Butterfly Zhang Jike ALC

My primary blade so far. Updated. (July 2021)

Using Tenergy 05fx for forehand and Donic Bluefire M2 for backhand. Flicking the ball makes my opponent awful when the ball rushes like a bullet on the other side of the table, thinking, “Where did the ball go?”

Blocking is like a wall. Smashing is like thunder. A deadly combo. Control is very good. Try it, guys.

Update: Changed my rubbers to Donic Bluefire M2 for FH and BH. Excellent Combo. After pressing for two hours… voilà!

The best version of Zhang Jike, the greatest value blade from Butterfly.

Blade Specs:

* Model:** Zhang Jike ALC * Blade Construction: 7-ply wood (Koto/Ayous/Hinoki/Ayous/Kiri/Ayous/Koto) * Weight: 87-93 grams * Head Size: 157mm x 150mm * Handle Type: Flared

Review:

The Zhang Jike ALC table tennis blade is the pinnacle of craftsmanship and performance. It offers an exquisite balance of speed, control, and feel, making it a formidable weapon in the hands of skilled players. The 7-ply construction, featuring a combination of premium wood species, provides exceptional stiffness and elasticity, resulting in a blade that generates immense power while maintaining excellent control.

The blade’s large head size allows for precise ball placement and exceptional spin generation, enabling players to execute intricate shots with ease. The flared handle design provides a comfortable and secure grip, allowing for effortless handling and quick reflexes.

Overall, the Zhang Jike ALC is an exceptional table tennis blade that caters to the demands of advanced players seeking the ultimate balance of power, control, and feel. Its exquisite craftsmanship and superior performance make it a blade that will enhance any player’s game to new heights.

Recommendation:

The Zhang Jike ALC is highly recommended for advanced table tennis players who prioritize speed, control, and feel. Its exceptional qualities make it an ideal choice for players who seek a blade that can elevate their performance to the next level.

A softer version of Viscaria with excellent control, making it easier to play than the original. This blade is ideal for amateur players. The handle stands out as one of the best among all BTY blades.

This soft blade has a woody feel, making it a good choice for beginning to intermediate players. It’s especially ideal for those looking to generate spin. However, advanced players may find that this blade lacks the desired speed and power.

Those focused on a spinny game might find success with this blade. However, for an all-around better option, I would recommend a 7-ply wood.

I played with the Butterfly T.BOLL ALC and found it lacking in control. However, the Butterfly Zhang Jike ALC offers excellent control, speed, and controllability. It’s a stunning blade that I highly recommend.

The Apolonia ZLC has a similar appearance, but I have yet to test it.

The first version of the Blue Dragon blade was better, but this version is better for playing with plastic balls. It is very stiff and is better suited for blocking.

This is it! The perfect blade for my style of play. It’s not as stiff as the TB ALC, but it’s also not as soft as the Viscaria. The speed, spin, and control are all excellent. After a long and extensive search trying different blades, I can finally say I’ve found what I’ve been looking for.

Table Tennis Blade Review

This blade is the best I have ever used. I absolutely love it. I don’t have any complaints and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new blade. It is perfectly balanced and has a great feel in the hand. The blade is also very durable and has held up well to my heavy use.

Pros:

* Perfectly balanced * Great feel in the hand * Very durable

Cons:

* None

This is a fantastic blade. It excels in close and mid- to table play, perhaps due to the combination of H3 Neo on the forehand and short pips on the backhand. This pairing allows for both slow and fast loop drives on the forehand, while the backhand provides strong defense and smashing capabilities. The blade produces a crisp sound upon impact, highlighting its effectiveness in blocking. Its comfortable handle and high quality construction make it a standout option.

This blade is amazing, at least for me. Mine weighs 93g and its thickness is 5.8mm. It feels very soft compared to my previous blade, the Donic Epox Offensiv. It’s indeed a fast blade, so unless the player has the skills to handle it, it’s hard to spin the ball with this blade.

The first time I used it, it was a bit hard to perform spinny serves and short receives because of the weight of the racket and the speed of the blade. Nowadays, I’m used to it, so it’s not that hard to make spinny serves and receives.

Although this blade is a carbon blade, it’s not stiff at all. The Donic Epox Offensiv is way stiffer. It’s a fast but very soft and flexible blade. I recommend this blade to all those people who know how to spin the ball very well (experienced players) and who are looking for fast blades with a good feeling of the ball.

