Nittaku Mima Ito Carbon (Acoustic Carbon) [Full Review]

Table of Contents

1. Overview 2. Performance Indices 3. Comparison by Performance Indices ……. 3-1. Elasticity Indices ……. 3-2. Vibration Indices 4. Field Test 5. Summary

[Updated on 3rd January 2024] The information of blade construction of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ and ‘Acoustic Carbon’ has been corrected.

Nittaku ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is the blade for Mima Ito who is one of the top Japanese women players. It is based on ‘Acoustin Carbon’ which had originally been used by Mima Ito. When Nittaku was planning ‘Mima Ito Carbon’, Mima Ito requested that only the design be changed without adjusting the specifications. So ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ was released as a blade that is 100% identical to the existing ‘Acoustic Carbon’ except for the graphic design.

In this article, TTGearLab will analyze ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ through Performance Indices and compare it with some other blades in the market.

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1.  Overview

Nittaku ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ introduced on 21th October 2020 is a blade with an exclusive design for Mima Ito based on ‘Acoustic Carbon’.

‘Acoustic Carbon’ which is the base model of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is 100% identical to ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ except for the graphic design.

The construction of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is identical to that of ‘Acoustic Carbon’. The top layer is Limba, and FE Carbon which is a woven carbon fiber but softer than conventional carbon fiber is placed directly under the top layer. The middle layer under FE Carbon is also Limba, and the center layer is Tung. Overall thickness is around 5.5mm.

The size of head is 157mm (length) x 150mm (width) which is the regular head size of Nittaku. (But, the actual size can be different due to the finishing processing.) The average weight of measured pcs. is 90.8g. (Note : The average weight of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ written on Nittaku home page is 90g.)

The graphic design of handle is based on that of existing ‘Acoustic Carbon’ but the color combination was changed to suit Mima Ito’s taste. Differently from the black/orange combination of ‘Acoustic Carbon’, purple/white combination is being applied for ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. The transparent plastic lens on the handle features a silhouette of Mima Ito’s forehand attack movement. (The surface of the head shows Mima Ito’s service movement in silhouette.)

The shape of FL (flared) handle appeared in above picture is basically identical to those for ‘Acoustic’ and ‘Violin’. The width of FL handle is around 27mm ~ 27.5mm (at the bulge) ~ 26.5mm (at the narrowest section) ~ 32.0mm (at handle end) from top to bottom. The thickness of FL handle is around 22 mm at thumb and around 24mm at handle end. The width and the thickness of ST handle which isn’t shown in the picture is around 28mm and around 23mm respectively. It is expected that many players will feel that the FL handle of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is somewhat slim.

There isn’t printing on the backside of blade head. Also, there isn’t lens on the backside of handle.

A brass panel with the Nittaku logo is applied to the end of handle.

Then, let’s check the characteristics of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ by Performance Indices and 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:

• Performance indices : the way to evaluate blade by measurement
• The example of comparison by performance indices

The performance indices of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ are as follows:

Nittaku Mima Ito Carbon / Acoustic Carbon (average weight = 90.8g)

                    Ep = 2.23

                    Ec = 1.98 (Ec/Ep = 0.88)

                    Vp = 1.31

                    Vl = 1.36 (Vl/Vp = 1.03)

Note : Because there isn’t any difference between ‘Acoustic Carbon’ and ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ except for the graphic design, TTGearLab is dealing with those two as one product. Both of those two have been used for the measurement and calculation of Performance Indices.

The Ep of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is 2.23. It is very high value, and it is even higher than the Ep’s of many know outer fiber blades including ‘Viscaria’ or ‘Carbonado 190’. ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is a highly elastic blade which provides top level of elasticity.

Ec is also quite high, but it doesn’t exceed 2.00. Ec/Ep is lower than 0.90. Therefore, ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is classified into the blade with ‘Deep Hold’ characteristics. When the player hits the ball very strongly, ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ hugs the ball very deep.

