This section will cover the Frequently Asked Questions about the Re-Impact blades and technology.
Further Q&A’s will be added regularly.
Q1: How should I use the two positions of the grooves in the grip?
A: The grooves in the grip are the visible part of the KSLS-system. When you are holding the grip and the grooves touch the palm of your hand, you are using the first position. Contacting the ball, the blade will be in its most flexible state, offering the lowest values for speed and the highest for spin and control. Turning the blade over 180°, the grooves will now touch the inside of your fingers. Contacting the ball, the blade will be less flexible now, offering higher values for speed and lower values for spin and control.
Note1: the orientation of the text in the logo, and the direction that the blade is pointing, to confirm that your blade is the correct one that you ordered.
Note2: For standard designs the logo is on the faster forehand side.
Q2: How does twiddling from first to second position work out with combination blades?
A: On principle the same thing happens – in second position the blade will be more rigid, faster, less spinny and less controlled. In addition, as in combination blades in first position the backhand is slower than the forehand, the slower backhand side will now be your forehand. It will be slightly faster in this second position than it was in first position, but still slower than the other side, which of course will also be faster than it was in first position.
Q3: Which position should I choose, first or second?
A: This depends on your game. For a game with high control and high spin (attacking as well as defending), the first position is best. For a game with high speed (blocking and hitting) the second position is best.
Q4: Why is the shape of Re-Impact blades not symmetrical, as it is in all other blades? Will it not affect play?
A: The asymmetrical form of the head is designed deliberately and has become an important part of Re-Impact’s inventions, as it amplifies the vibrations which are transferred to the grip by the KSLS-system and produces very special properties for play. Since the shape is patented by Re-Impact, its precise mechanism cannot be made public.
It will affect play positively, as it also improves handling of the blade. It unburdens the joints of the arm and shoulder, because handling this asymmetrical blade will need less force than handling a symmetrical blade. Especially very young children and persons having problems with their joints and muscles will benefit. Conventional models available on the market can be seldom adapted to the physique of children; Re-Impact blades, however, can, and this special adaptation of blades is free of cost with Re-Impact.
Q5: Why are the grips of Re-Impact blades finished leaving some roughness?
A: Re-Impact blades are perfectly finished, even the cheaper models. With blades that are treated with a special sealing, the sanding between application of subsequent sealing layers is left out, because it would make the grips too slippery. The resulting relative roughness will disappear quickly when the blade is used, as the fibres which have come up out of the wood because of the sealing, will lay themselves down again.
Q6: Why do Re-Impact blades need special rubbers?
A: They do not. In fact, ordinary inexpensive rubbers, which are not tuned or tensioned in any way, perform excellently on the blades – producing speed, spin and control as if they had been tuned or tensioned. However, blades with thick plies of balsa do not combine well with rubbers which have thick sponges, as the balsa itself has a spongy character. The effect of using a 2.0 mm sponge on these blades would be similar to that of using a 2.4 mm or 2.6 mm sponge on a conventional blade, including a significant decrease in control. As a rule, rubbers on Re-Impact blades should have sponges between 1.5 mm and 1.8 mm. On blades with thin plies of balsa and on blades without balsa, thicker sponge can be used. This is indicated in the table (see Comparison of Blades).
Q7: Will it do harm to use tuned rubbers on Re-Impact blades?
A: If used in moderate thickness, it will not do harm to play. However, as these rubbers have high catapult, their inner vibration is also high; as the inner vibration of the balsa is added to it, the rubbers have to withstand quite a beating. This will harm them and they will deteriorate relatively rapidly.
Normal rubbers, on the contrary, will last long on Re-Impact blades.
Q8: How hard should the sponge of a rubber be to harmonize with a Re-Impact blade?
A: The preferred hardness is “medium”, as this harmonizes best with the wood. But there are margins in this. For instance a soft-sponged rubber with a hard top-sheet will be “medium” overall and harmonize with the wood as well.
Q9: What type of long pips-out rubber harmonizes with Re-Impact blades?
A: An OX long pips-out rubber will bring out the essence of the wood best. The pips should be medium hard and medium elastic – this will offer the best control. Pips on medium hard sponge will do as well.
Q: What type of short or medium pips-out rubber harmonizes with Re-Impact blades?
A: The same principle works here: medium hard sponge and pips, or softer sponge with harder pips, or softer pips with a neutral sponge.
Q10: Do Re-Impact blades need special techniques or adaptation of strokes?
A: They do, to a certain degree. This is the case with all blades containing balsa plies in significant thickness. Balsa has the peculiarity that it offers high dwell-time on low impact and, reversely, low dwell-time on high impact.
When a player is dealing with relatively low speed balls, dwell-time will be high and it will be easy to make a lot of spin with little effort. Topspin strokes with inverted rubbers can and should be executed more forward now, if the lower speed is to be compensated. Blocks with long pips-out rubbers should also be executed going more forward – but not suddenly, as in punches. Because of the high catapult it is necessary to perform blocks stroking actively forward in a calm but decisive way. This will on the one hand prevent the ball from going too high (as can often happen with passive blocking), and on the other hand blocks will have a bit more speed.
When a player is dealing with high speed balls, dwell-time will be low and it will be easy to generate speed, but less easy to generate spin. Topspin strokes with inverted rubbers can and should be executed going more upward now. Smashes should be executed grazing the ball a bit, to ensure there will be enough topspin on the ball to make it land on the table. Blocks with long pips-out rubbers should be executed going more upward, too, as the decrease in dwell-time (and increase in spin-reversal) will cause the ball to drop earlier.
