Table of Contents1. Overview
2. Performance Indices
3. Comparison by Performance Indices
……. 3-1. Elasticity Indices
……. 3-2. Vibration Indices
4. Summary

Xiom ‘An Jaehyun’ series is the blade family made for An Jaehyun who is the member of Korean Men’s National Team. The artificial material of ‘An Jaehyun’ series is woven from three kinds of different fibers – Carbon fiber, Axylium fiber and Zephylium fiber. Axylium is Xiom’s own name for liquid crystal polymer fiber (= Arylate), and Zephylium is for synthetic polymer fiber (= Zylon). So, it is expected that Trimetrix will behave as something between ALC (= Arylate Carbon) and ZLC (= Zylon Carbon). Xiom is applying Trimetrix for two kinds of blade constructions – inner fiber and outer fiber. ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is an inner-fiber version, and ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is an outer-fiber version. In this article, both of those two will be analyzed through Performance Indices, and will be compared with some existing blades. We expect that we will be able to find the exact position of TMX blades by examining Performance Indices.

1.  Overview

Fig.01 ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ (left) and ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ (right)

‘An Jaehyun’ series consists of two models shown in above picture. Left one is ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’, and right one is ‘An Jaehyun TMX’. The ‘i’ in the second name of Xiom blade means ‘inner-fiber construction’. And, the model which doesn’t include ‘I’ in its second name is an outer-fiber blade. Among two models the one which is being used by An Jaehyun is ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ which is the inner-fiber version of this series. (To be more precise, the blade which is actually used by An Jaehyun is ‘PRO’ version which has bigger head and is heavier than normal version. But, the blade construction of Pro version is identical to that of normal version.)

Fig.02 ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ (left) and ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ (right)

Same design concept is being applied to both models of this series. The color of handle is the combination of black and burgundy red. But, the two models can be distinguished from each other because their color composition is reversed. And, the two models can also be distinguished by the color of Aluminum nameplate at foreside of handle – gold for ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ and silver for ‘An Jaehyun TMX’.

Fig.03 ‘Trimetrix’ of ‘An Jaehyun’ series

The most important feature of this series is its artificial material – Trimetrix. Above picture is a newly drawn one referring to the official image of Xiom. As is shown in above picture, it is woven from three kinds of different fibers – Carbon fiber, Zephylium fiber (= Zylon) and Axylium fiber (= Arylate). Carbon fiber is arranged both in lateral direction and in vertical direction. But, the other two fibers are arranged only in one direction – Zephylium in lateral direction & Axylium in vertical direction.

Fig.04 ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ (left) and ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ (right)

Small, squared Aluminum plate with ‘TMX’ mark is at the backside of handle. The coloring of this Aluminum plate is following that of foreside Aluminum nameplate – gold for ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ and silver for ‘An Jaehyun TMX’.

1-1.  An Jaehyun TMX (outer fiber version)

Fig.05 ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ (outer fiber version)

‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is the outer fiber version of this series. Although it isn’t used by An Jaehyun, another Korean top player – Cho Daeseong – is using ‘Cho Daeseong TMX Pro’ which is based on ‘An Jaehyun TMX’. (Like ‘An Jaehyun TMXi Pro’, it has bigger head than normal version.)

Fig.06 The construction of ‘An Jaehyjn TMX’ (outer fiber version)

Above is the blade construction of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’. TMX is placed directly under the top layer. The top layer is Koto, the middle layer is Ayous, and the center layer is Kiri. Overall thickness is measured as around 5.8mm.

Fig.07 The FL handle of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’

The FL (flared) handle of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is similar to those of Butterfly ‘Viscaria’ and ‘Fan Zhendong’ series. Its width is around 25mm ~ 28mm (at bulge) ~ 26mm (at narrowest point) ~ 34mm (at the end). And, its thickness is around 23mm at thumb and 25mm at the end.

The ST (straight) handle whose picture isn’t shown has rounded cross section. Its width is around 28mm, and its thickness is around 23mm.

Fig.08 ‘An Jaehyun TMX’

The head size of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is around 157mm x 150mm.

1-2.  An Jaehyun TMXi (inner fiber version)

Fig.09 ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ (inner fiber version)

‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is the inner fiber version of this series. And, An Jaehyun is currently using its ‘PRO’ version which has enlarged head to fit the preference of top players.