The Vp of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is 1.31. It is quite high value, and therefore the basic feeling of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is stiff or hard. But, it doesn’t exceed the range that we can expect from its outer fiber construction.

The Vl of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is 1.36. It is also the ordinary value that we can expect from outer fiber construction. And, Vl/Vp (= 1.03) is higher than 1.0. It means that the feeling transferred to index finger is sharper than the primary feeling transferred to palm, but the difference isn’t significant because it doesn’t exceed 1.1.

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3.  Comparison by Performance Indices

Then we can compare ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ with some other blades in the market. Five outer fiber blades with Limba top layer, four outer fiber blades wit Koto top layer, and two inner fiber blades.

Following is the list of the blades to be compared :

Outer Fiber / Limba Top Layer

• Butterfly ‘Mizutani Jun ZLC’ (avg. weight = 89.7g) : Fiber is ZLC (Zylon Carbon).
• Stiga ‘Carbonado 190’ (avg. weight = 90.8g) : Fiber is TeXtreme of middle density.
• Butterfly ‘Freitas ALC’ (avg. weight = 87.4g) : Fiber is ZLC (Arylate Carbon).
• Tibhar ‘Cedric Nuytinck’ (avg. weight = 85.6g) : Fiber is ZLC.
• Victas ‘ZX-Gear Out’ (avg. weight = 87.1g) : Fiber is Zxion Carbon (= ALC).

Outer Fiber / Koto Top Layer

• Butterfly ‘Fan Zhendong Suer ZLC’ (avg. weight = 90.8g) : Outer ZLC blade with Koto top layer.
• Butterfly ‘Viscaria Super ALC’ (avg. weight = 92.7g) : Faster and harder than ‘Viscaria’.
• DHS ‘506X’ (avg. weight = 85.2g) : Outer ALC blade with Koto top layer. Similar to ‘Viscaria’.
• Butterfly ‘Viscaria’ (avg. weight = 87.1g) : The representative of outer ALC blades with Koto top layer. Current version.

Inner Fiber

• Butterfly ‘Ovtcharov InnerForce ALC’ (avg. weight = 88.og) : High-speed inner-ALC blade.
• Butterfly ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ (avg. weight = 88.1g) : Standard Inner-ALC blades with Limba top layer.

3-1. Elasticity Indices

Fig.08 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.

The first group to be compared is ‘Outer Fiber / Limba Top Layer’ group that includes five models. This group can be directly compared with ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ or ‘Acoustic Carbon’ whose top layer is also Limba. We can see that the elasticity characteristics of ‘Mizutani Jun ZLC’ is very similar to that of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. So we will be able to expect that ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ will perform like ‘Mizutani Jun ZLC’. The other four models are less elastic than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. But, the three models except for ‘ZX-Gear Out’ don’t show extreme difference from ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. The difference is noticeable, but not extreme. Among those three, it is noticeable that the Ec of ‘Carbonado 190’ which looks similar to ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ in construction is especially low. It will make the behavior of ‘Carbonado 190’ significantly different from that of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’.

The second group to be compared is ‘Outer Fiber / Koto Top Layer’ group that includes four models. Only one model in this group – ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ shows higher primary elasticity than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. It is noticeably more elastic than any other blade in this comparison. ‘Viscaria Super ALC’ shows a bit lower Ep than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. However, its Ec is much higher than that of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. So the player will feel that ‘Viscaria Super ALC’ is faster than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ in case the strength of impact is high. ‘506X’ and ‘Viscaria’ are less elastic than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’, and the difference is noticeable but not significant.

Next is ‘Inner Fiber’ group. We are comparing this group with ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ just for reference. Both of ‘Ovtcharov InnerForce ALC’ and ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ are less elastic than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. And, we can observe than the Ec’s of those two are significantly lower than that of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. The relatively low Ec may be the important characteristic that distinguishes inner fiber blade from outer fiber blade. (Even lower Ec of ‘ZX-Gear Out’ which is an outer fiber blade is an exceptional case.)

