Yasaka is one of top Japanese brands. But, for long time Yasaka has dealt with the blades made in Sweden. ‘J.P Gatien Extra’ that was launched in the middle of 1990’s is the first Swedish blade introduced by Yasaka. Afterwards Yasaka introduced new Swedish blades named after Ma Lin who had been one of the top Chinese players. Yasaka ‘Ma Lin Extra Offensive’ is the first model of new ‘Ma Lin’ series, and it became great hit after Ma Lin won a gold medal of Men’s Singles at the 2008 Olympic Games. And, Yasaka added more models such as ‘Ma Lin Carbon’. The blades of ‘Ma Lin’ series aren’t the representatives of Yasaka blade range now because those were launched more than 10 years ago. However, those are still serious considerable.

The representatives of ‘Ma Lin’ series are two early models – ‘Ma Lin Carbon’ and ‘Ma Lin Extra Offensive’. Regarding two models please refer to the article : “Yasaka Ma Lin Carbon & Ma Lin Extra Offensive [Full Review]“. After the release of two models more variations has been added to the series, and one of them is ‘Ma Lin Soft Carbon’ which is based on ‘Ma Lin Carbon’ but provides softer feeling and better control.

‘Ma Lin Soft Carbon’ is also made in Sweden, like the other blades in ‘Ma Lin’ series. ‘Ma Lin Soft Carbon’ is a bit slower than ‘Ma Lin Carbon’ but provides more safety and stability.

The construction of ‘Ma Lin Soft Carbon’ is an inner fiber construction tha Fleece carbon is inserted between the middle layer and the center layer. The top layer is Akazie, the middle layer is Limba and the center layer is Ayous. Overall thickness is around 5.5mm. This structure appears to have been swapped between the top layer and the middle layer of ‘Ma Lin Carbon’

Left is ‘Ma Lin Carbon’ and right is ‘Ma Lin Soft Carbon’. We can see the difference in the top layer and the middle layer.

The size of head is 157.0mm x 150.0mm. It is the standard size for many shakehand blades.

The garphic design of handle inherits that of ‘J.P.Gatien’ series that is the representative blade family of Yasaka in 1990’s, but the addition of two yellow lines makes the impression somewhat different. The FL (flared) handle is shown in above picture. Its width is around 27mm (at top) ~ 28mm (at bulge) ~ 27mm (at waist) ~ 34.5mm (at the end), and its thickness is around 23mm (at thumb) ~ 25mm (at the end). The cross section of the FL handle is somewhat rounded when compared with the standard FL of Butterfly, but it gives firm and comfortable grip. The size of ST (straight) handle which isn’t shown in the picture is around 29.5mm (width) x 22mm (thickness). The ST handle is somewhat flat, and gives extremely stable grip.

The speed sign in the indicator which is printed on the foreside of head is ‘OFF-‘. That is one step lower than ‘OFF’ which is the speed sign of ‘Ma Lin Carbon’. This difference doesn’t appear in light hitting, but it becomes clear when the player hits the ball strongly.

The foreside lens of ‘Ma Lin Soft Carbon’ is distinguished from that of ‘Ma Lin Carbon’. There isn’t the text ‘OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST’ which is written in the foreside lens of ‘Ma Lin Carbon’ or ‘Ma Lin Extra Offensive’

There isn’t printing on the backside of head. But, on the backside of handle, there is the plastic lens whose size is same as that of the foreside lens.

The backside lens is same as that of ‘Gatien Extra 3D’. Its design is basically same as that of ‘Ma Lin Carbon’ shown in the background of above picture. (Only the color is different.)

Recent Yasaka blades have squared plastic lens at the end of handle, instead of old metal sticker. The logo of Yasaka is printed in gold color on the black background.

Left is ‘Ma Lin Soft Carbon’, and right is ‘Ma Lin Carbon’.

We can see the difference in top layer. The Akazie which is the middle layer of ‘Ma Lin Carbon’ is used as the top layer of ‘Ma Lin Soft Carbon’. Instead, the Limba which is the top layer of ‘Ma Lin Carbon’ is placed one step inside at ‘Ma Lin Soft Carbon’.

The backside of handles of ‘Ma Lin’ series. Left is ‘Ma Lin Soft Carbon’, and right is ‘Ma Lin Carbon’. This design concept has been around for nearly 30 years since ‘Gatien Extra’. Both of two models are recommended for the players who lay emphasis on softness and stability but need a bit higher energy efficiency than 5-ply wood blades.

Following are the performance indices of Ma Lin Soft Carbon (avg.weight = 90.1g) :

– Ep = 1.49

– Ec = 1.07 (Ec/Ep = 0.72)

– Vp = 0.97

– Vl = 1.16 (Vl/Vp = 1.20)

Please note that above are average values and can be updated by further measurement.

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