Q11: Can the dynamic catapult of Re-Impact blades be controlled? Especially when blocking?
A: Yes. As the ball is contacting the blade at a sharper angle, the catapult will be less. For instance, flat hitting a ball will activate the catapult, resulting in extra high speed; but grazing the ball will deactivate the high catapult, resulting in lower speed (and more spin). It is best to use the top-halve of the blade for contacting the ball when looping, as this will offer the best dwell-time and impart the most spin. This is also the case for chopping.
Blocking in the conventional way is rarely done holding the bat at a sharp angle to the trajectory of the incoming ball. This is why, with balsa blades, it is advisable to block fast balls with the blade somewhat closed, pressing steadily forward. As an alternative, however, a scooping chop-block can be performed: opening the blade, it will go under the ball in a quick, light chop; this will take off much of the incoming speed.
Chopping away from the table against fast balls, again the best way is going under the ball. This way, grazing the bottom of the ball, catapult is low and dwell-time high, so the inverted rubber or the pips can be used to add spin to the incoming rotation. However, holding the bat more vertical, the impact and the resulting catapult will be higher, and dwell-time will be lower; when chopping with pips, this enables returning the ball with speed and high reversal.
Q12: When should strokes be performed long and when short with balsa-blades?
A: When the ball is contacted on the rise, the stroke should be short, the bat closed and the top-halve of the blade should be used to graze the ball. The stroke will go mostly forward, in an arc. This will impart good speed and great spin. It makes it possible to loop earlier (even over the table) than with conventional blades, thus putting more pressure on the opponent, without loss of topspin.
When the ball is contacted after the highest point, the stroke should be long, the bat more open, and again the top-halve of the blade should be used to graze the ball. The ball should be well into the sponge, so the stroke should go forward as well as upward.
Q13: Why are Re-Impact blades for 100% made of wood? Why no carbon?
A: The use of carbon would diminish the special qualities balsa has: balsa is essentially a sponge and it should be allowed to compress and expand – carbon would prevent this up to a certain degree. Re-Impact blades are built in such a way that balsa will function optimally.
Q14: Why do Re-Impact blades have an increased sweet-spot, even without carbon?
A: This is a result of the diagonally assembled core ply, which makes the blade as a whole much more rigid. As a consequence, Re-Impact blades are more rigid overall, and their sweet-spot actually is the whole surface of the head of the blade.
Q15: What is the main difference between the Taipan and the Taipan Delta?
The Taipan Delta is an active-blade (tuned blade), whereas in contrast the original Taipan is a conventional blade. Although both have large sweetspots, the one on the Taipan is not as large as that of the Delta, as the Delta works over a greater surface. On the normal Taipan one should, therefore, use a medium hard rubber with good catapult, but not thicker than 1.8 mm. On the Delta a hard a sponge and moderate catapult rubber is all that is required. So you could glue a 2.1 mm rubber to the Delta without problems.
Q16: If a right-handed person was interested in a combination blade (one side significantly slower than the other), but they wanted to have the slow side on the FOREHAND. Would their best choice be to choose the left-handed version of the blade?
Yes, choosing the left-handed version of this combination blade, would be the best option.
Q17: Which of your blades would be most suitable for the modern anti-spin type rubbers (eg Joola Timeless, Nightmare, Dr N ABS/Grissly, JUIC Neo anti, etc)? Usually the stiffer and harder blades are recommended for these.
Achim Selekt M 3 = developed for Allround players using dynamic blades with backhand Toni Hold Anti M 40, Neo Anti, so relatively soft antis.
Backspin Control = developed for attacking players using dynamic blades, for slow antis, universally appliccable for players who need a slow, safe backhand that is less sensitive to spin.
Backspin Pressure= developed for OFF players who use either long or short strokes making spin, universaly applicable blade for block and counter, for those who want a safe backhand but are not bothered much by incoming spin.
Medusa = developed for allround play and both types of strokes [see Backspin Pressure], universal applicable blade for players needing a slow safe backhand which is less spin-sensitive.
Bliss = the first universally applicable blade of R-I without balsa, very suitable for dr. Neubauer antis, as well as for players favouring dynamic blades who dislike thick blades
For very fast antis the combi-blade W990 is also suitable. It is a slender blade for young players with a very fast forehand and, in contrast, with a very slow backhand… Kees has a blade like this and will surely be able to relate what is possible with this blade. It does, however, a thin balsa ply [as its core]. Even so it is the first promising development since the Mephisto Original, with which it is possible to change quickly from very passive play with the backhand to higher speed. This blade will likely be released as the last one this year as Re Impact Explosion and can even now be ordered under order#W990, at special request. (answers by Achim, 1-12-2011)
Q18: What are the blade size options for the standard Re-Impact blades?
The 3 sizes are illustrated in the picture below:
Q19: What does it seem like the handle of the Re-Impact blades are not in line with the axis of the blades?
Every RI blade is asymetrical. This is not a mistake, but a very important part of our inventions. The unusual form reinforces soundwaves and vibrations, that work on:
1. The spin potential
2. the aerodynamics, that relieve/support upper-arm and shoulder in topspin strokes
3. the ball-control of the blade and also on special playing characteristics
4. they also help to establish the 2 different playing positions.
If one would on his own accord simply “correct” the shape of the blade (to make rubbers fit on it) then one will lose special playing characteristics and also topspin-potential, as well as the super ball-control that has made RI famous.
To make an oversized blade smaller, one should have the exact matrix for the small head of RI blades. If not, the “correction”will spoil the blade and one might as well buy a new one, since nothing will work as it should.
