quality of construction:
very good, similar to yinhe, stiga, donic, tibhar.
handle:
nice and comfortable, not too small
head:
I think around 157x150
nothing too crazy like dhs style.
weight:
mine was around 90g
speed:
around off, not too fast.
control:
very good, similar to clipper and that style of blade.
feel:
a bit harder than clipper or korbel or most all wood blades really.
but still feels like wood which is essentially soft.
feels much softer than for example viscaria.
spin:
similar to clipper, I think blades like viscaria and mizutani have more spin though.
power:
enough but not too much.
conclusion:
essentially a bit slower and harder than stiga clipper.
still maintains similar characteristics.
is it worth it?
if you want all wood off blade it's definitely a good option.
Thursday 26 May 2016
Wednesday 11 May 2016
stiga calibra tour h - update
speed:
the speed went down like hell.
I had to really hit forward for the ball to pass the net with a simple flat stroke from middle distance.
when looping it still keeps good speed, but in flat strokes it went down.
spin:
it's not that bad in this department.
it's not tenergy 05 but you still get decent spin.
so basically the biggest difference I noticed was a decrease in rebound speed.
also played a defensive player and noticed it's not very predictable when trying to loop really hard.
I mean the trajectory of the rubber is not very predictable when doing a forward loop without much spin.
it was pretty good for pushing, almost all pushes go in.
later in matches I noticed this problem of looping being not reliable when you really want to give the ball power, specially against defensive players.
against offensive players the old problem of speed was most noticeable.
sometimes I would block and the ball would not pass the net.
Sometimes I was afraid there would not be enough speed and I hit forward and the ball just goes too long.
So it's always a doubt with that.
As for looping, sometimes the ball would not land on the other side because it was not carrying enough curve, but not most times.
Overall, it feels like a typical tensor now.
I think the new tensors like mx-p and rasant powergrip are superior because they have more spin.
mx-p in particular seems to keep the speed a little longer, while rasant power grip is more or less the same in terms of speed.
mx-p in particular seems to keep the speed a little longer, while rasant power grip is more or less the same in terms of speed.
Saturday 7 May 2016
stiga calibra tour review
this review is done with a new rubber, so playing characteristics might change a bit over time, I'll keep this updated.
price:
I got it for 37 USD so it's not a bad price.
it's around the same price as tensors but I already know tensors so I wanted to test something different (this is my first stiga rubber ever).
topsheet:
everybody mentions the topsheet of calibra tour and it's true, it's maybe the strangest topsheet you will ever find.
you can perfectly slide your fingers across the rubber and at no point they get stuck or slow down.
sponge:
it doesn't look like a tensor sponge nor like a tenergy sponge.
it's more like a sriver or mark v type of sponge.
really solid with no pores.
speed:
it's quite fast, maybe a bit faster than tenergy, but not too much.
also it depends, if you grab it well with a top spin perfect timing it's super fast, clearly faster than tenergy.
then you do a more passive stroke like just putting the racket there and the ball doesn't even pass the net.
in this way it behaves like tensors, I always noticed they have this problem when comparing them to a tenergy.
spin:
clearly less spin than tenergy.
also less spin than donic bluefire, tibhar evolution and andro rasant.
also I'd say less spin than andro hexer.
maybe similar spin to a used donic acuda.
control:
I didn't find it too easy getting used to it honestly.
this characteristic that sometimes it's very fast and sometimes not fast enough to pass the net makes you hesitant.
also the lack of topsheet grip sometimes makes things harder, because you are not really sure the ball is going where you want it to.
specific shots--->
serves:
there won't be tons of spin but it's ok, it's controllable and you can get some basic spin.
pushes:
it's difficult to get much spin out of pushes and sometimes the fall flies off a bit.
the lack of topsheet grip together with a bouncy sponge is what produces this.
topspin:
spin is acceptable, speed is pretty good too.
blocking:
it's not so affected by incoming spin.
problem is sometimes if you are not too close to the table and you want to make more active block or just a mixture between lob and block then sometimes you'll judge incorrectly the bouncing speed of the rubber.
counter topspin:
a few times I found it hard to do this shot because the topsheet doesn't grab the ball sometimes so it just bounces against the sponge and goes out in a straight trajectory.
if this happens the trajectory is totally unpredictable.
otherwise it's a normal shot, with good speed and some spin.
final thoughts:
I think this is a good rubber for novice players with a more speed flat type of game.
it could also help them learn to deal with spin.
but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who's main weapon is spin variation.
price:
I got it for 37 USD so it's not a bad price.
it's around the same price as tensors but I already know tensors so I wanted to test something different (this is my first stiga rubber ever).
topsheet:
everybody mentions the topsheet of calibra tour and it's true, it's maybe the strangest topsheet you will ever find.
you can perfectly slide your fingers across the rubber and at no point they get stuck or slow down.
sponge:
it doesn't look like a tensor sponge nor like a tenergy sponge.
it's more like a sriver or mark v type of sponge.
really solid with no pores.
speed:
it's quite fast, maybe a bit faster than tenergy, but not too much.
also it depends, if you grab it well with a top spin perfect timing it's super fast, clearly faster than tenergy.
then you do a more passive stroke like just putting the racket there and the ball doesn't even pass the net.
in this way it behaves like tensors, I always noticed they have this problem when comparing them to a tenergy.
spin:
clearly less spin than tenergy.
also less spin than donic bluefire, tibhar evolution and andro rasant.
also I'd say less spin than andro hexer.
maybe similar spin to a used donic acuda.
control:
I didn't find it too easy getting used to it honestly.
this characteristic that sometimes it's very fast and sometimes not fast enough to pass the net makes you hesitant.
also the lack of topsheet grip sometimes makes things harder, because you are not really sure the ball is going where you want it to.
specific shots--->
serves:
there won't be tons of spin but it's ok, it's controllable and you can get some basic spin.
pushes:
it's difficult to get much spin out of pushes and sometimes the fall flies off a bit.
the lack of topsheet grip together with a bouncy sponge is what produces this.
topspin:
spin is acceptable, speed is pretty good too.
blocking:
it's not so affected by incoming spin.
problem is sometimes if you are not too close to the table and you want to make more active block or just a mixture between lob and block then sometimes you'll judge incorrectly the bouncing speed of the rubber.
counter topspin:
a few times I found it hard to do this shot because the topsheet doesn't grab the ball sometimes so it just bounces against the sponge and goes out in a straight trajectory.
if this happens the trajectory is totally unpredictable.
otherwise it's a normal shot, with good speed and some spin.
final thoughts:
I think this is a good rubber for novice players with a more speed flat type of game.
it could also help them learn to deal with spin.
but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who's main weapon is spin variation.
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