Fan Zhendong's Blade Evolution: From Viscaria Prodigy to His Own Butterfly Line
1. The Viscaria
A prodigy arrives — peaking at debut, and so does the blade. When the 15-year-old Fan Zhendong entered the national team, hailed as a prodigy, the Viscaria was at its former owner’s peak — that same year Zhang Jike won the London Olympics with a Viscaria for the fastest Grand Slam. Played today, the Viscaria is faithful and linear; next to many newer blades it offers little power amplification, leaning instead on stability. You’ll find it genuinely easy to play — balanced from attack to defense to loop-drive. The structure is a classic, and similar-type blades sell well, with value picks like Sanwei’s 75# and Galaxy’s Pro-01.
2. The Stiga Infinity VPS V
After signing with Stiga, Fan Zhendong first used the Infinity VPS V (“Diamond Five”), an all-wood five-ply whose surface uses Diamond Touch tech for added hardness — sharper on over-the-table touch and strong on borrowed-pace hitting, shedding the dead impression of soft five-plies. How long he used it is a complicated question.
3. VPS or Viscaria?
For a long stretch you’d sometimes see a VPS handle, sometimes a Viscaria.
4. A Brief W968 (2017)
By 2017 — if you can’t beat Ma Long, switch blades — Fan Zhendong tried a Boll-handle W968. But after losing to Ovtcharov at the German Open he dropped it. Back on his old blade, at the ITTF Grand Finals he played through a back injury and swept Ovtcharov 4-0, perhaps cementing his trust in this structure. Notably, that year’s World Cup men’s singles champion was Ovtcharov — on a hybrid-handle W968.
5. The Gold-Stamp Viscaria’s Golden Age (2021)
At the 2021 Direct-to-WTT Grand Slam/Worlds simulation, many national players used the gold-stamp Viscaria, including Fan Zhendong, Lin Shidong, Fang Bo, Xu Chenhao, Zhu Yuling and Chen Xingtong. It was the gold-stamp’s heyday — Sun Yingsha used one too, albeit a gold-stamp Carbonado 45. Others on the plain Viscaria included Wang Chuqin, Liang Jingkun and Chen Meng, while Lin Gaoyuan, Wang Manyu and Zhou Qihao used that era’s magic Viscaria variant, the Lin Gaoyuan ALC. Versus the retail Viscaria, Fan Zhendong’s gold-stamp held the ball more overall with stronger backhand spin; early gold-stamp batches had slightly scattered forehand power, but later batches firmed this up.
6. The Butterfly Signing Rumors
From the moment Fan Zhendong “openly” used the gold-stamp Viscaria, there were whispers he’d sign with Butterfly. I wasn’t sure, despite a hunch — until DHS discontinued its Fan Zhendong star national rubber, and it was all but confirmed.
7. Signing With Butterfly (2021)
On November 1, 2021, Butterfly announced the signing, listing his gear as a custom ALC shakehand blade and Dignics 05 rubber — yes, still D05 then, not D09C. The custom Butterfly ALC is, versus the retail version, clearer and more through in feel, with a fierce ball-grip on contact and better bottom-end power once loaded.
8. His Own Signature Line (2022)
On September 1, 2022, Fan Zhendong’s blade series launched — ALC, Super ALC, ZLC, Super ZLC and CNF — while he himself used a unique gold-tail-stamp custom Fan Zhendong ALC. Since I genuinely haven’t played it, I’ll only voice everyone’s hope: bring on a Fan Zhendong ALC gold-stamp limited edition.