STIGA Pro Carbon + Raptor Performance-Level Table Tennis Rackets with Carbon Technology for Tournament Play - 7-ply Blade with Flared Handles - 2mm Sponge for Enhanced Control and Speed

The STIGA Pro Carbon Table Tennis Racket has taken my game to the next level. The paddle is lightweight yet powerful, offering incredible speed and spin control. The carbon layers make a noticeable difference in responsiveness, and the ergonomic handle provides a comfortable grip for long matches. The build quality is top-notch, and it feels like a professional-grade racket. It’s a bit pricier than beginner paddles, but for serious players, it’s worth every penny. I highly recommend it for anyone looking to elevate their table tennis game!

Review first, then a bit about my experience with the paddle (day 1) and a bit about competitively priced paddles because I bought another paddle along with this one to compare. This paddle is an AMAZING improvement over the cheap paddle I picked up in the grocery store in the "sports - clearance" section lol go figure. I mean it's SO night and day it feels like cheating. This is a great paddle and at the end of this review I compared it to the JOOLA overdrive which is priced the same as this one and I think this is much better. I played for a couple years when I was 18 till about 21 and I'd say I was intermediate at the sport but I'm 35 now and just recently found out a friend of mine likes to play so I immediately got back into it but I've been using this terrible store non-name brand clearance paddle. I have played probably 50 games to 21 with him and I've never scored more than 11 points against him in 50 games, and he had to go easy on me... when he was trying I would struggle to get 3 points against him. When I got this paddle my FIRST game against him I beat him 21 to 19! It's night and day the difference a good paddle makes. I also want to mention I ended up ALSO buying a JOOLA infinity overdrive paddle at the same time and I tested both paddles. I don't think it's close - I think this raptor is better by a not insignificant amount. It's not as great as the difference between my clearance paddle of course, and I don't think anyone who has an overdrive should be disappointed - it's great but this raptor is so nice. I think I'm going to return the JOOLA and buy a 2nd raptor so I can invite more friends to play with me and we can each have a great paddle. That's how good this is :) EDIT couple days later: Yep. I was so satisfied with this raptor I did end up returning the JOOLA overdrive and bought a 2nd raptor so I can have a spare and can invite my friends to play against me and they can have an equally good paddle.

Overall Short Comment: Very good for its price($50 at the time of purchase) Fairly spinny. Can feel too powerful if you're not used to playing with 2.0 mm sponge. Lightweight for its speed -- still heavier than most premade bats at 165grams. Medium Rubber - Forgiving for beginners, but the maximum spin and speed is limited once you become good at the sport. The rubber can be replaced though. Good for: - Beginners who can do fh/bh drives - Recreational players with tennis background. - Anyone who doesn't want to invest in a custom setup Bad for: - Absolute beginners (Might be a bit too fast. Get Stiga Titan/Evolution for slower setup). - Choppers (Why would you be looking for an offensive paddle?) - If you already know how to loop, this is too beginner-oriented for you. Get a custom setup Long-detailed comments: The Blade: The blade is a little heavier than most premade bats. However, this blade is considerably lighter when compared to other offensive blades. I would say that the weight of this bat is just right for people who are starting to develop offensive playstyle. The blade can be pretty fast despite its light weight and it doesn't vibrate too much. The Rubber: The rubber is Stiga S5, which is a beginner rubber with very little speed and spin. (Very good control) The topsheet is not very grippy and so while table tennis basics can be performed relatively well, the rubber doesn't quite allow you to do advanced strokes. The rubber doesn't really react to spin and so it is good at blocking/driving/flat hitting. Durability: The rubber does lose its tackiness quickly. Since it comes with a not-so-tacky rubber, it will be very hard to generate spin after some period of playing. I've been using this paddle for two months. I play in a college club 4 hours a week + a few more hours with a friend. Right now it's time I change the rubber. I will keep the blade though, it is pretty good. If you are a complete beginner(You can't do forehand drive & backhand top spins comfortably), consider Stiga Titan or Stiga Evolution. Most other premade bat comes with 1.5-1.7 mm. sponge thickness. This paddle comes with 2.0 mm thickness and it is faster than your average paddle! If you play a lot you probably will be fine though. If you are not used to playing with thick sponges, it will take some time to adjust. Once you are familiar with it, this paddle is pretty good for its price. You can upgrade the rubber (or purchase a custom racket) when you are better at offensive shots and you start to feel that this paddle is too slow(At first, this paddle was too fast for me but when your skill improves you will feel that it is very easy to control.) If you are a beginner who can already do spin-intensive shots(i.e. loop) or an intermediate player, don't get a pre-assembled bat. The Stiga S5 rubber is insanely good at flat hitting/smashing but it is designed for beginners. Comments on each shot: Smash/Flat hit: This paddle is insanely good. The rubber is not sensitive to incoming spin. You can smash a chop/lob comfortably since the non-grippy top-sheet is not very reactive to the opponent's spin. Drive: The paddle is good at driving. The spin is ok. Loop: You can loop strongly with proper technique and a lot of energy. You should change the rubber to something better if you want to play the looping game. Push: The paddle can push okay. The S5 rubber offers a lot of control, but it will be hard to load up backspin on long pushes. Lob/fish: The speed of the blade allows you to lob comfortably without putting in a lot of effort. Block: The lightweight blade allows you to quickly block. The rubber offers a lot of control. Pretty good at blocking for an offensive blade. Serve: The rubber can do most serves comfortably, especially long serves. Some spinny short serves(Ghost serve, backspin reverse pendulum) is still hard to perform with the non-tacky top sheet. Chop: As typical of an offensive blade, the 2.0 mm is a little too thick for chopping. It can be hard but still doable.

