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

In 2023, Tibhar announced two new fiber blade – one inner-fiber model and one outer-fiber model. The inner-fiber model is ‘Libra ZAC’ whose artificial material includes three different fibers. TTGearLab will deal with ‘Libra ZAC’ in near future. And, the outer-fiber model is ‘MK Carbon’ that will be dealt with in this article.

Tibhar ‘MK Carbon’ is the blade for Kenta Matsudaira who was signed with Tibhar on April 2022. ‘MK’ is the initial of ‘Matsudaira Kenta’. (‘Matsudaira’ is his family name, and ‘Kenta’ is his given name.) The blade that is preferred by Kenta Matsudaira is the outer-fiber blade which provides sufficient elasticity and can lift the ball upward well. The fiber that was selected for realizing the characteristics that Kenta Matsudaira wants is new ‘Crypto Carbon’. And, for the harmony with ‘Hybrid MK’ which is the new foreside rubber of Kenta Matsudaria that provides soft feeling, the overall feeling of ‘MK Carbon’ has been tuned to be a bit harder than the Butterfly ALC blade that had been used by Kenta Matsudaira for long time.

TTGearLab analyzed ‘MK Carbon’ through Performance Indices and compared it with some existing blades. Further, TTGearLab also checked the actual characteristics of ‘MK Carbon’ by field testing at table tennis court.

1.  Overview

Fig.01 Tibhar ‘MK Carbon’

‘MK Carbon’ is the new blade of Kenta Matsudaira. It has been developed by the cooperation of Tibhar and Kenta Matsudaira, and has been tuned for ‘Hybrid MK’ and ‘Hybrid K3’ those are the rubbers used by Kenta Matsudaira.

Fig.02 The Aluminum plate at foreside of handle

The exclusive logo for ‘MK’ series expresses the initials of Kenta Matsudaira (M & K). ‘Matsudaira’ is family name of Kenta Matsudaira, and it comes before the given name in Japanese name system. For that reason, the initials aren’t KM but MK.

Fig.03 The blade construction of ‘MK Carbon’

The fiber of ‘MK Carbon’ isn’t a pure woven carbon fiber but the mixed woven fiber with different material which is called as ‘Crypto Carbon’. ‘Crypto Carbon’ is assumed to be a kind of ALC (= Arylate Carbon), but the details of this material haven’t been announced. ‘Crypto Carbon’ 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 5.8mm. The construction looks very similar to that of Butterfly ‘Viscaria’ except for the color of fiber. (Green vs. blue.)

Fig.04 Tibhar ‘MK Carbon’

The size of head is 157mm x 150mm which is same as the head size of Viscaria’. The average weight of measured pcs. is 85.4g. We can even find many pcs. whose weights are under 85g. So, if the player is looking for a lightweight outer fiber blade, ‘MK Carbon’ is worth considering.

Fig.05 FL (flared) handle of ‘MK Carbon’

Two kinds of handles – FL (flared) and ST (straight) – are available. The FL handle of ‘MK Carbon’ is a FL handle of semi-wide type that is very similar to the FL handle of ‘Zhang Jike’ series, ‘Fan Zhendong’ series, ‘Viscaria’ series, and ‘Korbel’. Its width is around 25mm (at head sied) ~ 28mm (at bulge) ~ 26mm (at the narrowest point) ~ 34mm (at the end). Its thickness is around 23mm at thumb and around 25mm at the end. This semi-wide FL handle provides firm grip.

Fig.06 ST (straight) handle of ‘MK Carbon’

The ST handle of ‘MK Carbon’ is similar to the standard ST of Butterfly which is applied to most of Butterfly blades including ‘Viscaria’, ‘Fan Zhendong’ series, ‘InnerForce Layer’ series and so on. It is the semi-wide ST handle whose cross section is a bit rounded Its width is around 28mm, and its thickness is around 23mm. It also provides firm grip.

Fig.07 Rounded Aluminum plate at backside of handle

There is a rounded small Aluminum plate at the backside of handle. ‘MK’ logo is printed on backside plate.

Fig.08 Aluminum logo plate at the end of handle

At the end of handle there is a squared logo plate that shows new diamond logo of Tibhar.

