FH drives are controlled but they are slower than with the TG3 Neo. FH loops against backspin are easier to execute and have more clearance over the net than with the TG3 rubbers because the softer sponge results in a slightly increased throw angle. However, this, along with the 3-60’s low inherent speed, means that the trajectory is less dangerous. As expected, hard FH brush loops, loop-drives, and counter-topspins result in a flatter trajectory but seem to be less spinny than with the TG3 rubbers. Consequently, they have less kick and penetrating power. I found the Skyline 3-60 to be better suited for BH loops and banana flicks, where the tacky topsheet and softer sponge work well together to lift and spin the ball with a medium-high arc and plenty of safety over the net despite. Read our full Skyline 3-60 review here.
The throw angle generated by the Skyline TG3 Neo on FH loops is low to medium-low - enough to clear the net but not much more. Given the hard nature of the rubber, the margin for error with respect to positioning relative to the ball is small. In other words, this rubber requires and rewards those with excellent footwork. The rubber can absorb high amounts of incoming energy from loops, but the moderately tacky top-sheet renders it somewhat sensitive to sidespin, which one must compensate for in the form of a slightly adjusted racket angle, when blocking. As seen with many other tacky rubbers, flat hits are not the TG3 Neo’s strongest suit, although perfectly playable. Just don’t expect lightning speed or any catapult effect from the rubber.
Read our full Skyline rubber series review here.
The DHS Skyline TG3 is an even more traditional Chinese rubber than its Neo counterpart as it is slightly firmer and slower, producing an even more subdued feeling on ball impact. FH drives are rock-solid but slow unless played with significant physical effort. I found myself using larger arm swings, greater hip rotation and/or greater acceleration through the ball than normal to compensate for lower inherent speed. In fact, I could take this to near-ridiculous levels and pound the ball, and still only produce moderate fast drives. FH loops against backspin require a more open bat angle and/or faster acceleration through the ball, due to the rubber’s low throw angle, which otherwise renders it more likely for the ball to get caught in the net. Opening FH loops against heavy backspin generate high amounts of topspin but less than...
Read our full Skyline 3 review.
The national orange version of Hurricane 3 Neo is geared towards loop-focused players who prefer a tacky, relatively dynamic, and medium throwing rubber, which, at the same time, enables excellent serves and touch game. Compared to the commercial version of Hurricane 3 Neo, the orange National version feels a little firmer and, therefore, more controlled in the short game, blocking and loop-driving, while generating a little less spin on serves and low impact loops. However, the differences are minor – especially between the provincial and national versions. Reiterating the recommendation from my original review of the Hurricane 3 Neo line, I would use the regular Hurricane 3 Neo version if I was... Read our complete review here.
The first couple of FH drives quickly revealed that the DHS Hurricane Long 5 is an OFF+ blade as several of my drives flew well past the end of the table, even when using the relatively slow Hurricane 8 FH rubber. However, once I reduced my swing speed, I was able to play FH drives with high consistency. The Hurricane Long 5 is a medium-stiff blade, but the feeling on ball impact is dampened and woody and not particularly hard – I would categorize it as medium to medium-hard, being slightly more solid than typical 7-ply all-wood blades. While I tend to prefer all-wooden blades, I must admit that the Hurricane Long 5 offers a pleasant feeling for a composite blade. This is probably because the composite layer surrounds the core, rather than being placed directly underneath the outer ply....
The DHS Hurricane Long 3 is in the OFF-/OFF category and offers great feeling and control. I was able to play FH and BH drives with high consistency. The feeling upon ball impact is prominent and on the softer side. Despite being a 7-ply blade, the Hurricane Long 3 does not feel particularly stiff and in fact offers a lot of feeling for all types of FH loops. Opening loops and loops against very heavy backspin from long pips are particularly pleasant to play and associated with a higher-than-average throw angle for H3 Neo and high spin values. My loop drives were less powerful and consistent than my usual OFF+/Hurricane 8 setup but still offered a good power-to-control ratio. The Hurricane Long 3 provides plenty of power and...
Aurus Select shares many of the characteristics of Aurus Prime but is slightly slower, less spinny, and easier to control. It gives a direct feeling and prominent sound on FH drives but with a less pronounced catapult. FH loops have a medium-high arc over the net but dip down faster than with Aurus Prime due to the lower inherent speed of the rubber. In general, I felt that I had more control on loop-drives than with Aurus Prime, but they also seemed to be less spinny. FH-to-FH topspin rallies from mid-distance were fun to play, but Aurus Select does not have the power reserves of Aurus Prime to allow for effective play from beyond mid-distance without significant effort. Occasionally, I had difficulties getting the bat angle right on FH loops against very high backspin, with the ball going long (rather than into the net). Read our full Tibhar Aurus Select Review.
