Reviews by Paul Drinkhall

Speed 9.0
Spin 9.7
Control 9.8
Tackiness Slightly Tacky
Weight Medium
Sponge Hardness Medium Soft – Softer than MX-P, MX-S and EL-P
Overall 9.6

Thank you all again for those people that messaged me a couple of weeks ago after my review of the TIBHAR Evolution EL-P. I’ve had some other requests, and I’ll get round to them in time - I promise! For now I’m going to review the last in the Evolution range which is the FX-P. I only had one sheet so I played with this rubber on my backhand initially for a while and then twiddled to play with it on my forehand for a while as well. It was quite useful as I could twiddle in between shots and get a good comparison of how it compared to my usual Evolution MX-P rubber.

Everything I’d seen on this rubber was that it was for those players who liked a slightly softer, more controlled version of the other Evolution rubbers, which allowed heavy topspins strokes to be executed with ease, and made controlling easy due to the softer sponge. After my testing, I can without doubt say this is certainly the softest type of the Evolution, and I think some players who like to play with this type of rubber for the controlled attacking topspins will really like the feeling it provides.

This rubber is currently available from my UK sponsors Bribar Table Tennis at a special offer, first 100 sheets sold price of £34.99, reduced from £46.99. You can view and buy it here:

http://shop.bribartt.co.uk/tibhar-evolution-fx-p.html

The sheet I got was maximum sponge thickness, the same as the other members of the Evolution family I have tested. The surface ‘feels’ high quality, if that makes sense – when I rub my hand over the top sheet it’s not dissimilar to my MX-P, or the other Evolutions I have tried. I suspected the real difference will be in the sponge, and I was right!

I started with a few backhand drives with my opponent, and straight away the strengths are obvious – it’s so easy to control and feel the ball with. I was able to move my opponent around the backhand side of the table with ease, slight variations to my block were simple to make, and when he started top spinning the ball at me the rubber just absorbed the oncoming spin and speed and made my blocked returns incredibly easy to control. I tried a couple of small re loops and top spin blocks and a couple of soft blocks, and the rubber was really outstanding here, the ball feels like it is staying on the bat for an age! Immediately I can see the all round player who likes to mix the play with varied top spin strokes and blocks will really love the feeling this rubber provides.

I moved onto top spinning the ball to my opponents block. The feeling and control here is really, really good. I’m able to topspin the ball with control and a lovely arc time and time again, playing a medium paced loop feels great, the rubber is so consistent. The rubber sounds brilliant when I’m brushing over the top of the ball, and I can generate some really heavy spin. It’s easy to vary the strokes I’m playing due to the high control the rubber offers, it’s always difficult to say this as every player is different but it just feels incredibly easy to play with.

Just as an experiment, I tried top spinning a couple of balls and then stepping back and chopping a couple, really to test the control. I was hugely impressed, the dwell time was great and I was easily able to chop with very heavy back spin and float the ball back in a controlled manner. Another indicator that this is a really fantastic rubber for the all rounder who likes to mix the game and spins up, it’s really versatile in this respect!

When I’m serving, the soft sponge allows me that much control I feel I can place the ball anywhere on the table with a really good amount of spin without having to worry about keeping the ball short. It’s easy to serve the length I’m trying, which is short and if left second the second bounce would be right on the white line – the area of indecision! Of course, the ‘feeling’ of the rubber is very different to my Evolution MX-P, it’s very obviously different when serving. I can attack the ball much more with my wrist without having to worry about keeping the ball short. The FX-P is very forgiving in this respect.

When my opponent serves, it’s frighteningly easy to touch the return short anywhere I want on the table. His serve is a good length, just short enough without being too short and close to the net, so this should be difficult but the high control rating allows me to touch with ease. Flicking is also made easy, and anybody who flicks with topspin or topspin and side spin will love how the rubber allows you to have that extra split second to perform this stroke. It’s a little trickier to flick straight through the back of the ball, I always find a slightly harder sponge helps here so this is one small disadvantage. If my opponents serve is slightly long, it’s easy to spin up with a really heavily spun top spin shot. This works really well when setting up the strong fourth ball attack shot – it’s not quite as easy to do a direct, hard third ball when his serve drifts just long, so this again leads more to the all round player who likes to rally and set the points up with good, controlled attacking shots.

