Donic Anders Lind Hexa Carbon vs. Donic Zhang Jike Original Carbon blades 

As a fellow Danish lefty, I have been following Anders Lind’s career for some time now. Lind, who reached the quarterfinals at the World Championships in 2023, is known for his highly creative shots, which require a setup that offers a lot of feeling. Accordingly, I was pleased to have the opportunity to try his eponymous blade, the Donic Anders Lind Hexa Carbon (ALHC). I will be comparing the blade to the recently released Donic Zhang Jike Original Carbon (ZJOC), named after the Chinese GOAT contender and Grand Slam winner (World Championships, World Cup, Olympics), who has partnered with Donic.

Both blades have 5+2 ply composite constructions, but they differ in the placement of the composite weave. The ALHC has an inner-ply structure, while the ZJOC has an outer-ply design.

Donic describes the ALHC as a blade with penetrating power that is easy to control, allowing for sensitive shots. Accordingly, it is geared towards offensive players with a good feel in their hands. The ALHC has a kiri core that is surrounded by a Hexamid Carbon weave, an intermediate ply of limba, and a koto outer ply.

According to Donic, the ZJOC has the same ply composition as Zhang Jike’s blade during his active career: a core of light kiri wood, surrounded by ayous plies, Cured Aramid Carbon (a new composite material), and a hard African koto outer ply. Donic describes the ZJOC as dynamic, powerful, and with a sensitive touch, while providing great feedback. It is geared towards highly aggressive players with powerful shots who still expect good control.

Donic rates the ALHC and ZJOC with speed/control values of 9+/8 and 10/8-, respectively. This compares to ratings of 10-/8 for the Donic Original True Carbon Inner and 10/7+ for the Donic Original True Carbon blades.  

Both blades arrive in Donic’s black-and-white standard cardboard box, which offers excellent protection during shipping. The back of the box lists generic descriptions of Donic’s blade production process.

The playing surface of the ALHC is relatively dark for a koto outer ply (dark straw color) but has a slight, characteristic fish-scale shimmer. The FH side features quite a bit of text, including the blade name, logos, and technical descriptions, while the BH side is devoid of text. The handle resembles the Danish flag, with a white cross on a red background. The FH side of the handle features an oval plastic lens listing the blade name in red and white font against a black background, while the BH side has no lens. The handle butt features a standard white Donic tag.

The playing surface of the ZJOC is significantly lighter in color and has less shimmer. The FH side lists the blade name, technical outlines, and a “ZJ” logo. The handle is mostly dark grey with a red “Z” design element. The FH side has an oval plastic lens with the blade name in dark red font against a black background, while the BH side has a circular lens with the ZJ logo. A white Donic tag is placed on the handle butt.

Both blades share the same playing surface dimensions (height x width x thickness): 157 mm x 150 mm x 5.8 mm. The FL handles have the following dimensions (length x width x height): 100.2 mm x 26.2-32.4 mm x 22.3-24.4 mm and 99.8 mm x 26.7-32.2 mm x 22.5-24.8 mm for the ALHC and ZJOC, respectively. 

The ALHC and ZJOC weighed 87 and 89 grams. Both produced resonance frequencies of ~1510 Hz when bouncing a ball on the naked blades, indicating that they are rather stiff and fast. The build quality of both blades is very good, with smooth edges and playing surfaces, though the wings are not sanded. The wings of both blades are somewhat narrow compared to other blades, which encourages a looser grip. 

Testing protocol

I evaluated the blades using well-used sheets of DHS Hurricane 3 (H3 Provincial, black, 2.15 mm, 40° orange sponge) on the FH and Yasaka Anti Power (YAP, red, 1.5 mm) on the BH. I attached the rubbers using one layer of Revolution 3 normal viscosity glue on both the rubber and the blade. Testing was conducted over several sessions with my regular high-level practice partner (a two-winged looper), using Neottec Neoplast Pro 40+ training balls for most of the test and DHS DJ40+ and RS40+ balls during one session.

Playing characteristics Anders Lind Hexa Carbon. 

Driving

On FH warm-up drives, it quickly became apparent that the ALHC is surprisingly slow (mid OFF-) and rather stiff. It produces a slight cracking sensation on impact while sending only muted vibrations into the hand. Together, these qualities result in a uniquely solid feel that is closer to a 7-ply all-wood blade than a composite blade. FH drives had rather flat, yet short, trajectories that still cleared the net, resulting in excellent consistency. BH drives with the YAP were equally flat and as controlled as can be expected for an antispin rubber.      

Looping

The ALHC facilitates reliable FH warm-up loops, though they are neither super-fast nor super-spinny. Trajectories were flat but still safe. I had excellent control of down-the-line and around-the-net FH loops. Its moderate speed encouraged me to swing harder with confidence, though I couldn’t overpower my partner with spin or pace. Instead, precise placement won me many points on my 3rd ball attacks. Intriguingly, the ALHC excelled in FH loop-to-loop rallies, where I could swing very hard yet still land shots consistently — almost as if the blade held the ball slightly longer despite its stiffness. This characteristic reminded me of the Stiga Rosewood NCT VII, one of my all-time favorites.