Fig.10 The construction of ‘An Jaehyjn TMXi’ (inner fiber version)

Above is the blade construction of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’. TMX is placed between the middle layer and the center layer. The top layer is Limba, the middle layer and the center layer are Ayous. Overall thickness is measured as around 6.0mm.

Fig.11 The FL handle of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’

The FL (flared) handle of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is different from that of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ in the same blade family. It isn’t similar to the FL handle of Butterfly ‘Viscaria’ but to that of Butterfly ‘InnerForce’ series. Its width is around 26mm ~ 27mm (at bulge) ~ 25.6mm (at narrowest point) ~ 34mm (at the end). Its thickness is around 23.5mm at thumb and 25.5mm at the end. Another recent blade family of Xiom – ‘36.5’ series – also shows this kind of difference. ‘36.5 ALX’ which is the outer-fiber version has the FL handle similar to that of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ which is also an outer-fiber blade. However, the FL handle of ‘36.5 ALXi’ which is the inner-fiber version of this series is similar to the FL handle of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ which is also on inner-fiber blade. The cross section of the FL handle of Xiom inner-fiber blade is narrower and taller than that of Xiom outer-fiber blade.

There isn’t any explanation about the reason why the FL for inner-fiber model is different from that for outer-fiber model in the same blade family. But, probably it is because of the comparable Butterfly blades. In general, the outer-fiber blades should compete with ‘Fan Zhendong’ series or ‘Viscaria’, while the inner-fiber models should compete with Butterfly ‘InnerForce Layer’ series.

The ST handle (not shown) of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ isn’t different from that of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’. Its width is around 28mm, and its thickness is around 23mm.

Fig.12 ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’

The head size of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is around 158mm x 152mm. It is bigger than the head of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’.

Fig.13 ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ (left) and ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ (right)

Then let’s check the characteristics of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ and ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ by Performance Indices and then compare with some existing blades.

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2.  Performance Indices

Performance Indices are measured objective values to represent the characteristics of table tennis gears. Concerning the detail of four performance indices, please refer to following articles in ‘About TTGearLab’ section :

The performance indices of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ and ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ are as follows:

Xiom An Jaehyun TMX (average weight = 87.0g)

                    Ep = 2.19

                    Ec = 1.79 (Ec/Ep = 0.82)

                    Vp = 1.29

                    Vl = 1.49 (Vl/Vp = 1.16)

Xiom An Jaehyun TMXi (average weight = 86.4g)

                    Ep = 1.88

                    Ec = 1.73 (Ec/Ep = 0.92)

                    Vp = 1.26

                    Vl = 1.29 (Vl/Vp = 1.02)

Fig.14 ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ (outer fiber version)

‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is the outer-fiber version of this series, and it is a highly elastic blade whose Ep (= 2.19) exceeds 2.0 that can be considered as the criteria of fast blade. On the contrary, its Ec (= 1.79) is significantly lower than its Ep. Therefore, its Ec/Ep is just 0.82. It is expected that ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is very fast blade but it holds ball very deeply when the player hits the ball very strongly.

Regarding Vibration Indices, the Vp of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is 1.29. The Vp around 1.30 is what we can expect from standard outer ALC blade with Koto surface (for example ‘Viscaria’.). But, the Vl of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ (= 1.49) is much higher than that of standard outer ALC blade. Because Vl is very high, the Vl/Vp of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is also high (= 1.16). So, the feeling transferred to the player’s index finger is much sharper than the primary feeling.

Fig.15 ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ (inner fiber version)

‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is the inner-fiber version of this series. Its Ep (= 1.88) is what we can expect from inner-ALC blade whose thickness is 5.9~6.0mm. Its Ec (= 1.73) is lower than its Ep, and as a result its Ec/Ep (= 0.92) is under 1.0. ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is a moderately fast blade, and it is expected that it holds ball to some level when the player hits the ball very strongly.

Regarding Vibration Indices, the Vp of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is 1.26. It is the value that isn’t much different from the value of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ and some other outer-fiber blades. So, we can think that ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is as hard as outer-fiber blades. Its Vl (= 1.29) also looks quite high, but not as high as that of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’. Because its Vl is not much different from its Vp, the Vl/Vp (=1.02) is close to 1.0. Therefore, we can say that the feeling of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is almost uniform throughout the blade.