I have used Stiga products for a long time (since 1970s) and they make some wonderful equipment.I purchased this blade for a friend who is in a position to step up from basic prefab paddles which come bundled with the table . I was advising a custom racket-but got tempted to try this prefab paddle. A mistake ! I believe the blade is a 7 ply carbon and should be good offensive blade but the rubber (S5) isnearly useless as there is hardly any speed or topspin. The paddle came with a deep groove on the Red rubber. I tried to remove the S5 rubber with the idea that I would stick a new pair of decent rubbers(Stiga Calibra LT Spin) . But it is virtually impossible to remove the S5 rubber without damaging it or the blade surface !!! so those of you who will be tempted to utilize the blade as salvage are hereby warned that the S5 rubber is fixed very deeply with something other than the water based glues I am used to (Butterfly Free chack). If you are a recreational player-this is too much money to spend on a prefab blade. If you are a serious player-you can do much better by spending a little more and buying a decent blade with a pair of good rubbers. Needless to say I am disappointed with this purchase. I presently use a Butterfly IF ZLF blade with Tenergy 64 on FH and Tenergy 5 FX on BH. Update :03.19.16 The S5 rubber removed. Residue of rubber stuck to blade and the hard glue removed with multiple scrubbing with solvent (Gasoline). Blade looks very good ,light and fast (bouncing ball on naked blade). Stiga Calibra LT spin-rubbers attached with free chack glue. Amazing improvement in performance now. Speed 9/10,spin 9/10, Control 7/10. Excellent on table/mid distance play with powerful looping for opening up. Still a bit hard for my taste but a very fast usable combo now.. Happy Camper now !!

Enough good, I'm not a professional but compared to my friends' $10 rackets this is a good enough quality.

Great bat with good grip and the spin the bat generates is incredible. I am an average Table Tennis Player but in the hands of a seasoned player, this bat can be devastating for the opponent.

this racket is fast, very fast. I expected more spin however (?? 99/100), the spin level is just the same as my Killerspin 400 which is rated less for spin. but this Stiga is lighter and definitely faster. I can't say how long the spin or speed will hold up, I just got it 3 weeks ago, but it seems the speed is at least partially derived from the blade construction. i think the best thing about this racket, besides being new, is that it has AN EXCEPTIONALLY COMFORTABLE FEEL IN THE HAND. the designers aced that part for shake hand grip. I would have given it 5 starts if the spin was as great as advertised. I would like to keep this blade and change the rubber when my game improves. i recommend it for beginners and recreational players who like to attack and play away from the table. update - after several months now, after upgrading to faster, skinnier rubber, I realize, there's a lot to be said for CONTROL.... this remade bat is actually an EXCELLENT balance of speed, spin and control..... you really don't realize the value of control until you lose it, and the speed is more than adequate to win anyway, being able to place your shot close to the net or far to the edge at will is just priceless, also, the blade has a very large sweet spot and makes your drive shots as straight as an arrow, this was true even when I paired it with different high rubbers, and when you factor in the price..... I just had to upgrade it to 5 stars

Final Update (5star for a recreational player, 3 stars for an intermediate player): So here is what I think after a few months of heavy playing with this racket. If you're a recreational player then you're going to love this bat. The racket has a low throw angle similar to the cheap blades that recreational players usually use which will make it easy to transition. Since it's a very stiff blade, it has a large sweet spot, is fast when you hit the ball flat, and is quite good for pushing and playing close to the table. Passive blocking can work but only if the other player is hitting the ball hard since the rubbers don't have a great deal of catapult effect. If you're an intermediate player then it's not a great bat for you, especially at this price, you can easily get an amazing Chinese clone blade with for example AK47 rubbers. Overall, I paid almost $100 for this racket and it's just not worth it. It's too stiff with zero vibration, you get no feedback at all from the bat. Spin is just ok, the blade is too fast and you have to decide between slow and heavy spin with a nice arc or fast and linear with little safety arc (this makes it easier for your opponent to loop your balls as well since you can't generate a lot of topspin) so if you're not careful then be ready for a lot of unforced errors and shooting the ball off the table. There is also no dwell time at all which makes it difficult to open up heavy backspin pushes and even harder to develop your game in areas that you're lacking. Stay away if you're a serious intermediate player, and instead get something more flexible. *********************************************** Update after a month: So I've been using this racket for a bit over a month, 5 days a week. What I've found is that it's at its best in short to mid-range game. It could be that the rubber has a low throw angle or the catapult effect is not that big, but for long-range, you really need to use a good technique and really brush up the ball to get it to the table. Looping and counter looping is great but I'm finding it difficult to improve the consistency of my counter topspin to a heavy backspin push. That's a quality shot and I don't have the best technique so since there's almost no dwell time, it makes it harder to consistently land the ball and I've been struggling with those more than ever. *********************************************** I've been playing table tennis for a long time and finally decided to get my own paddle and opted for an advanced lvl premade one as it would be cheaper (or I thought). The bat is not great for beginners and works best for a low to mid intermediate player who knows what he/she's ​doing and is trying to improve her/his consistency. The weight of the blade is balanced on the front and it's a bit on the heavy side but once you get used to it then you won't notice it and it will help you hit hard as well. However, if you're an upper intermediate player or even mid, chances are that you've played with a custom-made bat either at a club or have borrowed one from a friend. Do not expect the same performance from this bat because S5 rubber actually provides a great deal of control but not that much speed compared to a custom-made racket. A custom-made bat with decent Chinese rubbers will be a lot faster (will have less control) but will be a bit more expensive as you have to buy a decent blade as well. The good news is that the blade is decent meaning you can, later on, get yourself some good rubbers, and then you have a proper beast on your hand.