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[729 fx]

Trying out a Palio TCT c-pen blade, which is rated as offensive. For everyone information, Palio stands for " People Always Loves It Only", an acronym I find amusing.
So I put on a hard YinHe (Galaxy) 9000D rubber (about 47 degree) for this first test and has been playing with it almost a week and a half todate. I will try either a medium or a softer rubber next and see how it felt.

Look & Feel:

The woodwork is fairly good. It was symmetrical but at the very edge there is some roughs and the feel is very light (was told it is about 88 or 89g). It is a Chinese penhold racquet (I was ask if I wanted a c-pen or a shakehand) blade to test, I chose the c-pen). It is a 7-ply blade, ie wood-carbon-titanium-thicker wood-titanium-carbon-wood.

Sound:

First, without rubber, the blade gives a crispy ping sound when the ball is hit, due to the 2-ply thin titanium and 2 ply carbon configuration. It is louder all around the blade as the sweet spot is by far larger. With the YinHe rubber, the sound was muffled slightly but the same bounce height remains the same.

Weight:
The lightness is unbelievable. It weighted slightly less than 70g and feels very light indeed.

Play:

1) Serve: Fast serving long tends to go out, maybe due to my eagerness and not condition to use this new blade as yet. Still adapting to it. Serving short is good and got all my shots landed where I wanted to.

2) Block: Par Excellent. Counter blocking and punching blocks is fast most of the time, mainly because I paired a stiff blade with a hard rubber.

3) Loop: I think this blade is not made for loopers. It is not forgiving and all my loops went out and I have to put in great effort to ensure the ball stays in. I find that this blade is more suitable for the flat hitter/driver.

Summary: I must say the TCT-hard rubber combo is a hitter/driver primary weapon and the blade is really light and fast, suitable for those on the offensive as well as blocker/counter-blocker. With this blade you will definitely have more reaction time for close-to-table blocking and attacking. The workmanship is good (better than my YinHe 986).

Pictures will upload later.