Fig.16 ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ (left) and ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ (right)

From the construction and Performance Indices, it is expected that the TMX blades are placed between the ZLC blades and the ALC blades. However, because there are many other factors those affect the characteristics of blades, we can’t say that two models of ‘An Jaehyun’ series provide the characteristics those are exactly between comparable ZLC blades and ALC blades. The comparison by Performance Indices will be able to help us to find the actual position of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ and ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ among many blades in the market.

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3.  Comparison by Performance Indices

Then we can compare ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ and ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ with some other blades. For the comparison some well-known outer-fiber blades and inner-fiber blades have been selected.

Following is the list of the blades to be compared :

Outer ZLC

  • Butterfly ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ (avg. weight = 90.8g) : Faster version of Butterfly outer ZLC.
  • Butterfly ‘Fan Zhendong ZLC’ (avg. weight = 85.1g) : Standard outer ZLC of Butterfly. Thinner than ‘super ZLC’ version.

Outer ALC

  • Butterfly ‘Viscaria Super ALC’ (avg. weight = 92.7g) : Faster than ‘Viscaria’.
  • Butterfly ‘Viscaria’ (avg. weight = 87.1g) : Reference of all outer ALC blade. Current version.

Inner ZLC

  • ‘Tibher Shang Kun Hybrid ZC’ (avg. weight = 92.0g) : Inner ALC blade with enhanced speed.
  • Butterfly ‘InnerForce Layer ZLC’ (avg. weight = 89.8) : Standard inner ZLC of Butterfly. Thinner and slower than ‘Shang Kun Hybrid ZC’.

Inner ALC

  • Butterfly ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ (avg. weight = 91.2g) : The standard of inner-ALC blades. Current version measured in 2023. Thicker and more elastic than former ones measured in 2018.
  • DHS ‘Hurricane Long 5X’ (avg. weight = 87.6g) : Faster than ‘Hurricane Long 5’.
  • Xiom ‘36.5 ALXi’ (avg. weight = 87.1g) : Similar to older ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ measured in 2018.

5-ply Wood

  • Butterfly ‘Korbel’ (avg. weight = 88.7g) : The standard of 5-ply wood offensive blades

3-1. Elasticity Indices

Fig.17 Comparison by Elasticity Indices

Fig.17 shows the comparison graph of Elasticity Indices.

Ep (Primary Elasticity Index) is directly concerned with the rebound speed of blade. Ec (Central Elasticity Index) is concerned with additional ‘kick’ when player hits ball very strongly.

First, we can compare outer ZLC blades and outer ALC blades with ‘An Jaehyun TMX’.

The Ep of ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ is higher than that of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’, but that of ‘Fan Zhendong ZLC’ isn’t. The low Ep of ‘Fan Zhendong ZLC’ is probably not because of the elasticity of ZLC but because of the thinner construction of ‘Fan Zhendong ZLC’. And, the Ep of ‘Viscaria Super ALC’ is close to that of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’. But, the Ep of ‘Viscaria’ is lower than the Ep of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’. Regarding Ec, the Ec of ‘An Jaehuyn TMX’ is lower than all Ec’s of four Butterfly outer fiber blades. Here we can observe the shape of the graph – the relationship between Ep and Ec. Only the graph of ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ looks similar to that of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’. So ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is something like the ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ with reduced elasticity. And, if the player thinks that the primary elasticity of ‘Viscaria Super ALC’ is optimum but its central elasticity is too high, ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ can be a good solution.

Then, let’s compare inner ZLC blades and inner ALC blades with ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’.

Between two inner ZLC blades, ‘Shang Kun Hybrid ZC’ is noticeably more elastic than ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’. (It is as elastic as ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ which is an outer fiber blade.) But, ‘InnerForce Layer ZLC’ is very close to ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’. And, among three inner ALC blades, ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ (current version) is very close to ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’. But, ‘Hurricane Long 5X’ shows noticeably lower Ec, and ‘36.5 ALXi’ is apparently less elastic than ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’. It is interesting that there isn’t much difference between ‘InnerForce Layer ZLC’ and ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’. But, that is because ‘InnerForce Layer ZLC’ is thinner than ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’. (If the thickness is same, probably ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ will be more elastic than ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’.) Anyway, we can understand that the elasticity characteristics of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is close to those of ‘InnerForce Layer ZLC’ and ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’.

