If you sell table tennis equipment, you have had this conversation: a customer asks for “a Hurricane blade,” and you need to work out which of a dozen models they actually mean. The Hurricane name spans junior all-wood blades and professional carbon builds that cost four times as much. Getting the match right is the difference between a repeat customer and a return.
This guide breaks the range into the four groups we see clubs and distributors buying most.
All-wood, 5-ply — the club workhorse
Five-ply all-wood blades remain the highest-volume category in almost every order we ship. There is a reason: they are forgiving, they suit developing technique, and they sit at a price point where a club can outfit twenty players without a budget meeting.
The 5-ply construction flexes noticeably on power strokes, which gives players feedback they can feel. That feedback is what makes these blades good teaching tools. A stiffer carbon blade will hide a poor stroke; a 5-ply will not.
Stock recommendation: this is where your depth should be. For a general-purpose club order, we typically see 5-ply all-wood at 50–60% of total blade volume.
All-wood, 7-ply — control with more depth
Seven-ply blades trade some of that flex for stability. The extra plies raise the speed floor and hold the blade steadier on blocks and counter-hits, which suits players who have moved past the learning phase but are not ready for carbon.
Some models in this group use a cypress or limba outer ply to add surface hardness without making the whole blade rigid. The result is a blade that stays controllable close to the table while still producing pace.
Stock recommendation: 20–25% of blade volume. This is your upgrade tier — the blade a club member buys when they outgrow their first one.
5+2 carbon — the performance tier
Here the construction changes character. Two carbon layers sandwiched inside a five-ply wood core produce a blade that is fast, stable, and much less forgiving of technique errors.
The 301T is a representative example: a 7-ply build using 5+2 aromatic carbon, 5.9mm thick, 89g in the flared handle. Aromatic carbon is chosen over standard carbon fibre because it stiffens the blade without the harsh, dead feel that pure carbon can produce — you get the power reserve with some touch left for short play.
Stock recommendation: 15–20%, and order to demand rather than holding deep stock. Advanced players are specific about models, and a blade sitting in your warehouse in the wrong handle type is dead capital.
Junior and training blades
Smaller head, thinner handle, lighter overall. These exist because a standard blade in a ten-year-old’s hand is a coaching problem, not just a comfort one — the weight forces compensations in the stroke that take years to unlearn.
If you supply academies or school programmes, this category matters more than its revenue suggests. It is often the first purchase in a relationship that runs for a decade.
Stock recommendation: driven entirely by your customer mix. Academies buy these in blocks of 20–50; general retail barely moves them.
A note on handle types
Every model above ships in multiple handle configurations — flared (FL), straight (ST), and Chinese penhold (CS) among them. Handle type is not a minor variant. A player who uses FL will not accept ST as a substitute.
The most common stocking error we see is ordering good model coverage with poor handle coverage. If you carry six models in one handle type, you effectively carry six models for half your market. Two models in three handle types will usually outperform it.
Building your order
Blade demand is more predictable than most categories once you know your customer mix — club programmes, retail walk-in, and competitive players buy in consistent proportions year to year.
If you are placing a first order and are not sure how to split it, send us your customer profile and target budget. We will put together a suggested breakdown based on what comparable buyers in your market actually reorder, not on what we would like to move.
