Tibhar Alvaro Robles Estoque – A well-balanced, silky-smooth 5+2 outer composite blade.

Dear TT11 blog readers,

Here, I review the Tibhar Alvaro Robles Estoque, a blade that has been developed in collaboration with the 2024 European Mixed Doubles champion from Spain. According to Tibhar, the Estoque – which is named after the long and sharp sword used by bullfighters – is a 5+2 composite blade that offers a direct touch and exceptional energy. According to Tibhar, the blade is especially well-suited for mid-distance play and topspin-topspin rallies. Closer to the table, Tibhar claims the blade delivers excellent feedback and high control.  Tibhar rates the speed/control of the Estoque at 9/7, which is similar to the Tibhar Alexis Lebrun Krypto Carbon (ALKC), Tibhar Felix Lebrun Hyper Carbon (FLHC), and Samsonov Force Pro Black Edition blades at 9/7, 9-/8-, and 9-/7+, respectively. 

The Estoque arrives in Tibhar’s standard black cardboard box, which features Tibhar’s black-and-red logo and is otherwise devoid of text. The box is lightweight and offers excellent protection. The blade design is simple and clean. The FH side of the blade features a dime-sized photo of Robles against the Spanish flag, along with the blade name and Tibhar logo. The BH side is without text and graphical elements. The handle is dark grey with a Spanish flag that wraps around the right side of the handle. The FH side of the handle features a small, quadratic silver tag, which lists the blade name. There are no lenses or tags on the BH side of the handle. A standard, rectangular silver Tibhar tag is positioned on the handle butt. The playing surfaces are smooth, and the blade wings have been extensively sanded for an ultrasoft feeling. Unfortunately, I was unable to find reliable information about the ply composition. Judging by its straw-color and vertical wood grain, the outer ply is likely limba wood, which is followed by a carbon ply. The relatively thick intermediate ply (possibly limba) surrounds a medium-thick core (possibly ayous).    

The Estoque has an unusual shape, being relatively short, with wide wings (height x width x thickness: 154 mm x 150.5 mm x 6.2 mm). The FL handle has the following dimensions (length x width x height): 100.7 mm, 25.4-34.1 mm, and 23.2-23.4 mm. My Alvaro weighed 87 grams. Bouncing a ball on the naked blade produced a resonance frequency of ~1547 Hz as compared to 1570 Hz and 1406 Hz for the Tibhar Alexis Lebrun Krypto Carbon (ALKC) and Tibhar Felix Lebrun Hyper Carbon (FLHC) blades, respectively. This frequency suggests that the Estoque is a stiff and/or relatively fast blade in the OFF to OFF+ range.

Testing Procedure

I evaluated the Estoque using well-used sheets of DHS Hurricane 3 (H3, black, 2.15 mm, 40 degrees) and Yasaka AntiPower (YAP, red, 1.5 mm) antispin as my FH and BH rubbers, respectively. I attached the rubbers using one layer of the Revolution 3 normal viscosity glue on both the rubber and the blade. I tested the setup over four sessions, playing a mix of regular and match-like drills against my regular high-level practice partner (a two-winged looper), using Neottec Neoplast Pro 40+ training balls throughout this test.

Playing Impressions Estoque

Initial Impressions

The Estoque felt nimble and very well-balanced in my hand, with no pronounced head- or handle-heaviness. The Estoque’s handle is comfortable and slim enough to enable a relaxed grip. 

Driving

The Estoque produces a pleasantly soft and slightly muted feeling on FH warm-up drives. In fact, the feeling is so soft and woody that I honestly would have been hard-pressed to identify the Estoque as an outer ply composite blade in a blind test. The Estoque is moderately fast (OFF-range), with linear rebound characteristics. In other words, the blade does not have a strong catapult effect. My FH drives cleared the net easily, and together, these characteristics meant that I enjoyed outstanding consistency. Similarly, I enjoyed excellent consistency on my BH antispin drives, which managed to clear the net, yet dip before the end of the table. 

Looping

FH looping with the Estoque/H3 combination is very pleasant and produces a soft feeling, although a very slight stiffness can be felt. The blade’s dwell time is medium to medium-long, which enabled me to generate enough arc and spin on my FH loops for them to easily clear the net. Accordingly, I enjoyed excellent consistency on my warm-up FH loops. Similarly, a very high percentage of my third-ball attacks against long pushes landed on the table. While the Estoque doesn’t have the brute force to win points just on speed, it does offer excellent control, which allows me to place the shots in difficult-to-reach places.   

The Estoque is sufficiently fast and high-throwing enough to allow controlled FH loop-to-loop rallies far from the table. The relatively high arc that the blade produces ensures sufficient clearance over the net, while the blade’s moderate speed prevents the shots from sailing long. For sure, other blades are faster and result in more dangerous FH loops from distance, but this is often at the price of significantly lower consistency. 

The Estoque also works very well for BH antispin openers against long pushes. Once again, the blade’s controlled pace, linear nature, and overall good feeling allowed me to execute BH hits with excellent consistency.   

Blocking

FH blocking with the Estoque is delightful as it offers heaps of control. Its slightly stiff and well-mannered nature means that it absorbs incoming topspins very well. This, coupled with the soft feeling that is produced, provides excellent control over ball placement. Traditional FH blocks are not supremely fast, but can be placed in hard-to-reach shots with very high consistency. 

The blade’s docile nature also allowed for the execution of over-the-table counterloops with good consistency. All that is needed is a slight flick of the wrist. 

At the risk of repeating myself, BH blocking with the antispin rubber was equally consistent. The dwell time is long enough to produce an arc on the ball that floats it over the net, while the moderate speed of the blade prevents the ball from going long.

Smashing

The Estoque’s subtle stiffness – presumably stemming from the outer ply composite ply – coupled with its off-speed level, allows you to smash and finish points with authority. No, it is not the fastest blade in the world, but it is plenty fast enough to win you points outright. 

Flicking

I found the Estoque to work very well for FH and BH flicks. The blade has sufficient dwell time to enable consistent mini-loop style FH flicks that arc over the net, yet it is stiff enough to also allow for consistent - albeit not ultrafast – pancake-type flicks. Even BH antispin pancake-type “flicks” are easy to execute, provided the ball is hit in its high point. 

Pushing

The extended dwell time of the Estoque blade allows for good contact when pushing against backspin serves. The pushes were long and quite spinny, rendering it challenging for my practice partner to generate effective topspins. The linear nature of the Estoque allowed me to place the ball in the intended location with high consistency. 

Short pushes are a breeze to execute with the Estoque. The shots stay short and low, making them difficult to attack. Touch and drop shots are also easy to execute. 

Conclusion

The Tibhar Alvaro Robles Estoque is a very well-balanced and moderately fast composite blade that offers excellent control on all shot types. It is a blade that caters to spin-offensive players of all skill levels. Its characteristics remind me strongly of the Nittaku Hina Hayata H2 and Xiom Hugo Calderano Hyper Axylium blades that I recently reviewed, and these blades rank among my top 5 favourite composite blades. Remarkably, the Estoque worked beautifully with my BH antispin rubber, which speaks to the blade’s high level of control. 

About the Reviewer

Patrick 'Pong Professor' Hrdlicka is a table tennis enthusiast with a Ph.D. in chemistry who combines his analytical and experimental skills with his love of table tennis in order to test and review a wide range of table tennis equipment.