The 6 Blades Every Long Pimples Player Should Consider

Playing with long pimples brings huge advantages, not least that most conventional players struggle against the unique spin imparted by pips-out rubbers.

However, it’s not easy to develop the skills to play effectively with long pimples. They require a specific technique and, importantly, they require a blade that allows the pimples to shine.

Pick the wrong blade for your long pimples and you won’t be making the most out of their spin-generating capabilities, as well as making your life difficult with limited control.

These recommendations have come from professional long pimples player Xinyu Cheng who’s also written about his story as a professional player for us here at Racket Insight.

We’ll start with a summary of the 6 blades every long pimples player should consider using, then we’ll explain why each one has been chosen.

Image	Product	Why We Recommend	Price
	Victas Koji Matsushita	Flexes to different playstyles. Great feeling and dwell time. Incredible craftsmanship.	Check Local Seller PriceCheck Amazon Price
	Stiga CLCR	Incredible control on all shots. Great for attacking with long pimples. High spin generation on chops.	Check Local Seller PriceCheck Amazon Price
	Dr.Neubauer Barricade Def	Very slow and controlled. Enhances disruptive effects of long pimples.	Check Local Seller Price
	Nexy Joo Sae Hyuk	Designed for chopping away from the table. Enough speed to play attacking shots as a modern defender.	Check Local Seller Price
	Sword Strange King IV	2 sides with different characteristics. Perfect for players with a strong forehand but a defensive backhand. Suits a wide variety of shots.	LINK NOT AVAILABLE
	Victas Swat	Impressive balance between speed and control. Great for attacking with long pimples and inverted rubbers.	Check Local Seller PriceCheck Amazon Price

Victas Koji Matsushita

The Koji Matsushita blade is, in our opinion, the best all-round blade for modern defenders. Especially if you haven’t developed a speciality for a specific playstyle yet.

The slightly oversized head shape leans this blade towards a more defensive style, although it’s no stranger to creating high spin rates with an aggressive loop. That’s a key factor for anyone trying to play both offensive and defensive shots.

For chopping, this is a very forgiving blade with a solid ‘bite’ (or dwell time) on the ball at contact. The Koji Matsushita gives defenders a high amount of control with both long pimples and inverted rubbers.

It’s not perfect for all long pimples players though, as the balance between attacking and defending means this is a relatively fast blade for a defender. Blocking close to the table can be a little tricky so it’s easier to step back away from the table and play a full chopping stroke.

As this is a Japanese-made blade, the craftsmanship is brilliant and you won’t find yourself needing a replacement blade any time soon.

No wonder we recommend it as one of the best table tennis blades you can buy.

Stiga Clipper CR

I’ve (Xinyu) been using this blade for most of my professional table tennis career, even since high school. The Stiga ‘CLCR’, a top choice among all-wooden blades, is well-known for its great control. It’s incredibly predictable and you feel like you can’t miss the table.

The Stiga Clipper CR blade is engineered in a way that it can handle balls with different spin and speed effectively, which is particularly important when paired with long pips rubber. 

For aggressive long-pips players, it’s important to seize opportunities close to the table. This blade, when paired with some offensive long-pips rubbers like Saviga, Yinhe Super Kim, or Tibhar Grass, is a great choice. Attacking with long-pips can make the ball float and sink rapidly, making it hard for the opponent to return effectively.

However, I personally think the Stiga Clipper CR is not ideal for chopping near the table. It’s more effective with shots played away from the table because, after all, it’s not a defensive blade. 

The speed is quite fast  and the spin generated isn’t strong enough to cause your opponent problems close to the table when chopping. In contrast, it’s a good choice for blocking because the blade does all the work for you. The excellent control of this all-wood blade effectively absorbs the incoming ball’s spin, helping to reduce force.

If you’re used to attacking with long-pips on your forehand, using this blade for forehand loop attacks is a fantastic choice, especially when paired with backhand long-pips. 

I’ve seen many long-pips players choose the Stiga Clipper CR in both China and Spain. I was particularly impressed by a former Spanish national champion who showed me his ‘European’ version of the CLCR during a match but you won’t need that. The regular Clipper CR is more than good enough.

Dr. Neubauer Barricade

Dr. Neubauer Barricade is my favorite blade, despite being criticized by many people for being the “slowest blade in the world”. That just means it requires a bit more power and concentrated force for any stroke or shot. 

My teammates often make fun of this blade because it produces a dull, heavy sound when hitting the ball, giving the impression that it’s made from champagne bottle corks or rigid cardboard. This is a truly unique blade.

Most importantly, the ball stays on the racket for the maximum amount of time due to this slow speed characteristic, allowing for better control and placement.

The Barricade DEF blade contributes to enhanced disruptive effects when paired with long pips rubber. The blade’s composition and construction, combined with the unique properties of long pips rubber, result in increased reversal and wobbling effects on the ball. These effects make it more challenging for opponents to anticipate and adjust to the spin generated by the long pips rubber, giving you an advantage in manipulating the game’s pace and rhythm.

In training, I’ve found that when I chop from mid to back court, hardly anyone can consistently counter-loop the ball because it becomes extremely spinny. It’s also very effective for close-to-the-table defense since the blade can effectively absorb the impact of incoming shots. The blade does most of the work for you.

Of course, this blade does have certain drawbacks. Being a defensive blade with extremely slow speed, it’s not suitable for offensive play. When it comes to forehand loops, you’ll never be able to rely on speed to win points. Instead, I recommend pairing it with a rubber that offers strong spin capabilities to enhance the rotation, making it more challenging for opponents to defend against.