Examining Ec/Ep is an easier way to understand the characteristics of blade concerned with elasticity. Fig.09 shows the relationship between Ec/Ep and 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.

‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is located in ‘Deep Hold’ range (Ec/Ep < 0.9). It means that ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ holds ball deeply when the player hits the ball very strongly. By the way, in this comparison it is difficult to observe the blades by group because the models are spread out widely on the graph even those are in the same group. Therefore we’d better compare model by model rather than thinking in groups.

Among the outer fiber blades with Limba top layer, the closest one to ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ on the graph is ‘Mizutani Jun ZLC’. It is the closest one to ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ in this comparison. Because it is so close to ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ on the graph, we will be able to expect that the behavior of ‘Mizutani Jun ZLC’ will be similar to that of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. ‘Freitas ALC’ and ‘Cedric Nuytinck’ are less elastic than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ in primary elasticity, but the overall elasticity when the player hits the ball very strongly will not be much different because those two will give more kick than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ when the impact strength is higher. The elasticity characteristics of those two are close to that of ‘Viscaria’ whose top layer is Koto. ‘Carbonado 190’ is slower than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ and hugs the ball even deeper when player hits the ball very strongly. And, ‘ZX-Gear Out’ is even slower and hugs the bell more deeply than ‘Carbonado 190’.

Among outer fiber blades with Koto top layer, the most comparable one with ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is ‘506X’. Although it is noticeably less elastic than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’, there may be many players who feel that ‘506X’ behaves like ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ because its Ec/Ep is close to that of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. But, the players will feel much difference between ‘Viscaria Super ALC’ and ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. ‘Viscaria Super ALC’ will give more kick than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ when the player hits the ball very strongly, while ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ hugs the ball more deeply, and the differences are noticeable. Therefore, ‘Viscaria Super ALC’ is the blade of different kind from ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ is more elastic than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ but also holds the ball more deeply when the player hits the ball very strongly. If players feel that the characteristics of ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ is too excessive, they will be able to consider ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ or ‘Carbonado 190’.

Two inner fiber blades are located far from ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. But, ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ shows same level of Ec/Ep as ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. Although there is significant different in primary elasticity, the change between ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ and ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ for adjustment may be much easier than expected thanks to similar Ec/Ep. But, the change between ‘Ovtcharov InnerForce ALC’ and ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ will need longer period for adaptation because there is bigger difference in Ec/Ep.

Then next, let’s compare Vibration Indices.

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3-2. Vibration Indices

Fig.10 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.

The first group to be compared is ‘Outer Fiber / Limba Top Layer’ group that includes five models. This group can be directly compared with ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ or ‘Acoustic Carbon’ whose top layer is also Limba. We can see that the vibration characteristics of ‘Mizutani Jun ZLC’ is also very close to that of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ as we have observed that the elasticity characteristics of those two blades are very similar with each other. But, the vibration characteristics of the other four models are somewhat different from that of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. ‘Carbonado 190’ and ‘ZX-Gear Out’ show lower Vp’s and higher Vl’s. Those two will be much softer than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ in primary feeling, but will give sharper feeling at lateral direction. And, ‘Freitas ALC’ and ‘Cedric Nuytinck’ show higher Vp’s and lower Vl’s.

The second group to be compared is ‘Outer Fiber / Koto Top Layer’ group that includes four models. ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ shows higher indices than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. And, ‘Viscaria Super ALC’ shows higher Vp and lower Vl’. Those two are quite different from ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. On the contrary, ‘506X’ and ‘Viscaria’ show very similar vibration characteristics as ‘Mima Ito Carbon’.

Next is ‘Inner Fiber’ group. We are comparing this group with ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ just for reference. Both of ‘Ovtcharov InnerForce ALC’ and ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ show lower indices than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. Especially the Vp’s of those two are significantly lower than the Vp of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. We can notice that inner fiber blades show much lower Vp when compared with outer fiber baldes. (‘ZX-Gear Out’ is an exception.)

