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 Save those beer cans. Send them to Sweden where they are being
put to good use.
At the top of our game, control comes from precision and
practice.
Exceptional talents like Wang Ligin and Frederick Hakkanson use
fast,
hard STIGA equipment. The Offensive Blade. Mendo MP. They loop,
touch,
drive and serve with blades that are neither dampened by carbon
nor
emasculated with soft woods.
But then again, they may not have yet seen what that old lawn
leaf bag
full of 12 oz Silver Bullets in the garage can become.
The STIGA Tube line steps back from the precipice of all out
offense and
offers four blades with micro grooved center plies, intended by
their
makers to create more "feel". The blades share the same livery
(handle
style and badging) and most of their construction materials. The
All,
Light, Offensive and Aluminum models appear to use the same
woods in
their outer and inner plies. These are light, soft woods and are
clearly intended to add touch, if only by the softer wood
choice.
STIGA marketing materials share that each has a different micro
tube
filling fine grooves milled in the middle ply, hidden from view
in the
plywood sandwich. But the biggest factor in performance
differences
between "Tubes" is the thickness of the blade itself. The All is
about
5.2 mm thick, roughly the same as the All Round Classic. The
Light has
performance that fits perfectly with a thicker 5.8 mm aspect.
The Light
is a nice Off-.
The Tube Offensive and the Aluminum are both 6.2 mm thick and
appear to
differ only in the tube department...Offensive with hard wood
and the
Aluminum with, you guessed it, Aluminum. No snickering, the Alum
rocks! Actually, the difference between these two blades is
quite
interesting and useful to STIGA customers. The Offensive is five
ply
(plus wood tubes) and it plays with nice speed and surprisingly
long
dwell time. Unlike many fast blades that get to the "drumskin
plink"
stage, the tone of the blade is loud, but low pitched. The Tube
Offensive is well suited for power looping and counter looping
at the
top of the bounce or later.
The Alum ups the ante with losing the "touch". Identical in
dimension
to the Offensive, the Tube Alum is slightly heavier in the head
and has
a noticeably larger sweet spot. The blade "feels" wider than the
others even though it is not. The biggest thing of all happens
when you
hit that big sweet spot up off the bounce. Schmmmmaack. Not "tink".
Schmmmmaaack.
Penetrating drives and blocks, but retaining the softness needed
to
push, to hit spin openers and soft block to the middle.
Searching for comparable feels, like an appraisal service, one
might
suggest that the STIGA Tube Aluminum feels like a lighter
version of the
Tibhar Samsonov Carbon (cypress and carbon roughly duplicating
the feel
of limba and aluminum wires). The STIGA Alum would have to be
considered better than the Tibhar in touch and maneuverability,
being
much lighter and with much rounder handle.
MATCH IMPRESSION: STIGA TUBE ALUM (with 2.0 Mendo MP forehand
and Magna
2.0 backhand)
Playing three matches against 1700-1900 competition, the nicest
surprise
was what the Alum did NOT do. It did not have a mind of its own.
It
played lighter than its 90 gram curb weight would suggest. It
was
astoundingly fast off the bounce, even though the throw angles
off the
rubber were very much like an off- blade might deliver. Compared
to the
Tube Offensive, most attacking shots were lower and faster. The
Offensive is very good, with the difference being only a
slightly higher
trajectory on most shots...AND that last 5% of speed that comes
with the Alum when killing or fast blocking.
How did the Alum differ from the STIGA Super Carbon? Mostly
through
consistent liner response and a higher top speed. The Super
Carbon is 3
soft woods and 2 carbon. At high speeds it played like the Alum,
about
10% slower. But at mid speeds and when counter spinning the Alum
generates much more speed than the Super Carbon. Perhaps the
Super
Carbon's response to incoming energy flattens due to light
construction
at mid speeds and then picks back up when one finally rings the
carbon.
Whatever the reason, the Alum, in contrast, gives straight line
response, allllllll the way up.
Hitting top of the bounce forehands against another lefty who
was loop
driving, the Mendo MP 2.0 cracks very powerfully and stays nice
and low, allowing drives against some balls that would otherwise
be blocked.
Flipping the blade in mid rally to the Magna 2.0, the ball takes
a
measurably higher throw, a rounder trajectory and hits wood
trying to
drive against loops. However, a switch to Magna Max lessened the
difference between the two, playing with a little more spin than
the MP,
and a speed that was closer. The family resemblance between
Magna and MP was very evident and that's a good thing. Magna can
be clearly and fairly characterized as an Innova sponge
derivative, based quite
possibly on the top of the Mendo line. Magna is less "a fast
Innova"
and more "a spinny MP", we think, as a result of this back to
back
little test drive.
SUMMARY
STIGA Tube blades are plenty fast within their respective
category and
play with good touch, a softer touch than most all of the blades
in the
STIGA line now. The star of the line is indeed the ALUM. There
are
plenty of fast blades out there. Most of them plink. And most of
them
scare us. This one, however, plays very much like an off- at low
speeds and has the balance of such a blade. But it generates
tremendous speed when countering, killing and blocking. If you
want to be Johnny Huang. Or be Wang Tao. Or be the ball. Get the
ALUM.
Our lizard sense says that players who would like to see their
good
shots penetrate more (but don't necessarily want to attempt big
shots
all the time) will like the ALUM. It is a walking cure for
overswinging
because it makes your current swing feel so devastating against
incoming attacks. In a general sense, it seems to make very good
use of the opponent's ball speed in offensive exchanges and it
does so at very low cost to your low speed game. Just watch
yourself if you are tempted to fast push off a fast push. The
blade reads "fast" and delivers something that is not a
push...more like a line drive to your opponent's ribcage if
you're not delicate :( The rest of the time, however, it plays
like a blade well down the speed ladder, until you choose to
unleash it.
Courtesy of Dave Williams |
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