to engage the racket whereas the ALC was more familiar and
also more forgiving. A slower XIOM blade example with better dwell would suit
players who are looking for a bit more forgiving blade and also a bit more spin
I would think.
Cracking Blade overall and cheers Andy for getting it over
to me for a good few weeks.
GZ
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