Weight
88g
Thickness
5.9mm
Plies
7-ply
Head Size
16x15.1
Handles
FL / ST
Material
Hybrid
Head Shape
Oversized
Balance
Balanced
Stellan Bengtsson Alpha
Juic Stellan Bengtsson Alpha is a hybrid table tennis blade crafted in collaboration with the legendary Swedish player and coach. It masterfully blends wood's traditional feel with the performance benefits of composite materials, featuring carbon and Kevlar layers. This design creates a remarkably large sweet spot and significantly reduces vibration, offering a stable and confident hitting experience. Positioned as a versatile choice, it suits players ranging from all-round to offensive styles, providing an excellent balance of speed, control, and a solid, communicative feel for everything from powerful loops to precise blocks.
The construction uses a 5+2 formula: five wood plies are interspersed with two layers of Carbokev (Carbon/Kevlar) to form a 7-ply blade. This hybrid design seeks to provide the stiffness and sweet spot benefits of composites while preserving a degree of the flex and tactile feel found in all-wood blades.
TT Sensei Ratings
✦Our expert analysis of this blade's performance characteristics
Juic Stellan Bengtsson Alpha delivers surprising pace, consistently playing faster than its ALL+ rating suggests. The composite layers efficiently transfer energy, resulting in speed that fits the OFF- to OFF category. This makes it highly effective for offensive shots and maintaining pressure in fast rallies, offering a significant power boost compared to traditional all-wood blades.
A standout feature of this blade is its exceptional control for its speed class. The large sweet spot and balanced construction provide remarkable consistency, allowing players to execute powerful shots with maintained accuracy. This level of command is a key reason it appeals to players transitioning to faster equipment without wanting to sacrifice precision.
The blade strikes a pleasing balance, offering a solid, direct feel from the composite layers while retaining enough feedback and ball sensation for touch play. It feels communicative without being overly soft, providing good information on impact, especially useful in the short game.
It produces a medium-high throw angle, which is excellent for creating powerful, arcing topspin trajectories. This characteristic pairs particularly well with modern, springy rubbers to maximize offensive potential.
It provides a moderate dwell time, thanks to the interplay between its wood plies and composite layers. This characteristic aids in generating spin on serves and looping strokes, supporting spin-oriented tactics effectively.
Juic Stellan Bengtsson Alpha finds a middle ground in flexibility. The composite layers provide underlying stiffness for power on drives, while the wood plies retain enough give for controlled finesse shots, resulting in a well-balanced response.
Vibration is very low, a direct result of the dampening effect from the Carbon/Kevlar layers. This creates a stable, comfortable feel on contact, reduces player fatigue, and is a major contributor to the blade's large and forgiving sweet spot.
The blade offers very good playing performance, though some craftsmanship details may not match the highest-tier brands. TTSensei experts note that the outer plies can be susceptible to splintering, and minor inconsistencies like potential gaps can occur. Applying a protective sealant upon receipt is a recommended practice to ensure its longevity.
Technology
Juic Stellan Bengtsson Alpha employs a sophisticated hybrid construction, combining five plies of wood with two specialized layers of Carbokev (a blend of Carbon and Kevlar). This engineering aims to deliver the best of both worlds: the enlarged sweet spot and vibration dampening of composite materials, alongside the nuanced feedback and feel associated with traditional wood blades. The strategic placement of the Carbokev layers enhances structural stability and power transfer without rendering the blade overly stiff or heavy, creating a uniquely responsive and versatile playing instrument.
Pro Players Using This Blade
Jimmy Butler
Jimmy Butler, a three-time U.S. singles champion and two-time Olympian, has used the Juic Stellan Bengtsson Alpha. The blade's combination of speed, control, and a large sweet spot complements his aggressive and dynamic playing style, particularly supporting his powerful and fast backhand strokes.
Similar Blades
Juic S. Bengtsson Balsa-C
Another blade from the Stellan Bengtsson collaboration, the Balsa-C features a thick balsa wood core. This creates a distinctly different feel—lighter and potentially faster with a pronounced arc—compared to the Alpha's 5+2 wood/composite build, offering an alternative for players interested in a balsa-based composite experience.
Butterfly Viscaria / Timo Boll ALC
These popular Arylate-Carbon blades from Butterfly are often mentioned in the same conversation. They share a similar hybrid philosophy, blending wood with composite fibers to achieve a respected balance of speed, control, and a large sweet spot, making them a direct performance benchmark for players considering the Alpha.