Reviews by Tuppe

Well, after buying and playing with multiple fast expensive blades like Viscaria, Vega Pro and Liu Shiwen I wanted to know how I would play with the cheapest blade I could find. I played three league matches with it and I came to the conclusion that I play better with the Yasaka Sweden Extra than with all those fast expensive blades. More importantly, I have more fun playing with the Yasaka Sweden Extra. The feeling is great and I am much more consistent in rallying. My results are much better with this blade.

So, I guess my journey has ended. I’m convinced that I am not going to buy any other blades than the Yasaka Sweden extra.

For reference: I play table tennis for 15 years (USATT: between 2000-2200) and I am an offensive player. I try to attack every ball that is long enough or flick with my backhand. I only push when they serve short to my forehand. I try to stay close to the table since my footwork is not one of my strengths.

Well, I've always been reluctant to buy the Tenergy 25 because it seems to be the least popular of the series. I got my hand on a sheet and decided to give it a try on my backhand. I have to say I've never been more impressed with a rubber. I used to play with the rasant powergrip on my backhand. I use my backhand mainly for opening up against backspin with a loop and once the game is open I use it to hit flat hits or control the rally with the placement of my shots. Some may say I should use short pips but that doesn't work for me. I need the spin capabilities of a rubber to do spinny loops against backspin.

The strength of the Tenergy 25 is the control u have. It's easy to block topspins and to place every ball precisely where u want it. Killing higher balls is also a piece of cake. U also have enough control in the serve receive and to do chops.

I think this is a specialist rubber which doesn't suit any playing style. If u like to play a looping game further away from the table, this rubber might not be for you. I also don't see it as a forehand rubber. I use my forehand mainly for looping and I think the Tenergy 25 is too low throw for my forehand. But if you are a close to the table attacker with your backhand who has a backhand style close to the techniques used with short pips, look nu further. This rubber will help you in the close to the table game while still being able to put enough spin on the ball. I played a league match with the T25 on my backhand and I beat two players with this rubber who were way above my playing level. And i played those matches without ever practicing with the T25, I just gave it a go. Safe to say that my search for a replacement for the Rasant Powergrip is over. I found a rubber which is even better for my playing style.

Hi,

This is my first review ever, so I'm not really sure how to begin with it. I'll start with telling more about my playing style and playing level.

I play Table Tennis for 13 years in Belgium. When I was younger I had some training but my technique is far from perfect. I have no idea how to convert my Belgian rating to USATT but I guess it must be around 2000 or more. When I look at our rating website, I'm in the 5th percentile of all competitive table tennis players in Belgium. My playing style is based upon my serve and my serve return. I'm no rally player. Around 40 percent of my serves are straight winners. If they do come back I try to end the pont with the third ball. My serve return is quite agressive and full of risk. Most of the time I open up with my backhand and then I try to put pressure with my backhand. My main weaknesses is my footwork and short balls to my forehand. I'm not good at flicking with the forehand.

Now the review:

I bought two Rasanters R50 2.0. One for my forehand and one for my backhand. The Blade I use is BTY Liu Shiwen ZLF. I used the rubbers immediately in a league match and had no training with the rubbers. After the league match I did an hour of training with a club mate to verify my initial observations.

Feeling: The feeling of the R50 is quite similar to the powergrip. It feels a little bit softer, maybe because of the thinner topsheet. Overall I really liked the feeling of the rubber. It was fun to play with.

Speed: It's the fastest rubber I've ever played with. It's a hard rubber so it's quite good in the short game but it has an immense power reserve. When I went all out for a power loop they were unreturnable. I've never experienced a rubber where I can put so much power in.

Spin: This is not a rubber to do slow spinny loops. The sponge is very hard so I had difficulty creating spin on slow balls. Maybe my power loops were loaded with spin but I can't really say because all my power loops were straight winners. Anyway, I had no problems spinning heavy backspin balls with my forehand and backhand but I did not have the feeling that they were loaded with spin.

Serving: Easy to do short serves but my opponents had way less problems returning my long serves than usual. I'm not sure why. The topsheet is very grippy but I just couldn't put as much spin on the balls than I usually can. Maybe because of the hard sponge and my serving technique needs a softer topsheet and/or sponge? I don't know.

Blocking: It was great for blocking. I like hard rubbers to block because of the stability. It's easy to smash through spin with this rubber and to do power blocks. No complaints.

Overall: I'm going to keep using this rubber on my backhand but not on my forehand. I simply can't put enough spin on the ball when I serve or open up against backspin. Probably this has more to do with my technique than with the rubber. My forehand technique is not as good as my backhand technique. I still decided to give this rubber 5 stars. Why? Because it's a pleasure to play with. It's great for doing power loops, my forehand never had so much power than yesterday. My power loops were fast as light and unreturnable. The short game was also good and the rubber provided me with great stability in rallies. Andro made a good rubber with the R50. In the right hands this rubber is a great weapon.

Update: I decided to quit playing this rubber. I have the feeling that every shot needs to be a rocket to be effective. It's simply too fast and too hard. I can't seem to put any spin in slower loops. The Rasant Powergrip was easier to play with. Blocks were easier, flat hits were more efficient and it was easier for putting topspin on slower loops and flicks. Anyway, the R50 is certainly a good rubber but it's not for me.