Product Description

Tournament quality paddle that can generate the speed and spin needed to compete at the club or tournament level.

• Surface: Inverted
• Sponge: 2.0 mm Flextra
• Speed: 100
• Spin: 100
• Control: 85

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2294 in Sports & Outdoors
• Brand: Butterfly
• Model: 8263
• Released on: 2006-11-15
• Dimensions: .75" h x 6.88" w x 11.75" l, .50 pounds

Features

• Lightweight, tournament-quality table tennis racket
• 100 speed rating, 100 spin rating, 85 control rating
• Constructed with Japanese rubber technology
• Measure 11.8 x 6.9 inches (L x W); 0.8-inch thickness
• Covered by a 30-day warranty against defects

Amazon.com Product Description
The Butterfly Carlos Chiu Table Tennis Racket is a lightweight, tournament-quality racket. Named after the famous Mexican national team member, the racket has a speed rating of 100, a spin rating of 100, and a control rating of 85. The Japanese rubber technology helps a player generate spin, speed, and control. Measuring 11.8 x 6.9 inches (L x W) and 0.8 inches thick, the five-ply blade, balanced handle, and aerodynamic head shape provide remarkable balance. Perfect for competitors at the club and tournament levels, the eight-ounce racket is ITTF and USATTF approved. The Carlos Chiu racket is backed by a 30-day warranty against defects.

Customer Reviews

Solid racket for intermediate players
I switched to this because my Butterfly Shikata was getting on in age and was starting to show quite a bit of wear. I was hoping for immediate improvement, but realized that this racket seems quite a bit different than my old Shikata.

First of all, it's got a ton more spin - I can just about wrap it around the net on my serve. I feel like I can start the ball - on any shot - a foot off the table and still spin it back on.

It's also a little more controllable in the power department. Whereas a defensive shot from a smash with my Shikata would often fly well deep of the table, I can fit a little top spin with the Chiu and keep them on the table much more often. It also seems like it has more pop on smashes. This is most likely due to the fact that I can put so much more top spin on the ball.

Overall, it's a pretty good racket. It's not as huge a difference from my old paddle as I'd hoped, but it's definitely not bad.

UPDATE:
Well I've been playing with this racket for about a month or so now and it's not even close to what it used to be. This is by far the cheapest-made racket I've ever used. It started off as a very solid bat with a lot of grip, but the grip has almost completely worn off and the rubber has a ton of holes and scrapes around the edges. If you're going to buy this one, you'll definitely want to buy some glue and a case for it and be as gentle as possible with it. Every other racket I've had has lasted me at least a year and this one is going to be dead by 3 months.

Don't waste your money if you're the type that doesn't take meticulous care of your racket.

Amazing racket!!
To kick this review off, I'm at the high end of the intermediate recreational level. I spin it a lot when the game is slow (not with 'pushes'), but when my opponent loops stuff over, I like to slam. I slam a lot and my defense against slams is particularly good.

In the past I've used this basic type of racket before, but for the past year I've been playing recreationally with the cheap $4 Sportcraft paddles. A week ago, I did some research on the internet on the different types of Butterfly paddles. This Carlos Chiu one seemed the most powerful of the bunch.

This racket is much heavier than those cheap Sportcraft paddles, the rubber is much firmer and much thicker. It also does not change shape after slams or after defending against slams, like with my Sportcraft one.

The amount of control and spin on this racket are amazing. I can spin and still have enough control to send it pretty quickly within 1 cm of the top of the net. Furthermore, I can slam at the ball successfully at much lower 'heights' than with all my previous paddles. At my end of the table, at a 9" height, I can slam it to the other side with much less problem.

I highly recommend this paddle. (I got it off of this Amazon website for $39, which already included shipping costs. Don't get it off EBay, it'll rip you off.)

Jim
I have enjoyed the play of the racquet EXCEPT for how delicate it is on it's edges. Just touch it and it blisters. I will continue play with it but will not purchase another one for that reason.