For speed, I have rated the Evolution FX-P as 9.0. The softer sponge means that although this will still suit attacking players, a little speed is loss in order to gain all that control! Playing topspins from a metre away from the table produces a great arc that will kick heavily and surprise your opponent. Although by no means slow (especially with the Maximum sponge thickness on this particular sheet) it’s certainly the most controlled of the Evolution range. The ‘rebound’ effect is great, it’s very springy and feels brilliant when playing strong consistent topspins.

For spin, I have rated the Evolution FX-P as 9.7. Those players who like to play with heavy topspin, produce heavy spin serves, and receive with heavily back spun push shots will LOVE the feeling the FX-P provides. I could control the ball easily when changing from control to attack, and the amount of back spin I could produce whilst maintaining control was really superb.

For control, I have rated the Evolution FX-P as 9.8. To put this simply – it’s brilliant. The feeling on the ball is great when I’m producing my first topspin shot from a push ball, playing a stronger topspin, receiving or blocking – the feeling provided is superb and makes playing with the FX-P really easy. Serving short or any length is made very simple as you feel like you have so much control, and re looping also feels easy to control and place. Those players who like a nice soft sponge will love attacking with this rubber.

To sum this up, the FX-P is a really great choice for the all rounder or all round attacking player who likes the softer type of sponge to add control and variation to their game. Those players who maybe struggle to control their attacking shots, serves or returning difficult serves – now is the off season, give this rubber a try! You’ll be amazed at the control and amount of spin you can produce. In my opinion, lots of guys especially at local league and lower National League level would really love this (I do actually know of a couple of top pro’s who play with the FX-P also, especially on the backhand) because of the array of shots you can produce and play with control. If you like to topspin, block, flat hit, chop or push heavily as well as serve with heavy spin confidence, this rubber could well be a really god choice for your game. I prefer the harder MX-P for my particular style which is a little more attacking, so I’ll be staying with that but for the all round attacker this could well be the rubber you have been looking for.

Speed 9.2
Spin 9.4
Control 9.3
Tackiness Slightly Tacky
Weight Medium
Sponge Hardness Medium – Softer than MX-P, harder than FX-P
Overall 9.7

Thanks to all those who commented and got in touch with me after last week’s review – lots of requests coming in for different equipment, sorry my time is limited but I’ll keep doing my best to do one a week. I’m flying to China today for the WTTC, but yesterday after a relatively light training session I managed to test out the TIBHAR Evolution EL-P rubber on my spare blade to see how it felt.

The information I’d seen on this rubber was that it was basically the ‘middle’ option for those players who wanted the ‘in between’ rubber when compared to the harder Evolution MX-P and the softer Evolution FX-P. It makes sense that a lot of players of all levels would like a rubber that sits in between these two as some people want the best of both worlds, or as close to it as possible!

This rubber is currently available from my UK sponsors Bribar Table Tennis at a special offer, first 100 sheets sold price of £34.99, reduced from £46.99. You can view and buy it here:

http://shop.bribartt.co.uk/tibhar-evolution-el-p.html

The sheets I have are both maximum sponge thickness and the surface is not dissimilar to the TIBHAR Evolution MX-P, It’s slightly tacky, but not like a Chinese rubber and not as tacky as the Evolution MX-S. When I bounce the ball onto my bat and spin with the rubber, I still get plenty of ‘bite’ and a nice contact on the ball, it sounds great and feels spinny!

My first impression is that the rubber is as described – it is very obviously harder and faster than Evolution FX-P, but slightly slower and with more control than Evolution MX-P. Objective achieved on that score! When I’m topspinning the ball, the contact feels great and the rubber feels quick. The arc of the ball is not quite as straight as the Evolution MX-S, this is more of a traditional European style rubber and I get a good arc depending on how much topspin I impart with my stroke. The more I try to get a good contact the more arc I’m getting, and the grip here surprises me for a rubber that does not feel that tacky.

