TSP Reflex 50 Award Defensive Blade Review

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This is a lucky table tennis blade for me. I had beaten a veteran champion who has USATT rating with 200 more points than me. It was a good fight where the match led to five games and I’ve finally won in the fifth game. My opponent was a very good top spin looper. On his backhand, he was defensive with his short chop strokes. He has come from Iran, and has very good skill. I have seen similar looping style with Chen Weixing of Austria.

The TSP Reflex 50 Award Defensive is not an expensive blade – costs less than $55. The less expensive blades are normally made with easily available wood - sometimes it lacks quality too. Except the handle which has a very wooden feel, I would say TSP Reflex 50 Award Defensive blade has an excellent finish. The wood looks like cedar.

The TSP Reflex 50 Award Defensive has a soft feel in your hand – not very soft though. It is different from other plywood defensive blades which has hard feel – Butterfly Joo Se Hyuk defensive blade has a medium hard feel. But comparing to a balsa blade, TSP Reflex 50 is not that soft.

The TSP Reflex 50 does not bend or flex when you hit with it. I would say it has medium to high stiffness – not extreme though like Balsa blades. I have not found TSP Reflex will help much looping. I have tried some different rubbers from soft to hard, and I was not successful. The blade favors more hit rather than a modern top spin looping from forehand. The tip of the blade helps looping and that where the blade bends a little at least. The blade core which is the center favors strong hit and thats where the largest sweetspot of this blade is. The hit can generate so much power and is hard to return.

The TSP Reflex 50 gives medium sharp rebound feel when the ball hits the blade. I don’t think I was successful enough to spin the ball much because of its medium sharp feel. However hitting the ball was little easy.

The looping with any spin is hard with this blade. I don’t think this blade is aimed at countering top spin loops or even generating loops. I have tried few times looping away from the table. I could loop it with great difficulty but the stroke could not generate much spin and it was easy for the opponent to return it. I had to work hard whenever I have gone running away from the table to counter top spin. Looping against underspin was hard too – it is hard to curve the ball.

The TSP Reflex 50 has 3 layers with a black cloth layer between the layers. It could not notice much vibrations in the handle or the face. There is a rubber foam extending to the handle and the face of the blade helps burying the vibrations.

I have tried few long pips on this blade like XIOM Guillotine 1.2 mm and TSP Curl P1R 1.3 mm. The XIOM Guillotine 1.2 mm was the perfect combination I’ve found with this blade if you play close to the table. I had excellent control close to the table. The TSP Curl P1R is a good combination if you play little further away from the table. For a close to the table game, the TSP Curl P1R 0.5 mm will be a fit.

The TSP Reflex 50 Award defensive suits a defensive player who plays close to the table. It will help both defensive and attack shots. This blade is not designed for a modern defensive player who can do an offensive game on the forehand – you have to go for a blade like Joola Chen Weixing for such type of game. The blade suits defensive players who would like to hit - rather than spinning - and defend on the backhand with long pips. However, the blade is faster in the range of Joola Chen Weixing. It is faster than TSP Yanagi.

(The pictures have been used with the permission from the photographer Rokphish).