Gambler Fire Dragon Hinoki

I currently have this blade with a flared handle, equipped with Hurricane 8 hard on the FH and Andro Rasant on the BH. The speed rating definitely is 9/10 or above when hit within the sweet spot. When hitting lackadaisical FH shots, over the table, this blade is a tad bit on the slower end (Hurricane 8). Looping and counter loops are almost effortless, fast, and spiny. Blocking is effortless as each shot has such a great feeling, placement, and consistency. There is no control rating from the manufacturer. With that being said, my previous blade was the Nittaku Flame Carbon so I will compare between the two blades. The control would be at least 7.5/10 when hitting out of position and easily 9/10 hit with good form. The stiffness would be equivalent to a typical OFF- blade stiffness. The feeling of this blade is superb, direct feedback from the blade after striking the ball relays the type of shot conducted. During touch and serve encounters, the blade allows the user good placement when receiving and superb control when serving. It’s worth noting the selling point of the blade should be the amount feeling from every shot. Because of the blades feeling, the player can easily determine where errors have occurred in: shot placement, shot power, amount of spin, and touch receive. This blade is more suited for the a looper or modern offensive player. The setup I have is similar to Chinese offensive play and the FIRE DRAGON HINOKI definitely caters to the Chinese style of looping as well.