Butterfly Millerga Photos & Review
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Topic: Butterfly Millerga Photos & Review
Posted By: rokphish
Subject: Butterfly Millerga Photos & Review
Date Posted: 12/07/2008 at 1:17pm
Butterfly MillergaCaution - Sharp ObjectTop ply is Bamboo153 x 150 head sizeThickness 6.8 millimeter5 ply bladeST handle 102 x 2385.40 gramFirst Impression - PhysicalThis Millerga is one sweet blade. The finish is very well done, the color is attractive and makes me feel good just looking and holding it. I bought two Butterfly blades before (Korbel & Jonyer Hinoki) and both times there were imperfections. Perhaps due to them being the lower end of the production lines. I had also looked & held new blades of just about all bty blades whether japanese made or chinese made ones. But so far Millerga is the only blade that has the FRESH look. The others are either simple, elegant, boring/ugly, and/or plain... Two thumbs up for Millerga.First Impression - PlayTo be continued.... Too sleepy now....
------------- instagram: rokphishtt
Member of EJ Anonymous Hurricane Lover
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Replies:
Posted By: liXiao
Date Posted: 12/07/2008 at 1:20pm
First bamboo blade?
------------- Gewo Aruna Hinoki Carbon Gewo Nexxus EL Pro 53 SuperSelect Yinhe Qing
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Posted By: Ciprian
Date Posted: 12/07/2008 at 1:29pm
Very nice blade.What rubbers will you put on the blade?
------------- Xi Enting FH-Aurus Sound BH- Pryde 30
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Posted By: rokphish
Date Posted: 12/07/2008 at 1:29pm
@ Lixiao, For me yes. For Butterfly I don't know since I'm only in the TT world this last two year or so... I guess it is first for bty also...
@ Ciprian, What I always use (most of the time lately) H3P & Tokyo/Zeta (in this case, Tokyo).
------------- instagram: rokphishtt
Member of EJ Anonymous Hurricane Lover
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Posted By: pokerpete
Date Posted: 12/07/2008 at 1:57pm
hmmm you might wanna seal it or you might get splinters if you touch it ?
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Blade:Stiga Sense 7.6/ Timo ZLC
FH: Tenergy 05FX
BH: Tibhar Q5 Sound
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Posted By: rokphish
Date Posted: 12/08/2008 at 1:26pm
I sealed the blade before play so I don't know whether it's splinter if not...
------------- instagram: rokphishtt
Member of EJ Anonymous Hurricane Lover
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Posted By: tdragon
Date Posted: 12/08/2008 at 1:32pm
Very nice blade. Post review please
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Posted By: rokphish
Date Posted: 12/08/2008 at 1:35pm
First Impression - Play
Okay, here it goes....
I've played with this blade for three sessions so far: Friday night, Sunday morning, and tonight (Monday night).
The blade is kind of slow.
Pretty much slower in all areas compared to the Hurricane King (from
here on HK). A tad slower compared to Maze Performance (from here on
MP), a 5 ply all wood blade.
I was expecting the bamboo blade to
feel hard based on several comments/reading on the net before (about
bamboo as blade ply), so the first few hits with it kind of surprised
me. It's a good surprise though because I don't really like hard blade.
I tried H3P #19 sponge 41 degree on my HK awhile back but took it off
because I felt it was too hard for me. I'm using the H3P #20 40 degree
on the HK at the moment. I put the H3P #19 41 on the Millerga and it
felt good. Certainly not too hard, I'd say med to med-hard, more or less the same as #20 40 degree I have on the HK. MP is a tad harder compared to Millerga. Tokyo 2 (from here on Tokyo) felt soft to med-soft, felt a little softer compared to Zeta on my HK.
Also I notice that the Millerga has quite a unique feel, that is, it feels sharp/crisp.
I don't know how to really explain this.... But it felt like I could
feel where the point of contact is on the rubber/blade where the ball
hit. Some of the other blades felt mild or buffered or whatever, like
the deflection area is bigger on the point of contact. Millerga felt
like the deflection area is small thus I felt like I feel where the
point of contact is when the ball hit. I don't know if I'm saying this
right, so if any of you know what I'm talking about and can explain it
better please do so. Even my HK don't have this nice feeling.