Finally, ‘Korbel’ is noticeably less elastic than any of the blades in the comparison except for the reference blade. But, the graph shape of ‘Korbel’ looks simiar to those of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’, ‘Fan Zhendong Super ALC’, ‘Hurricane Long 5X’ and ‘36.5 ALXi’. Examining Ec/Ep is an easier way to understand the characteristics of blade concerned with elasticity. Fig.18 shows the relationship between Ec/Ep and Ep.

Fig.18 Ec/Ep vs. Ep

Ec/Ep expresses the ‘tendency’ of the elasticity of blade. By examining Ec/Ep and Ep at the same time, we can easily understand the behavior of blades.

On the graph, all blades in this comparison (except for reference blade whose Ec/Ep = 1.00) are in ‘Hold’ range (Ec/Ep < 1.0). But, the blades are widely distributed up, down, left and right within that range.

Before observing the locations of ‘An Jaehuyn’ series, there is one thing we need to check. In general we expect that the ZLC blade will be more elastic than the ALC blade. However, on the graph we can see that ‘Fan Zhendong ZLC’ (outer ZLC) and ‘Viscaria’ (outer ALC) are located very close to each other. And likewise, ‘InnerForce Layer ZLC’ (inner ZLC) and ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ (inner ALC) are also located very close to each other. Although ZLC blades (outer or inner) are a bit more elastic than the ALC blades, the differences are very small. But, it doesn’t mean that ZLC is not meaningfully more elastic than ALC. It is just because Butterfly ZLC blades are thinner than Butterfly ALC blades. If the condition is same or similar, ZLC blades will be clearly more elastic than ALC blades. The example is the comparison between ‘Viscaria Super ALC’ and ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’. Because ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ isn’t as thin as ‘Fan Zhendong ZLC’, it shows very high primary elasticity than any other blades in this comparison.

First, let’s observe the location of the outer TMX version – ‘An Jaehyun TMX’. On the graph, ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is located far away from both of ‘Outer ALC’ group and ‘Outer ZLC’ group. That is because the Ec/Ep of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is very low. ‘Fan Zhendong Super ALC’ is only one blade whose Ec/Ep is comparable with that of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’. The Ep and the Ec/Ep of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ are comparable with those of ‘Viscaria Super ALC’ and ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ respectively. It means that ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ provides similar level of primary elasticity as ‘Viscaria Super ALC’, but holds ball as deep as ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ when the player hits the ball very strongly. As an outer-fiber blade, ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ can be considered as a quite unique blade.

On the contrary, the inner TMX version – An Jaehyun TMXi’ doesn’t look as unique as ‘An Jaehyun TMX’. ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is located very close to ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ (current version) and ‘InnerForce Layer ZLC’. Between two Butterfly inner fiber blades, ‘InnerForce Layer ZLC’ is closer to ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’. When compared with ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’, ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ gives more kick (= shallower hold). But, the difference isn’t significant. Anyway it is apparent that ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is comparable with ‘InnerForce Layer ZLC/ALC’. And, when compared with ‘36.5 ALXi’ which is a mainstream inner-fiber blade in Xiom range and close to the former version of ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ measured in 2018, ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is much more elastic and gives much more kick for stronger impact.

It is meaningful that we observe the blades those hold the ball very deep when the player hits the ball very strongly, because those can be the replacement of ‘Korbel’. Recently the Ec/Ep of fiber blade seems to be getting higher. And, ‘Fan Zhendong/Zhang Jike Super ZLC’ is the exception. It holds the ball very deep and then shoots the ball with very high speed in next moment. So the player can feel clear ‘catapult’ effect not from the rubber but from the blade. And, although it makes less faster ball than ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’, ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is also that kind of blade. Among inner fiber blades, ‘36.5 ALXi’, ‘Hurricane Long 5X’ and ‘Shang Kun Hybrid ZC’ hold the ball very deep. (Note : We have to check current version of ‘Hurricane Long 5X’. If the fiber has been replaced by another one like ‘Hurricane Long 5’, the characteristics of ‘Hurricane Long 5X’ will not be the one in this comparison.) Those blades can be the replacement of ‘Korbel’ in case the player who have used ‘Korbel’ requires higher elasticity but doesn’t want to give up the Deep Hold character of ‘Korbel’. Then next, let’s compare Vibration Indices.

