Stiga 2012 blades review!

Tabten5,

I have a friend that used to be sponsored by Yasaka too.
And also another friend from Butterfly and know another player by Tibhar.

Regarding Yasaka
What was the weight of your YE?
Do you remember?
My YE (cpen) is about 76grams.

BTW, Wang Hao was using YE for many years, I wonder how heavy his one was.
If it is less than 80grams, I think we can reply to people that think "Pro = heavy setup only" is not always the case.

Thanks Yogi_Bear!

knuckle_ball, im waiting for the all around classic carbon to come. stiga sent me the 3 blades first because the ACC was out of stock. I have other brands to review but it would not be in a stiga thread that i have reviewed

Pondus wrote: Tabten5: Sounds like you're a good player - any video available of you to add? Thank you.

yogi_bear wrote: Knucle ball thanks. i think they have the same speed level but the 7.6 sense has a better feel than the AV Carbon. The Av Carbon felt stiffer due to the walnut and carbon combo but i like it because its not too fast and not too stiff. The 7.6 sense is actually a solid hitter's blade. The solidity of shots made and at the same time the great feeling of the ball upon impact really helps your game. The handle of the 7.6 sense is the most comfortable handle among the 4 new blades of stiga IMO.

bbkon, its a redesigned 7.6 carbo. the new 7.6 sense has nct and thick sealing on the blade head. its also heavier but its not suprisingly head heavy as the original 7.6 carbo

yes it has

high_arc, even with carbon on it the occ is best until mid distance only because ireally felt the power of my shots lessen by half if im at least  6-8 feet from the table.

bbkon, i think the OCC and maybe the ACC because its slower would be good for pips.. i have tried the 802-40 2.0mm on the 7.6 sense and its a bit faster than my taste

I played a full practice (4.5 hours) with the Stiga Rosewood XO last night. This is my review of it.

Edited by tabten5 - 07/23/2012 at 8:54am

My practice partner has a Rosewood XO that weighs 79 grams with T05 on both sides.  It was interesting to compare it to an Old Stiga Alser offensive that I have been using lately (must have been made in about 1988).  The Alser blade I have been using is unusually thick for its breed, weighs about 85 grams, and also has T05.  I agree with tabten5's review in every aspect.  When we compared the new XO blade with the Old Stiga it is trying to recreate, both of us found that they have somewhat the same feel for short game (old blade is still better, though).  In other words, you can see that the XO is trying to recreate this feeling.   More significantly, the old blade is vastly superior at middle distance and beyond.  It actually has some finishing power.  Both blades flex, but they flex in different places.  Also the handle on the old one is much more comfortable for full sized males.  In addition, we agree with comments about finish on the XO.  It could be that the XO is simply too light, but I think there is more to it than that.  I personally don't know enough about how blades are made to know what it is.  I think part of it, though, is that the XO is too flexible at the neck -- it is simply to narrow there.  Also, I think maybe the middle ply needs to be a bit thicker.  But like I said, I am no expert on those things, I can only say that the XO is not succeeding in what it is trying to be.

Edited by Baal - 07/23/2012 at 11:48am

Baal wrote: In addition, we agree with comments about finish on the XO.  It could be that the XO is simply too light, but I think there is more to it than that.  I personally don't know enough about how blades are made to know what it is.  I think part of it, though, is that the XO is too flexible at the neck -- it is simply to narrow there.  Also, I think maybe the middle ply needs to be a bit thicker.  But like I said, I am no expert on those things, I can only say that the XO is not succeeding in what it is trying to be.

the_theologian wrote: great review tabten5 in regards to a future blade, have you considered having Peter Freundlieb build something for you? He's building two blades for me atm http://www.tt-piet.de/infos-zu-furnieren.html I wish we were in the same area, I'd be curious to see how you liked my most recent Expert, which arrived at 85.9 grams, and is now 85.0 after being dehumidified

tabten5 wrote: I think it's also about headsize: 155mm is just not 'tall' enough. It needs perhaps 2mm more weight (plus rubber weight) behind it. For me, 157mm is the sweet spot (the MEO is slightly too tall for me). Increasing the XO's headsize, of course, would affect balance, so they would have to re-look at the XO's overall composition, and particularly the size of the hole in the handle.

Some additional rubberweight (your current rubbers are leight I suspect) one or both sides could do the trick.
Shorter headsize blades sometimes need some additional rubberweight to become dynamic and have a good feeling with longer powerfull strokes (HD).  Same as large headsize tends to do better with lighter rubber. It,s sort of a balance between power and quickness you have with the setup all together (blade with rubber.s). Rubber affects the blade and vice versa.

With light rubber and short headsize combined making the stroke longer for more powerfull loops does nothing (or feels as doing not enough).

Some players use leadtape to bring the balance (setup) closer to the blade sweetspot. Somewhat heavier rubber (no matter what side) can do the same. That can be denser sponge, heavier topsheet or both.

Also it has this nano carbon thing and  a hard quality outerply. All together that can make it a bit sturdy for the first few sessions. From session to session this should improve gradually.



Edited by mercuur - 07/23/2012 at 3:11pm

tabten5 wrote:  As you know, I'm not a big purchaser of equipment, so I'd like to be decently sure before I purchase. I don't want to start experimenting.