The Sanwei Verdi and the Nova carbon blades are the latest release from Sanwei for their composite blades. The design for each blade is specific to different relative styles of players. Each of the blades were tested using the new Sanwei Target version 3 (Orange sponge) rubbers,
new version Sanwei Target National rubber and n ESN rubber.
Verdi (Outer)
Weight: 90 grams
Thickness: 6.1mm
Plies: 7 (Limba, VerdiX Fiber, Ayous, Kiri core)
Head size: 157mm x 150mm
Stiffness: Stiff
Speed: Off+
The Sanwei Verdi or for better distinction, I will call it as Sanwei Verdi Outer so as not to confuse it with the Verdi Inner blade, is a high-speed offensive type of blade. Both the Verdi blades (inner and outer versions) are beautifully designed in terms of aesthetics. Verdi due to its namesake has black and green-colored handle that has an elegant design with an equally comfortable and ergonomic handle. The bare blade itself is a work of art and very beautiful to look at. It is finely crafted that you will not find any unnecessary roughness in all of the blade parts. The handle I believe is not supposedly made smooth, in this case the Verdi Outer has only a semi-smooth finish, because semi-smooth texture of the handle greatly helps for better gripping.
The blade has the power and speed that offensive type players really need. The Verdi Outer is almost fairly thick at 6.1mm to 6.2mm average thickness (I consider blades to be truly thick at 6.5mm and above). I believe Sanwei has designed it to be not too thick as it will increase the weight greatly and also the other option is to use balsa as an inner core wood to make it lighter and faster but results to a thicker blade at 6.5mm and above. Balsa for me is insufficient for an inner core wood as it gives a somewhat hollow feeling and has reduced power and speed far from the table with regards to the polyball unless you use a very fast rubber. The Verdi Outer has a very sold and crip feel on every shot. This blade is mainly designed for power, speed and aggression. This is for players that would want an extra speed but would not want to settle with a pure carbon composite layer to maintain feel and control. The Verdi Outer reminds me of the Butterfly Marco Freitas but slightly faster and stiffer. The Verdi Outer is comparable to the speed of a Viscaria and sometimes I felt it is faster because of the stiffness. When I used the Sanwei Target National (STN) rubber on it, it was like using a boosted Chinese rubber on a stiff blade that is faster than normally what you would get when using tacky rubbers on a composite blade. The arc of the Verdi Outer is medium to low arc and when the STN rubber is glued on it you would expect a low and sharp arc for the ball trajectory. I can surely say this is a fast combination for a Chinese rubber and an arylate carbon blade racket. When you are already used to a Chinese rubber glued to a composite blade, you would always expect that this kind of setup is not that fast but the combo for the STN and Verdi Outer blade is already in the offensive side. To be fair, newer Chinese rubbers are faster nowadays compared to what we have about 5 years ago but the Sanwei Target National is one of the fastest rubbers in the market now among Chinese rubbers and has the lowest arc that I can find. With a Japan-made or German- made rubbers, using the Verdi Outer blade is an excellent
Sanwei Verdi Inner
Weight: 82 grams
Thickness: 5.9mm
Plies: 7 (Limba, Ayous, VerdiX Fiber, Kiri core)
Head size: 157mm x 150mm
Stiffness: Medium Stiff
Speed: Off to Off+
The Sanwei Verdi Inner is a high-quality blade that was designed for a balanced speed and control needs of player. This blade was designed for a more technical play and with more emphasis on controlled placements and accuracy. The Sanwei Verdi Inner is a finely crafted blade where the plies of each layer are finely cut and the texture is almost smooth. The handle design for the Verdi is slightly different compared to the other blades from Sanwei as the handle is slightly smooth but still offers grip for the hand. The handle shape has slightly rounded edges and is not the squarish design like the other Sanwei blades. The blade is very light. I have tested 3 Sanwei blades in a span of a few months and the weights are consistently light with weights of 82, 81 and 83 grams. The blade is fairly balanced even with 2 Sanwei Target National rubbers on both sides. The Verdi X fiber is Sanwei’s version of carbon arylate composite material that gives a balance of speed and control.
The Sanwei Verdi Inner is only mildly stiff. It has the stiffness to produce fast balls but there is some flex with the blade as it is easier to loop underspin balls. The Verdi Inner fells a bit wood on initial hitting but polyarylate carbon layer kicks in when you do topspin attacks or hard smashes. The feeling is a mix of some stiffness and flex everytime you do offensive shots. It is stiff enough for good speed but at the same time the flex is there ensuring that the ball has “dwell” when you need to brush the ball properly especially on heavy underspin balls. I do not rate it as a true off+ blade because I felt that the Verdi Inner at times is more of an Off-speed blade and that is the reason why I rated it Off to Off+ only. Do not get me wrong, the Verdi Inner is fast but the control is great that you would mistake it sometimes as a slower blade because of the high level of control and precision on your shots.