Fig.09 Backside of ‘MK Carbon’

Printing isn’t applied on the basckside of head.

Then, let’s check the characteristics of ‘MK Carbon’ by Performance Indices and compare with the 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 ‘MK Carbon’ are as follows:

MK Carbon (average weight = 85.4g)

             Ep = 2.01

             Ec = 1.84 (Ec/Ep = 0.92)

             Vp = 1.32

             Vl = 1.45 (Vl/Vp = 1.10)

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

Fig.10 Tibhar ‘MK Carbon’

‘MK Carbon’ is an outer-fiber blade whose artificial material is very similar to ALC and whose top layer is Koto. Its primary Elasticity Index (Ep) is around 2.0, and it is in the range that we can expect from an outer-ALC blade with Koto top layer. Basically ‘MK Carbon’ is a fast blade.

Its Ec is much lower than its Ep, and as the result its Ec/Ep (= 0.92) is lower than 1.0. It means that ‘MK Carbon’ hugs the ball deep when the player hits the ball very strongly. But, the amount of hug isn’t extreme. 0.92 is the value of Ec/Ep close to the border between ‘Mild Hold’ range and ‘Deep Hold’ range.

Its Vp (Primary Vibration Index) is 1.32. It is also in the range that we can expect from an outer-ALC blade with Koto top layer. Vp that exceeds 1.3 means that ‘MK Carbon’ isn’t soft or extremely hard. We can think that the basic feeling of ‘MK Carbon’ is moderately hard. On the contrary its Vl (Lateral Vibraion Index) is very high. The feeling that is transmitted to the index finger is very hard or sharp. And, as the result the relative value – Vl/Vp – (= 1.10) is also quite high as the value of an outer-ALC. It is expected that there will be many players who feel that ‘MK Carbon’ is harder than existing outer-ALC blades with Koto top layer, for example ‘Viscaria’.

Fig.11 Tibhar ‘MK Carbon’

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3.  Comparison by Performance Indices

Then we can compare ‘MK Carbon’ with some other blades in the market. Because the construction of ‘MK Carbon’ is very close to that of current ‘Viscaria’, the main purpose of this comparison is to observe how ‘MK Carbon’ is different from ‘Viscaria’ or the blades with similar constructions. We will call the outer ALC (or outer Aramid Carbon) blades with Koto top layer as ‘Viscaria Type’. And, some inner ALC blades and ‘Korbel’ which is the representative of 5-ply offensive blade are selected for additional comparison.

Following is the list of the blades to be compared :

Viscaria Type (outer-ALC blades with Koto top layer)

  • Butterfly ‘Viscaria’ current version (avg. weight = 87.1g) : The representative of outer-ALC blade
  • Butterfly ‘Viscaria’ old version M-serial (avg. weight = 86.0g) : Former version of ‘Viscaria’. The material of handle is different from that of current version.
  • DHS ‘506X’ (avg. weight = 85.2g) : Outer ALC blade of DHS.
  • Tibhar Samsonov Limited Edition 25 (avg. weight = 87.7g) : Special version of Samsonov series. Fiber is Aramid Carbon.
  • Tibhar Drinkhall Powerspin Carbon (avg. weight = 85.4g) : The blade of Paul Drinkhall.
  • Xiom 36.5 ALX (avg. weight = 86.2g) : Outer Axylium Carbon (= ALC) blade of Xiom.

Inner ALC blades

  • Butterfly Ovtcharov InnerForce ALC (avg. weight = 88.0g) : The blade of Dimitrij Ovtcharov. Thicker & faster than ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’.
  • Tibhar Shang Kun Hybrid AC (avg. weight = 88.8g) : The inner ALC blade of Tibhar.
  • Butterfly InnerForce Layer ALC current version (avg. weight = 91.2g) : The standard model of inner ALC blades
  • DHS Hurricane Long 5X (avg. weight = 87.6g) : Thicker & Faster than Hurricane Long 5′.
  • DHS New Hurricane Long 5 (avg. weight = 88.1g) : The representative of inner ALC blades. Ma Long used the special order version of this blade.

5-ply wood

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

3-1. Elasticity Indices

Fig.12 Comparison by Elasticity Indices

Fig.12 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.