Back to talking about speed and/or power. Bty classified this blade to the Medium Fast category, which I think is about All+/Off- and rightly so. It suits close to the table play(ers) much better
than me. I tend to play over 1 meter away of the table and here I could
notice the big difference of speed & power compared to the HK. With
my HK I could hit/loop quite comfortably and land the ball on the end
of the table on the opposite site. With Millerga I had to power it up
and hit/loop with much higher up angle to land the ball on the opposite
side and even then usually land on the near net and the middle of the
table. Playing within 1 meter I find the speed is very good. Not
blazing fast but fast enough, fast (low) loop are speedy, goes faster
than flat hit. Hits & counters give good speed also. Smashes in the other hand feel too slow
so whenever I used to have a smirk on my face every time I smash the
ball pass my opponents, now the smirk isn't there anymore. Yeah I still
smash and get the point but less satisfaction. So if you're a
smasher/hitter then look elsewhere. I find that hitting with
medium-high power/energy gives best result as if I hit with too much
energy it's just a waste of energy. By the way, just to clear up any
misconception, I kill smash with my BH most of time, that is with
Tokyo/Zeta and I tell you that it goes blazing (yeah.. yeah... not
blazing.. but very fast...) fast on smashes thus the smirks on my face,
but on the Millerga it's like a house-broken putty husband in the hand
of a masochist wife.
Now, the upside is that chops & blocks are above average.
Very easy to do. Short & long chops were not much of a problem. I
could direct it easily. Blocking gives a good bounce but not too much
so it's easily directed to wherever too.
The blade gives a good dwell time and makes spiny chops and loops very easily. What I lost on speed/power I gain on spin.
I didn't notice much vibration. Throw is about medium I'd say...
Okay, enough about technical stuff.
Now onto the abstract review.
Playing with this blade taught me a very good lesson: power/speed isn't everything. I learn to strategically, tactical play instead of power play. Since
I got a proper coach I get much better and good at power play at over 1
meter away from the table. I play hard against hard. Those who are
smarter/more patience players usually figure this out in a couple of
games or so and then won't give me long/hard balls, instead they give
short/light balls, my weakness.
But playing with Millerga I lost my fire power. I can't play hard against hard because my hard turned out not hard enough. So I was forced into tactical play. I paid extra attention to placement of balls and variation of strokes. The results? Surprisingly good in my book.
I
played with these two person of higher level than I am. With person A I
usually lost 3-0 or 3-1 with considerable gap of points. This time
around I close the gap to 3-2 lost but I got deuces for 4 games and one
game got 6/7 due to being too careless. And on 2-3 games I actually
leading by two points pretty much up to the deuces. I'm happy with this
development. With person B I had never got a game off him and with
considerable gap of points too. He's a penholder smasher with short
pips. When I played him this time I lost 2-1 and with close 1-2 points
different on all lost games. Another plus in my book.
Sunday my
usual club was closed so I ventured out to another club which I've
never visited before. Turned out they had unofficial internal
tournament that day. There I met several people that I encountered at
different clubs before, and at the time I lost to those guys. Long
story short, I made it to third place. So it's three pluses in my book
already.
One main common thing through these times was: I
was playing more strategically than usual and the blade didn't let me
down. Speed & spin were very good for tactical play. Short play is
very good. And even though it's lacking in the power/speed department,
especially in smashes and power loop, much slower and less powerful
compared to the HK, they were enough to win the points.
Now,
I said earlier that I learned that power/speed aren't everything. I
didn't mean that I don't need it. But now I'm putting them at better
perspective. I can just imagine that with what I learn about
tactical play coupled with fire power I have with the HK and/or other
blades/rubbers I'm stepping into another level of tt play. It's
not like I haven't been told or exposed to the tactical side of the
play, I have so many times, but it's just that this time it really
clicked in my head.
