Thick or Thin, Each Has Its Strengths: The Philosophy of Blade Thickness, Part 1
1
That backhand — sharp and domineering, worthy of a top amateur. It is not always lightning-fast, but those long, penetrating arcs and the oppressive, powerful loops are hard to handle. And amazingly, it comes off a shakehand single-ply hinoki blade.
The first time we played, I actually won. But after that, a win was hard to come by. Looking closely, this was a Butterfly Tieban custom, a thousand-yuan piece by Master Wu. About 10mm thick. The overall feel is still soft and springy. But it is simply too thick — after a quick hit, I felt the forehand did not grip the ball clearly under small force, while the backhand leaned toward springy. A thin blade is generally clearer than a thick one, while a thick blade gives stronger support.
Strong support, in the hands of an expert who can drive through it, means heavier ball quality and more devastating power.
2
Over a decade ago, a Stiga CL under 6.4mm might have been called a gem, because looping was easier and over-the-table touch could move around more nimbly. But they were hard to find.
So I set my eyes on Donic’s Ultra Power. Also a Swedish-made old-style seven-ply all-wood, the slimmed-down UP did not lose weight and stayed solid. And a thinner blade body makes spin easier. If you love the genuine feel of seven-ply all-wood but want a bit more spin-generating ability than the CL, then the thinner UP is worth considering.
3
Butterfly’s Chen Chien-An Limited is more like a bow than Stiga’s CL. It has better tension. After you put power in, the spring shows more. This soft, springy feel — where power is amplified after you swing and the ball quality comes across heavier — shares a lot with the custom Viscaria. This is the so-called custom recipe.
However, for someone like me who is used to thin fiber blades, the 6.7mm Chen Chien-An Limited is still a touch thick. It gets a little fuzzy when dealing with some half-long balls. And the overly springy character forces your stroke mechanics to be more compact, leaving no room for loose, casual freedom.
4
If you want to play freely and loosely, pick this: Butterfly’s Innerforce Layer ALC.S. Unlike the 6.0mm Innerforce Layer ALC and the 5.7mm Innerforce Layer ZLC, this Innerforce Layer ALC.S measures only 5.5mm. No wonder Butterfly’s description reads: strokes with increased spin.
Its backhand is just so thoughtful — adding spin comes effortlessly. And it is remarkably stable. Generally, a thin blade makes spin easier and the arc easier to control.
From these three Innerforce blades, we see a decreasing blade thickness. ZLC is tougher than ALC, so going thinner makes sense, because making it too thick blurs the feel. The Innerforce Layer ALC.S, meanwhile, uses spruce as its power ply. This material has always had a slingshot effect, harder and springier than ayous. So trimming the Innerforce Layer ALC.S down to 5.5mm is actually reasonable.