Examining Vl/Vp is an easier way for the comparison of the tendency of feeling. Fig.11 shows the relationship between Vl/Vp and Vp for easier comparison.

On the graph, there are five blades in upper parts of the graph – ‘Relatively sharper at finger’ range, and three blades in lower parts of the graph – ‘Relatively more comfortable at finger’ range.

‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is located at the upper part of the graph. But, it isn’t far from ‘Uniform’ line (Vl/Vp = 1.0). And, some players will feel that the distribution of feeling in ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is almost uniform. But, there will be also the players who feel that ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ transmits sharper feeling to index finger when compared with the primary feeling transferred to the palm.

The blades located near ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ are ‘506X’ and ‘Viscaria’, although both of ‘506X’ and ‘Viscaria’ are outer fiber blades with Koto top layer. Some (but not all) players will feel that the feeling transmitted to the index finger through ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is a bit less sharp than that through ‘506X’ but a bit sharper than that through ‘Viscaria’.

Although ‘Freitas ALC’ and ‘Mizutani Jun ZLC’ are not as close to ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ as ‘506X’ and ‘Viscaria’, those two are also located quite close to ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. Players will feel that ‘Mizutani Jun ZLC’ is harder than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ but gives more comfortable feeling to index finger. And, they will feel that ‘Freitas ALC’ is as hard as ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ but gives noticeably more comfortable feeling to index finger.

Two fast outer fiber blades with Koto top layer – ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ and ‘Viscaria Super ALC’ are harder than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ in primary feeling. But, those two show opposite values of Vl/Vp. ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ gives much sharper relative feeling while ‘Viscaria Super ALC’ gives much more comfortable relative feeling to index finger, when compared with ‘Mima Ito Carbon’.

‘Carbonado 190’ which looks similar to ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ in construction shows totally different feeling from ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. It is noticeably softer in primary feeling, and gives much sharper relative feeling to the index finger. ‘ZX-Gear Out’ goes one step further. It gives even softer primary feeing to the palm and even sharper relative feeling to the index finger. Players will feel that ‘ZX-Gear Out’ is the blades in the different world, when compared with ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ or some typical outer fiber blades including ‘Viscaria’.

Two inner fiber blades – ‘Ovtcharov InnerForce ALC’ and ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ – are much softer than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ in primary feeling. But, those two gives different relative feeling to index finger. ‘Ovtcharov InnerForce ALC’ gives sharper, and ‘InnerForce Layer ALC gives more comfortable feeling when compared with ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. The change from those two to ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ for increasing the power of ball in significantly considerable, but the players must take these differences in relative feeling into account before the replacement. If the player wants harder and sharper feeling than ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’, ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ can be seriously considered. But, the player doesn’t want to change the level of relative feeling of ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’, ‘Freitas ALC’ or ‘Cedric Nuytinck’ can be better solution than ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ or ‘Acoustic Carbon’.

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4.  Field Test

‘Mima Ito Carbon’ has been briefly tested at table tennis court. The non-sticky rubbers used for the testing are ‘Hybrid MK’, ‘Tenergy 05’, ‘Fastarc G-1’, ‘Vega Asia/Europe’ and so on. And, the sticky rubbers used for the testing are ‘Rasanter C53’, ‘Dignics 09c’, ‘Neo Hurricane 3’ and so on. None of the combinations was intensively tested. But, it will be sufficient to understand the basic characteristics of the blade.

The feeling during the light warm-up rally is impressive. Really impressive, but in fact it is difficult to express that feeling by words. The level of stiffness doesn’t feel much different from some representative outer fiber blades such as ‘Viscaria’. However, if the impact strength isn’t that high, ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ gives quite soft feeling that is close to the feeling of the blade whose indices are one step lower. However, at the same time there is the optimum level of vibration that transmits very clearly the feeling as if the surface of the blade grabs the ball. This kind of feeling reminds us the feeling of the 5-ply wood models in Nittaku ‘musical instruments’ series such as ‘Violin’ or ‘Acoustic’. Of course the feeling of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ (and ‘Acoustic Carbon’) isn’t as good as the feeling of ‘Violin’ or ‘Acoustic’, but it is exceptionally outstanding for outer fiber blade. Further, although it is quite stiff blade, we can feel the deformation of blade when we hit the ball very strongly. That is difficult to imagine from the outer carbon construction of this blade. Probably it is thanks to its special woven carbon fiber called FE carbon and very thin construction whose thickness is just 5.5mm. The feeling alone makes us think ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ (and ‘Acoustic Carbon’) is worth using.