[Viscaria Type]

‘MK Carbon’ can be categorized as ‘Viscaria Type’ because of its construction – top layer, artificial material and thickness. Further, its handle also resembles the handle of ‘Viscaria’. For that reason it will be meaningful that we first compare ‘MK Carbon’ with ‘Viscaria’. Interestingly there isn’t noticeable difference between the Ep of ‘MK Carbon’ and that of ‘Viscaria’ (current model). However, the Ec of ‘MK Carbon’ is lower than that of ‘Viscaria’. The difference isn’t significant, but noticeable. So, we can expect that players will feel that ‘MK Carbon’ is a bit slower than ‘Viscaria’ when the impact is very strong, while ‘MK Carbon’ is as fast as ‘Viscaria’ in light hitting. But, the result of the comparison between ‘MK Carbon’ and old version of ‘Visciar’ is somewhat different, because the Ec of old ‘Viscaria’ is noticeably lower than that of current ‘Viscaria’. Both of the Ep anc the Ec of old ‘Visciara’ are lower than those of ‘MK Carbon’.

Then let’s compare the other ‘Viscaria Type’ blades with ‘MK Carbon’. ‘506X’ shows a bit higher Ep and a bit lower Ec when compared with ‘MK Carbon’. And, the graph shape of ‘506X’ looks somewhat similar to that of ‘MK Carbon’. On the contrary, the graph shape of ‘Samsonov Limited Edition 25’ is different from that of ‘MK Carbon’. Players will feel that ‘Samsonov Limited Editon 25’ is much more elastic than ‘MK Carbon’. The high Ec may be one of the characteristics of Viscaria type blades of Tibhar. ‘Darinkhall Power Spin Carbon’ also shows very high value of Ec, although its Ep is noticeably lower than that of ‘MK Carbon’. Finally, both of Ep anc Ec of ‘36.5 ALX’ are noticeably lower than those of ‘MK Carbon’. Because of the similarity in graph shape, ‘36.5 ALX’ looks like the slower version of ‘MK Carbon’.

[Inner ALC]

Inner ALC blades are compared with ‘MK Carbon’ and ‘Viscaria Type’ blades just for reference. The most elastic one in this group is ‘Ovtcharov InnerForce ALC’. Its Ep is a little bit higher than that of ‘MK Carbon’. However, its Ec is much lower than that of ‘MK Carbon’, and is even lower than that of ‘36.5 ALX’ which is the lowest in ‘Viscaria Type’ group. The highest Ec of ‘Inner ALC’ group is lower than the lowest Ec of ‘Viscaria Type’ group. We may be able to think that the low Ec is one of the characteristics of inner ALC blade.

[5-ply wood]

‘Korbel’ is also being compared just for reference. As we can expect from the construction which doesn’t include any artificial fiber, the Elasticity Indices of ‘Korbel’ are lower than the lowest Elasticity Indices of ‘Inner ALC’ group. Of course, the gap becomes even larger if we compare ‘Korbel’ with ‘MK Carbon’ and ‘Viscaria Type’ blades.

Examining Ec/Ep is an easier way to understand the characteristics of blade concerned with elasticity. Fig.13 shows the relationship between Ec/Ep and Ep.

Fig.13 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, most of blades in this comparison are in ‘Hold’ range (Ec/Ep < 1.0). Five including ‘MK Carbon’ are in ‘Mild Hold’ range, and seven are in ‘Deep Hold’ range. But, among those twelve blades, six including ‘MK Carbon’ are close to the border between ‘Mild Hold’ range and ‘Deep Hold’ range.

At first, we can observe that ‘Viscaria Type’ group that includes ‘MK Carbon’ is located to upper right of ‘Inner ALC’ group. It means that the blades in ‘Viscaria Type’ are faster and give more hold (= less kick) for very strong impact when compared with ‘Inner ALC’ group.

[Viscaria Type]

‘MK Carbon’ is located to lower left of current ‘Viscaria’. For that reason players will feel that ‘MK Carbon’ is a bit slower than current ‘Viscaria’ when they hit the ball very strongly. The difference isn’t significant, but players will notice it. But, old version (M-serial) of ‘Viscaria’ shows same level of Ec/Ep as ‘MK Carbon’. It is expected that players will feel that ‘MK Carbon’ is close to old ‘Viscaria’ of similar weight.