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3-2. Vibration Indices

Fig.19 Comparison by Vibration Indices

Fig.19 shows the comparison graph of Vibration Indices. Vibration Indices are concerned with feeling. Vp indicates primary feeling which is transferred to player’s palm. And, Vl is the feeling at the edge of the wing – the lower side of blade head. It is felt by player’s index finger or middle finger.

We can observe that the Vp of ‘An Jaehyn TMX’ is just a bit higher than that of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’. On the contrary, the Vl of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is much higher than that of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’. Therefore, the difference in Vl is the major difference between the outer version and the inner version of ‘An Jaehyun’ series in the comparison of Vibration Indices. The high index in lateral direction is probably the influence of Zephylium (= Zylon) fiber arranged in lateral direction. The outer-fiber construction of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ clearly demonstrates the characteristics of Zephylium fiber, but the inner-fiber construction of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ doesn’t. In lateral direction, ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ will give much more comfortable feeling than ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’.

Then first, we can compare ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ with Butterfly outer ZLC/ALC blades. The Vp of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is lower than the Vp’s of all four Butterfly blades. The lowest Vp of Butterfly blades is that of ‘Viscaria’, but it is still a bit higher than the Vp of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’. On the contrary, the Vl of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is higher than the Vl’s of all four Butterfly blades. The highest Vl of Butterfly blades is that of ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’, and it is very close to that the Vl of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’. So in vibration characteristics, ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is close to ‘Viscaria’ in vertical direction and to ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ in lateral direction. Probably it is because the Axylium (= Arylate) and the Zephylium (= Zylon) are arranged in vertical and horizontal direction respectively in the TMX of ‘An Jaehyun’ series.

Then let’s compare the inner-TMX version – ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ with inner ALC/ALC blades. The Vp of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is same as the highest Vp of all five inner-fiber blades in this comparison. And, the Vl of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is higher than those of ‘InnerForce Layer ZLC’ and ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’, but lower than those of ‘Shang Kun Hybrid ZC’ and ‘36.5 ALXi’. Here we can’t find any rule or any tendency concerned with vertically arranged Axylium and horizontally arranged Zephylium. Probably that is because the influence of fiber to the feeling is reduced by the inner-fiber construction. The result can dramatically vary by the other conditions – the characteristics of each wood layer, overall thickness and so on.

Examining Vl/Vp is an easier way for the comparison of the tendency of feeling. Fig.20 shows the relationship between Vl/Vp and Vp for easier comparison.

Fig.20 Vl/Vp vs. Vp

On the graph, most of blade in this comparison are placed in upper part of the graph – ‘Relatively sharper at finger’ range. And, two are in lower part – ‘Relatively more comfortable at finger’, and two including reference blade are on uniform line.

First, let’s observe the location of the outer TMX version – ‘An Jaehyun TMX’. The expectation before the measurement and comparison was that ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ will be somewhere between outer ALC blade and outer ALC blade. However, from the graph we can see that the result is completely different from the expectation. ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is located at different position from ‘Outer ZLC’ group or ‘Outer ALC’ group. The Vp of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is lower, and the Vl/Vp of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is much higher than any other outer fiber blade in this comparison. So from the viewpoint of the feeling, ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is unique as an outer fiber blade. It is softer than Butterfly ALC/ZLC blades, and gives higher level of sharper relative feeling to the index finger.

