Butterfly Hadraw VK

Been using it for 2 months. It is as fast as Korbel, but has a lighter and smaller plate. It has great control. It has a bit more crisp feeling and is a bit harder than Korbel due to the koto outer layer. The ST handle is comfortable for my big hand, but I would have preferred it to be a little bit bigger. The blade gives great feeling on all strokes and is reasonably fast for attackers. If you feel outer ALC blades with koto are too fast, then the Hadraw VK would be a great alternative. I use it with Donic pro am 2.0 on fh and Donic M2 2.0 on bh. It is a great combo for power spin and control.

Compared to my Zhang Jike ALC, the Hadraw blade has the same outer ply of koto, the same thickness, size, and shape. However, the handle is slightly smaller. Both blades produce the same crisp sound when you hit hard. I used the same setup with my ZJ ALC, H3 Neo, and short pips. In terms of speed, the Hadraw blade is slightly slower compared to the ALC blade, but it provides the same level of control. Overall, both the BTY ZJ ALC and the BTY Hadraw blades are high-quality options, and I appreciate the qualities of both.

I’ve been playing with this (AN) blade for about a month. I’ve equipped it with MX-P rubbers on both sides. The Anatomic (AN) handle feels great and fits nicely into my larger hands. What I like about this product is the great feedback on every ball and its good consistency. It is also light, so even heavy MX-P rubbers don’t make the whole racket too heavy. It offers enough speed for a good first spin attack. It also has many gears so you can keep the ball in play and make a counterattack, which I believe, is quite essential with the new(ish) slower plastic ball. I can create wide angles and difficult balls for the opponent, so this blade is great for mixing up the game.

On the other hand, the blade could be too slow for ultimate attackers, and it may be a bit too light for executing an optimal serve.

Pros: - great control - lightweight - consistent - many gears - great for taller players (like me :) ) who need a bit more time to set up a good shot - great for OFF-/ALL+ play

Cons: - Too slow for aggressive offensive play - lacks a bit of weight on serve

#####*After playing for 9 months *#####

I am still enjoying using this blade. All points from my review are still valid. I’ve played a whole season with it and I am planning to use it in the future. I’ve changed rubbers from MX-P to T05, because MX-Ps wore off. Both rubbers play great. T05 is still very fast, but not as explosive as MX-P. T05 offers more consistency and easier topspin game. Feedback from the blade is great. I’ve tried my teammates blade Korbel SK7/T05. I may be biased, but Hadraw VK felt much better than Korbel SK7. SK7 felt a bit heavy and a bit too fast for me, with less feedback (It’s an OFF blade so that was to be expected). So yeah, I’m still having fun playing with this blade.

Review *Update* Been using this for about 1 year, and I like it more and more each day. This one has the benefits you’d expect from an 5-ply all wood blade: Great feeling, flex and dwell for spinning the ball up, with high control on all strokes.

For a 5 ply all wood blade, this is quite fast at around Petr Korbel speed (“VK” refers to “V” for 5 ply, and “K” for “Korbel”). What’s different is that it’s quite light (around 80 grams), and not at all head heavy like Korbel can get. Even with the heaviest and fastest rubbers, the racket is very light.

Complete confidence in all strokes with great feedback, everything is very easy. At the same time though, I can get my attacking shots deep on the table and pressure my opponents from mid-distance.

As you’d expect from Butterfly at this price point, the finishing and build quality are great.

After using through the years about 20 different frames, I have found this one and I really like it.

It has a more natural feeling than my Viscaria but it just feels nicer.

If I can find another, I will surely buy it in case something happens with this one.