Batos

Introducing Batos by Nexy

By definition, “Batos” means thorn. When I named this new blade, I thought of the four thorns the rose relied upon in the novel, “The Little Prince.” It’s an amazing story filled with fascinating content, details, and characters. And it was this thorn that especially caught my attention. The rose tried to prove that she is strong and independent by boldly stating that she has a thorn. But Little Prince knew that she could not be protected by thorns alone and constantly worried about Baobab trees, which might harm the rose.

In my younger days, we used thorn trees to protect the farm. With thorn trees covering the crops, wild animals could not invade easily. Even so, I did not like thorns because they looked scary. While I played with friends, we would often lose a ball under thorn trees and had to risk being hurt by its sharp points to get the ball back. But the story of The Little Prince and Rose changed my feelings about thorns. They are not there to harm us, but to protect our livelihood against wolves, or to protect the rose against sheep.

Batos is a weapon for the powerless, designed to protect from attack. This concept marks the beginning of Nexy’s 6th generation, and it starts with the release of this extraordinary new blade.

For the past 5 generations, I tried to make what I wanted to have as a player. But Nexy’s 6th generation moves beyond me; it’s about what top players want. Nexy became an official sponsor brand for the Samsung Table Tennis Team and contracted with Joo Sae Huyk and Yoo Nam Kyu (1988 Olympic Gold Medalist and Korean National Team Coach), I began meeting and discussing gear with more world-class players. I realized that Nexy has become too much of a personal brand. My blade designs were not in line with what champions wanted and needed. What are the general blade features that top players want?

Nexy has always prided its brand on not trying to emulate other brands’ popular blades. Even though I knew I could improve on other popular designs, I did not. I focused on retaining our uniqueness. This has been one of the core principles for Nexy over the past 10 years, and it remains important. However, I have come to realize that the most important role for a table tennis brand is to constantly improve, and Nexy cannot be an exception. As a company, we will retain our uniqueness, but also focus on providing high-level players with blade characteristics that they desire and require to win championships. Therefore, in this way, Nexy will now compete with other brands. So, even though a blade may be similar, as long as the blade is not a direct copy, Nexy will produce it. Of course, we expect our product to be superior and unique in some way. Regardless of what kind of blade we produce, Nexy will be always Nexy, and we will continue to do our best to improve in every way.

2019 is a meaningful year for Nexy as we will begin to expand throughout the international market. And, for us to succeed in a market chosen by elite players, our 6th generation line of blades is a must, not an option.

FUNCTIONAL FEATURES

Layer Material

Batos uses arylate carbon layer to enhance speed and power. ALC is a well-known composite material that has been used by many brands. Nexy used this for Oscar, our long-time best-selling blade. We have a deep understanding of ALC type materials. But with the ABS ball age, I think we have to consider another factor for blade design; spin. ABS ball allows less spin, and many players are troubled by the rotation reduction. Blade designers, including myself, have been researching how to achieve more spin generation. Therefore, spin has been a major focus for the development of Batos. I had to find a new kind of fuel to inject more spin into this blade. So, carefully selected the layer material for ALC.

Top Ply

Batos uses a Limba surface. This wood has an embracing feel. It grips the ball deep, and the whole plane works together to catch the ball inside. In order to understand the character of this layer, we can compare the feeling to Ayous, which is another exotic wood. Ayous seems to grip the ball in one specific point on the blade. It then repels the ball with good power, but players cannot feel the entire plane embracing the ball. But Limba works as one unified body, and it embraces the ball as a whole. Yet, this layer’s thickness must be carefully constructed. If it’s too thick, it loses this embracing feeling. If it’s too thin, this layer can be easily damaged when changing rubbers as the wood can weaken. So, after much experimentation and development, Batos features a Limba surface with the optimum thickness.

Gluing of Layers

Nexy has kept its gluing process a secret — until now! You might think glue is not important in making a functional difference in a table tennis blade. But gluing greatly influences the functional features of the blade as well as durability and feel. Traditionally, before adopting the composite material, the choice and quantity of glue were out of the question. We could not be bothered much, because it was easy. But when we started to use composite materials, glue became a much more important factor.

These materials could not be interwoven with other wooden layers by using a small quantity of glue. This caused companies to find stronger options. In the end, each company found its own way to address the issue. However, from the beginning of the first generation, Nexy tried to use a very pleasant feeling glue with a moderate quantity. With this recipe, Nexy’s Hannibal and Oscar provided a good wooden feeling over the entire playing surface. This gluing technique has continuously contributed to making Nexy blades unique and superior. This is especially true for Batos. Players of all levels will be surprised at the good wooden feeling throughout. This is unusual for an ALC blade. Batos has a vivid touch that is enhanced by our special gluing process.

Glue

The introduction of non-VOC, water-based glues became another area of concern as they tend to be stronger and more likely to damage the surface layer when detaching a rubber. So, in general, glue became stronger and thicker, which gave a significant effect on the final product. Companies and players alike have needed to address this issue to protect the top ply of blades.

Ideal Shape for the ABS Ball

With the advent of the poly ball, modern play moved players closer to the table. This caused several brands to adopt a larger head size. In the past, players of all levels were obsessed with weight. That’s no longer the case. When you play close to the table, you care less about blade weight and more about feeling and control. A bigger size blade makes it easier for players to access the table and facilitates a faster, more dominating style of play. Therefore, Nexy carefully made the head size 1mm larger. This is almost unnoticeable but provides players with greater confidence to access and dominate the table. However, by nature, the larger head size causes an increase in weight that could be burdensome for players, and I needed to address that issue. With the selected wooden material, Batos is light and well-balanced.

New Testing Team

Some of you may have noticed that Nexy is now working with many advanced players for testing. We have a sponsorship contract with Samsung Team where Lee Sang Soo and An Jae Hyun are playing, and many Samsung players are now participating in our testing process. Nexy is becoming more oriented to top-class players. As an amateur player, I tended to focus more on the amateur market, but that’s no longer the case! Nexy is sponsoring POSCO energy team, where Jeon Jihee and Yang Haeun are playing. We now have a well-balanced testing program with the help of world-class men and women players. In addition to team sponsorships, we also have personal sponsorship contracts with big three players. Olympic gold medalist Yoo Nam Kyu joined the Nexy team, and we are now developing Tibhar’s MX-K and several blades together. Nexy blades named after Yoo Nam Kyu will be out in the market soon. Joo Sae Hyuk also signed with Nexy, and I am now making Joo’s blade. Also, Yang Haeun signed with us, and she will compete wearing Nexy shirts.

With all these new sponsorships, Nexy has more resources to develop sophisticated blades. And, Batos is the first one inspired by those world-class testers. There is much more news, but I will share that in upcoming articles. So, this is it for now! This is a long article; however, I don’t think I have explained enough. You will surely experience more than I could ever explain by playing with Batos. Experience the new Nexy and meet the blade tested and recommended by world-class players.

Batos is now out in the market!

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