‘Foundation’ series is a new blade family of KTS (Kim Taek Soo) which is the Korean table tennis brand. It is positioned between the two blades families of KTS – high-end ‘Problade’ series for professional or highly skilled players and entry-level ‘Ngineered’ series for entry ~ middle class players. The concept of newly added ‘Foundation’ series is to provide professional class blades like ‘Problade’ series at a reasonable price close to that of ‘Ngineered’ series. ‘Foundation’ series originally had consisted of four fiber blades – three models released in October 2024 and ‘Founcation AMC’ released in January 2025. And, in October 2025, new model – ‘Foundation ZED High’ – was added.

‘Foundation ZED High’ is an outer-type blade whose artificial material is ‘Core ZED’ which is a kind of ZLC (= PBO Carbon). Like the most famous Butterfly ZLC blades – ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ and ‘Fan Zhendong ZLC’ – its top layer is also Koto. Because ‘Foundation ZED High’ has been developed as the reasonable replacement of Butterfly ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’ or ‘Fan Zhendong ZLC’, its performance is in between those two Butterfly blades. It is as fast as existing top model of the series – ‘Foundation AMC’ – but it is made for more advanced players. ‘Foundation ZED High’ is focused on precise control of powerful topspin, while ‘Foundation AMC’ is focused on the ease of power play. ‘Foundation ZED High’ is recommended for the intermediate ~ skilled players who want to perform powerful topspin with precision.

‘Foundation ZED High’ is a fiber blade whose artificial material is Core ZED which is a kind of ZLC. It lays emphasis on the precision of the attack by powerful topspin. Differently from existing models of ‘Foundation’ series, it is the blade developed under the consideration of skilled players, and as the result it can be compared with ‘Problade’ series. Although ‘Foundation ZED High’ is not made in Japan or Korea, its build quality is as high as that of ‘Problade’ series made in Japan or Korea. Its overall graphic design is also different from existing models of ‘Foundation’ series.

‘Foundation ZED High’ is an outer-type fiber blade of 5+2 ply construction. The top layer is Koto, the middle layer is Ayous, and the center layer is Kiri. Core ZED is inserted directly under the top layer. Overall thickness is 5.8~5.9mm. Core ZED is a type of ZLC, and its weaving method is the same as that of Super ZLC of Butterfly but the width of bundle looks a bit different from that of Super ZLC. (In fact, ZED High means Super ZLC.) So Overal characteristics of Core ZED is in between Super ZLC and ZLC. It doesn’t become extremely stiff like ZLC when the player hits the ball very strongly in large angles, and it doesn’t hug the ball as extremely as Super ZLC. And, the differences among fibers directly become the differences when we compare ‘Foundation ZED High’ with Butterfly ‘Fan Zhendong ZLC’ and ‘Fan Zhendong Super ZLC’. It seems that KTS has tried to find out the optimum point of the characteristics of outer ZLC/SZLC blade.

The size of head is around 157mm x 151mm. There can be small differences by piece.

Both of FL handle and ST handle are available on the catalog, but as of March 2026, only the FL handle is being sold. The most important feature of ‘Foundation ZED High’ is the shapes of its handles. Both of its FL handle and ST handle are different from the FL and ST of existing KTS blades. The existing KTS blades have relatively narrow squared handles whose top and bottom are completely flat. Especially FL handle of existing KTS blades is similar to the FL handle of famous Butterfly ‘Gergely’. However, ‘Foundation ZED High’ adapts the handle shape of ‘Viscaria’ instead of that of ‘Gergely’. So, the FL isn’t narrow squared handle without bulge any more, but is semi-wide handle with bulge and rounded cross section. The width of FL handle is around 25mm (at top) ~ 28mm (at bulge) ~ 26.5mm (at narrowest section) ~ 33.5mm (at the end), and the thickness of handle is around 22mm (at thumb) ~ 23.5mm (at the end). The ST handle of ‘Foundation ZED High’ is also semi-wide ST with rounded cross section. The size of ST handle is 28mm (width) x 23mm (thickness).

The Tiger Face ‘金擇洙(Kim Taeksoo)’ logo which is also applied to the top blade family – ‘Problade’ series – is printed on the top of the foreside of blade head. And, on the bottom of blade head, the logo of ‘Foundation’ series, the name of blade model, the name of artificial fiber, the construction and speed sign (= OFF+) are printed. In the standard of KTS, the speed sign ‘OFF’ means that the blades is for offensive play by topspin, and the speed sign ‘OFF+’ means that the blade lays emphasis on speed.

The aluminum plate that includes the Tiger Face ‘金擇洙(Kim Taeksoo)’ logo is applied at both sides of handle.

Aluminum logo plate that includes KTS logo is applied at the end of handle.

The printing and the aluminum panel are applied also at the backside. Because the backside of handle is same as the foreside of handle, we can’t tell the foreside from the backside when the rubbers are attached on the head.

On the backside of head, the information on brand and company is printed at top, and the kind of artificial material and the name of series are printed at bottom.

‘Foundation ZED High’ (left) and ‘Foundation AMC’ (right) are 5+2 ply outer-type fiber blades those provide high speed. But, two blades are distinguished from each other by the materials and the targeted playing characteristics. ‘Foundation ZED High’ is a ZLC blade with Koto top layer, while ‘Foundation AMC’ is an Aramid Carbon blade with Limba top layer. ‘Foundation ZED High’ is focused on precise control of powerful topspin, while ‘Foundation AMC’ is focused on the ease of power play.

From above pictures, we can compare the constructions of two models – ‘Foundation ZED High (left) and ‘Foundation AMC’ (right). Both of two are 5+2 ply outer-type blades, but there are differences in top layer and artificial fiber. ‘Foundation ZED High’ has Core ZED which is woven by PBO fiber and Carbon fiber under the Koto top layer, while ‘Foundation AMC’ has Core AMC which is woven by HD Aramid fiber and Carbon fiber under the Limba top layer.

We can see the difference between the handle shapes of ‘Foundation ZED High (left) and ‘Foundation AMC’ (right). The handle shape of ‘Foundation ZED High’ is similar to that of Butterfly ‘Viscaria’ which is the rounded semi-wide handle with bulge near the thumb point, while the handle shape of ‘Foundation AMC’ is similar to that of Butterfly ‘Gergely’ which is a squared narrow handle without bulge near the thumb point.

‘Foundation ZED High’ is a speed-oriented outer-type blade which lays emphasis on the precise control of fast ball. Overall characteristics are in between those of existing outer ZLC blades and those of existing outer Super ZLC blades. Because it is faster but easier to use than existing outer-ZLC blades with Koto top layer, some players may feel that it is like the outer-ALC blade with enhanced speed. Basically, it is the blade for topspin. But, because it also provides high speed when the player hits the ball with large angle, ‘Foundation ZED High’ can be recommended to the players of various playing styles.

Following are the performance indices of KTS Foundation ZED High (avg.weight = 86.0g) :

– Ep = 2.34

– Ec = 2.05 (Ec/Ep = 0.88)

– Vp = 1.37

– Vl = 1.49 (Vl/Vp = 1.09)

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

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