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Review: Nittaku Factive 7 and Septear Lead

06 August 2020  | Posted in: Table Tennis Reviews

Nittaku Factive 7 and Nittaku Septear Lead 

     As a 7-ply all-wood enthusiast, I was excited to try out Nittaku’s new offering in this segment, i.e., the Factive 7 (F7) and to evaluate it side-by-side with the Nittaku Septear Lead (SL), which was released roughly two years ago. However, unlike most other blades that I review, the F7 and SL are in the lower end of the speed range.  

     The Factive 7 (F7) is made in China and described as being mid-fast with a hard feeling. The Septear Lead (SL), on the other hand, is heralded as an easy-to-use, made in Japan blade that is mid-slow, with a soft feeling thanks to the Kiso Hinoki outer plies. Common to both blades is that they cater to players who are aiming to grow and develop ball feeling. Both blades come in Nittaku’s standard box, which is silver and blue, with key blade characteristics listed on the front. 

     The Factive 7 is an attractive-looking blade with a gunmetal-grey colored playing surface that features descriptive purple text on the FH side. The BH side lacks text. The mostly purple-on-black handle has a thin vertical silver line. A black wood edge guard is asserted to protect the plies from splitting if you accidentally clip the table edge. The FH side features a black-on-grey plastic rectangular lens, while a silver tag adorns the bottom of the handle. The three central plies are of roughly similar thickness and are surrounded by a thinner penultimate ply, and a very thin dyed outer ply. Unfortunately, I could not find any information about the wood types used to construct the blade. The edge of the blade is rough and sharp to the touch and the wings also have not been sanded. However, the blade seems well-made with no imperfections. The handle is smooth but seems a little short.   

     The Septear Lead has a beautiful straw-colored playing surface, with light pinkish/brown straight grain. While the scent isn’t as intense as for the Darker 7P-2A.7t - another Kiso Hinoki blade that I recently tested – the SL has an unmistakable cypress aroma. There is descriptive text on the FH side of the playing surface, while the BH side is devoid of text. The salmon-red on a dark-brown handle has two thin vertical white stripes and features a black metal lens on the FH side and a golden Nittaku tag on the bottom. Just like the F7, the SL has three central plies of similar thickness, followed by a thin penultimate ply, and a thin Kiso Hinoki outer ply. The blade is well-crafted, with soft edges and sanded wings. Only the bottom of the handle is slightly sharp. 

     The playing surfaces have the following dimensions (height x width): 157 mm x 150 mm (F7) and 157 mm x 151 mm (SL), with thicknesses of 6.2 mm (F7) and 5.9 mm (SL). The FL handles have the following dimensions (length x width x thickness): 100.8 mm x 25-33 mm x 22.7 mm (F7) and 100.8 mm x 26.3-33.6 mm x 22.9 mm (SL). The blades weigh 87 g (F7) and 79 g (SL). Bouncing a ball on the naked blades produced resonance frequencies of 1313 Hz (F7) and 1184 Hz (SL), as compared to Andro Gauzy BL (1230 Hz), Stiga Rosewood NCT VII (1248 Hz) and the Tibhar Samsonov Force Pro Black Edition (~1380 Hz).

Testing procedure:

     I tested the F7 and SL using gently used sheets of DHS Hurricane 3 (H3, black, 2.15 mm, 40-degree orange sponge, provincial version) and Spinlord Waran 2 (W2, red, 2.0 mm) in my FH and BH, respectively. I evaluated these set-ups alongside my regular blade, i.e., OFF-rated 7-ply Tibhar Samsonov Force Pro Black Edition (SAM). Rubbers were attached using Revolution 3 medium viscosity glue. The test set-up weighed 177 g (F7), 168 g (SL), and 176 g (SAM). I tested the blades during the COVID-19 crisis, playing at home on my Newgy 2050 robot, playing a variety of multiball-like drills (e.g., FH/BH drives, FH/BH blocking against heavy topspin, FH/BH loop against long backspin, FH/BH flicks against short backspin or topspin, FH/BH smashes) and regular/irregular footwork drills, using a mix of mostly DHS D40+ and Nittaku J-Top training balls. While robot practice provides a more controlled testing environment than playing against real opponents, it has inherent limitations. For example, it is challenging to accurately assess the amount of spin that is generated on shots without the ability to see how opponents react to the incoming spin. Instead, I had to infer the amount of spin by noticing how the ball bounces, so please bear this in mind.

