Donic Appelgren Exclusive AR

I have an 81 g weight concave blade. This is an amazing blade, like a defense blade. I have short pips on the forehand and red Ox Leviathan rubber on the backhand. Defensive players should have it. The size is 158 mm x 153 mm.

This was my blade for properly learning all strokes. It is slow, but when paired with 729 Bloom Power on both sides for two years, I can now play even off+ blades without problems.

One downside is that backhand topspin and contra topspin are hard to execute, as the blade is too slow and too soft. A rubber with a higher throw angle is needed, preferably harder, as this may make it work. Softer rubbers did not work for me with this blade.

Control is high in passive play, receiving serves, and keeping the ball at the table, but attacking is not great on the backhand. Forehand attack is okay but needs a Chinese strategy.

All strokes are very easy with this classic limba blade, which has an ayous core.

I bought this blade to relearn my strokes. Previously, I used Rosewood V with 2 Rakzas, which was way too fast for my level.

I paired this blade with two Mark V AD rubbers. Yes, it is slow, really slow. But that’s just what I wanted. This combination has a very low throw, so every shot I have to use the proper technique to hit the other side.

Spin is low, but that’s mainly due to the rubber. Only if I dig deep into the sponge can I produce good spin. This is good for my strategy because the opponent gets used to my flat and low balls, and then I hit a spinny slow loop. Due to its elasticity, I can make very fast backhand swings, which is my primary kill shot.

It is awesome for blocking topspins but tricky to do so with flat hits. The sweet spot is medium.

Overall, I’d rate this blade as 8, as long as you are a beginner or developing intermediate player. You will have to go for every shot, but you will have good control. And it’s light, mine came as 77g. With rubber, I think it’s around 140g.

Our club gives this blade to beginners. It is an alright blade, not very special or particularly good in anything.