I have been playing tabletennis for a year now and recently started playing league matches. I made a mistake by buying an expensive fast blade. Too fast and bouncy for me, I hit too many balls past the table. So I went looking for an affordable slower bat, for more control and ease. I stumbled upon this one. This bat is definitely on the slow side, much less bouncy due to the thick slow sponge. That means more control. Spin is good. Blocking is excellent, the ball stays on the table, which is the trick on amateur level, you have to keep the ball on the table. You can even smash back on a fast ball! I bought this bat on a discount, so good value for money. Conclusion: great stuff for an intermediate player playing lower league matches.