When I’m away from the table and in a topspin rally, the rubber feels safe. I don’t have to hit it on the ‘sweetspot’ every time, it’s very forgiving. If my timing point is slightly away from being ideal, I can still produce a good amount of spin and in this sense the Evolution EL-P feels very reliable.

When I’m blocking for my opponent, the Evolution EL-P offers a really superb amount of control when compared to the speed and spin levels. I feel like I can either do a safe, steady block, a soft block or even a hard punch block from my opponents top spin with ease, and again it is the contact that really stands out, the rubbers offers really good feeling. If I try to re-loop close to the table from my opponents attacking shot, the rubber is again very ‘forgiving’ – I do not need a perfect contact every time to generate a good return.

When I’m serving, the spin I can generate is really good but not as high as when I played with the Evolution MX-S last week. The ‘balance’ feels better, but the bite is not quite the same. I have to give my service action a little more wrist in order to generate this level of spin. On my follow up 3rd ball attacking shot, I am able to topspin my opponents heavy backspin push return quite easily, thought again the difference between the Evolution EL-P and the Evolution MX-S is that the arc of the ball signifies the amount of topspin on the ball – it feels very safe, and the more I try to spin heavily the more the arc, like a traditional style Tensor rubber.

When I’m receiving from my opponents serve, I can receive with confidence. Although I can’t generate quite as much backspin with such a short action (this was something I could do when I tested the Evolution MX-S), I can still touch short with confidence and flicking is also very controlled. To generate a lot of backspin on my long push, I need to use my wrist more and really try to get a good contact, but when I do it’s still heavy.

For speed, I have rated the Evolution EL-P as 9.3. This is a fast, attacking rubber, especially when combined with the maximum sponge thickness. The rubber feels best for me personally when I’m just a couple of feet away from the table, not quite mid distance but in between mid distance and close to the table. From here I can topspin the ball quickly and with a good level of spin with confidence. The speed I can produce when I’m trying to hit the ball hard is really good!

For spin, I have rated the Evolution EL-P as 9.4. It doesn’t grip the ball as well as the more tacky Evolution MX-S, but the surface is still very good when trying to produce heavy spin on serves, heavy push receives or when playing the first opening topspin. The reaction is as you would ‘expect’ from a rubber like this – the arc increases when you improve the contact and really try to spin the ball up. The sponge is slightly softer than the Evolution MX-P, so that slight extra dwell time allows you to generate a touch more spin with a little less effort.

For control, I have rated the Evolution EL-P as 9.3. The key to this rubber is the combination of the three factors – speed, spin and control. When I’m playing quickly I still feel like I have great control. Again, the slightly softer sponge allows me that. When I’m moving from blocking to re-looping the rubbers feels so reliable and consistent, and it seems to be more forgiving and have a better margin for error than the spinier MX-S or the faster MX-P.

To sum this up, this rubber is totally ideal for those attacking players who want some variation in their attacking game. It’s meant to be an allround attacking rubber, and in this respect it does totally offer some great characteristics. The balance between speed, spin and control is brilliant. I could serve, receive, loop close to the table, loop at mid distance and also far away from the table and the feeling on all of these shots felt really good. Blocking and then turning to attack felt great as the control I was able to execute on the shots was superb.

If you are an attacking player who likes to play quick top spin shots combined with good blocking and a good all round game, this is a rubber you should check out – particularly if you do not enjoy the ‘tacky’ feeling of the MX-S or if you feel the MX-P is slightly to hard for you. The key is the sponge – with it being slightly softer, I think this rubber will suit a lot of players out there who need to add a a little bit more control to their attacking shots.

Speed 9.0
Spin 9.8
Control 9.0
Tackiness Slightly Tacky
Weight Medium
Sponge Hardness Medium – Hard, harder than MX-P.

