Palio AK47 Red Review

Here I've decided to write a basic review of two rubbers I tried out a few days ago, mainly because I did not see much about them and they are really good value for money.

I tried the Palio HK1997 Gold and the AK47 Red on a Yasaka extra Offensive, and then on Yasaka Gaiten Extra.

I am an aggressive FH looper / short touch player, and an all round attacking BH player. I don't know my corresponding level to US, but I'm trained and have decent technique and footwork (despite laziness), and have won matches vs two 1800 and one 2050 US players - although these were not in competition, but under serious training conditions. My Main setup is MX-P FH and Stiga Mantra M BH, I will use these as comparison as well as some other popular rubbers.

This is supposed to be hard - it is the hardest in the AK47 range. However, this rubber in play feels no harder than my MX-P, I'd say similar or even a touch softer. It is very slightly harder than Stiga Mantra M.  

I think this is a brilliant BH rubber. I did NOT like it on the FH, where I felt the throw was a bit too low, and the resulting quality of the shot depended a lot upon the contact you get with the ball , the angle, and the sponge activation (much less forgiving in this aspect than MX-P). For my FH it felt inconsistent, and it just did not feel right. 

BH is a different story, BH shots are very consistent, the lower throw (but not too low) gives perfect hitting and blocking angles, the topsheet grips well for opening loops and is consistent on BH loops as the sponge is always activated since BH loops hit through the ball more. It is a little bit slower than Mantra M , but not slow at all. The trajectory is shorter making it easier to control under pressure - less long balls. Yet, the balls are penetrating and skim the surface of the table remaining low and fast, difficult to return. Touch play is better than ESN rubbers like MX-P, Rakza 7 or Adidas P7.... it is equal to Stiga Mantra M in short touches. Placement is excellent, blocks brilliant. 

Overall on my BH it feels that the rubber is an extension of my hand and I can freely control it and do whatever I want with it, I can predict it's behaviour all the time and play with confidence. It is not as fast as Mantra M, it maybe a tiny bit less spinny than Mantra M, control is maybe a bit better because the trajectory is easier to handle.

At first, I attached the AK47 to my YEO and trained for 3 hours. It did not feel good, I'd say bad on FH and not so good on BH. Then I took it off and tried it on the more flexi Yasaka Gaiten Extra. Although this is a slow blade, the rubber came to life, it was brilliant and I did not want to let the bat out of my hand, it felt really natural with an incredible balance between speed, spin and control - that I could feel really confident and push hard, spin more, attack more. It definitely brought out the best in me.

Overall: at this price, it is definitely an awesome BH choice! I would pair it with blades like Yasaka Gaiten Extra, Avlox P500, or OSP Virtuoso Off-. All wood, rather flexi blades. Speed of the blade is up to you as long as it is a blade with good feeling for the ball.

One thing I disliked about reviews sometimes is that they don't give a clear perspective. They claim a rubber is great - but they say, obviously u cannot compare to ESN etc....

Well here I am directly comparing to ESN and the best rubbers I know. I can't comment on durability because my sheets are brand new, used only 3 times for 3 hrs each (two training sessions and one competitive match setting). 

I would say, you do not have a disadvantage compared to ESN rubbers. 

You have excellent control, great short touch, excellent block, good speed (just below MX-P, Mantra and so on), great spin (just below spinniest ESN rubbers like Rakza 7),  BUT most of all, incredible balance between parameters, making the rubber a joy to play with and very very effective. You make less mistakes and you are encouraged to attack with more force and spin.

Highly recommended as a BH rubber