Nexy’s competitor to the Butterfly Tinkerbell
General thoughts: Often times when I find myself looking for a blade, some key factors that I always look to evaluate first are how much flex and dwell time the blade has (aka how “loopy” is the blade) and how much stability the blade has (aka does it seem like the ball flies off your paddle, exaggerating the path of your original target, or does it come off like a laser beam with 100% accuracy).
When testing the Peterpan, these were the first things that I payed attention to. My findings were that this was the “laser beam” type of blade with 100% accuracy. That isn’t to say that it doesn’t loop well, but it is not that *pure loopers* blade like the Timo Boll ZLF for example (a blade that produces so much arc on loops that it makes you think you are using a 38 mm ball).
I personally love flexy blades that compliment my largely looping-based game, and the Peterpan is by no means a “flexy” looping blade. Often in the equipment world you must trade one attribute for another, and the Peterpan definitely trades dwell time for the ability to hit devastatingly fast, linear shots with accuracy. This is a FAST blade, perhaps slightly faster than the Stiga Clipper (a blade that I think is very similar to the Peter Pan).
However, compared to other true “laser beam” blades that I have tested, such as the Gergely (my favorite in this class for a long time), this is an all wood blade that gives you that woody feel. It doesn’t have tons of unnecessary vibration, but you will definitely feel when you have hit the sweet spot and when you haven’t (something that is mentioned as lacking when critics talk about carbon blades).
Bottom line: Fast, yet super controllable due to the short rebound time and laser beam accuracy. Not a “die-hard looper’s blade”. I recommend this for flat hitters who want maximum speed and accuracy, close-table counter-attackers that want to redirect the ball quickly and win by cutting off their opponent’s time, and Jiaqi Zheng (classic short pip on the FH hitter) ;-).
Table Tennis Equipment Review 