The fibres and their generations (ALC, ZLC, SZLC…)

The previous section established what a blade gains and loses by incorporating composite. What it did not say — because it belongs here — is that not all fibres are alike. The type of material inserted between the wooden plies governs how much the blade stiffens, how much vibration it lets through and what character the assembly acquires. The history of composite blades is, in large measure, the history of the search for fibres that contribute stiffness without eliminating feeling altogether.

Traditional carbon fibre. It was the first to arrive, in the late 1980s. Sheets of woven carbon fibre, thin and very stiff, inserted into the sandwich of plies. The result was a clear gain in speed and an equally clear reduction in vibration: the bat responded fast and dry, with a touch many players perceived as too far removed from wood. That generation defined the stereotype of “hard carbon” that still persists in the imagination of certain players, even though later fibres have qualified it.

ALC (Arylate-Carbon). The combination of carbon fibre with aramid fibre — an organic fibre known for its capacity to absorb vibration — produced a hybrid weave Butterfly marketed as Arylate-Carbon. The arylate softens what the carbon hardens: stiffness rises relative to all-wood, but the vibration does not disappear entirely. The resulting touch is warmer than that of pure carbon, with a response many players describe as the middle point between wood and composite. ALC blades have become the reference for modern attacking play; the specific models are dealt with in 10.4 and 10.5.

ZLC (Zylon-Carbon). Here the arylate is replaced by zylon, a high-strength synthetic fibre with different elastic properties. Zylon is stiffer than arylate but retains a degree of absorption, which produces a composite faster than ALC without reaching the dryness of pure carbon. The difference is perceived above all on hard strokes: the bat accelerates more, but the contact does not feel empty. It is a fibre aimed at the player who needs additional power without giving up tactile feedback entirely.

SZLC (Super ZLC). An evolution of ZLC with a denser zylon weave and greater stiffness. It represents the fast extreme of Butterfly's fibre spectrum: maximum speed, minimum flexing, a very short dwell time. Its audience is small — pure attacking players with technique enough to control a blade that barely yields — and its price reflects that specialisation. For most club players, the gain over ZLC does not justify the cost in lost control.

Pure arylate and pure zylon. There are blades that use plies of arylate without carbon, or of zylon without carbon. Pure arylate produces the softest version of composite: modest stiffness, generous vibration, a touch close to that of all-wood with an extra measure of consistency. Pure zylon, conversely, is stiffer than ALC and approaches the behaviour of traditional carbon but with a different vibration profile. Both options are less frequent than the hybrids and appear in niche models.

Aramid, Texalium and others. Outside the Butterfly ecosystem, other manufacturers have explored alternative fibres. Aramid — the family to which arylate belongs, known commercially as Kevlar in other sectors — appears in blades from Stiga, Donic or Tibhar under proprietary names. Texalium, a glass-fibre weave coated with aluminium, was Stiga's bid for moderate stiffness at contained weight. Each manufacturer combines fibres and christens them with its own nomenclature, which makes direct comparisons difficult. The underlying criterion, however, is always the same: more stiffness in the fibre means more speed and less feeling; less stiffness brings the behaviour closer to that of all-wood.

What all these fibres share is that their effect depends not only on the material but on where it is placed within the construction. The same fibre produces very different results according to whether it sits near the surface or beside the core. That variable — the position of the composite — is the subject of the following section.