Even in the warm-up rally, we could feel that the elasticity of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is high. Players will be able to easily make fast ball by ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. And, the ball flies very far with high speed if the player hits the ball very strongly, and in that case the player doesn’t feel any kind of instability or anxiety. But, although there isn’t feeling of anxiety, the time for adaptation is required if the player has used pure wood blades or inner fiber blades and doesn’t have experience of this kind of fast blades. It is because the ball flies farther than expected. However, if the player is already accustomed to fast outer fiber blades such as ‘Viscaria’, it is expected that there will not be any problem in control from the beginning.

When the player attacks by topspin, ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ gives the feeling that it hugs ball softly in moderate level and the ball sticks to its surface. As the result the topspin becomes very controllable and stable. Because the player can feel the moment that the blade is giving spin to the ball, the more the player get used to it the stronger the topspin becomes. ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ makes the ball which is faster but draws less dramatic arc compared to the 5-ply wood blades in the same series – ‘Violin’ or ‘Acoustic’. But, compared to other outer fiber blades, ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ boasts better arc drawing ability. Everything is possible with ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. The player will be able to freely adjust the speed, the height of arc and the flying distance depending on how the player hits the ball. In addition, it is easy to perform strong attack by topspin not only at close-to-table or mid-distance area but also from far-distance area from the table. During the brief testing ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ delivered impressive performance with no flaws in the topspin.

Finishing by smash is very stable because the blade moderately hugs the ball before bouncing it back. And the same time the power of the smash is also very high. While smashing the high speed of smash reminds us the fact that ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is a very fast carbon blade.

What is very important in the characteristics of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ (and ‘Acoustic Carbon’) is the ability of defense by block. Although it is a very elastic blade that makes very fast ball, the block is much easier than expected. The block by ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is very stable, and a variety of block can be freely performed. There wasn’t much time for adaptation during the testing, but there wasn’t any problem in performing various kinds of blocks. There is the feeling that the blade once catches the ball when the player performing block by ‘Mima Ito Carbon’. That enables the player freely select the kind of block – for example the block that extends strongly or very short block like drop shot. In fact, the high controllability of block can be somewhat expected given that the flying distance of topspin can be freely adjusted, but the actual ability of block is better than expected. Further, counter-topspin at close-to-table area is also very easy because it is like the active block with a larger motion.

And, what can be expected from the feel of topspin and block is the ease of performing on-table-technics (push, stop and flick). The player will be able to drop the ball, to stab the ball deeply with a strong backspin, and to make a preemptive attack by strong forward spin, without any problem. Everything goes seamlessly and easily, and all that remains is how well the player can utilize the ability of on-table-technic to take the initiative of the rally.

‘Mima Ito Carbon’ provides high level of freedom of rubber combination. It accepts every kind of pimples in rubber. (The combinations with pimple out rubbers couldn’t be tested because there isn’t the tester who uses pimples out rubber. However, it is expected that the combination of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ and pimples out rubber will be also good because Mima Ito is using pimples out rubber – ‘Moristo SP’ – on her backhand side.) Although ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is fundamentally a stiff carbon blade, it accepts the rubbers with hard sponges very well, and it doesn’t give strange feeling or make unstable ball trajectory when combined with the rubbers with soft sponges. ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ brings out the characteristics of the rubber very well. Especially recommendable rubbers for the combination are the rubbers those focus on spin performance – Non sticky tension rubbers with dense pimple geometry (for example ‘Fastarc G-1’ or ‘Tenergy 05’) or sticky tension rubbers (for example ‘Rasanter C53’ or ‘Neo Hurricane 3’). Rubbers with hard sponge whose density over 50 degree (in German standard) are also good. And, what is noteworthy is the combination with sticky tension rubbers. The player can play just normally without paying attention to the unique characteristics of sticky rubbers. It seems that stickiness of rubber and the high elasticity of blade complements each other to make a good harmony. The player can normally perform smash, block and topspin without much adjustment. All of ‘Rasanter C53’, ‘Dignics 09c’, and ‘Neo Hurricane 3’ made good combinations and could be ‘normally’ used during the testing, although there are some differences by models.