Right from the get-go, it became obvious that Aurus Prime is a fast rubber with a very prominent catapult, which makes it feel even faster than Tibhar’s Evolution MX-P. The feeling on FH drives is very direct and almost speed-glue like, with plenty of power reserves for play from mid-distance and beyond. The rubber feels like a ~48 degree rubber on these shots. Medium paced FH loops have medium-high trajectories with plenty of clearance over the net and land deep in your opponents’ territory. On one or two occasions, I hit through the sponge against heavy backspin balls, which resulted in uncontrolled ball trajectories, but the control on loops and loop-drives is - all in all - excellent. The rubber does most of the work of the work for you, allowing you to use compact strokes. See our full Tibhar Aurus Prime review here.
The Donic Ovtcharov True Carbon is a great blade for advanced and upwards players with an aggressive and direct game style (think Dima). The blade is probably better suited for European and Japanese rubbers than very hard Chinese rubbers, as the latter result in a numb feeling that I found challenging with FH loops. Beware though, combining the OTC with Tibhar’s Evolution MX-P, Nittaku’s Fastarc G-1 or Xiom’s Omega V Tour will yield a lighting fast setup that will require a very high skill level to master. For those who can wield it, the Donic Ovtcharov True Carbon is a powerful weapon. See our full review here: http://blog.tabletennis11.com/donic-ovtcharov-true-carbon-review
The DHS Power G7 is an excellent blade for those who want to upgrade from a 5-ply limba/ayous-based blade to a slightly stiffer and faster blade without significant loss in flexibility. Those looking a stiff and fast 7-ply blade might find the DHS Power G7 a little bit too slow and flexible. For the same reasons, the DHS Power G7 is most suitable for play close to the table and less so from beyond mid-distance. It is easy to understand why the Power G7 is so popular, especially when considering its price point. Find out more in our DHS Power G7 full review.
This is an excellent blade that allows for a balanced game style with equal parts looping, hitting, and blocking, while still providing excellent feeling and control for serves and touch play. It is suitable for play close to the table as well as mid-distance. The use of a European or Japanese rubber in the FH will result in a lightning fast set-up that will require skills to handle. This is a blade for intermediate players and upwards, including those who want a blade with more power than regular 5-ply all-wood blades, and more control and woody feeling than modern composite blades. See our full review here.
The first couple of FH drives quickly revealed that this is a blade in the OFF- range that offers a reasonably crisp and well-defined contact point. The unusual drop shape took me a minute to get used to, as the blade clearly felt ‘longer’; initially, I felt like I was scooping the ball over the net. However, this feeling quickly subsided, and soon FH drives felt very natural. The combination with the DHS Hurricane 8 rubber is not overly fast, and I definitively needed to provide a little bit more effort than with my usual OFF+ rated blade. BH drives with my Waran short pips, on the other hand, were very fast, yet reasonably controlled; the blade is sufficiently hard to cause the ball to dip when hitting with the short pips. Read our full review here: http://blog.tabletennis11.com/donic-waldner-jo-shape-and-senso-carbon-review
My impressions of the Baracuda Big Slam do not differ greatly from the regular version. It feels slightly softer, slower, and less spinny, especially on high-impact shots. Thus, the feeling on FH drives is solid but not particularly crisp. FH loops, on the other hand, do feel a little bit crisper due to the softer sponge, which also provides an audible click and a medium-high ball trajectory that gives sufficient safety over the net despite the moderate speed of the rubber. Respectable amounts of spin can be generated on low- and medium-impact loops, which also experience a mild catapult. The underlying blade’s character is felt more prominently on high-impact loop-drives, and it is quite clear that the spin levels on these shots are lower than with the regular version. For our full review, click this link.
The Donic Baracuda weighs 49 grams when cut to a 157x150 mm blade. The Baracuda has a neutral feel on FH drives - not too disengaged/numb but also not the most responsive rubber on the market. The first couple of FH drives quickly revealed that the Baracuda is not a speed monster. However, it still has sufficient power to enable mid-distance play. There is plenty of clearance over the net when looping against heavy backspin. However, the Baracuda’s moderate speed means that the rubber best is coupled with faster arm action and more leg power than with Tibhar’s Evolution EL-S, Xiom’s Omega V Tour or Nittaku’s Fastarc G-1 to ensure that the ball has sufficient depth and penetration. Read our complete review.