Overall 9.8

As requested by some players after my last review of the TIBHAR Evolution MX-P, this week I have reviewed the TIBHAR Evolution MX-S. Like the MX-P, this rubber is currently available from my UK sponsors Bribar Table Tennis at a special offer, first 100 sheets sold price of £34.99, reduced from £46.99. You can view and buy it here: http://shop.bribartt.co.uk/tibhar-evolution-mx-s.html

I tested this in Sweden where I’ve been practising for the last week for the upcoming World Championships – I’m feeling good and strong! I brought a couple of sheets out with me on the off chance I might get some time to test it. I tested this rubber for an hour after our session on my spare blade, which is a TIBHAR Samsonov Stratus Carbon. I played with the MX-S on both sides of my blade, with the maximum sponge thickness available.

When I prepared the rubber I noticed the sponge seemed a little more firm and harder to touch than my MX-P, and the surface of the MX-S was tackier than my MX-P sheets. It is not like a Chinese style extremely tacky surface, but it is tacky all the same and running my finger along the surface provides a fair amount of resistant. It feels like this rubber is going to provide me with a serious amount of spin.

The first obvious difference between the MX-P that I use and the MX-S is the speed and spin difference. The MX-S is a tiny fraction slower, but the surface is slightly different and the sponge feels harder – but the spin it’s able to generate is really, really heavy when I’m playing my forehand topspin loop to a block. It gives me more spin from mid distance when I’m looping the ball on both my forehand and backhand, through the curve on the ball is not increased – the ball flies in a similar manner to my shots when I use the MX-P, the curve I get is similar but that’s probably more to do with my technique, the angle I hit the ball and my contact, but the spin is definitely a little greater. Remember, when it comes to the technique and contact point we all do this a little differently to each other!

When I’m serving short with spin, it’s easy to control the ball and keep it short whilst loading the ball up with backspin or topspin. With the MX-S being a little slower than the MX-P, this is an advantage when serving short and then topspin looping the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] ball return from my opponents push ball. The high grip rubber top sheet allows me to spin the first ball aggressively.

When I’m receiving from my opponents serve, the top sheet allows me to touch the ball short easily with a really good amount of back spin. We do this a lot in the matches I play to try to prevent the first strong attack, so this is a really good aspect of the rubber. When I flick, the slightly harder sponge helps me to flick through the ball, and when my opponents serve drifts slightly long I am able to topspin over the table with relative ease as the rubber grips the ball so well.

Close to the table when my opponent is looping the ball at me, blocking and controlling feels easy. The ball does not sink as much into the sponge (although this is very, very marginal) but I am able to block very well and place the ball as I want to. The main difference is that the sponge makes the ‘feeling’ of the ball different. It’s not any better or worse than the MX-P that I use, but it’s a slightly different type of reaction and feeling that I think some players will really love.

For speed, I have rated the Evolution MX-S as 9.0. It’s fast, and a very good versatile attacking rubber. The sponge provides good speed and the top sheet is still a Tensor style rubber so the tacky nature does not take away from the speed, but it is a little slower than my MX-P sheets. Away from the table, when I’m playing topspin to topspin the MX-S feels brilliant, I am able to topspin the ball hard and with lots of spin, the arc is not huge but straighter than I expected, but the shot feels very safe and the topspin generated is brilliant.

For spin, I have rated the Evolution MX-S as 9.8. The amount of spin the top sheet provides is outstanding! It’s tackier than my MX-P sheets, and provides more spin. The ‘bite’ on the ball when I try to spin heavily from my loop shots, serves and receive of service push shots is really heavy. I practised some short sidespin serves with both backspin and topspin, and the kick on the other side table when the ball bounced was really extreme.

For control, I have rated the MX-S as 9.0. It is similar to my MX-P in this respect, but the feeling is different – it is a different type of rubber for a slightly different type of style so of course this will be the case. It is easy to serve short with spin, easy to receive with and great for blocking and controlling. The control on my attacking topspin shots is similar to my MX-P sheets, but again it just feels like a different reaction on the bat. It is the same control level but different. If you try both of these rubbers, then you will definitely be able to see what I mean by this!

