Stiga Infinity VPS V | table-tennis-reviews

Stiga Infinity VPS V- Review by yogi_bear(source:mytabletennis.net)

weight: 85 grams

Thickness: 5.8mm

Plies 5: Limba-spruce-ayous-spruce-limba

Speed: off-

Some people asked for an affordable but good quality Stiga blade. Well, Stiga has recently released its new Infinity V blade. Priced at about 55 euros, this blade is much affordable compared to rosewoods and other higher priced Stiga blades. The blade is very balanced and doesn't feel head heavy at first when I glued the Calibra Tour H and M on it.

One thing about the blade surface is that it has the absence of the NCT coating present among NCT blades. you can still feel some sort of thin layer of coating but it is very minimal and i suggest people should varnish it thinly to prevent splintering. The very smooth but not slippery finish surprised me. The blade surface was nicely finished and how i wish stiga did this to their handle also in order for the whole blade to have a smooth finishing touch that will not compel players from sanding the handle. Also the wing part at the neck of the blade needed some sanding but it was never really an effort for me since i'm already used to Stiga blades.

The Infinity V has some flex on it. It is considered thin at 5.8mm. It has a medium hardness or stiffness. When I first bounced the ball on it without rubbers, it produced a medium pitched "Tok" sound.

The 5 ply-composition is really evident when you first check the layers of wood used by Stiga. The blade is composed of 2 thinner outer plies and the center is a thick ayous or abachi ply.

Anyways, IMO, Stiga designed this blade for pairing with very fast rubbers like their new tour H rubber. This blade is more on control. I would rate this as slower than a clipper wood or rosewood 5 as the amount of speed i have gotten was significantly less than the 2 mentioned above. It is a very linear kind of blade. Slow and controllable if you want it to and has enough speed if you increase your power. It is very predictable and easy to use and I will not be surprised even players that are intermediate in level can easily use this blade because of its control.

Looping however is better because of its flex and its medium stiffness. Even with a very fast rubber like that of the Calibra Tour H, I could still easily loop the ball without the blade forcing the ball to bounce from the blade before i can sink the ball into the sponge. When combined with the Tour H, i can loop high arced spinny loops with ease. I was also curious what if I use a chinese rubber on it. Good thing I had my globe 999 national blue sponge and was glad to glue it to the infinity v. I think it is common knowledge that Stiga has been producing blades for the CNT and for sure a lot of chinese players have been using stiga blades because of its very good pairing with the blade. This one is no exception. The combination of both the chinese rubber and the blade is very good to use and I would deeply suggest to use a chinese rubber on this in your forehand. It loops beautifull and the ease to spin incoming underspin balls is really amazing. The one that i used was a boosted 38 degree blue sponge.

Blocking and short games inside the table are the other 2 strengths of this blade. Blocking is very stable close to the table and receiving serves liek drop shots or short push chops are easy to execute.

Some will find this blade needing a little more speed but it can be solved by just pairing a faster rubber. This will also maintain its high level of control on your attacks.