The classic defenders ask for an important specification in a table tennis blade - how good the blade can defend a fast traveling table tennis ball on its surface. Leave the speed of the ball, the heavy top spin can cause high vibrations on the blade.
The impact resistance of the wood is important for any player - offensive as well as defensive. The offensive players look for medium to high rebound speed while the defensive players look for low rebound speed.
Rebound Speed: The ball hits the table tennis blade and rebound as a result of the impact.
I have been experimenting with some defensive blades available in the market. I have comes across few blades made of willow wood. The Butterfly Matsushita Pro series, Butterfly Defense II, Nittaku Willtria, TSP Yanagi Alpha, TSP Yanagi Shot are few of them. The wood used on all these blades are not the same. The willow wood in TSP Yanagi is more whiter than other blades which have more light Chocolate color. It is harder too.
You may have heard of a sport popular in Asia and that part of the world. It is called cricket. In Cricket, a bowler throws a heavy ball to a batsman who carries a paddle / bat. The Cricket bats are made of English Willow wood. The Cricket bats can withstand heavy impact. This might have lead to table tennis manufactures who have chosen willow wood for table tennis blades.
The willow wood can withstand heavy impact as well as can resist the penetration of force. In high technical words, it is called energy absorbing. The table tennis blades made of willow wood are a good choice for classic defenders. These blades can’t generate speed in a high speed game, however it’s power is great. The hardness of the willow wood may be a reason behind its power. This power is good enough for hits. They can’t generate much power for a top spin game - the ball will tend to lose its power on its way and lower in trajectory for such shots because of the lack of power.
The willow wood has density in the range of what Hinoki wood has. The willow wood is heavier. To keep the weight of the blade pleasing to the market and players, the manufacturers make willow blades in 3 plies and in less thickness. More layers and more thickness mean the blades can raise the weight to close to 100gm.
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