Butterfly Outerforce ZLC Table Tennis Blade
It is a high-performance offensive shakehand table tennis blade designed for players who want a combination of powerful attacking performance, stability, and a solid feel on impact. It uses Butterfly’s ZL-Carbon (ZLC) technology in an outer-fiber construction, placing the ZLC layers closer to the outer plies for a more direct response and strong ball rebound. Butterfly describes the Outerforce ZLC as capable of producing powerful shots from mid-distance while maintaining stability.
Key Features
- Brand: Butterfly
- Model: Outerforce ZLC
- Playing Style: Offensive
- Construction: 5-ply wood + 2 ZL-Carbon layers
- Fiber Position: Outerfiber
- Head Size: 157 × 150 mm
- Blade Thickness: 5.9 mm
- Average Weight: approximately 85 g
- Made in: Japan
- Handle: Flared (FL) in the blade shown
- Reaction Property: 11.3
- Vibration Property: 11.1
Performance & Playing Characteristics
The ZL-Carbon construction is intended to provide a strong combination of speed, stability, and responsiveness. Because the carbon is positioned as an outer layer, the blade responds quickly when the ball is struck, making it well suited to aggressive attacking strokes.
The relatively thin 5.9 mm construction helps retain a refined and controlled feel while the ZLC layers provide additional power and stability. Butterfly's specifications rate the blade at 11.3 for reaction and 11.1 for vibration; Butterfly explains that reaction represents the blade's base speed, while vibration relates to the feeling produced at impact.
The blade is particularly suitable for looping, counter-looping, powerful drives and attacking play from close to mid-distance. Its stability can also be useful when playing against fast incoming balls or producing powerful counter-attacks from farther away from the table.