Although there are differences between ‘Viscaria’s (old & new) and ‘MK Carbon’, the other blades in ‘Viscaria Type’ group are even further away from ‘MK Carbon’ when compared with ‘Viscaria’s. ‘36.5 ALX’ gives similar hold characteristic as ‘MK Carbon’ or old ‘Viscira’, but its primary elasticity is noticeably lower. ‘506X’ is even more elastic than ‘MK Carbon’ in primary elasticity, and it hugs the ball a bit deeper than ‘MK Carbon’ when the player hits the ball very strongly. ‘Samsonov Limited Edition 25’ is faster and gives more kick than ‘MK Carbon’ and ‘Viscaria’s. Players will feel that ‘Samsonov Limited Edition 25’ is much faster than ‘MK Carbon’. Finally, ‘Drinkhall Power Spin Carbon’ is in ‘Mild Kick’ range. Its primary elasticity is relatively low in ‘Viscaria Type’ group. But, because its Ec/Ep is much higher than other blades in this group, the players who can make strong impact will not feel that ‘Drinkhall Power Spin Carbon’ is a slower blade.

[Inner ALC]

This group is being observed just for reference. Except for ‘Ovtcharov InnerForce ALC’, the blades in ‘Inner ALC’ group are located to lower right of ‘MK Carbon’, and the gaps are significant. It means that those blades are much less elastic than ‘MK Carbon’. Some blades hug the ball a bit deeper than ‘MK Carbon’ when the player hits the ball very strongly, and the others much deeper. ‘Ovtcharov InnerForce ALC’ is located almost directly under ‘MK Carbon’. It shows same level as Ep as ‘MK Carbon’. (In fact, the Ep of ‘Ovtcharov InnerForce ALC’ is a bit higher than that of ‘MK Carbon’.) However, because of much lower Ec/Ep, it hugs the ball much deeper than ‘MK Carbon’ or ‘Viscaria’s. It will make the players feel that ‘Ovtcharov InnerForce ALC’ is slower than ‘MK Carbon’.

[5-ply wood]

‘Korbel’ which is a 5-ply wood blade is of course located to far lower left of ‘MK Carbon’. It is much slower than ‘Viscaria Type’ blades including ‘MK Carbon’, and the players will feel that it is even slower because it hugs the ball very deep when the impact strength is high. If the player who has used ‘Korbel’ requires higher elasticity of blade, inner ALC blades may be better solution than ‘MK Carbon’ or ‘Viscaria’ for smooth adaptation. Then next, let’s compare Vibration Indices.

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3-2. Vibration Indices

Fig.14 Comparison by Vibration Indices

Fig.14 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.

[Viscaria Type]

At first we can compare ‘MK Carbon’ with current ‘Viscaria’. The Vp of ‘MK Carbon’ is identical to that of current ‘Viscaria’. However, the Vl of ‘MK Carbon’ is much higher than that of ‘Viscaria’. I means that ‘MK Carbon’ transmits much harder or sharper feeling to the index finger when compared with ‘Viscaria’. This will make the player feel that ‘MK Carbon’ is harder than ‘Viscaria’. And, there isn’t any blade in this group whose Vl is higher than that of ‘MK Carbon’. So we can think that very high value of Vl is one of important characteristics of ‘MK Carbon’. The highest Vl is that of ‘36.5 ALX’. But, it is also noticeably lower than the Vl of ‘MK Carbon’.

[Inner ALC]

Inner ALC blades are compared with ‘MK Carbon’ and ‘Viscaria Type’ blades just for reference. The Vp’s of the blades in this group are much lower than those of ‘MK Carbon’ and blades in ‘Viscaria Type’ group. But, all blades in this group except for ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ show much higher Vl’s than Vp’s. The Vl’s can even be compared with those of ‘Viscaria Type’ blades. So we can understand that the soft feeling of inner ALC blades are mainly due to the primary feeling transferred to palm except for the case of ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’.

