Player Level and Style
Chinese style penhold hitter with short pips forehand and inverted backhand for RPB. U.S. rating 1650-1700, intermediate level. Strength: forehand smash. Weakness: control.Summary
I purchased a custom Chinese penhold blade from Jack Miller about a month ago and have been putting it through its paces. Here's a picture of the blade(s) and yes, I'm getting the other two matching ones.The blade was made for one of the US Olympic team members, but there was something not quite right about the specs, so Jack offered them for sale here (on the About.com table tennis forum). When I first got the blade, I was impressed by the quality of wood and the workmanship.
Specifications
The blade is of the 7 ply Katana series, 6.5 mm thick, with a thicker center core then three very thin layers on each side, two red stained wood and a thin carbon layer. Handle is made of very dense and heavy Zebrawood, leading to a more rearward balance I quite liked and compensated for the increased weight of the blade, 110 grams, 20-30 grams heavier than blades I'd used previously.The pattern of the blade is similar to that of the popular Yasaka penhold blades, 163 mm blade face length, 150mm width, which matched rubbers pulled off my older blades (a Joola Guo 3C and Yasaka Max Wood) perfectly. Blade shoulders are nicely tapered, leading to a comfortable grip even before I'd sanded the edges.
Playing Impressions
One of the difficult things about a new blade is finding rubber that fits it. I'd been fortunate in that I got a sheet of black 802-1 in 1.6 medium soft sponge recently just to see what it was like and it was a perfect fit. The increased speed of the blade made my previous 1.8 medium sponge 802 a bit too fast and this fit the bill perfectly. As the blade is so heavy, I decided to put the lightest short pips I had, TSP Spectol 1.8 on the back and that worked surprisingly well for returning long serves and hitting high balls to the backhand side. I may eventually go back to inverted, but a teammate had earlier encouraged me to try short pips on the back for more control on my returns.One of the things that immediately impressed me about the blade was how stable it is on blocks. I see why Chinese penholders traditionally favored the heaviest blades they could find as they have such a solid feel on blocks. My blocking immediately improved as I didn't miss the extra .2mm of sponge one bit as the speed of the blade more than made up for it.
Over the table, the blade is very predictable. Unlike bouncier blades, I could immediately make spinny serves and two bounce push returns of serve. When I crank up the power, the blade responds and rolls come off low and quick, blocks are penetrating and smashes are frighteningly fast. The blade feels like an extension of my hand now and when I try manufactured blades now, they seem to vibrate and feel unnatural in comparison.
Conclusion
Overall this is a great blade and people should take advantage of the opportunity to get Jack to make them a custom blade once they know what they really want. The only thing I'm still not sure about is the weight, so I'm sending one of my favorite blades to Jack so that he can take the handle down to the same size. I'm hoping this lightens it up enough to put a sheet of inverted on.Jack's site is at JM Blades
