The Hallmark table tennis brand is from England. They have some successful stories to tell. Carl Prean has been successful in table tennis some years ago with Hallmark products. The Hallmark Original is a legendary frictionless pips liked by long pips players worldwide. ITTF banned these frictionless pips last year. I have used Hallmark long pips such as Super Defense, Supernova. Hallmark makes very good defensive equipments.
Hallmark Strategy
The Hallmark Strategy is a Defensive blade with wider blade face. The size of the blade is 157 x 161. This is a 5 layer blade. I would consider the Hallmark Strategy as a DEF+ blade. The blade has good speed for offensive and defense. The beauty that you see in this blade is it’s control. In a split second you can control where you want to place the ball. It’s hard to see such control in defensive blades with offensive potential. I have seen similar behavior in a custom blade that I have made a while ago. This kind of control is must for defensive players who are active and want to control the speed in a game.
I don’t know what this Hallmark Strategy blade is made of. I assume the Hallmark Strategy has basswood or Willow on it outer layer. I don’t think they are pine though I see similar behavior. The blade takes the high speed out of the incoming ball. There is very good control against such balls when the player accelerates it to his need.
I have played against loopers, blockers, loopers with the Hallmark Strategy blade. I had TSP Curl P-H 0.6 on one side and DONIC Barracuda and Butterfly Tenergy 25 on the other side. The DONIC Barracuda is a new Donic Formula rubber to compete the Butterfly Tenergy. I have liked Tenergy 25 on Hallmark Stategy. I had very good control in ball placement and hitting with pips. I have written here before about the effect of speed glue rubbers on the forehand on long pips on the backhand. That was highly visible with Donic Barracuda. The Tenergy 25 felt heavier on Hallmark Strategy but I had the best control.
The Hallmark Strategy generates high loop angle over the table. I had TSP Curl P-H on my backhand, and I could see the ball jumping with high angle on the other side. I hardly see any reversal of spin. However the Hallmark Strategy can reverse the spin if some close to the frictionless pips like TTMaster Fireproof or Punta used. The absolute absorption of speed by Hallmark Strategy is it’s high potential and that helps the reversal very good.
I was little disappointed with away from the table chopping. I cut the ball very hard but it could not spin the ball very good. The Hallmark Strategy is a blade suitable for close to the table play as it can’t generate so much momentum in the ball that come from far. Beware that the Hallmark Strategy is a little faster blade, so to choose the right long pips for it is a challenge.
I liked hitting with Hallmark Strategy. Against underspin or no spin the hitting was so easy with TSP Curl P-H and Strategy. I had problem when I had Donic Barracuda on the forehand. That problem went away with Tenergy 25.
Unless you attack occasionally, the Hallmark Strategy can’t favor an attacking player. It is very good for close to the table hit and loop. I have seen excellent forward rotations in top spin loop. However looping from little far from the table did not keep the spin and speed on the ball as I expected. The ball loses its momentum during the travel. These qualities make Hallmark Strategy a close to the table blade.
The Hallmark Strategy blade that I have tried in the last days was customized to my play. I have made minor modifications to the handle to suit my strokes. I have found the blade vibrates. Unlike some defensive blade that I have seen, the Hallmark Strategy can put spin on the ball during the server with this behavior. However I have not felt that vibration in my hand. The handle of Hallmark Strategy is very solid, and I assume it has come hard cork built to it to dampen the vibration.
I’m not a persistent blocker, but the Hallmark Strategy amazed me while blocking. With close to zero degree open blade, the incoming high speed ball simply bounced to the ground deep after hitting the blade. There was no bounce for my opponent to respond. The open blade angles caused me some trouble as it generated bouncy ball for my opponents to push back.
If you are a close to the table long pips player, the Hallmark Strategy is a good blade to try. I would recommend TTMaster OX long pips Fireproof, Fireproof II or Punto on its backhand. On its forehand TSP Real is a suitable rubber if you are one of those close to the table hitting players. The top spin loopers should prefer TSP Actor or TSP BJorn. The Butterfly Tenergy series will work, but I don’t recommend Tenergy 64. The XIOM Omega series rubbers are not suitable too.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
do you have any data for new Hallmark Aurora Blade and Hallmark Phoenix rubber?
thanks