Have you heard of a blade called Ovtcharov innerforce alc? Do you know who is Ovtcharov?
Dimitri Ovtcharov, born in 1988, is a German table tennis player, and a Soviet Ukrainian immigrant. His father was a former Soviet national player who won the Soviet championship and moved to Germany after Ovtcharov’s birth.
Later Ovtcharov joined the German team.
With the aging of Timo Boll, Ovtcharov has taken over the role of Boll and has become one of Europe’s most powerful and promising players.
Ovtcharov is a bronze medallist in the men’s singles at the London 2012 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and has dominated almost all European singles tournaments since 2014.
He has defeated top players such as Zhang Jike, Yan An, and Wang Hao and is one of the top players in the world at the moment. Many fans must be wondering what kind of racket he uses, as the best player in Europe.
Not long ago, Ovtcharov and Butterfly Company cooperated to launch a brand new blade, the Butterfly Dimitri Ovtcharov Innerforce ALC blade.
Overview of Dimitri Ovtcharov Innerforce ALC
According to the official promotion of Butterfly Company, this blade is thicker and wider than other INNERFORCE LAYER ALC blades.
Ovtcharov ALC is a powerful blade in the INNERFORCE LAYER ALC style with a strong bounce and a powerful stroke.
The blue color of the ALC and the gold symbol of victory are combined with the black handle for elegance and power.
The structure of Ovtcharov AlC is 5 layers of wood + 2 layers of inner-placed fiber. It has the same structure as Harimoto ALC, but with a thicker core inside.
Features of Ovtcharov Innerforce ALC
Speed 4.6/5
The Ovtcharov ALC is easier to penetrate than the Harimoto ALC and Dragon 5 at low forces. At medium and high forces, thanks to the ALC fiber and the thicker core, the Ovtchalov ALC makes it have a faster initial speed than the Harimoto ALC, despite the fact that the blades have very similar structures.
Amateurs can have the feeling that the blade is helping them to generate more power. So in the games, players can feel extremely violent and explosive when hitting the ball, just like the playstyle of Ovtcharrov himself.
Spin 3.8/5
The Ovtcharov ALC can hold the ball perfectly. But in comparison with the Long V, it lacks a little bit top power so the spin is not as strong as Long V or W968. However, the flared handle makes European players feel more comfortable and it’s neither too hard nor too soft.
Control 4.0/5
The Ovtcharov ALC performs almost perfectly when it comes to control with very precise placement of the ball. This is the biggest advantage of this blade.
In short games, the advantages of the inner force blade are evident as every ball is controlled to the extent that the user expects.
The excellent control allows the user to play with peace of mind with every stroke in attack or in defense. It should be noticed that even though this blade is quite “violent” with extremely high speed, it is still easy to control and players feel soft when pushing or serving.
Defense 3.2/5
The excellent control also contributes to the fabulous defensive performance of the Ovtcharov ALC. When faced with powerful strokes, it can defend the ball back easily, as long as you adjust to the correct angle and rack it there, the ball seems to be automatically blocked back.
After blocking, the counter-attacking is also the strength of this blade as it is good at topspin and open-ups.
Weight 3.7/5
The weight of this blade comes to 96 grams, which is relatively heavy as flared handle adds more weight. But the advantage of this blade is its great balance.
What’s more, when we enter the time of 40+ balls, the ball itself is relatively heavy and the weight of the blade helps us to be more aggressive.
Maybe the only bad thing is that if you lack sufficient physical strength, you may feel tired in some long games or games with lots of strokes. So it’s better to end the match in the first three strokes.
Recommended matches:
1)Professional version:
In order to compensate for the weakness of Ovtcharov’s blade in the middle court or back court, it’s better to match some relatively hard rubbers, allowing players to kill the opponent in any zone.
Forehand: Butterfly D05, JOOLA Dynaryz AGR, DHS Hurricane 40 degree
Backhand: Butterfly T64, JOOLA Dynaryz ACC
2)Ordinary version:
This is version is suitable for the majority of amateurs, combining the excellent control ability of the blade and ignoring the attacking ability in the middle or back court. This means we focus more on the control and attack in short court.
Forehand: Butterfly T05, Tibhar Evolution EL-P
Backhand: Butterfly T64fx, JOOLA Dynaryz ACC, Tibhar Evolution FX-P
Who it’s for Ovtcharov innerforce Alc
The Ovtcharov ALC is suitable for those who are looking for a better attacking feel and stable control in short or middle court.
It is suitable for amateur or intermediate players because the inner-fiber blade needs a certain level of control, but it is not suitable for beginners.
If you occasionally retreat to the middle court or back court, this blade can also provide support, but if you expect to end the match in back court with aggressive loop drives, then this blade may not be very suitable for you.
Summary:
The Ovtcharov ALC is a well-balanced blade that dominates in the short court. However, compared to the current series of Butterfly’s ALC such as Lin Gaoyuan ALC, CNF, and Super Lin Yun’ru, Ovtcharov ALC has a little larger attacking range.
With good speed, great control, and excellent defensive ability, it performances greatly in this zone. Among those innerforce blades, Ovtcharov ALC has violent attacking and well-balanced control and has a clearer feeling of “penetrating”.
However, the Ovtcharov ALC’s attacking range is closer to the table than other innerforce blades such as the Long V, and Super Harimoto ALC, which are limited by their top power. That means, that once you play far away from the table, it may fail to give you sufficient support in power or speed.
Generally speaking, the top power of these series can be ranked in this way: Super Harimoto ALC > Long V > Ovtcharov ALC >= Harimoto ALC.
If you feel that the Super Harimoto ZLC is a luxury, but want to gain a similar experience, then Ovtcharov ALC is worth a try and costs just over 180 dollars according to Amazon. This price can be accepted by the majority of players.
