MA LIN EXTRA SPECIAL [Discontinued]
| Everyone's rating |
[Hardness] Little hard [Performance] Speed and Spin are excellent. |
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Averages reviews points
- Speed: 8.92
- Spin: 8.76
- Control: 8.28
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Several top players prefer the pure wooden blade construction, appreciating the special feel of pure wood.
EXTRA SPECIAL is a 7-ply construction suitable for aggressive close-to-the-table players. In EXTRA SPECIAL Yasaka’s experienced wood specialists combine harder inner veneers with a slightly softer middle veneer to get the right power without vibration.
- FL
- ST
- Chinese pen
Specifications
- Producer
- Yasaka
- Product code
- YM-41,YM-43,YM-46
- Weight
- 92g ± 5
- Material
- Seven plywood (7 ply wood)
- Thickness
- 6.3mm
Players use MA LIN EXTRA SPECIAL
- Delivers powerful, heavy attacking strokes
- Excellent spin capability despite 7-ply construction
- Outstanding compatibility with Rakza rubber
- Considerable weight requires sufficient strength
- Short-ball control difficult initially but excellent after adaptation
User reviews
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Nameless beginner (Experience: ２〜３ years) Very good... but heavy lol
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2021/10/23
My first impression when I hit with it was that it's just plain heavy. It puts good spin on the ball and has good speed, but it's heavy. I don't think you can handle it without a certain amount of strength.
Also, this might just be because I'm not very skilled, but it took me a while to get used to the short game with it. Still, once you get used to it, it's a really good blade, so I plan to keep using it. I think it suits attacking players like loop drivers or close-to-the-table hitters.Overall Speed Spin Control Touch Hardness little hard
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Smile (Experience: １１〜２０ years) Big variation between units
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2021/08/03
I borrowed one from a friend and hit with it, and I got a really good impression, so I bought one myself.
But once I actually used it as my own blade, it didn't feel the same as when I borrowed it. The reason was that the one I borrowed weighed 95g, while the one I bought was 88g.
It's a classic situation, but weight really does matter. I'm someone who's fallen deep into the equipment rabbit hole, but ever since I settled on this one, I haven't changed it at all.
Overall Speed Spin Control Touch Hardness little hard
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Overwhelming beginner's mass (Experience: Less than a year) Even beginners can control it well!
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2021/05/27
I'm still a beginner, but I found this blade has really good control. It has good speed too, and it's easy to put spin on the ball.
One thing I noticed is that, being a 7-ply, it felt a bit heavier compared to other blades I've hit with. Still, it's very easy to use, so I'll keep using it going forward.
(Since I'm a beginner, I think it'd be easier to use paired with an easy-to-control rubber like Rigan or Mark V.)
(By the way, the price I paid for this blade was the school club discount price.)Overall Speed Spin Control Touch Hardness little hard
Recommended rubber (Forehand) RIGAN
Recommended rubber (Backhand) RIGAN SPIN
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Howling Driveman (Experience: １１〜２０ years) That feeling
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2021/02/03
There's one more point I couldn't fit in before. Pairing this Ma Lin Extra Special with a harder tension rubber felt similar to pairing Tenergy with a carbon blade. Because the Ma Lin Extra Special has a soft core, the blade gives you a real ball-holding feel, so even with a hard rubber the ball sinks in softly and it's easy to put a ton of spin on it. And from that soft feel, the blade still sends the ball flying properly. It felt almost automatic — maybe that's just an illusion?
With a carbon blade and Tenergy, the rubber does the gripping and the blade does the launching, so I guess it's a bit different, but both have real power behind them — when you connect, the ball comes back heavy. The Ma Lin Extra Special made the short game outstandingly easy. I'm switching my main blade for the first time in ages. It's addictive. The ball is seriously heavy. I recommend it.Overall Speed Spin Control Touch Hardness Little soft
Recommended rubber (Forehand) Bluefire M1
Recommended rubber (Backhand) Bluefire M2
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Howling Driveman (Experience: １１〜２０ years) As good as the reputation says
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2021/02/01
Since I got back into table tennis, I've used the Libertas Synergy Plus, Timo Boll ALC, Innerforce ALC, ZLC, Libertas Synergy, Innerforce Allround, Zebarat, the Firefall series, Reinforce, Swat, and Swat Power. It's probably my own technique, but whenever I mishit on a hard shot I'd get a lot of overs, and my shots felt way too light. I'd been avoiding the Ma Lin Extra Special because I figured it'd be heavy, but I finally gave it a try. It is a bit heavy, but the shots feel heavier than with any racket I've used before, by a huge margin. The feel is soft.
Also, my mishits dropped drastically. I used to play with all-carbon blades, but this one grips the ball more than an inner-carbon blade, so my shots land on the table way more consistently. I've become addicted to wood blades. My spin shot up too, and my topspin drives got heavyweight-level heavy — maybe it's just in my head, but I feel like I've joined the ranks of the good players! I honestly recommend this way more than carbon blades.Overall Speed Spin Control Touch Hardness little hard
Recommended rubber (Forehand) Bluefire M1
Recommended rubber (Backhand) Bluefire M2
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Dai-chan junior high school teacher (Experience: １１〜２０ years) An awkward 7 plies
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2020/12/10
Honestly, I don't see a reason to use this blade.
First off, the feel on contact is kind of dull and hollow.
According to the catalog, it's supposed to have the Ma Lin Extra's feel with a bounce boost.
The feel is indeed similar, but having that feel on a 7-ply just seems off.
The average weight is 95g, so unless you're pretty confident in your power, I don't think you'd want to pick this up.The one I own weighs 89g.
As for bounce, it's maybe just a bit more than a Clipper Wood - basically THE definition of a 7-ply.
That said, I did feel the distance was better than other 7-plies.
It seems like it'd be strong for topspin rallies too.The biggest appeal of this blade is that the ball rises well -
against backspin, I don't think you'd ever really net the ball.I also tried it with Rakza Z, and since the ball rises quite a bit, it makes up for tacky rubber's weak point against backspin returns.
As for who I'd recommend it to, I'd say intermediate to advanced players (people confident in their power).
Depending on the rubber and the individual blade, it can easily go over 200 grams.Overall Speed Spin Control Touch Hardness Little soft
Recommended rubber (Forehand) Rakza 7
Recommended rubber (Backhand) Fastarc S-1
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(Experience: ４〜５ years) Truly a good blade
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2020/07/25
Yasaka's blades are all excellent.
This one is heavy and thick,
but it's perfect for power hitters!
The stability on drives, the way it really grabs the ball -
it's perfect!! And when you want speed,
it sends the ball flying just fine.
I'm going to use this blade for the rest of my life.
That's Yasaka for you.Overall Speed Spin Control Touch Hardness little hard
Recommended rubber (Forehand) Rising Dragon
Recommended rubber (Backhand) Rakza 7
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