The TSP Versal Balsa is a very light weight table tennis blade. The weight of TSP Versal Balsa blade is just 62 gm. After putting the TSP Real Max and TSP Curl P1R OX on it, the overall weight was less than 140 gm. The face size is of a regular blade - it is not wide. The TSP Versal is not a defensive blade like TSP Reflex 50 defensive or TSP Award defensive. The TSP defensive blades have 3 plies while the TSP Versal has 5 plies. The inner core of balsa with 6mm thickness and two outer layers make the TSP Versal an offensive blade with thickness close to 8mm. When I say it is an offensive blade, the TSP Versal has dual purposes.
TSP Versal table tennis blade
The table tennis players who has used balsa fiber, balsa carbon or Dr.Neubauer balsa blades will get a notion after holding this blade for the first time. The notion leads them to believe this blade is fragile and lack power. I have to agree with the first notion partinally, but the positive side of this blade is that this is a real power generating blade. The handle of TSP Versal is compact but thin. The handle is not made of balsa but has excellent touch and feel like a balsa handle.
I have not seen a large facial or handle vibration with TSP Real or Butterfly Tenergy 25 on its forehand side. I’ve tried some passive blocking some heavy loops, and I would say it has a slight vibration against power shots coming from Hinoki blades. I was able to see a difference when I have become more involved and stated blocking actively with wrist.
The TSP Versal is an offensive blade. It is apt for an offensive player. However, I have found this is a great blade for defensive players as well as modern defensive players. This is a kind of junior version of Dr.Neubauer balsa blades like Combination Effect or Special. The Dr.Neubauer balsa blades are excellent stable blades, but it’s speed has troubled defensive players. The speed was not a problem with frictionless long pips, but with the new friction long pips, the Dr.Neubauer blades suffer against highly offensive players. The TSP Versal is slow compared to some of those Dr.Neubaeur balsa blades. I won’t say is it super slow to keep the ball close to the net, but it is 20% slower. With the right combination of long pips and a forehand rubber, the defensive players can play very good defensive game with Versal.
I have tested various long pips such as TSP Curl P1R, TSP Curl P3, TSP Curl P3AlphaR, TSP Curl PH with TSP Versal. I have not tried the sponge versions. I have tried only the No sponge OX versions of those legandary TSP Curl long pips. I liked TSP Curl P1R generating very deceptive spins while the TSP Curl P3 and TSP Curl P3AlpahaR lacked spin variation but have generated very heavy knucke balls. For a close to the table defensive player who play block chop or short chops, I would recomment TSP Curl P1R OX. The TSP Curl P3 or TSP Curl P3AlphaR suit defensive players who would like to block the drives. To generate some underspin, I had to get out from the table and chop.
The TSP Versal generates a high arc on the balls. This always have helped me to get the ball to the other side. But there is a problem to it. I had to use little more closed racket angle to keep the ball low. I had little difficulty in controlling the speed of the block. The variation of speed on defensive shots was hard, so the opponents could predict the speed. The thick Dr.Neubauer blades shine in those area. To an extend, you can have speed variation with TSP Curl P1R which has little more dwell time.
The TSP Versal has amaxing sweet spot. I could not find performance difference against top spin at any spot on the ball. The TSP Real Max performed well with better speed while Butterfly Tenergy 25 performed with better spin. The hitters have to go with something similar to TSP Real Max while the top spin players can go with Tenergy 25. It’s excellent top spin ability is a plus on this blade.
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