Nexy Joo Sae-Hyuk

The Nexy Joo Sae-Hyuk blade is a recent release, primarily due to the discontinuation of the previous Butterfly collaboration. All table tennis players who play chop and use long pips are likely familiar with the name Joo Sae-hyuk, who is recognized as the world’s top chop player.

When I was younger, the Butterfly Joo Sae-Hyuk was considered the best chopper blade. However, after Joo Sae-hyuk retired due to injuries and terminated his contract with Butterfly, this blade became a limited edition. Currently, a second-hand Butterfly Joo Sae-hyuk blade in 90% new condition is selling for approximately $400 in the second-hand market, which I believe is a price that deters most players.

The Nexy version is a blade I started using last year and have also used a few times in the Spanish League. This 7-ply all-wood blade’s main feature is that it’s suitable for chopping players to use for counter-attacks on the forehand. In other words, compared to the classic Butterfly Joo, the Nexy Joo has stronger offensive attributes. 

Modern chop players, especially on the mens side of the game, are rarely pure defenders. A purely defensive style is too passive at more advanced levels, so you need a blade that can launch an offensive when the opportunity arises.

When this blade is equipped with long pips, its 7-ply all-wood structure makes its control outstanding, whether you are blocking near the table or chopping from afar. Of course, my recommendation is that this blade is best paired with a chop type long pips rubber, such as the Butterfly Feint used by Joo Sae-hyuk, or the 338d-1 produced by China’s Dawei company, to maximize its strengths.

Sword Strange King IV

The Sword Strange King IV is a table tennis paddle made specifically for use with long-pimple rubbers. Despite having nine layers of pure wood, it’s not as stiff as you might think; it’s actually quite flexible.

In the 16th Veterans Cup Table Tennis Championship held in Stockholm in 2012, Wang Yin, a well-known Chinese long pips player, won the men’s singles championship using his “Strange King” paddle. 

After many years of continuous improvements, the latest product in the Strange King series, Strange King IV, has been released.This blade is a bit thicker than the earlier version, Strange King III, and it also includes a layer of carbon fiber for added strength.

What’s unique about this paddle is its design for players who prefer to twiddle the paddle during the match. This blade has one fast side and one slower side that’s more suited to long pimple rubbers. 

One side of the paddle is made from Hinoki wood, making it springier, and the other side is made from a softer wood with horizontal grain. This design means that the Hinoki side is better for attacking shots like loops, while the other side is great for defending and absorbing power. 

Ultimately, this design gives players who use long-pimple rubber alongside an inverted rubber more options to play a wide variety of shots.

Whilst this is a fascinating, unique blade, the primary downside is that it can be difficult to get your hands on one. There aren’t many distributors around the world.

Victas Swat

If you’re a defender that like to be aggressive with blocks and loops, we can take inspiration from Ni XiaLian and take advantage of the Victas Swat blade. If you’re curious, she pairs it with Curl P1V rubbers.

This blade has a fantastic balance of speed and control, with the primary focus being for attacking players. The blade’s softness ensures that it can effectively absorb impact and reduce force when used alongside long pimples.

There’s a 7-ply pure wood construction which allows you to feel the ball on contact, although some players may not like the ‘vibration’ that flows through into the handle.
We recommend the Victas Swat for players who want to stay close to the table and use their long pimples to gain an attacking advantage. In topspin rallies, you’ll find the blade gives an incredible sense of control, allowing you to compete with traditional Aggressors.

How To Choose The Right Blade For Playing With Long Pimples.

For players who use long pimples, choosing a suitable blade is very important. You don’t want to pick the most expensive or most popular blade, but choose a blade that suits your own playing style.

You must understand your playing style before looking for blades that have the right material and weight properties.

Playing Style

Playing style is the first and most impactful factor that needs to be considered when choosing a new blade.

For long pimple players who are primarily defensive and avoid playing attacking shots where possible, I recommend choosing blades with slower speed and better control, such as the Dr. Neubauer Barricade DEF.

For long pimple players who seek opportunities to take the initiative to attack a weak shot by the opponent, it’s worth considering some faster blades. In fact, most all-round blades would be suitable. 

On the other hand, if your style is to mostly block at the middle and near tables (a Brick Wall playing style), you can also choose most all-round blades on the market.

Then you have players like me who rely on strong chops to win points. We need to specifically choose a chopping blade with a larger head and softer woods. Paired with long pimples, the mid and far table balls will become very spinny, posing a greater threat.

Material

For most long pimple players, pure wood blades are undoubtedly the best choice. In my professional career, 95% of the blades I’ve used have been pure wood. The reason is because pure wood blades provide the highest level of control through a high dwell time, which allows for a great handle on ball speed and spin.

Blades with added carbon fiber are characterized by their fast speed, but this can often create a very reactive contact which reduces control. Carbon is great for offensive play due to the added speed, but for defense (especially with long pimples) the contact time between the ball and the racket is too short.

Stick to all-wood blades.

Weight

Lastly, it’s important to consider the weight of your blade. 

Typically, pure wood blades are not overly heavy. I would recommend opting for a lighter blade whenever possible. A lighter blade is easier to move around, providing quicker response time to incoming shots. 

Having a light blade is especially important for players using long pimples who rely heavily on defensive strategies, and who often need to switch quickly between different types of strokes and angles.