[5-ply wood]

‘Korbel’ is also being compared just for reference. Both of Vp and Vl of ‘Korbel’ are much lower than those of ‘MK Carbon’ and ‘Viscaria Type’ blades. And, the values are also lower than those of ‘Inner ALC’ blades except for the case of the Vl of ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’. Examining Vl/Vp is an easier way for the comparison of the tendency of feeling. Fig.15 shows the relationship between Vl/Vp and Vp for easier comparison.

Fig.15 Vl/Vp vs. Vp

On the graph, most of blades in this comparison are placed in upper part of the graph – ‘Relatively sharper at finger’ range.

At first, we can observe that ‘Viscaria Type’ group that includes ‘MK Carbon’ is located to right of ‘Inner ALC’ group. It means that the blades in ‘Viscaria Type’ are harder in primary feeling that is transmitted to palm through handle. But, in both of two groups the blades are widely distributed in vertical direction. So, the relative feeling (= Vl/Vp) can’t be the criteria by which we can distinguish between ‘Viscaria Type’ blades and ‘Inner ALC’ blades.

[Viscaria Type]

‘MK Carbon’ is located above current ‘Viscaria’, and the gap is quite large. ‘MK Carbon’ transmits much sharper feeling to index finger when compared with ‘Viscaria’ although there isn’t difference in primary feeling transmitted to palm through handle. That is the most crucial difference between ‘MK Carbon’ and current ‘Viscaria’. Old M-serial version of ‘Viscaria’ is located upper left of current ‘Viscaria’, and the gap is also quite big. Although old ‘Viscaria’ is softer than ‘MK Carbon’ in primary feeling some players will feel that there isn’t much difference in feeling between old ‘Viscaria’ and ‘MK Carbon’ because the difference in Vl/Vp is not significant. And, ‘36.5 ALX’ is very close to old ‘Viscaria’. Some players will also feel that there isn’t much difference in feeling between ‘36.5 ALX’ and ‘MK Carbon’. On the contrary, the other two Viscaria Type blades of Tibhar give totally different feeling from ‘MK Carbon’. ‘Drinkhall Power Spin Carbon’ and ‘Samsonov Limited Edition 25’ are located to lower right of ‘MK Carbon’, and the gaps are quite big. Here we can see an example of the case that there are so many different subjective opinions on same blades. If a player feels that ‘Drinkhall Power Spin Carbon’ or ‘Samsonov Limited Edition 25’ is softer than ‘MK Carbon’, that player mainly feels Vl/Vp. And, if a player feels that ‘Drinkhall Power Spin Carbon’ or ‘Samsonov Limited Edition 25’ is harder than ‘MK Carbon’, that player is more sensitive to Vp than Vl/Vp.

[Inner ALC]

This group is being observed just for reference. The group itself is located to left of ‘Viscaria Type’ group. So inner ALC blades are softer than Viscaria type blades in primary feeling. Among fiver blades in this group, ‘Hurricane Long 5X’ and ‘Shang Kun Hybrid AC’ give very sharp relative feeling to the index finger. The players who have used those two may feel that ‘MK Carbon’ is a bit more comfortable than those two because of lower value of Vl/Vp. And, there will not be much problem when they replace their blade from ‘Hurricane Long 5X’ or ‘Shang Kun Hybrid AC’ to ‘MK Carbon’ for enhancement of power. And, the replacement between ‘Hurricane Long 5’ or ‘Ovtcharov InnerForce ALC’ and ‘MK Carbon’ will go quite smoothly because there isn’t much differences in Vl/Vp. However, the player will feel that ‘MK Carbon’ is much harder and much sharper when they replace their blades from ‘InnerForce Layer ALC’ to ‘MK Carbon’.

[5-ply wood]

‘Korbel’ which is a 5-ply wood blade is also being observed just for reference. We can see that ‘Korbel’ is located to upper left of ‘MK Carbon’. Although the Vl/Vp of ‘Korbel is higher than that of ‘MK Carbon’, probably their will not be the player who feels that ‘Korbel’ is harder than ‘MK Carbon’. That is because the differences in Vp is significantly big. And, in case the player wants to replace ‘Korbel’ with outer ALC blades of Viscaria type, probably ‘MK Carbon’ will be the choice that will make the replacement more smooth, because Vl/Vp is more important for the adaptation of player to new blade.

