Nittaku Adelie

A masterpiece. Blade is very fast off of the bounce and on drives. It is quite stiff, but not overly stiff. Not many vibrations are felt when making contact with the ball. This blade is excellent for counter-hitting, counter-driving, and smashing. Has decent control, so good to use when looping. Ideal for offensive players.

Blade is also very lightweight, which is a great benefit when playing. It is made of 5-ply wood, which gives it a great feel when gripping. It is suitable for both beginners and experienced players, and is arguably one of the best blades that Yasaka have produced.

It’s incredible how well you can play with this blade, which allows you to execute very soft and precise shots while keeping the ball on the table at all times. Only minor adjustments to your technique may be necessary to achieve optimal results.

Coming from a 92g Stiga Clipper CR (non-wrb), I was expecting a similar feeling where contact feels soft and a “layered” feeling with many gears. Instead, Adelie feels different.

It is not a bad different. Adelie has very good control, and I notice quite some flex on my backhand side (my stronger side). After several sessions, it is still too early for me to actually know the blade, but so far I like it.

To my surprise, I actually found myself doing spinny brushes from the backhand side, like I used to with 5 ply Limba Outer blades. With the Clipper I had, I had a slightly different stroke. I attribute this to Adelie’s overall thinness (6.0-6.2, relatively thin for a 7-ply blade), and its low weight (86g, compared to 90g+ for some other 7-ply blades).

I am yet to grasp the flex on this blade. As mentioned, I can feel quite a bit of it when I do my backhand.

At this point, I can say this is one of those blades that you cannot go wrong with. The controllable speed is more than enough for local league levels. P.S. I am yet to rate the blade, but I hope my impression above helps anyone who wants/likes to use 7-ply blades.

One of the best 7 ply blades available, with a limba outer (x2) and ayous inner (x5) construction. Similar to many other blades in terms of construction, but lighter and with arguably more control. The handle is very comfortable and the same size as most Nittaku/Japanese blades.

This blade is excellent for technical and slightly aggressive players. It suits any kind of rubber, including short pips and long pips. Similar to Latika, it is quicker with a lot of control.

Very similar to the Old Clipper, with very good control and spin.