yinhe/galaxy Big Dipper

I used Big Dipper H40 for over a year unboosted on my Yinhe Pro 01 blade and loved every bit of it. Obviously there are pros and cons with playing with each rubber so it all comes down to preference at the end of the day.

Do keep in mind that BD H40 plays very differently from its H39 and H38 counterparts. It really doesn't feel like a hybrid and feels more like Hurricane 3 classic. This is a HARD and HEAVY rubber people.

Serve and Serve Receive:
BD is really spiny which makes it great for serving and since the top sheet is quite hard with little catapult, it's easy to control the ball and keep it short. You can really use it as a weapon and prep for your 3rd ball attack by serving super spiny.

Serve receive on the other hand is another story since the top sheet is very sensitive to spin so you really need to be careful. Moreover, there is no dwell time with such a hard rubber so you don't have time to rectify during your receive and because it's very reactive to spin, the ball is going to kick off from your blade which might surprise you if you're not used to it.

Opening up backspin
Oh boy, you're going to love and hate this rubber when it comes to opening up heavy backspins. As I mentioned earlier, the rubber is extremely reactive to incoming spin and has the tendency to kick off once it touches the rubber so here's the dilemma.

You really have a split second to accelerate using your core and lower body and have to be very explosive if you want to open a backspin ball with this rubber. So be ready for a lot of dumps into the net or shoot off of the table. It gets better as you get the hang of the rubber but it never went away for me.

If the ball is still rising up, you could loop it but my issue here was recovery as I had to move my body so much that it was hard for me to get into position for the opponent's counter loop or fast block. On the positive side, I usually killed the ball right there cause the rubber is really fast.

If you let the ball drop, this is where I loved this rubber. Brush up vertically as much as you can and you're gonna have a freakishly spiny short ball that is very difficult to receive. When done right, even French Pro B level league players had difficulty with this shot of mine. But again, it was not consistent.

Looping and Counter looping
This is one area that this rubber shined, my loops were really fast and spiny. It's a hard rubber so you can brush up as hard as you want but mid distance, it was a bit tricky as if you couldn't engage the sponge then you would end up dumping the ball into the net.

As I mentioned earlier, the top sheet doesn't offer much catapult effect and it's only when the sponge is activated but since the top sheet is really hard, it's always better if play active/positive at all times.

Counter looping was good but wasn't consistent enough as again the top sheet is very reactive to spin.

Flicking/Flipping
It required some time to adjust cause again it's spin sensitive but also depending if you could engage the sponge or not, the rubber plays differently which made it difficult for me to flick consistently. If you can always flick with 100% power then you can make it consistent.

General Play Rules
First rule, make sure that the top sheet or the ball are dry. The top sheet can't grab the ball AT ALL if there's even too much humidity and the ball will literally slip off of the rubber.

Second rule, you have to play actively. If you play passively with a slow pace, you will loose consistency as depending on engaging the sponge or not, the rubber is going to play differently.

I'm using this 2.2mm H38 Red version on forehand on a 729 V6 blade. I usually have a DHS Hurricane 3 NEO 2.2mm H38 on my forehand, but lately I'm starting to loop too long with this. Perhaps more often when playing on hard wooden floors etc. So I tried this instead. It's almost as spinny as the H3N, so brush looping feels almost the same. The difference was that they didn't go long so often any more. The feeling when making slower strokes etc. is better. More balls on the table here as well. It might even be a bit lighter than the H3N, so It's a big + for me using this rubber instead of the H3N. Flat hits and smashes are better with Big Dipper as well. Update 191104: The DHS NEO Skyline TG2 (2.15mm, H38) is about the same as this BD in many ways. Skyline is a bit faster, but Big Dipper has way more control in all strokes. Great if you are a brush looper away from the table (and close). Weight cut, H38: 45-53g. H40:50g. H40 uncut with plastics on both sides: 71g. H38 uncut with plastics on both sides: 63g. Significant difference in behaviour between H38 and H40. Not so much effect when looping with the H40. The H38 is better in all aspects so far. I have trained one session with the H40, but changing back to H38 for now.

I like this rubber but then main cons for me its weight. I have 3 rubbers with 38 and 39 hardness. all 3 rubbers weight between 50 to 54g cut to regular size shakehand blade
it very fast. faster then T05. very durable. after many hours of play and moving between different blades it still looks like brand new

I used this rubber on my forehand for over a year. It's very spinny, good feeling, and very controllable. I rate the speed by top gears (9.1). It's not as tacky as I would like, but still picks up balls quite well when out of position. I popped the topsheets once the rubber is broken in, usually last me less than a few weeks each sheet=(.