Product information
At $70 this Haifu Whale 3 is there supposedly equivalent to H3 Neo Provincial blue sponge. First thing, Boosting is not needed on this sheet. And if you do boost, 1 layer is quite adequate. The Haifu Whale 3 is factory tuned and should not need boosting until the factory tuning wears off. Right off the bat i felt the Whale is probably 10 to 15 percent heavier than H3 neo, so this is a no no for people looking for a lighter Chinese rubber. When looping, I find the Haifu more linear when compared to H3 Neo. I would recommend this a forehand oriented Chinese rubber but with a little euro tensor hybrid thrown in to the feel of the rubber. The Haifu Whale 3 is not as grippy when compared to H3 neo, so your initial shots may shoot off the table if your coming from H3. A small technique adjustment is needed, but i would say you will find your technique adjusting quickly. The Whale 3 sheet i got was in the hard range with the big H indicator on the back of the rubber. The purplish sponge is little softer than the H3 neo blue 39 or orange 39 sponge. But strangely when looping or hitting, the ball does not sink into the sponge due to the topsheets harder qualities. I find myself working just a tad harder to create spin and I would also say the speed is equivalent or a tad faster than H3 neo. Since i am so used to using H3 neo, i may have a bias towards the Whale 3 and I find it less grippy and has less spin when compared to a well boosted H3 neo. One advantage is that you dont need to boost out of the box and play right away. I would say this rubber is in the $50 U.S dollar range, but not worth $70 dollars it is retailing for. Good rubber but missed the market it was shooting for.
