Yasaka Sweden Guardian

I think this blade is very stiff and hard. It plays very well with Curl P1 with sponge. Returns are with a lot of control and with a low arc. On the forehand, I tried that with Victas 401 and I need to say that combination might not be suitable for many people. It’s good to attack, but pretty difficult to chop.

It feels really hard, exactly like the ball is bouncing from a piece of glass in your hand. Thus, this blade in combination with hard rubbers will be only suitable for those people who have a very good feeling of the ball and who like the feeling of hardness. You might enjoy it if you always play with a relaxed hand. Any tension will cause immediate loss of feeling and control of where the ball is going and how much power you have to apply.

This blade is very different from Diode V, although on paper they look alike. With the same Victas 401, Yasaka has definitely much more power on FH and much more control with Curl on BH. So, the same rubbers behave oppositely.

The blade is fast, so I will not recommend it to those who are looking for a moderate or slow speed. What I liked is that if you play with a relaxed hand, you will feel total control and you will always estimate your hit. Once you lose that, you will definitely miss. So with this blade, everything depends on your level of proficiency. Some other defensive blades that I tried might forgive uncertain or unfinished moves, but not this one. Choose this one only if you are confident in yourself and if you like a really hard racket feeling.

Took a chance on this blade after looking at manufacturer specs, pleasantly surprised and still finding this ideal for my playstyle after ~6 months of use.

It has a defensive shaped head, is reasonably stiff, and is somewhere around all-round pace. It has a reasonable to large sized handle in the flared version. It is similar to the Tibhar Power Defense but a little stiffer, faster, and heavier; much stiffer and somewhat faster than the Defplay Senso V3.

I am using this with Mark V forehand and 0x Grass D.Tecs backhand. It has superb spin reversal for long-pip blocks but enough feel for chops, well balanced on the forehand side for attack and close to the table defensive play. I can’t comment on long range abilities as that isn’t my game.

Great feeling when chopping.

It gives a good trajectory when counterattacking from a mid-distance range.

It is also nice for blocking and applying topspin.

I tested it with Aurus Sound and Rakza 7 Soft.