These are the characteristics:

- Fast blade with soft feeling - The handle is a bit thick for a 5.8mm thickness blade - Quality is world-class - This blade is not head-heavy - The head is smooth. The handle is a bit rough - I would say the dwell time is not short for a carbon blade - Good for both close to the table and far from the table. But the true power of this blade can be seen with a far from the table playing style - It’s expensive. I paid 200 dollars for it in Peru - Tensor rubbers are highly recommended for backhand.

I’ve used this blade for two months now and couldn’t be happier with its performance. My game has improved significantly because of the Zhang Jike ALC. I use this blade with a Bty Rozena on my backhand, which gives me the perfect combination of attack and defense. I highly recommend this blade if you enjoy topspin and heavy loops.

I came from Timo Boll ALC to this one, basically just because it looked awesome. But I’m surprised by what I found. Any Arylate Carbon blade was fine to me, until I started testing them all. Now I’m in love with it.

Here’s what this blade gives you:

1. Comfort. The handle is a little thicker than average, and its shape is just awesome. 2) Speed. As any ALC blade, it’s fast. You don’t need to be Zhang Jike to get the most of it. 3) Control. It is a very balanced blade, very forgiving. 4) Zero Vibration. The arylate carbon absorbs the vibration, but you still have a lot of ball feeling in your hand. No vibration, just feeling. 5) Look. It looks simply awesome, the only one similar to it would be the new Apolonia ZLC. 6) Versatility. You can virtually combine this blade with any rubber. I’ve used hard rubbers on my forehand and soft to medium on my back. It plays perfectly with any rubber I’ve used and feels great. Although I would have to say that harder rubbers are slightly more suitable. 7) Expensive. Yes, it’s a little overpriced. It could be in the same price range as TB ALC. I guess Zhang Jike is hotter for Butterfly, so they charge you more for his image. Who knows.

Cheers guys, keep spinning…

Extremely satisfied with this blade. I was previously using a Xiom Zetro Quad that weighed 91g. My ZJK ALC is 84g. The difference is night and day in terms of feel. Yes, it is lighter, but also the balance of the weight is more towards the handle, which gives you a little more leeway for heavier rubbers. Shots like the backhand flick are a breeze and I can really maximize head speed.

Compared to the Zetro Quad, it is thinner, so you feel the vibrations a little more, but in a good way! A lot of people said the handle is larger than other ALC blades, this may be so, but in general, it isn’t a very large handle. I think part of the reason is because the wings don’t go very deep into the handle at all, so it’s not thick around this area that I prefer it to be. Nothing a little extra grip tape didn’t fix!

This blade is great for an offensive game - it can do it all. Is it worth the extra money? Probably not. You could save $40-60 and buy another Butterfly ALC blade and performance would probably be similar. But on purchases like this where I’ll just get the one and use it for a long time, the price difference was not a factor for me - so I went for the Zhang Jike name, cool blade design, and lighter avg. weight!

I’m using this blade with M2 2.0 on the forehand and S2 2.0 on the backhand.

Speed: It’s not too fast or too slow. For me, the backhand is perfect. The only problem is the forehand from mid-distance, which is a bit slow, and sometimes the ball goes into the net.

Control: With this blade, every shot is so easy, and you will feel safe on every shot, probably because of the 2.0 rubbers. But in comparison with the Maze+ Vega Pro Max, the control is really so much more.

Looping with this blade is awesome. You can loop slowly and spinny, but you can also topspin with a lot of power and spin at the same time (I guess because of its flexibility), and you have a lot of catapult effect for this kind of blade.

The price is high, I know, but I think it’s worth it. (Sorry for bad English.)

I’ve used this blade for 4 months now and couldn’t be happier with its performance. My game has improved significantly thanks to the Zhang Jike ALC. I use this blade with a Joola Rhyzm 425 on my forehand and a 729 Aurora on my backhand, which provides me with a perfect balance of attack and defense. If you enjoy topspin and heavy loop, I highly recommend this blade.

Bruce Lee once said that the most effective form of attack is the one that lands. You can be really fast, but if your timing and control are off, then your punches and kicks don’t really matter. What you have in this blade is the best of all worlds. Poly-arylate carbon is used by more world champions than any carbon blade in the ITTF. I think it’s important to note that since sometimes really good marketing can cause you to spend more money than you really should. Ma Long, Zhang Jike, Timo Boll, and several others all use arylate carbon in their blades.