 

Playing impressions Factive 7:

Initial feeling:

      Although the Factive 7 set-up weighs one gram more than the equivalent Samsonov Force Pro set-up, it feels lighter and is nicely balanced, with the center of gravity tilted towards the head. This, along with its slender FL grip and narrow neck, gives it a nimble feeling. Players will very large hands may find the grip too slim, but I wasn’t bothered by it and my 12-yr old son enjoyed the handle and balance.   


Driving: 

     The feeling upon striking the ball when playing FH drives is medium sharp but less stiff compared to the SAM, consistent with F7’s thinner nature. The player is given a good amount of feedback, which facilitates the correction of improper technique (my son also found this feature to be useful). The blade is a notch slower than the SAM, placing it in the mid OFF- range. My FH/BH drives had medium-long and medium-high trajectories and were very consistent. The F7’s balance works well to give these shots extra momentum. The blade’s nimble feeling rendered FH-BH transitions easy to execute during random FH/BH drive drills. 

Looping:

 FH loops against backspin result in medium to medium-high trajectories with plenty of clearance over the net and decent spin production due to average dwell time. Considerably more effort is required to produce fast shots given the blade’s OFF- speed. This suggests to me that the F7 is better suited closer to the table than from mid- or long-distance. The blade produces a reasonably crisp, yet soft feeling that gives the player good feedback. BH hits through backspin with the W2 short pips have more clearance over the net than with the SAM but are slightly slower. The feeling on these shots is a little less crisp and cracking than with the SAM and thus not quite as fun, but the consistency is as good.   

Blocking: 

     The F7 offers a crisp feeling on FH blocks, although it feels thinner (less blocky) than the SAM. Accordingly, FH blocks feel bouncier than with the SAM but remain easily controllable, due to the blade’s OFF- level speed and medium trajectory. I enjoyed excellent stability, even when FH blocking very powerful loops. The thinner, less absorbing nature of the F7 blade became more apparent when BH blocking with the comparatively softer W2 short pips, resulting in slightly lower consistency than with the SAM. 

Smashing: 

     The blade’s head-tilted balance and inherent speed give it enough power to outright finish points. The feeling is quite crisp, giving enough confidence to fully engage in these shots. 

Flicking: 

     The crisp, thin, and medium-stiff nature of the F7, coupled with its head-tilted balance point and OFF- speed, lends itself well for FH and BH flicks. I enjoyed outstanding consistency on these shots, which were slightly slower and with shorter trajectories than with the SAM. I liked having the ability to add more power to the shots and having to worry less if the shots would careen off the table. Flicks against backspin had a higher trajectory and thus more clearance over the net than with the SAM. Short BH push: the feeling     

Pushing and touch shots: 

     Long FH pushes with F7 benefit from a crisp contact that encourages aggressive spinning through the ball, resulting in deep, dangerous shots. The feeling on long BH pushes is more subdued and the F7’s head-tilted balance point results in surprising forward momentum. Accordingly, a more careful slicing motion is needed to maintain good consistency. The F7 offers an excellent feeling on short pushes – especially in combination with Hurricane 3 – and this coupled with the moderate speed, results in excellent control on these shots although they do pop up a little bit. 

Serving: 

     The F7’s nimbleness is a benefit when serving as this allows you to easily and fully engage your wrist. The head-heavy nature of the F7 required a little bit of getting used to when doing short pendulum backspin serves as they initially had a tendency of going long. Once I made the necessary adjustments (i.e., more careful brushing), I was able to impart similar spin levels as with the SAM. The F7 worked great on long topspin-sidespin serves as its moderate speed allowed me to add more power. This, combined with full wrist engagement, resulted in viciously spinny serves.  

Conclusion: 

     Nittaku specifically recommends the Factive 7 blade for players aiming to grow and develop feeling for the ball. I certainly agree that the Factive 7 is well-suited for intermediate level players and kids. My son certainly enjoyed this blade (and preferred it over the SL or SAM) due to its crisp feeling and excellent control. Frankly, I think advanced two-winged loopers also could benefit from the F7 (see discussion at the very end of this article), especially if combined with faster and bouncier rubbers as this would extend to blade distance range. The F7 might be a little less suited for short pips – especially blocking – than thicker or more energy-absorbing 7-ply blades. Overall, an excellent value blade,    

 

Playing impressions Septear Lead.

Initial feeling: 

     As expected, considering the set-up’s low weight (168 g), the SL feels very nimble, well-balanced, and is easy on the wrists.   