To sum it up, this rubber is a fantastic choice for those attacking players who love the feeling of a slightly harder sponge and a top sheet that will produce lots of spin. I have played in the past with much harder sponges than this, so compared to those this sponge would still be medium-hard but this is certainly a harder sponge than the MX-P and the top sheet provides more grip. It offers a really good level of control, and a very good balance between the speed it can provide and the spin it generates.

Welcome to my new reviews! Every week I’ll be reviewing a different rubber, blade, or other equipment from my sponsors TIBHAR, the first of which is my personal favourite - the TIBHAR Evolution MX-P rubber. This rubber is currently available from my UK sponsors Bribar Table Tennis at a sale price of £34.99, reduced from £46.99. You can view and buy it here: http://shop.bribartt.co.uk/tibhar-evolution-mx-p.html

I play with this on both sides of my blade, both backhand and forehand, in 2.1mm sponge thickness which is the thickest sponge available with this rubber in order to ensure the combined thickness of the sponge and top sheet do not exceed ITTF restrictions on these things.

I first tried the TIBHAR Evolution MX-P last year and I was so impressed with it I decided I wanted to change in order to help my game. I had to wait a little while as I had matches approaching, and wanted to get a good week’s worth of practice in after playing with my old rubbers for any matches or competitions after this.

The thing I love about the TIBHAR Evolution MX-P is the medium hard sponge which provides me with just the right level of ‘rebound’ and feeling when I’m serving, opening up with my first heavy topspin loop from my opponents return and then attacking aggressively. The feeling is just right for my game, I never feel that it’s too fast so I still have the right level of control but at the same time it helps me generate a really good level of speed from my rubber which I find really important.

‘Medium-hard’ is difficult to quantify apart from by actually playing with the rubber yourself, but what I mean by this is it’s hard enough to produce really good speed but not so hard that ball dwell time on the bat is too low, making things harder to control and less easy to produce spin with. I have marked the rubber out of 10 on different aspects as above to try to help players with different styles work out if this is the best rubber for your game, if I had to mark this rubber out of 10 for the hardness of the sponge I’d say that if 1 was soft and 10 was hard, this would be around an 8 which for a player with my style is perfect.

The top sheet is a traditional European style rubber, which is slightly tacky but not like a Chinese style very tacky top rubber sheet, and again this is the perfect combination for me. I need a rubber top sheet which has the elasticity to let me produce heavy topspin on my attacking strokes and different levels of spin on my serves, but which is not to tacky as this is a very different type of feeling that isn’t quite suited to the way that I like to play. It’s a TENSOR style highly stretched top sheet and I really like the feeling that it produces.

I have found that the rubber is very durable for an attacking rubber of this level and quality. I change my rubbers regularly for my matches in the Belgian League, when playing for England and at ITTF World Tour events as I like the new and fresh feel, but these rubbers last longer than others I have played with in the past.

For speed, this rubber has to be king. I have scored it 9.5 from 10. It’s very fast, and suits the attacking player who likes to take the ball early at the table or from mid distance and play hard, attacking shots with a huge amount of spin. The rubber is not so quick that it lacks any feeling or control – the balance is excellent.

For spin, this rubber is also really excellent. I have scored it 9.5 from 10, but remember this is when talking about a player with my style. A defensive player for example may like the spin level but might find that a different sponge thickness is suited to them with the range of shots they employ. When it comes to attacking from both wings I find the level of topspin I can produce with the TIBHAR Evolution MX-P to be really brilliant.

For control, I have scored this rubber 9 out of 10. When you consider the speed it can help you to produce on your shots and the topspin it can help you generate, the control level is very, very high. It’s all about the balance and this rubber really excels in that department.

To sum up - If you like to topspin the ball strongly from both wings, open up from a backspin push or chop ball with heavy topspin, attack on the third or fifth ball aggressively, loop with heavy spin and speed from mid distance or block quickly but with control, then the TIBHAR Evolution MX-P is an absolutely first rate choice, and 100% the correct choice for me.