Butterfly Gionis Carbon Off

A good blade for training attacking speed players. It is very stiff and hard. However, it is also very heavy, which is its biggest disadvantage. The quality varies greatly from blade to blade.

This is my first blade after using a Stiga Pro Carbon for almost 1 year. I must say I love it; the design is simple and comfortable.

I started using it with a Tackiness Chop 2 for Backhand (BH) and a Friendship 729 Top Point for Forehand (FH). I recently changed to a Tenergy 80-FX for FH. I must say it is the perfect combination for me; it has very good speed while maintaining a surprisingly decent control.

All this comes at a moderate price.

Review

The blade’s poor design and substandard manufacturing make it uncomfortable to use. The blade easily breaks on the sides and near the handle, even with minimal contact with the table tennis surface. It is uncomfortable to hold in both ST (shakehand) and FL (flared) grips. Butterfly, a reputable brand, is expected to produce better quality blades. The same criticism applies to the AR+ model.

Great off blade from Butterfly. The head size of 152 is perfect for all+ off games. It’s not too stiff, allowing for enough dwell time when looping from near and mid distances. I paired it with Galaxy Big Dipper (FH) and Tibhar Aurus Soft (BH), resulting in a nice feel.

It provides a good amount of spin in short play with excellent speed and control. There’s great consistency in mid-rally from mid distance. The blade features a simple design with old-school looks.

After changing it with MX-P on FH and MX-S on BH, the consistency on looping and flicking was upgraded.

I needed a replacement for my old and unusually heavy yet powerful Juic Stellan B. Alpha Fl, 95 g. The Gionis Carbon series of blades looks like an interesting option to try for intermediates who need control and power, in my case for the LP on BH (mostly block occasional chop) and inverted FH style. All in all, I decided to try the Gionis Carbon Off blade.

For a moderate price, I think this is a superb blade, about OFF- in speed, mine is 95 grams, with a flared handle. The blade is very good for the LP on BH style I play. With 0.5 mm PR1 on BH and Max Donic JP03 on FH it does very well all I want it to do.

The blade face is medium big at 159×152 mm, 5+2 layers, thick enough for my blocking pip play at 6.2 mm, with a big flared handle, which I sanded to shape and I just love how it feels. This blade has a great balance, actually reminds me the Juic SBA, maybe it is better for looping because my heavy SBAlpha was too stiff.

I really, really like the Gionis Carbon Off feel when hitting, driving and blocking, some vibration is there, yet at just the right level. Serves work well, and when I am pushed away from the table the blade has the power and balance for looping, fishing, chopping or lobbing. Definitely worthy a try!

Great blade for its low price. It has an amazing finishing. It’s a little heavey, but very nice in short game and away from the table.