Is Super ALC Viscaria too hard and bouncy? This is a quick review of the Butterfly new product Super Viscaria SUPER ALC blade. We will also compare the Viscaria Normal version and the Super ALC Viscaria.
Nam Do also made a very nice review of this blade. The link to his video is found below.
Overview of Butterfly Viscaria Super ALC
∎ Page Contents ∎
Let’s analyze the picture and parameters. Special thanks to XiaoP table tennis.
The Viscaria Super ALC has a weight of 91 grams, which is similar to the normal Viscaria weight.
The thickness is about 5.7mm, and the head size is 157 x 150. So there is no difference.
The balance point of Super Viscaria is 124mm, and the balance point of ordinary Viscaria is basically 130mm. The smaller the value, the closer the center of gravity of the blade is closer to the head. So Super Viscaria is a little bit more head heavy than the normal version.
The handle thickness is the same to me.
Blade composition of Super ALC vs ALC
Looking at the fiber layer, the Super Viscaria is obviously thicker and darker. The handle color Super Viscaria is darker, and the logo on the front looks better.
For the comparison test, both blades are mounted with the Hurricane 3 blue sponge 39 degrees.
Review with personal testing
First of all, this blade is not very bouncy as many players think.
Before, many analysts were guessing that it would become a too bouncy ball with a short holding time. After you really get started, you will find that it is the other way around. You can’t feel any difference when you play against each other. When you start to push and pull, you will obviously feel that the time the ball stays on the blade will be a little longer.
Viscaria feels like the ball hits a hard object directly, which is very crisp.
Super Viscaria feels like vibrating a little more. But you have a slight pause allows the user to have more time to handle the incoming ball. At the same time, this buffer only acts on the process of the ball hitting the blade, and has no effect when the ball is thrown out, so the vibration is still neat and the pointing is still clear.
The arc of Super Viscaria pulling the ball is slightly longer, but it is a bit lower than that of Viscaria. Because it has a little more time to hold the ball, it can better control the racket, and it is less bouncy in pulling the ball, and the rotation is better.
There are some balls pulled out in the same way, and it seems that there is no difference in the way of balls pulled out with Viscaria, but the rotation will be better, which was also certified by golfers at the beginning of the game.
In addition, the fault tolerance performance of this blae is much better than Viscaria. When dealing with the same backspin in practice, Super Viscaria will have a better performance than Viscaria. I feel that this is also very important, not only technically, but also psychologically.
Viscaria Super ALC vs Viscaria ALC
Here, I have made a comparison between the Super ALC and the ALC version. In general, the Super ALC Viscaria is a little bit powerful when you play at mid-distance. The feeling and the bouncy speed are very similar to the Viscaria ALC.
Viscaria Super ALC vs Viscaria| Viscaria Super ALC | Viscaria | |
|---|---|---|
| Blade structure | 5-ply wood + 2 Super Arylate-Carbon | 5-ply wood + 2 Arylate-Carbon |
| Reaction (Speed) | 12.1 | 11.8 |
| Vibration (Feeling) | 10.1 | 10.3 |
| Blade size | 157×150 mm | 157×150 mm |
| Blade thickness | 5.7 mm | 5.8 mm |
| Handle size | FL： 100×25×34 mm ST： 100×23×28 mm | FL： 100×25×34 mm ST： 100×23×28 mm |
| Chinese penhold | Cpen： 82×22×31.5 mm | Cpen： 82×22×31.5 mm |
Viscaria vs Zhang Jike ALC
Here is the comparison between Viscaria ALC and Zhang Jike ALC.
| blade name | speed | control | hardness (outer-layer) | stiffness (core-power) | thickness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butterfly Zhang Jike ALC | 9 | 9 | 6.7 | 6.6 | 5.8 |
| Butterfly Timo Boll Spirit | 9.2 | 9.2 | 6.5 | 6.7 | 5.8 |
| Butterfly Timo Boll ALC | 9 | 9 | 7 | 6.4 | 5.9 |
| Butterfly Viscaria | 9.1 | 9 | 6.8 | 6.5 | 5.8 |
Viscaria Gold tag versus Viscaria Super ALC
As for what some people say is like a gold-label Viscaria, I personally don’t feel the same. The main difference is in the feel. Super Viscaria is soft on the outside and rigid on the inside. But the Golden Tag Viscaria has a soft and elastic feel, and the experience between them is slightly different.
Conclusion
Super Viscaria is not too bouncy. Due to the higher density Super ALC carbon layer, it has a crisper feel. It is also more powerful at mid-distance.
To sum up, Super Viscaria adds some ball holding time to the original Viscaria’s crisp feel, improves fault tolerance, slightly longer and lower arcs, better rotation, stable defense, and more offense.
Taking my own experience as an example, when I started with Viscaria, I didn’t dare to take the initiative to play some balls, but when I played with Super Viscaria because I knew that the fault tolerance of this would be slightly better, sometimes I wanted to fight it.
If you take the initiative to get started, you can really get on it, which makes your confidence better and puts a little pressure on your opponents. When I tried the equipment, I always regarded fault tolerance as a more important parameter. As for the strength of these two blades, I really don’t see any difference.
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Hi Coach,
I use Yasaka Rakza X extra hard both sides with Ma Long 5 blade. My playing style is top spin loop both sides midrange to close to the table. I find that I need to have more drive and smash with heavy plastic ball. I have the feeling that my current blade is not suitable for drive and smash because I have a rough time to combine loop and drive during practice. Which blade should I use with the same rubbers? or Is it just a matter of more practicing with the current set up? Thank you
Hi coach, is it ok to play with long pimple ox on viscaria? Or it will be very fast and ball would bounces out?
yes. I’ve seen some good player with long pimple on Viscaria.
Another option is long pimple and Balsa blade