When used in my game, it doesn’t matter whether I’m serving, pushing, chopping, smashing, or looping - the amount of control and feel I have when taking the shot always breeds confidence in knowing that the attack will go where I want it to go. Having that confidence is what allows me to relax and release the hand brake from my proverbial sports car, which therefore allows me to have faster and more powerful shots. There’s nothing worse than being offered the chance to attack but not being able to take that opportunity because you feel as if your blade’s aim, timing, and control are off.

Before deciding to go with the Zhang Jike ALC paddle, I used a Gergely paired up with Tackifire Drive on both sides. Way too fast, even though the rubber is designed for control. I considered buying the Zhang Jike Super ZLC as well, but for more than twice what the ALC would cost, not only is it considerably faster with less control, but watching the reviews on YouTube proved that it would be a tougher beast to tame.

Today I’ve matched this Zhang Jike ALC paddle with both Tenergy 80-FX on both forehand and backhand, and it provides the most flexibility of style and play in attack and defense. It has definitely opened my game and allowed me to be more daring with my attacks, and I know you will like it too! Good luck!

To me, the Zhang Jike ALC blade is more stable, especially far from the table, compared to the normal Zhang Jike blade. It is also a little bit faster when going for the finish of the point.

This blade makes me want to hit it again and again. I bought a flared one, weighing 90 grams, with a medium feel. The handle is much more comfortable than, for example, the flared handle of the Timo Boll ALC. I’m not saying the Timo Boll ALC handle is bad, but some players may prefer the thinner handle of the Timo Boll ALC. The ZJ ALC handle is wider, and the weight of the blade is pointed towards the handle, which I think is better for combining with heavier rubbers if you don’t like top-heavy blades. Pushing, spinning, overspin, serve, blocking, smashing… it all goes fluently for me, especially the mid-distance play, which is great with this blade.

I don’t really understand the hype about the Zhang Jike Super ZLC. Yes, it’s a very good blade, but can you control it? I prefer the Zhang Jike ALC because it has way more control throughout the game. It may have slightly less powerful topspin, but I think the control makes up for it. What would you choose: 9/10 topspins on the table (Zhang Jike ALC) or only 5/10 topspins on the table with a bit more power (Zhang Jike Super ZLC)? If you’re doubting between the ALC and Super ZLC, take the ALC. It saves you a lot of money.

NOTE: Almost all top players play with Arylate Carbon. I think this is no coincidence. I find it a bit weird that I have never seen this mentioned before. Timo Boll uses ALC, Zhang Jike uses ALC, and I could go on. They probably all tested ZLC but didn’t like it. Actually, almost none of them play with (Super) ZLC. Butterfly’s (Super) ZLC is good material, and some may play better with it, but is it worth paying extra money for if you haven’t even compared it with ALC yet?

Plays fast and solid, maintaining a soft feel overall. The balance of the weight leans towards the handle, which I’m not entirely certain I appreciate, as I usually prefer head-heavy blades like the TBS (the benchmark). However, I do appreciate the handle’s size compared to other ALC blades I’ve tried. Perhaps I should consider using a heavier backhand rubber next time, such as T80.

Power loops, blocks, and smashes are also more powerful with this blade than any other ALC blade I’ve used. Unfortunately, there is a trade-off in control, which is worse than with carbon blades, although not as severe.

My ZJK ALC weighs 92 grams, which is a suitable weight for me. I intend to continue using this blade for the foreseeable future and adapt to its weight balance and lower control in exchange for its increased speed and feel.

The best blade for me right now.

I have been using the ZJK ALC (88g) for about 5-6 months. I have Andro R53 (ultr max) on the forehand and Butterfly D05 (2.1) on the backhand.

It’s pretty fast, but with control. I really like blocking/active blocking at both ends, and it’s effective. I like the feeling of it. I tried Viscaria before getting this, but it had too much vibration for my liking. However, ZJK ALC is perfect for me.

I like the rubber setup as well. It fits well on ZJK ALC for my playing style, which is closer to the table and mid-distance. However, close to the table, it’s superb. I really love the active blocking feeling, and it sets me up for a return perfectly.

Like I said, the 88 gr blade is slower than the 90 gr blade. I have two at 90 gr, and I sold one because it was slower. This is because Butterfly’s standards have declined since the 1980s and 1990s. If you know how to identify the center of gravity of a paddle, you can determine its future setup. The standard distance from the handle is about 25 mm.