Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Overall Short Comment: Very good for its price($50 at the time of purchase) Fairly spinny. Can feel too powerful if you're not used to playing with 2.0 mm sponge. Lightweight for its speed -- still heavier than most premade bats at 165grams. Medium Rubber - Forgiving for beginners, but the maximum spin and speed is limited once you become good at the sport. The rubber can be replaced though. Good for: - Beginners who can do fh/bh drives - Recreational players with tennis background. - Anyone who doesn't want to invest in a custom setup Bad for: - Absolute beginners (Might be a bit too fast. Get Stiga Titan/Evolution for slower setup). - Choppers (Why would you be looking for an offensive paddle?) - If you already know how to loop, this is too beginner-oriented for you. Get a custom setup Long-detailed comments: The Blade: The blade is a little heavier than most premade bats. However, this blade is considerably lighter when compared to other offensive blades. I would say that the weight of this bat is just right for people who are starting to develop offensive playstyle. The blade can be pretty fast despite its light weight and it doesn't vibrate too much. The Rubber: The rubber is Stiga S5, which is a beginner rubber with very little speed and spin. (Very good control) The topsheet is not very grippy and so while table tennis basics can be performed relatively well, the rubber doesn't quite allow you to do advanced strokes. The rubber doesn't really react to spin and so it is good at blocking/driving/flat hitting. Durability: The rubber does lose its tackiness quickly. Since it comes with a not-so-tacky rubber, it will be very hard to generate spin after some period of playing. I've been using this paddle for two months. I play in a college club 4 hours a week + a few more hours with a friend. Right now it's time I change the rubber. I will keep the blade though, it is pretty good. If you are a complete beginner(You can't do forehand drive & backhand top spins comfortably), consider Stiga Titan or Stiga Evolution. Most other premade bat comes with 1.5-1.7 mm. sponge thickness. This paddle comes with 2.0 mm thickness and it is faster than your average paddle! If you play a lot you probably will be fine though. If you are not used to playing with thick sponges, it will take some time to adjust. Once you are familiar with it, this paddle is pretty good for its price. You can upgrade the rubber (or purchase a custom racket) when you are better at offensive shots and you start to feel that this paddle is too slow(At first, this paddle was too fast for me but when your skill improves you will feel that it is very easy to control.) If you are a beginner who can already do spin-intensive shots(i.e. loop) or an intermediate player, don't get a pre-assembled bat. The Stiga S5 rubber is insanely good at flat hitting/smashing but it is designed for beginners. Comments on each shot: Smash/Flat hit: This paddle is insanely good. The rubber is not sensitive to incoming spin. You can smash a chop/lob comfortably since the non-grippy top-sheet is not very reactive to the opponent's spin. Drive: The paddle is good at driving. The spin is ok. Loop: You can loop strongly with proper technique and a lot of energy. You should change the rubber to something better if you want to play the looping game. Push: The paddle can push okay. The S5 rubber offers a lot of control, but it will be hard to load up backspin on long pushes. Lob/fish: The speed of the blade allows you to lob comfortably without putting in a lot of effort. Block: The lightweight blade allows you to quickly block. The rubber offers a lot of control. Pretty good at blocking for an offensive blade. Serve: The rubber can do most serves comfortably, especially long serves. Some spinny short serves(Ghost serve, backspin reverse pendulum) is still hard to perform with the non-tacky top sheet. Chop: As typical of an offensive blade, the 2.0 mm is a little too thick for chopping. It can be hard but still doable.