Donic J.O. Waldner [Limited JO Shape]

This blade is special. It has so many qualities and gears. No wonder Waldner won so many championships with this particular blade. It’s a must-try blade for any serious table tennis player.

The J.O. Waldner OFF Limited is the same blade as the Waldner Offensive 2016, but with Japan packaging. It is a 5-ply wood blade without carbon and has a thickness of 5.8mm.

Donic rates the blade speed as 9+, which is accurate - it is a fast blade! However, the low pitch sound it makes provides a sense of confidence in your touch. Despite its speed, the blade still offers a balance of dwell-time, making it an effective performer.

As a limited edition, the J.O. Waldner OFF Limited is worth collecting for enthusiasts of the sport.

The first couple of FH drives quickly revealed that this is a blade in the OFF- range that offers a reasonably crisp and well-defined contact point. The combination with the DHS Hurricane 8 rubber is not overly fast, and I definitively needed to provide a little bit more effort than with my usual OFF+ rated blade.

BH drives with my Waran short pips, on the other hand, were very fast, yet reasonably controlled; the blade is sufficiently hard to cause the ball to dip when hitting with the short pips. FH loops with this setup are moderately fast but very controlled, which allows for a high degree of variation in placement.

The DHS Hurricane 8 is normally a medium-low throw rubber but generated enough of an arc to provide safety over the net. I would characterize the dwell time as medium, offering an excellent balance for looping and smashing.

Beautiful Wood! Control is amazing. When I played with MX-S on both sides, I found that it was something better for little money. I have played with many woods, such as tbs, gergely 21, ma lin soft carbon, yasaka silverline, triber k, Primorac off-, and many more. But I find that this wood is something special in combination with real hard rubbers. You have the control that I was looking for many years. At the same time, the speed is great, and the racket is very light in my hands! Try it, and you will not regret it!

Mine weighs 85.5g. Its speed is approximately as suggested, around 8.8.

It’s faster than an Xiom Offensive S, but feels stiffer than its ratings indicate. I anticipated that the spruce layer would make it more flexible than the Offensive S (Limba/Limba/Ayous/Limba/Limba), but this wasn’t the case. It is stiffer, resulting in less dwell time for looping.

However, the spruce, limba, and ayous layers also mean it is softer than the Offensive S in some ways. It works well for a modern game style, with both hitting and looping. I tested it with Vega Europe (softer) and Vega X (harder). Both rubbers performed well, whether soft or hard, depending on your preference.

Many moons ago, there was the epic and now the iconic Donic Waldner OFF JO Shape blade. There are two variations, the tenso carbon and this one.

This one (the Donic Waldner OFF JO Shape) is slightly slower than the tenso carbon one, but not that much slower.

I really like this blade. I think I found the perfect blade, having used Viscaria, Stiga Carbonado series - these two were too fast at the expense of good control/speed, and also I used the Donic Epox series - which seemed a bit slower than this blade.

What I like about this blade:

1. The sweet spot is amazing; the control it provides allows me to place the ball very close to the net even when the ball is coming at a lot of speed. It’s something I could not do with Stiga Carbonado with the same rubber.

2. The grip of this blade is unlike any others. For a straight shape, it has a unique JO Shape that no other blades have. It is slightly bigger, round, and very soft in the hand. I just love it.

Caution: if you do not like a wider handle width, this might be a bummer for you.
(By comparison with Stiga Carbonado, which has a much thinner width in the blade handle for the same Straight type)

But if you have previously used any Donic handle, for example, the Donic Epox, then you will feel amazing.

3. The quality of this blade is 10/10. Good craftsmanship.

4. It is much lighter in the hand compared to Stiga Carbonado, with both rubbers being a Tenergy.

5. I can make very good blocks with this blade. It has been able to handle quite a few different types of attacks so far, and everyone seems amazed. But I, for one, know that the blade gives me a notch there for a clean block return.

6. Smashing is clean and impactful.

7. (Bias) I feel the inspiration of Waldner when using this blade. :)

Rubbers that I saw were good with this blade:

• Tenergy rubbers
• Joola Dynaryz ACC (on both FH and BH)
• DHS Goldarc 8
• Tibhar Evolution MX-P

DHS rubbers did not feel good on this blade, and not even Tibhar Quantum.

Racket is well built.

Nice looking and good feeling.

This blade is a great choice for beginners because its lightweight design makes it easy to control. It also provides a good balance between speed and control, allowing new players to develop their skills without feeling overwhelmed. Overall, I highly recommend this blade for anyone just starting out in the world of table tennis.

La forma de su mango hace que sea la madera ideal para los jugadores de los 90 y 2000, muy buen control y buena velocidad, sobre todo porque es Made in Sweden.

Creo que es la mejor madera que he usado, y han sido unas cuantas. Tiene mango ST muy cómodo y fácil de manejar por su forma.

It is suitable for T05 hard, balanced power, spin, and control.