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4.  Field Test

‘MK Carbon’ has been briefly tested at table tennis court. The test wasn’t an intensive one, and not many kinds of rubbers were combined. However, it was sufficient to find out the basic characteristics of the blade. The rubbers used for the testing are ‘Tenergy 05’, ‘Hybrid MK’ and ‘Hybrid K3’. Among those three, ‘Hybrid K3’ is a sticky rubber with integrated tension effect.

The basic feeling in light warm-up hitting is that ‘MK Carbon’ isn’t soft. It feels harder than expected. However, ‘MK Carbon’ also gives clear feeling that the blade hugs the ball. The outer ALC blades with Koto top layer tend to give somewhat strange feeling for stronger impact in case it is light in weight (low to mid 80 grams). That is a kind of ‘hollow’ feel as it there is a large hole in the center of the blade surface. However, ‘MK Carbon’ doesn’t give that kind of strange feeling although its average weight is around 85 gram. So the player can always feel the contact between the ball and the racket very precisely. That is one of good points of ‘MK Carbon’, and it is probably because the feeling transmitted to the index finger is harder or sharper than that of other blades with similar constructions. Except for it, overall impression of ‘MK Carbon’ isn’t significantly different from that of ‘Viscaria’. But, the differences are important. It is expected that there will be many players who prefer ‘MK Carbon’ to ‘Viscaria’ mainly because of the difference in feeling.

Fig.16 Tibhar ‘MK Carbon’

In attack with topspin, ‘MK Carbon’ gives the feeling that the blade hugs and catches the ball firmly. Further, the feeling of impact is transmitted to the index finger very clearly, and it enhances the ability of control. The impression is that ‘MK Carbon’ hugs and catches the ball a bit better than current version of ‘Viscaria’. On the contrary, the speed of ball from ‘MK Carbon’ is a bit lower than that from current ‘Viscaria’. Of course it doesn’t mean that the ball from ‘MK Carbon’ is slow. The speed of ball is basically very high. And, for that reason the player can attack by powerful topspin from mid-distance area. However, testers felt that the topspin at close-to-table area is much more effective. Also, high loop by intentionally lowering the hitting point and then pulling up the ball can be very easily performed. But, for freely using the various kinds of topspin, it seems that a certain level of technique is required. By the way, ‘Viscaria’ also shows similar characteristics in topspin. The difference between ‘MK Carbon’ and ‘Viscaria’ is that ‘MK Carbon’ is a bit slower but a bit more controllable.

‘MK Carbon’ also provides very high speed when the player attacks by smash. In general, the blades of this type (= thin outer ALC construction with Koto top layer) hugs the ball deeply at first when the player performs smash but shoots it explosively the next moment, and ‘MK Carbon’ is no exception. ‘MK Carbon’ isn’t a blade developed for the playing style oriented by smash & block, but it can be sufficiently used for that kind of playing style. The good point of ‘MK Carbon’ when the player performs smash is that it provides higher stability in smash than harder & faster blades.

Block against topspin is a bit slower than that by ‘Viscaria’ if the player just performs the block passively. But, there is also the feeling that the blade catches the ball once and then release. For that reason, the control of block is very good, and the player can increase power of block by moving the racket more actively. For the same reason, counter topspin is very effective and easy to perform. Although the block itself isn’t bad, it is recommended to use counter topspin more frequently if possible.

Stop and push are very stable even though ‘MK Carbon’ is a fast blade. Very sharp feeling that is transmitted to index finger helps the precise control. If former blade of the player is a much slower one, some time for adaptation is required of course. However, the period for adaptation will not be long. Flick is also easier than expected. But, the player should be careful about the counterattack from the opponent because the ball tends to fly rather quickly.

