Kenta Matsudaira ALC [Discontinued]
| Everyone's rating |
[Hardness] Medium hardness [Performance] Speed and Control are excellent. |
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Averages reviews points
- Speed: 8.91
- Spin: 8.3
- Control: 8.44
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• Jointly developed with Japan’s Kenta Matsudaira
• A hybrid 5-ply blade made of Butterfly’s popular Arylate/Carbon material
• Kenta prefers a narrow grip and this is evident in the slightly thinner FL handle
• Arylate-Carbon
- FL
Specifications
- Producer
- Butterfly
- Product code
- 36821
- Size
- 157 × 150mm
- Weight
- 86g
- Material
- Arylates five plywood (Wood, ALC, 7 ply wood)
- Thickness
- 5.8mm
- Thin, round grip that's easy to hold for small hands
- Backhand and table-top techniques are especially smooth
- Outer carbon provides good rebound and lightweight feel
- Nearly equivalent basic performance to Timobor ALC
- Excellent compatibility with firm rubbers like Tenergy 05
User reviews
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Soil digging man (Experience: １１〜２０ years) Recommended for those who emphasize stability and control Verified Purchase
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2021/02/09
I'd especially recommend this to anyone with small hands, regardless of gender.
Personally, I think this racket suits players who hold the grip deep rather than shallow.
Since the grip is small (thin?), it's very easy to control power on impact and to control the racket head with your fingers.
The downside is that you tend to grip too hard when you're tense or firing off consecutive topspin drives, but my grip control has improved because of it.
If you mainly play close to the table but also want to handle rallies at mid-distance, why not give it a try?Overall Speed Spin Control Touch Hardness little hard
Recommended rubber (Forehand) TRIPLE Double Extra
Recommended rubber (Backhand) TENERGY 80
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Pin-kun (Experience: ４〜５ years) Weak overcoming the backhand!
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2016/04/06
I recently switched to the Matsuhira Kenta ALC, which suits my slightly smaller hands. My backhand used to be my weak point, and I often lost matches because opponents targeted my backhand side, but after playing with this blade, I felt my own backhand improve to a surprising degree. I got so good at it that even when the ball comes to my forehand side, I sometimes use my backhand instead.
Before buying, I was torn between the Zhang Jike ALC, the Timo Boll ALC, and the Matsuhira Kenta ALC, but choosing the Matsuhira Kenta ALC turned out to be the right call.
It's also ideal for the short game — the chiquita in particular is easy because the grip is thin. And switching between forehand and backhand is very easy.
If I had to name a weakness of this blade, it's that it's not extremely bouncy, so if you're coming from a thick blade like a 7-ply all-wood, your serves might come out a bit high, so you'll need to rework your serve to suit the Matsuhira Kenta ALC.Overall Speed Spin Control Touch Hardness Little soft
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Shogun (Experience: １１〜２０ years) Be careful as the grip is thin
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2021/10/27
I'd strongly recommend holding the grip before you buy. It's quite thin, so if you have big or even average-sized hands, you'll end up gripping too hard and your hand will start to hurt. It's better to think of this as made for small hands or kids.
The blade performance is undeniably excellent. The feel off the ball is great, and the release is quick, but there's still a sense of holding onto the ball — that perfect balance is what makes this racket great.Overall Speed Spin Control Touch Hardness Little soft
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Horizontal (Experience: ２〜３ years) Good
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2021/05/16
For me, the best thing about the Matsudaira Kenta ALC is simply how light it is. You can swing your backhand all the way through, get good speed, and the amount of spin is insane. And it's easy to swing overall — I'd say there's basically no technique you can't pull off with it.
Overall Speed Spin Control Touch Hardness Soft
Recommended rubber (Forehand) TENERGY 05
Recommended rubber (Backhand) TENERGY 05
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Kentah (Experience: ６〜１０ years) user friendly
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2021/03/18
Thoughts after about 2 years of use
The grip is quite thin and round
Recommended for people with small hands or people who like a thin grip
Because the grip is thin and round, you get a strong sense of feedback in your hand when you hit the ball — the feel of the shot comes through very clearly, giving you a real sense that you're the one hitting itThe feel off the ball is on the slightly hard side, and being an outer blade it has good bounce. Rather than a soft rubber, one that's a bit harder with good grip on the ball suits it better — it pairs well with G1. A soft, low-bounce rubber like Rozena doesn't seem to be a good match — it tends to lose the outer ALC's strengths
Even as an outer blade there's still a sense of grabbing the ball, while release is quick and it flies well — but not too much
Because the grip is thin and round, the backhand is very easy to hit — backhand drives, chiquita, backhand drives from mid-distance
switching between shots is also easyForehand, backhand, drives, serves, receives, the short game, topspin rallies, switching — everything is easy, there's no technique that's hard to do
A racket I'd recommend to anyone who likes a thin grip — because the grip is thin, the feedback that reaches your hand, the sense that you're the one hitting the ball, comes through clearly
For rubber, I'd recommend G1, which is a bit hard with good grip on the ball and good speed
I think it pairs well with outer ALCOverall Speed Spin Control Touch Hardness little hard
Recommended rubber (Forehand) Fastarc G-1
Recommended rubber (Backhand) Fastarc G-1
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Kentaro Matsuda (Experience: １１〜２０ years)
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2021/02/23
Just making contact gives you speed. It pairs well with spin-focused rubbers like Tenergy 05.
I also tried it with Tenergy 64, and the 05 gave more of an arcing drive while the 64 gave more of a straight-line drive. Either way, it's a really good racket.Overall Speed Spin Control Touch Hardness Little soft
Recommended rubber (Forehand) RASANTER R53
Recommended rubber (Backhand) TENERGY 05
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moaitroll1234 (Experience: １１〜２０ years) Feeling that Timo Boll is easy to hold
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2020/08/23
The bounce, ball-holding, and vibration are the same as the Timo Boll ALC.
That said, because the grip is thin, it's suited to people with small hands, women, and juniors around 5-9 years old with small hands and not much strength — I don't think it's really a racket that appeals to everyone.
The grip is easy to hold and nicely rounded, so surprisingly, even an attacking-style chopper I know said "this is good." Though I don't think it's really a racket meant for choppers.Overall Speed Spin Control Touch Hardness Little soft
Recommended rubber (Forehand) TENERGY 05 HARD
Recommended rubber (Backhand) Spin Art
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