A very good blade of a very decent quality. Good feeling aspect.
One thing buyers should keep in mind, especially if they prefer a lighter racket, is that this racket is light but has a bigger surface area. When you apply the rubber, the weight increases exponentially due to the extra surface area.
In performance, though, I have found this blade to be quite effective. It even sends back those shots successfully which I have normally given up on.

Classic Offensive (off-/all+) wooden blade. It has great feeling and control but at the same time, it is fast enough for attacking with spin or hitting flat from a medium distance.

Una madera buenísima con muy buena rendimiento, excelente velocidad y control.

Very good paddle for all-around players.

Excellent in defense. There is a little vibration, but good control and attack with hard rubbers like H3 or Tenergy 05.

Best blade - very friendly, good speed and spin, and very good control.

Good feeling but decent finish only. Should have been better finished and sanded since they are limited editions. Price is quite high.

Weird shape. Good for a collection. Hard and vibrant blade.

This is my third blade. Chose anatomic. I love it.

Very well balanced, comfortable off-blade. I like it.

I’ve owned two Waldner Senso Carbons in the past but could never get over the hollow handle vibration and slight carbon feel. This Limited Edition is all wood and has a solid handle. It is a bit faster than the WSC, balance is perfect and the feel is at the top of all wood blades. I don’t think I’ve felt any unpleasant vibrations. Excellent!

So nice I bought it twice!

Good feeling.

Хорошая основа за эти деньги. Доставка супер.

I played two times, the blade was broken.

This is a good blade - stable but offensive. Maybe kind of weak by today’s standards, but definitely a good blade.

Perfect blade between WSC JO Shape (stiffer) and Rosewood XO (more elastic), so I would classify this blade as nearly stiff. I use it with Tenergy 05 and T25 FX. Perfect weight of 176 g, great spin and speed, controlled touch and passive play, also in counter-top spins.

Top quality blade, lightweight (78g). This was made to celebrate J.O.'s career and is similar to the old Waldner blades of the 80s. I would rate this as one of the best. I was a bit concerned about the shape at first, i.e., ball catching the top edge, but this happened no more than with other blades. This blade is faster than the Stiga OFF C but a bit slower than the Rosewood. It still has plenty of power and very good control. Fitted with Airoc Astra M 2.1 (FH) and Barracuda 2.0 (BH) gave me more than enough power for looping on both sides, but still had plenty of control for touch, pushes, flicks, etc. Blocking is so easy with this blade. This is a bit like a Dicon with more control and lighter. Quality OFF blade! Also, very quick service (3 days to UK).

A great budget blade, faster than a standard all-round.

Perfect for a defensive player!

This blade can do everything. The perfect blade for me. I can generate lots of topspin, and the price and craftsmanship are superb. I bought 3 of the same blade with straight handles.

Good blade. The blade has been adjusted for 40+, the second veneer becomes thinner, the middle veneer becomes thicker. Nice! I bought two of them, but there is a handle that is not very well-proportioned. Donic’s quality control needs to be improved! Donic Waldner OFF is also made in Wood House. Why are Yasaka’s products always better quality? If Donic’s handle is square not oval, it would have been better.

First of all, the person who came up with the idea of JO Shape was great (legend JO Waldner himself), not just because of the way he played, but also because of his invention of JO Shape in Table Tennis Blades. In JO Shape blade, there are no annoying wings, plus you can switch your racket from Forehand to Backhand (and vice versa) faster, plus you have a better grip on your racket which provides great stability and control to your game.

Now talking about wood composition: it is a lightweight 5-ply limba-spruce-ayous-spruce-limba veneer construction. The top ply of Hard Limba provides stiffness which works great on drives and blocks. Spruce ply provides the extra kick in your shots and since the inner 3 layers are softwood, it gives you tremendous capability for looping.

So if you are an offensive all-round player (from intermediate to advanced level), this can be the best blade you can ever have to play table tennis.

Rubbers: Medium Hard to Hard Rubbers work well with this blade (as this is an all-wood looping blade). Evolution EL-S Rubber (Max Thickness) on both Forehand and Backhand can be one of the best combinations (as EL-S plays like a controlled version of Tenergy 05, because EL-S has less catapult effect than Tenergy 05), so EL-S is easy to loop as well as block.

After EL-S, if you want to upgrade rubbers, then-
On Forehand Rubber upgrade, you can use Evolution MX-P Rubber (max thickness) which can give you more power.
On Backhand Rubber Upgrade, you can use Evolution MX-S Rubber (max thickness) which can be a little bit harder and fast on your backhand.

Nice blade, my friend bought this blade from me and never used the Butterfly Supper Mizutani Jun after using this blade.

Beautiful blade. Scandinavian design. Softer feel compared to the old Waldner offensive blade.

Excellent product! I have been using this blade for a few months now and it has greatly improved my game. The quality and craftsmanship of this blade is top-notch. I highly recommend it to any serious table tennis player.