BH openers against long pushes with the YAP/ALHC combination worked very well, thanks to the blade’s linear and relatively stiff nature. 

Flicking

I struggled somewhat on FH flicks with the ALHC, as the feedback wasn’t as crisp as I prefer. Still, I could land well-placed down-the-line flicks consistently. BH flicks with the soft YAP antispin rubber were crisper and worked great, with the ALHC’s moderate speed keeping them on the table.

Blocking

The ALHC has an absorbing quality that, combined with stiffness, makes it excellent for blocking. Incoming energy from high-quality loops was neutralized and redirected with precision. My FH blocks landed consistently and, though not lightning fast, were often fast enough to win points outright. My antispin BH blocks were also reliable, provided I used an active stroke, as this helped produce a dipping trajectory.

Smashing and flat hitting: The stiff nature of the ALHC lends itself well to smashing and flat hitting, with enough power to finish points. However, your smashes won’t be lightning fast.  

Pushing

The ALHC’s moderate speed and slight holding quality allowed me to produce high-quality long FH pushes that landed near the end line, with spin levels high enough to trouble my partner. The linear and relatively stiff nature of the ALHC also helped me keep short pushes low and short. I was also able to brush backspin serves more aggressively than with other blades and keep the pushes short.

Since temporarily switching to antispin BH rubbers, I have practiced chopping from afar. The ALHC’s stiff nature made this more challenging, but I could still produce flat chops with decent consistency.  

Serves. The stiffer character of the ALHC impacted the level of spin that I was able to put on my serve. Spin levels were average.  

Conclusion

The Donic Anders Lind Hexa Carbon is a very interesting blade: relatively stiff but only moderately fast. Combined with a hard rubber like Hurricane 3, it enables a controlled offensive game, excellent blocking, and good touch in the short game. Paired with a bouncier rubber, its offensive potential would expand, suiting a style like Anders Lind’s.

 

Playing characteristics Donic Zhang Jike Original Carbon. 

Driving

The ZJOC is noticeably faster than the ALHC. I would rate it as a mid-to-high OFF blade with similar stiffness but a stronger recoil effect. FH drives had long, flat trajectories that landed deep, close to the end line. Like the ALHC, it produces a slight cracking sensation, but it feels more metallic. Vibrations were minimal (and almost hinoki-like), so feedback was limited. BH drives with the antispin rubber also traveled longer and were less disruptive than with the ALHC.

Looping

Akin to my observations with FH drives, my FH warm-up loops had long trajectories. However, a greater-than-usual proportion of my FH loops flew past the end-line due to the pronounced catapult effect that activates with greater force. This undermined my confidence and made me shorten my swings. Dwell time was shorter than on the ALHC, resulting in less spin. On 3rd ball FH attacks, stronger swings often sent the ball long, while softer swings lacked penetration. After experimentation, I determined that full commitment was the way to go.

The ZJOC had plenty of speed for FH loop-to-loop rallies, where I could use more compact strokes. In fact, the blade has so much power that a flick of the wrist was enough to land the shot.

Diagonal BH openers with the YAP/ZJOC combination worked well, but down-the-line openers initially overshot the table until I made my stroke more compact, using more wrist than arm and hip rotation. 

Flicking

Like the ALHC, the ZJOC did not provide me crisp feedback on FH flicks. Its higher speed and stiffness suited pancake-style flicks, while mini-loop flicks required caution to prevent the shot from overshooting. Still, most flicks landed deep. BH flicks with YAP were reliable, deep, and dangerous.

Blocking

The ZJOC redirected incoming power very directly, producing fast, dangerous FH blocks. However, it lacks the ALHC’s energy-absorbing quality, making control trickier – the hard koto surface ply and the underlying Cured Aramid Carbon contribute to this. I often had to hold back to keep blocks on the table. Antispin BH blocks were faster than with the ALHC but less deceptive and consistent.

Smashing and flat hitting: Unsurprisingly, given its fast, stiff, and rather bouncy characteristics, the ZJOC excels on smashes and flat hits. The resulting shots are fast and very difficult to return. 

Pushing

Surprisingly, considering its speed, the H3/ZJOC combination works quite well on long FH pushes. Although less spinny, their fast, flat trajectory rendered it challenging for my practice partner to attack these shots effectively.   

Short FH pushes could be kept reasonably tight, as the catapult effect isn’t triggered on low-energy shots. 

BH chopping with the antispin rubber was challenging due to the blade’s speed and stiffness. Shots easily went long unless I maintained a perfect angle.

Serves. The ZJOC seemed to produce similar levels of spin as the ALHC on serves. The stiff and fast nature of the ZJOC requires excellent brushing technique to impart high levels of spin.  

Conclusion

The Donic Zhang Jike Original Carbon is a beast of a blade: seriously fast, stiff, and with a catapult effect when swung harder. It is not for beginners or intermediate-level players but for advanced players with powerful technique and footwork. It encourages an aggressive style built around loop-driving, counterlooping, and flicking, while still supporting a passable short game — very much in line with Zhang Jike’s style.

Final thoughts

While both Donic blades are quite stiff, they differ quite noticeably. The ALHC is better suited for players who rely on feel and control, whereas the ZJOC is a true power blade for uncompromising attackers. 

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.