The overall impression of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ is that it is an almighty blade that is fast but can be used in a variety of playing styles.

Below is the testers’ opinions on the ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ (and ‘Acoustic Carbon’). Testers are distinguished by the color of indicator. (Red and green.) Please note that the result may differ by testers because the field testing isn’t objective but subjective. The result of field testing is influenced by testers’ personal preferences and the condition of testing.

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5.  Summary

Nittaku ‘Ito Mima Carbon’ is a blade with an exclusive design for Mima Ito based on ‘Acoustic Carbon’ which is an carbon blade with 5+2 ply outer fiber construction. Because its artificial material is pure woven carbon fiber, it provides top level of elasticity as an outer fiber blade. However, it hugs ball very deep if the player hits the ball very strongly, while providing one level softer feeling than what we can expect from outer carbon blade. Its feeling can be compared with outer ALC or outer ZLC blades. Limba top layer makes the player feel that this blade is even softer. The feeling transmitted to index finger through the wing of blade is relatively sharper than basic feeling, and it is very clear although it isn’t extreme.

In terms of technique when it is used in the table tennis court, there is no flaw. All table tennis techniques such as topspin, smash, defense by block, counter-topspin and on-table techniques can be performed seamlessly. And, the blade provides both of power and stability. Some players may feel frustrated that the speed of ball from ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ (or ‘Acoustic Carbon’) is too high. Especially in case they expected that this blade is a bit faster one than ‘Acoustic’. But, except for that, no drawback of this blade was found during the brief testing. ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ (or ‘Acoustic Carbon’) can be said to be the blade that boasts the best balance among blades with similar speed levels. Further, it provides high level of the freedom for rubber combination. Therefore the players will be able to freely select and fully utilize the characteristics of various rubbers. Because the elasticity of the blade is high, the rubber than focuses on spin performance is first recommended. And, the combination with sticky rubbers is also strongly recommended. The player will be able to adjust the feeling by the selection of sponge density if those kinds of rubbers make the overall feeling of the combination too stiff.

The very important advantage of ‘Ito Mima Carbon’ and ‘Acoustic Carbon’ which is the original model of it is that the players don’t need to be particularly conscious of ‘outer fiber’ construction. If a player is using an outer fiber blade because of its high power but isn’t satisfied with the feeling, ‘Ito Mima Carbon’ or ‘Acoustic Carbon’ is worth seriously considering. One thing to be careful is that the FL handle of ‘Mima Ito Carbon’ (or ‘Acoustic Carbon’) is slimer than the FL handles of many competitors. If the player has big hand, adjustment by wrapping grip tape may be required.

PROS :

• Excellent feeling.
• All skills from any area of court is stable and effective. (Except for chopping – TTGearLab didn’t tested chopping with this blade.)
• High level of freedom for rubber combination.

CONS :

• The shape of handle is somewhat unique, and the player with big hand should be careful when selecting FL (= flared) handle because it is slim.
• The average weight exceeds 90 grams while the weight is somewhat biased toward the top. That will not be drawback for skilled players, but non-skilled players will feel difficult to use it.

VERDICT :

• Almighty blade that enables the player perform a variety of techniques at all area of court.

RECOMMENDATION :

• Intermediate or highly skilled players who mainly play with topspin.

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