On the contrary, the inner TMX version – An Jaehyun TMXi’ isn’t located far from the inner fiber blades in this comparison. It is located on the area of ‘Inner ZLC’ group – the position between ‘Shang Kun Hybrid ZC’ and ‘InnerForce Layer ZLC’. The Vp of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is higher than those of all three blades in ‘Inner ALC’ group, and even higher than that of ‘InnerForce Layer ZLC’. And, the Vl/Vp of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is higher than those of ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ and ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’, and lower than those of ‘Hurricane Long 5X’, ‘36.5 ALXi’ and ‘Shang Kun Hybrid ZC’. Anyway, differently from its outer version – ‘An Jaehyun TMX’, ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ isn’t unique as an inner fiber blade. Its feeling is what we can expect from inner ZLC blade, although it is different from the feeling of inner ALC blades.

If we don’t consider the type of construction, Vl/Vp (and Ec/Ep) can give the criteria for replacement of blade. If the player select the blade whose Vl/Vp (and Ec/Ep if possible) is close to that of former blade, the replacement is expected to be done smoothly. On the graph, we can see that the Vl/Vp of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ at similar level as that of ‘Korbel’. So we can expect that ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ will be good solution in case the player who has used ‘Korbel’ want to replace the blade with faster one. We observed the same relationship between ‘Korbel’ and ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ from the graph of Ec/Ep vs. Ep. ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ and ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ (current version) aren’t bad solutions if we consider just Elasticity Indices, but if the player who has used ‘Korbel’ replace the blade with those two inner fiber blades, the adaptation to the feeling of new blade will take more time because of the difference in Vl/Vp. And, we can also see that ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ and ‘Viscaria’ are at similar level of Vl/Vp. So if the player who have used current ‘Viscaria’ wants to adjust the feeling softer, ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ can be good solution although its type of construction is different from that of ‘Viscaria’. Of course Performance Indices can’t tell everything of blades. But, at least the Performance Indices will be able to ‘help’ the selection of blade to some level.

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4.  Summary

Xiom ‘An Jaehyun’ series is the blade family whose artificial fiber is unique ‘Trimetrix’ that is the woven of three different fibers – Zephylium (= Zylon) fiber, Axylium (= Arylate) fiber and Carbon fiber. It is available in two versions – ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ which is the outer-fiber version, and ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ which is the inner-fiber version.The characteristics of two versions are summarized as follows:

Fig.21 ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ (outer fiber version)

‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is the outer-fiber version of Xiom TMX blade. Its primary elasticity is close to that of ‘Viscaria Super ALC’, and higher than those of standard outer ALC/ZLC blades of Butterfly (= ‘Viscaria’ and ‘Fan Zhendong ZLC’) but much lower than that of ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’. And, it holds the ball very deep when the player hits the ball very strongly. The level of Deep Hold of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is comparable to that of ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’. The feeling of ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is softer than outer-fiber blades in this comparison. On the contrary, its feeling transferred to the index finger is sharper than any other outer-fiber blade in this comparison. Its ‘vertically soft but horizontally sharp’ feeling is probably due to the orientation of fibers in the TMX (vertical Zephylium and horizontal Axylium). ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ is recommended for the player whose main technic is close-to-table topspin aiming at the rising of the ball but requires higher elasticity than 5-ply wood or inner-fiber blades.

Fig.22 ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ (inner fiber version)

‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is the inner-fiber version of Xiom TMX blade. Its elasticity characteristics is close to those of ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ and ‘InnerForce Layer ZLC’. It is more elastic than ‘36.5 ALXi’ which is the inner-ALC blade of Xiom. It holds ball deep when the player hits the ball very strongly, but the level of hold is mild. The feeling of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is harder than those of inner-ALC blades in this comparison, and is comparable to those of inner-ZLC blades in this comparison. The distribution of feeling of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is almost uniform. Overall characteristics of ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is quite close to that of ‘InnerForce ZLC’, and the characteristics of each fiber in TMX don’t appear clearly as the case of its outer-fiber version. ‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ is recommended for the all-round player who play with various technics but requires higher power than 5-ply wood blades.

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Followings are additional pictures of ‘An Jaehyun’ series :

‘An Jaehyun TMX’ (outer fiber version)
‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ (inner fiber version)
‘An Jaehyun TMX’ (outer fiber version)
‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ (inner fiber version)
‘An Jaehyun TMX’ (outer fiber version)
‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ (inner fiber version)
‘An Jaehyun TMX’ (outer fiber version)
‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ (inner fiber version)
‘An Jaehyun TMXi’ (left) and ‘An Jaehyun TMX’ (right)

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