So, if you ask me whether this blade is worth the price tag then I would say yes on two accounts. One
is the physical & technical parts of the blade. The blade is very
attractive and on the technical parts it has a very good feel. Medium
feel in term of hardness/softness, good dwell time for loops/chops. Great for allround play, loopers, certainly not for smashers.
Second, for the lesson learned. If you ask me whether the lesson I
learned about tactical play is worth paying $30... You bet I do.
Besides, I'm not just paying for the lesson, I still have the blade in
my possession...
p.s. I'm going to continue playing
with this blade for a week or so and will update the review later on as
I find out more about it. I might add, subtract, or change my
mind/findings after I get better acquainted with it.
Comments, critics, questions are welcomed.
------------- instagram: rokphishtt
Member of EJ Anonymous Hurricane Lover
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Posted By: Low Tek
Date Posted: 12/08/2008 at 2:58pm
Wow very nice review Rokphish.
I'm actually thinking of trying it out. Although the wood splinter warning has me a bit wary.
------------- http://atlantatabletennis.com - Atlanta Table Tennis - News, Commentary, Photos |
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Posted By: doraemon
Date Posted: 12/08/2008 at 7:09pm
Well done, my young friend. You actually just learned what Borko has said long time ago: "Power is nothing without control". It is also what I have been saying to young beginners who opt to play with Sardius and Primorac Carbon, instead of a cheap Instinct or Andro All+ (0r any other slower All+/Off- blades). Of course, you need power, but it will come later. Even you can blast a shot using an All+ blade, it's all the technique.
By the way, it's only USD 30 ??? I thought it was much more expensive, although BTY admits that it is made in China. In the 1st picture with the box underneath, it is written Yen 6090. It must be much more expensive, unless you got a very good deal.
Also, you mention the handle is SI, but it is definitely an ST, even it is stated on the box.
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Posted By: rokphish
Date Posted: 12/08/2008 at 8:24pm
@Low Tek,
what i got from the warning is that be careful for sharp object not that it will splinter. Nonetheless, sealing the blade will take your worry away.
@Doraemon,
it's something like I told you so moment. I have read about it and have also experienced it when I used a much faster equipment (knowing that too fast is not good). But somehow it just clicked now. It's like reading about a place, look at the picture/movie of the place, eat the place's dishes at the local restaurant but then one day get a chance to actually travel/visit there. Hehehe... About the handle, I typed it wrong. Thanks for catching it and letting me know.
------------- instagram: rokphishtt
Member of EJ Anonymous Hurricane Lover
|
Posted By: ahinoki
Date Posted: 12/10/2008 at 8:50am
Hey Guys
If you want some more info on Bamboo blades I have experimented with 3-ply and 1-ply Bamboo blades.
Please see the prototype section at www.americanHinoki.com There is also a a couple of reviews on bamboo blades in the "reviews" section that might prove helpful.
I have made some bamboo Jpen 1-plies and 3-ply shake blades (bamboo/nwc/bamboo) that were quite fast.
Currently I use a 1-ply Bamboo cpen. I am a close to the table spinner using 729 and I find that the 1-ply is just about perfect for my style. Bamboo does have a unique feel.
------------- ahinoki
www.americanHinoki.com
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Posted By: johnny89atc
Date Posted: 12/10/2008 at 7:32pm
Nice blade! This is a new blade and only few have tried it, so thanks for the review rokphish...
------------- Blade: OSP Virtuoso-L RST 87gr
FH: Butterfly Tenergy 05 FX 2.1
BH: Butterfly Tenergy 05 1.9
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Posted By: kelvinyoong
Date Posted: 12/10/2008 at 8:59pm
Very nice review. And i agree that control is > then power.
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Posted By: rokphish
Date Posted: 12/10/2008 at 11:08pm
Thanks guys... I'll update it again at the end of the week...
@Ahinoki, I've read the review and wonder about how it plays were it a 3 or 1 ply... Maybe later I'll get the chance...
------------- instagram: rokphishtt
Member of EJ Anonymous Hurricane Lover
|
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