Above are the result when ‘MK Carbon’ is combined with ‘Hybrid MK’ or ‘Tenergy 05’. The combination with ‘Hybrid MK’ or ‘Tenergy 05’ is recommended as the standard combination. The players will be able to adjust from this standard by attaching different rubber. The result when ‘Hybrid K3’ which is a sticky rubber is attached to ‘MK Carbon’ is not much different, except for somewhat harder feeling. Players will just feel that the combination with sticky rubber such as ‘Hybrid K3’ is somewhat more biased to spin. The basic characteristics of ‘MK Carbon’ doesn’t change by the combination with sticky rubber. One reason is that ‘MK Carbon’ itself is a bit more biased to spin. But, although ‘Hybrid K3’ is a sticky rubber, it is possible to smash normally for high balls just like when using a non-sticky rubber. And, it is easier to make variation of block. The ease and the effectiveness of backhand counter topspin and block make it possible to understand why Kenta Matsudaira uses ‘Hybrid K3’ on his backhand side. But, what concerns is the hardness of sponge. Although ‘Hybrid K3’ doesn’t feel as hard as its sponge density indicates, ordinary players may feel that it is too hard on backhand side. Probably ‘Hybrid MK’ or ‘Hybrid K3’ will be better combination on the backhand side of ‘MK Carbon’ for ordinary players, and ‘Hybrid K3’ is recommended for forehand side.

Fig.17 Backside of the handle of ‘MK Carbon’

Below is the summary of the testers’ opinions on the ‘MK Carbon’. Testers are distinguished by the color of indicator. (Red and green.) Please don’t forget that this subjective evaluation can’t be used for the comparison with the other blades, because the result is influenced by the characteristics of testers, and the condition of testing always varies.

Fig.18 Evaluation by subjective testing

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5.  Summary

Tibhar ‘MK Carbon’ is the blade specially developed for Kenta Matsudaira. It is an outer fiber blade whose top layer is Koto and whose artificial material is new Crypto Carbon. Overall specification is like that of ‘Viscaria’ or ‘Zhang Jike ALC’.

‘MK Carbon’ provides high speed that we can expect from its construction. It is a bit slower than ‘Viscaria’ when the impact strength is high, but instead it hugs the ball a bit deeper than ‘Viscaria’.

The primary feeling of ‘MK Carbon’ is as hard as that of ‘Viscaria’. However, the feeling transmitted to the player’s index finger through the wing of blade is noticeably sharper or harder than that of ‘Viscaria’. For that reason, it is expected that there will be many players who feel that ‘MK Carbon’ is harder than ‘Viscaria’. Some players will feel this hard feeling uncomfortable. However, probably thanks to that hard feeling, the hollow feel that can be felt from outer ALC blade with Koto top layer whose weight is under 90g is significantly reduced. Some players will think that the feeling of ‘MK Carbon’ is quite natural although it is hard.

In actual testing at table tennis court, ‘MK Carbon’ shows good feeling and performance of topspin. Because ‘MK Carbon’ hugs and catches the ball firmly, various kinds of topspin can be performed easily and effectively.

Regarding rubber combination, the standard spin-oriented tension rubbers of new generation for example ‘Hybrid MK’ or ‘Tenergy 05’ fits for ‘MK Carbon’ very well, and are recommended as the rubbers for standard combination. Because ‘MK Carbon’ isn’t a blade with very unique characteristics, the rubbers with softer / harder sponges are expected to also fit for it without problem. And, it also makes good harmony with new sticky tension rubbers such as ‘Hybrid K3’. The combination with sticky rubber is recommended for the players who want to play with a bit more spin-oriented strategy.

Fig.19 Tibhar ‘MK Carbon’

PROS :

  • High ability for attack by topspin. It properly hugs and catches ball while providing high elasticity.
  • Great ball touch. Very precise control is possible because the hitting feeling is transmitted very clearly without the hollow feeling that sometimes occurs with the blades of similar type.
  • Relatively light in weight. There are many pcs. whose weights are even under 85 grams.

CONS :

  • Higher level of player’s skill is required if the player wants to freely use a variety of skills.
  • The feeling which is harder than expected may be uncomfortable, especially for the players who have been accustomed to pure wood blades.
  • Expensive as an outer-ALC blade.

VERDICT :

  • A powerful blade for the offensive play with topspin.

RECOMMENDATION :

  • The skilled players who play mainly with topspin and counter topspin.

Fig.20 Tibhar ‘MK Carbon’

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