Butterfly Mazunov alternative

[scaredy bat]

What would be a bat that has the same feel and speed as the butterfly mazunov?

[pingpongrob]

I took my Son to Comp on Wednesday, and in my spare time I had a hit with a BTY Mazunov. Not to let you know, many many years ago the mazanov was my primary blade (how we change). My team mate uses this and had Andro Plasma 470 max & Yasaka Pryde Max on this blade, so I borrowed it to have a hit. It felt terrible, wrong choice of rubbers on that blade.

I have been thinking about the alternative to this blade and the only one that comes to mind is the andro JM Saive kinetic Offensive. Hard Stiff wood. (I didnt like this blade either with Plasma 470). I used it at the 2007 Veterans National event in Tasmania. I'm sure there are more - especially in the Yinhe Range.

I will investigate this further.

[RebornTTEvnglist]

Can't say I have heard any of the YinHe blades playing like the mazunov. The K5 is supposedly a lot like the Maze. The T2 is vaguely similar to the Gergely. And there are others similar to dearer blades, although I haven't found the YinHe blades to have as good feel with perhaps the exception of the W6, which is supposed to be similar to Yasaka Extra. I haven't played with a YE, but the W6 has a nice feel.

[pingpongrob]

The T2 is vaguely similar to the Gergely.

This is what you read on the Internet, but infact the DL-1 from Yinhe is the Closest to Specs and quality to the Butterfly Gergely.

[Peter C]

The Mazunov is a heavy blade, weighing 100 and 102 grams in the case of the two I have. It has a chunkier feel than to most blades i've tried. Due to it's weight, it does reduce the choice of rubbers available to pair it with; compared to say a 90 gram or 80 gram blade, paticularly if you don't like a set up over 180-185 grams.

Although their construction is different, one blade that does remind me of the Mazunov, in various ways is the Clipper Wood, which is a 7 ply with softer outer plies. Both blades have a chunky feel, a rebound that makes blocking easier than a less rigid blade and provides a stable platform for smashing. They are the same 6.8mm thickness and I'd say both are better suited to players who prefer to play 3 feet or more off the table.

Like Rob I found Max Plasma 470 a poor match for the blade, as it was too fast and hard a sponge for the blade. In my experience Plasma 470 works much better on thinner blades around 6mm thick, like Michael Maze and Galaxy M6.

I liked rubbers like 2mm Xtend, 2.1mm Red Bryce and 2.1m Sriver G2FX on the Mazunov. Even though it's not something you would associate with a hard blade like the Mazunov, I was surprised at how good it was for defending with, 8-10 feet off the table. A friend in Yorkshire has mentioned that a good player in his area uses Donic F3 big slam on his Mazunov to great effect.

The Mazunov is a good blade, but you have to make sure you match it with the right rubbers to get the best out of it and it requires good short game skills to control it in that part of the game.

Due to it's softer outer plies and lower weight blades being available, I think the Clipper Wood plays a better short game and is the more versatile choice of the two.

[Peter C]

Scaredy Bat

Have you found or tried any alternatives to the Mazunov?

[metal monkey]

Mazunov is quite cheap and usually retails for $50AUD

[supachop]

Mazunov is quite cheap and usually retails for $50AUD

Bty Aust retail is $65.

[Peter C]

Hello Metal Monkey

Welcome to the forum.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was your old Mazunov that i bought via LawOCG? It's a blade that got a lot of playing time last year and I was using it with 2.1mm Bryce and 2.1mm Sriver G2FX.

Over the weekend I got to play against someone who was using a straight handled Mazunov, with Sriver L forehand and Tackiness C backhand. I was impressed by the quality of his forehand looping and it's consistency. As a leftie I was either backhand looping or blocking. I found the best way to block, was to step in and block right off the bounce, with the block angled to his backhand.

[metal monkey]

I think the Mazunov would suit the much bigger built guys, I can't remember what my old one weighed but the estimated 100gm mark sounds about right. For guys like me(skinney guys) we really do struggle with the heavy blades as it's totally slows down our recovery time. I'm glad you liked it though :)
Actually I prefer the faster and stiffer firehand to the mazunov, but it does has less feel on the blade due to the supercore handle.

I really like your your mini review on the blade.

$65AUD for the blade in bty aus still sounds really good priced... as I think a clipper CR is roughly the same price.

[Peter C]

Your old Mazunov is 102 grams. At present, it doesn't have any rubber on it; but that is about to change.

I got to play with Richard's Mazunov, with 2.1mm Sriver l and 1.9mm Tackiness Chop, yesterday and it reminded me of why I liked playing with your old blade last year. As such I'm going to get some rubbers to put on it.

p.s. Richard, like you, comes from the Philippines. He's a good player with sound technique and footwork.