XIOM Novus Carbon Strato TT Blade Review

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Blade: XIOM Novus Carbon Strato
Rubbers: XIOM Omega III Euro Max and ZETA Asian Max

I have started hitting this blade on a Sunday evening - not a usual day I take up any paddle. I’ve screamed to four walls around me “Get me Ryu Seung Min! I want to kill all his top spin.” The excitement lead me to test this blade for an hour with my Butterfly Amicus 3000 Plus Robot.

I have prepared this blade for a Hungarian player - a friend of Yakob, the Hungarian National Player. The XIOM Strato with Omega III Max on the forehand and XIOM ZETA Max on the backhand was an excellent weapon he was looking for a long time.

The XIOM Strato is a 5 ply blade - Kiso Hinoki as the outer layer with Energy Carbon as the second layer. I have used many carbon blades before - the attraction I had towards Badminton rackets made of carbon was one reason behind poking at carbon tt blades. The Butterfly Schlager Carbon and Butterfly Matsushita Pro Special were my favorite carbon blades. The intuition I had was XIOM Strato would be having the same carbon feel. That was wrong. The XIOM Strato has a little more lighter feel of the carbon and the hit is more sharp and spicy - the Matsushita Pro Special has a wider hit feeling and sound. The carbon being used in XIOM Strato is made in USA.

The handle of XIOM Strato has been designed for a top spin game - I had tried the Flared handle. In a high speed rally, the Strato handle helps wrist movement on the ball easily. I have also tested how easy it is to hit the back of the ball as well as the top of the ball with the same grip - it is so easy. The smoothness of the handle is something to note also - excellent craftsmanship. The XIOM Strato has a thickness of 6.8 mm.

The XIOM Strato is a compact blade for top spin game. The sweet spot is the same through out the blade, not like a defensive blade that I use. The blade is wider in its breadth (not in length) which helps very good top spin from the middle of the paddle.

The XIOM Strato with Omega III and ZETA is a pure top spin weapon. It is for a professional player - not for a fainted heart. There is no limit to where you can play with this combination. The range varies - from the top of the table to many many feets away from the table. The XIOM Strato weigh 90 gm, and it weights 186 gm after I have put both the rubbers on the blade.

Against Top Spin:

I’ve tested against balls where the top spin varying - from very low top spin to very high. I have rarely come across blades which I can use to counter loop against heavy spin loops. The XIOM Strato is a top spin weapon - against and for. The excellent control this blade has to execute strokes against soft to heavy top is awesome. I would recommend this for an active top spin player who loves counter looping.

Hit / Smash:

What I’ve liked is its ability to flip easily against dropped balls close to the net. To find its control, I have stepped in from few feet away for a flip shot. There is amazing control to execute such strokes. However, I think this blade suits top spin rally game rather than for smash.

Against under spin:

I find it easy to handle light to medium underspin easily. I was able to flip or loop as soon as the balls rises without much hard work. I have tried looping against heavy underspin balls that fall from the table. I could loop but I was not able to see more top spin in the returned strokes. Unless you play against professional choppers, this is not something you have to worry about.

Throw angle:

The forehand of the blade where I have used Omega III generates balls with low throw angle. The backhand side with ZETA had high throw angle. The throw angles were very much controlled - not like the ball simply flies away. The sponge hardness of ZETA causes a higher throw angle, so I do think the blade has a throw angle which we can evaluate well - I would say it throws with low to medium throw angle.

The XIOM Strato has a wider sweet spot. The blade as a whole perform consistently and is forgiving if the player hits anywhere on the blade. I have tried its control close to the handle. I could not find a difference of its control from the other areas of the blade - its more dependable.

The XIOM Strato fits players who have used carbon blades before and is looking for sharp and precise shots. If JO Waldner asks me a blade to play, this is the blade I would recommend him - a XIOM Strato with Omega III on the forehand and ZETA on the backhand.

The XIOM Strato is a new model in the XIOM 2008 catalog. This model was not available before 2008. The XIOM Strato is a modified version of XIOM Speed OFF++. It is softer and light weight - reminds me of badminton rackets - with more power.

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