Let me foreshadow this review: in my opinion, the Omega V Euro and Omega V Pro play remarkably similar, with the V Euro being a little bit spinnier and bouncier. Accordingly, I made similar observations. FH flat hits had a tendency to go long. Properly executed FH loops resulted in a nice crisp sound and beautiful arc over the net. Soft, touch-based loops from mid-distance are encouraged over hard loop drives. Opening loops against backspin are easy due to the high throw but it is hard to generate high speed, which makes it possible for the opponent to get into position and attack the slow loop. This rubber is great for BH loops, which are spinny and have a lot of margin over the net. Click for our full review.
Omega V Pro plays significantly softer than V Asia and V Tour, and also has a much more pronounced catapult effect. Being someone who has a fast forearm and who puts considerable power into his FH shots, I often found myself struggling to control the length of flat FH hits, with many balls flying off the table, leading me to lose confidence in my FH shots. FH drives and loops felt better and were associated with a loud click and plenty of safety over the net. However, these shots are best played from mid-distance using ‘soft’ hands and a fair amount of touch. This is not a rubber for power loopers. Lifting backspin is relatively easy, but I wasn’t able to impart as much spin on these opening loops as I would have liked. Blocking is good, in large part to the spin-insensitive topsheet, but the bouncy nature of the Omega V Pro meant more of my blocks strayed long than with the V Asia and V Tour. For our full review, see this link.
As expected, the Omega V Tour feels slightly softer than the Asia version, and it is only a smidge softer than Tibhar’s MX-P (~46 on the European scale). The V Tour weighed 50 grams when cut to my 157 mm x 150 mm blade, which is one gram less than V Asia, MX-P or Gewo’s Nanoflex FT48. Omega V Tour’s throw angle is slightly higher than Omega V Asia’s, resulting in a very pronounced arc over the net and excellent looping consistency. I applaud Xiom for getting the combination of throw and catapult just right with the V Tour. Loops against backspin were a little easier than with the Omega V Asia, and seemed to generate more spin, presumably due to deeper penetration of the ball into the softer sponge. Blocking with V Tour is excellent and consistent, which again reflects an excellent combination of throw and catapult. Just like V Asia, the Omega V Tour is insensitive to spin, allowing for excellent control on serve returns. Click here for our full review.
The Xiom Omega V Asia is an excellent rubber, which has a very favorable speed/control ratio, making it a delight to play with. It excels in all aspects of close and mid-distance play. I would suggest pairing the Omega V Asia with a blade in the OFF- or OFF+ range that has a harder outer ply and/or internal composite layers to get an extra kick. It will be interesting to see Xiom launch an updated version of the Omega V Asia with 5% more spin from a tackier topsheet. Such a rubber would have the potential to be a true game changer. Read the full review.
Almost instantly into my evaluation of the rubber, it becomes evident that the S-1 also is the softest and slowest of the Fastarc rubbers during gameplay, thus not fitting the “speed first” description very well. I could clearly feel the subdued woody feeling of the test blade when performing aggressive shots. Nonetheless, the S-1 provides a good response, slight clicking sound, and excellent control on FH drives. The throw angle on loops is fairly high but because the S-1 is rather slow, several of my FH loops didn’t clear the net. Once I started looping with a more open blade angle and/or greater arm swing speed, I had excellent control over my loops, although they didn’t feel very fast or spinny. Read our complete review here.
The Nittaku Fastarc C-1feels marginally harder to the touch than the P-1, which is surprising given the softer sponge and lower weight (47 grams, 157 x 150 mm). The C-1 shares the spongy feel of the P-1 on fast FH shots. FH drives are reasonably crisp and can be played in a very controlled manner but dwell time is slightly extended relative to harder rubbers. The rubber’s medium-high to high throw provides plenty of safety over the net when executing FH loops against heavy backspin. Loops have a respectable level of spin on them – just like with the other Fastarc rubbers, the sponge and topsheet seem to work in perfect harmony with each other, instilling a sensation of control into the player. I was able to hit loops with a lot of topspin-sidespin variation from mid-distance and with greater confidence than with any other rubber, save for Fastarc’s G-1. For our full review, click here.
