TSP Balsa Fiber Series Blades Review

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I have a real passion for table tennis blades made of balsa. The reasons - they are light and have the best soft feeling. I’ve raised my USATT rating from 1300 to 1750 by playing with Balsa blades. I have been using Dr.Neubauer Combination Effect balsa blade for a while. They are my favorite blades, but they are very expensive – close to $200. I was looking for an alternative balsa blade because of the high price of Dr.Neubauer Combination Effect paddle, and came across TSP Balsa Fiber series blades recommended to me by a TSP Sponsored Player when I was in Europe last year.

About TSP Products:

You can read about TSP Table Tennis Manufacturer here.

The perfect blade for beginners:

I’m not going to say the TSP Balsa blades are for beginners only, but they suit players who are developing their games. The blades in the range 2.5 to 4.5 suit the starters. These blades are very light with a weight of 70g. It is important for beginning players to have better control and feeling of the ball, and the balsa fiber series are a real help. When the beginners develop their games, and become successful attackers, they can easily migrate to allround blades like 5.5 or to offensive blades like 6.5 and 8.5 – this migration is easy.

The perfect blade for professionals:

The TSP Brands are in existence for at least 40 years. They have sponsored many world events. There are so many world top players use TSP products – Joo Se Hyuk Of Korea, Chen Weixing of Austria, Ni Xia Lian of Luxenberg (Womens Finalist in the US Open 2008). A list of world class players are available here.

Something great about this blade is it’s ability to play touch shots. The players who have played Butterfly Balsa Carbo X5 better know what I’m talking about.

Defensive shots:

The defensive players are in the lookout for blades having good control and hitting abilities. The TSP Balsa Fiber Blades 2.5 and 3.5 are the suitable blades for defensive and modern defensive players – especially players are passive in their defense. The defensive shots like block, cut / chop, push can be executed very easily with the TSP Balsa Fiber blades.

Blocking:

The best blade I have seen for passive blocks is TSP Balsa blades. I have tested its blocking ability with TSP Curl P1R 0.5 and 1.3 versions.

Both TSP Balsa Fiber 2.5 and 3.5 reverses the spin when blocking against top spin. This reversal of spin is possible with frictionless rubbers which are banned now. But the TSP Balsa Fiber blades with a friction rubber can do the job for a frictionless rubber of reversing spin.

Looping:

I don’t say this blade is for looping. A softer rubber like XIOM Omega III is required to do the work of looping. The trick is to brush the ball over the ball rather than hitting at the top of the ball - such a stroke can generate enormous top spin.

Hitting:

You can’t find any better blade for hitting than a TSP Balsa Fiber blade. The sweet spot on the blade is wide spread on the whole blade – thanks to the Glass Fiber layer. A rubber with a softer sponge can give extra control – a harder sponge version is not preferred. An attacking player can choose between TSP Balsa Fiber  5.5, TSP Balsa Fiber 6.5 or TSP Balsa Fiber 8.5 for an aggressive attacking game. If you are an attacking player and would prefer playing close to the table, choose between TSP Balsa Fiber 4.5 or TSP Balsa Fiber 5.5.

The TSP Balsa series blades can generate enormous speed and flat flight path.

Touch and Feel:

The TSP Balsa Fiber blades have soft touch and feel. The hit feel is very sharp – point and shoot feel. The fiber layer makes the same feel throughout the blade.

Speed and Control:

Are the TSP Balsa Blades slow? Not at all! Even the defensive blades TSP Balsa Fiber 2.5 and 3.5 are faster enough for offensive play. The players who have shorter strokes – especially defensive player who don’t have a lot of time to switch between backhand to forehand – will benefit from Balsa’s higher rebound speed.

The faster blades have less control. However, that is not true for TSP Balsa Fiber blades. All the blades in the TSP Balsa Fiber series have excellent control – especially TSP Balsa Fiber 2.5 and 3.5. I have tried 2.5, 3.5 and 5.5 sequentially to measure its control. I could hit the corner of the table with all the blades without any failures.

The rubbers suitable:

I have tried many pips-in inverted rubbers on TSP Balsa Fiber blades. Some of them are XIOM ZETA, XIOM Omega III, XIOM True Innovation, JOOLA Energy Xtra, RITC Friendship 729 Super FX blue rubber, Donic Coppa Gold, Donic Coppa Platinum  and TSP Real. My research gives me a sense that the rubbers that suit the TSP Balsa Fiber series are Euro style rubbers having softer sponges – all rubbers except TSP Real, Donic Coppa Gold and RITC Super FX. The sponge size of 2.0 or higher will give excellent control while lesser sizes sponges make the rebound faster. The harder or medium hard sponges don’t suit balsa blades, but if you are a hard hitter, try it on the offensive blades like TSP Balsa Fiber 6.5 and 8.5.

The other sets of rubbers that suit the TSP Balsa Fiber series are long, medium and short pips. A TSP Blade with a long pips rubber is the greatest defensive weapon. The TSP Balsa Fiber 2.5 is a defensive blade while TSP Balsa Fiber 3.5 is a Defensive + Blade. The TSP Balsa Fiber 2.5 suits a classic defensive player. The TSP Balsa Fiber 3.5 suits a modern defensive player. With the TSP 3.5, a player can go mid-distance to generate shots to reach on the table – a long pips with a sponge size of 1.0 or higher is required for mid distance game.

The balsa core can create very deceptive shots working tandem with the long pips. Both 2.5 and 3.5 are excellent blades for defense and attack.

Blade specs:

The TSP Balsa Fiber blades are made in Germany. The blades are of regular size with a very comfortable handle of oval shape. The handle has a small cut at the top to help to rest the thumb. The blade is made of balsa with two layers of Glass fiber. The blades give consistent performance on both sides.

Handle material:

The TSP BalsaFiber System blades come with handles made of two kinds of materials. The regular version comes with handles made of balsa. It comes with TSP special Fitter handle. The TSP Fitter handles are not made of balsa - it is some kind material similar to cork.

Durability:

I often hit the tables with my blades. That kind of situation has not happened with my TSP Blades. Its soft feeling can better control your nerves where you mov. These blades can last for years. It is like a TSP blade that I have seen at a local club other day. This TSP blade may be at least 25 years old with a TSP rubber on it – it is called Atlas. The TSP blades are known for its quality.

Choose the right blade:

Defensive Blades: TSP Balsa Fiber 2.5, TSP Balsa Fiber 3.5

Allround Blade: TSP Balsa Fiber 4.5

Allround+ Blade: TSP Balsa Fiber 5.5

Offensive Blade: TSP Balsa Fiber 6.5

Offensive Blade: TSP Balsa Fiber 8.5

The TSP Balsa Fiber blades will cost you between $89.95 and $104.95 in the United States. They are available on TableTennisStore.US.

Tagged as: tsp balsa fiber

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