 

Driving:

The response upon hitting the ball when playing FH drives is soft and is accompanied by deep reverberating vibrations. In fact, the SL produces a hollow feeling almost like basswood-based blades. The blade is quite slow (ALL+) resulting in shorter trajectories than with the SAM. However, the control on FH and BH drives is outstanding, in part due to the above-average throw angle. I found it very easy to transition between FH and BH during random FH/BH drive drills. 

Looping:

     FH loops against backspin result in medium-high trajectories (SL>F7>SAM) that offer lots and lots of clearance over the net and, hence, control. The SL provides an embracing feeling, longer dwell times, and greater spin production than the F7 or SAM. FH loops were faster and deeper than I expected, in part because the blade has a slight catapult effect (low-end OFF- level). I enjoyed outstanding control over BH hits through backspin with the W2 short pips, again, in part, because the trajectory is slightly higher than with other blades and since the SL’s moderate speed reduces the risk of overshooting the table. The blade’s deep vibrations and the clearly felt ball impact instill confidence in these shots.      

Blocking: 

     Consistent with the above, the SL is very efficient at absorbing the incoming energy from loops. FH as well as BH blocks feel very solid and ‘thick’, which is interesting given that the SL is thinner than the comparison blades (F7 and SAM). The blade’s ALL+ speed, above-average throw angle, and hollow feeling combine to give you exquisite levels of control on these shots. My main concern is whether the blocks are sufficiently aggressive to put the opponent under enough pressure to regain the upper hand in a rally.   

Smashing: 

     At this point, it should be no surprise that the SL in combination with H3 does not exactly result in blisteringly fast smashes. Accordingly, while it may be possible to win outright points on smashes through precise ball placement, it is more likely that spinning/looping is a more effective strategy, at least when playing with moderately fast, sticky Chinese rubbers like Hurricane 3.  

Flicking:

     It was a lot of fun to flick with the SL since its deep, hollow, and clear thick feeling gave me precise information about the quality of the ball contact. Of the three blades evaluated in this test, the SL gave me the best consistency and clearance over the net on these shots. Sure, at first the flicks are only moderately fast, but as my confidence grew with time, I was able to impart more power on the shots resulting in deeper and more dangerous trajectories.   

Pushing and touch shots: 

     Long FH pushes are slower and shorter than with the two reference blades and are associated with a softer and more hollow feeling. The level of spin, though, seems to be higher. To my surprise, I struggled a little bit with long BH pushes as a disproportionate number of them clipped the top of the net. The feeling of short pushes is very distinctive and accompanied by a deep ‘plop’. The SL absorbs the incoming energy very efficiently allowing for very short pushes to be played. However, the SL is almost too slow for these shots, and I found it necessary to utilize a more aggressive forward-moving stroke to ensure that the ball made it safely onto the other side and to avoid playing pushes with higher trajectories that are easier to attack. Once I made these adjustments, I enjoyed excellent consistency on the short pushes.   

Serving: 

     The SL works very well on short pendulum backspin serves as its moderate speed, nimble lightweight nature, and the distinct vibrations produced, provide precise feedback, and allow for full engagement of the wrist without running a risk of overshooting the table. For similar reasons, the SL also worked very well on long topspin-sidespin serves, as its characteristics allowed me to add more power and be more aggressive in my serve execution. As best as I could judge, the serves were loaded with spin. 

Conclusion: 

     Conventional wisdom would have me recommend the Nittaku Septear Lead for kids and beginners or intermediate players. It is a lightweight, moderately fast blade that oozes control on all shots. Given its nature, it is likely best suited for close-to-the-table game styles, especially when coupled with inherently slower rubbers like Hurricane 3. If combined with faster and bouncier rubbers like Nittaku Fastarc G-1, it is quite likely that the blade’s distance range can be extended and appeal to an even broader range of players. In fact, as discussed below, I could easily see advanced players consider taking advantage of the blade’s control characteristics. Excellent blade.       

Final thoughts: 

     I was pleasantly surprised by the Nittaku Factive 7 and Nittaku Septear Lead. In fact, this test has led me to question if I, and many other players, are perhaps using blades that are too fast ? Honestly, how often to we lose points and matches because our set-ups are too slow? Shouldn’t we focus more on winning points due to superior consistency? If so, the F7 and SL are prime examples of high-control blades. I, for one, will be eager to re-test these blades against regular opponents once we return to normal times.

About the Reviewer

     Patrick 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.