Why is this my favorite among the new Sanwei blades? I have always love Limba inner carbon ALC blades ever since though I would still consider myself a fanatic of 7 ply all wood blades. The Limba outer plies reinforced with the poly arylate 3rd and 5th layers are just perfect for hard rubbers that it creates a good balance of feeling when striking the ball. The ball feedback to the hand has minimized vibrations and pleasant feel is there enhancing your feel of the ball which in turn assists you better in controlling the ball. When using the blade with a new version Sanwei Target National rubber attached to it, it offsets the very low arc of the STN rubber to a slightly higher medium arc (STN rubbers are known to have one of the lowest arcs for rubbers in the market). People who have used the new version of the STN rubber know that it was designed for a very low and sharp arc resulting to a better speed even compared to a blue-sponged Hurricane 3. Some people may find it difficult at first but when I used it with the Verdi Inner, I seldom hit the net when doing loops. When I used it with an ESN rubber, the speed increase is much more evident but the control and ability to spin is still there. People who are into Japan-made and German-made rubbers can appreciate the blades speed and spin ratio. Overall, the Verdi Inner is a budget friendly, mid-range priced blade that is similar to a Butterfly Harimoto. This is good for conscious budget players that want to experience a blade similar to expensive blades. I own an Innerforce blade and have also tried and used Harimoto inner ALC blades multiple times, although they have differences, the Verdi Inner blade is one of the closest blade that you can find in the market at a much lower cost.
Sanwei Nova Carbon
Weight: 90 grams
Thickness: 6.2mm
Plies: 5 (Hinoki, Nova Carbon, Kiri core)
Head size: 157mm x 150mm
Stiffness: Medium Stiff
Speed: Off
The Sanwei Nova Carbon is an offensive carbon blade that is designed for aggressive type of gameplay while not sacrificing the control need for the accuracy of your shots. The Nova Carbon is finely constructed and reminds me of the Primorac Carbon blade but with thicker Hinoki outer plies. I think the Hinoki outer plies are about 1mm thick and it gives a somewhat woody feel. I used the Sanwei Gear Hyper Blue rubber, new Sanwei Target 3rd edition rubber and the new version of the Target National for the tests.
The Sanwei Nova Carbon was designed as an alternative for expensive Japanese Kiso-Hinoki blades. The Sanwei designer wanted a carbon-hinoki blade that is similar to the Primorac Carbon but with a thicker outer Hinoki wood-layers. The difference in speed is very obvious as the Nova Carbon has a speed rating of OFF and not as OFF+ blade. The speed of the Sanwei Nova Carbon is slower than that of the Primorac Carbon or Gergely Alpha blade but there is a somewhat mix softness upon ball contact, you can feel this easily every time you hit the ball. I like the woody feel of the Nova Carbon and it does not feel like a pure carbon blade sometimes. I still prefer the feel of an all-wood blade because the sensation gives you a sense of control when the ball contacts the rubber. I like it its speed because despite being a pure carbon blade, it is not too fast even for intermediate players. Good thing the blade has a fairly good balance of speed and control.
It excels especially in middle and far distance from the table. The loud, cracking sound every time you compress the sponge if you want to have stronger shots can be heard every time you do topspins far from the table. The spin generation is easy with the Nova Carbon as you do not feel that the ball easily leaves your blade surface when you are trying to compress the ball against the rubber for extra amount of spin and power.
I highly recommend this to players with specific styles of offensive plays. I can recommend this to players who emphasize more on smashing and doing flat drives. The Nova Carbon performs really well with flat-hitters as well as players who stay away from the table to do either counter topspins, lobs or fishing and even players who block a lot. The Sanwei Nova Carbon blocks like a wall. The speed of active blocks is good enough and very controllable even if you just do passive blocking against strong, spinny loops. I also find it excellent when being paired with the Sanwei DZ long pips or with a short pip in the backhand. Although this is an offensive carbon blade, pimpled rubbers would pair well with the Nova Carbon with having attacking LP or SP styles of plays.
Overall, this is a budget friendly Hinoki carbon blade that can perform well if a player is looking for a high-performance blade on a much affordable price. Surprisingly, I think the Nova Carbon blade is the most under rated blade between the 3 blades tested.
