Rubber: Butterfly Dignics 05
Weight: 68 grams
Blade used:
Dan: Timo Boll ALC
Tom: Stiga Hybrid Wood
Hey guys! Here's our latest review of the new Dignics 05 rubber by Butterfly! This is a new series by Butterfly using the their latest tech, Spring Sponge X. We compare this to the popular Tenergy 05 and more.
I'm joined by Tom in the TableTennisDaily Studio where we give the rubber a full in depth analysis on how it performs!
Written Version:
Initial inspection:
I've been looking forward to reviewing the new Dignics 05 for a long time. Right out the packaging its got that premium feel you get with Tenergy, high tension rubber. The sponge is a reddish colour and using Butterfly’s latest technology the Spring Sponge X which is meant to be more elastic than Spring Sponge, found in the popular Tenergy series.
The Sponge hardness of Dignics 05 is 40 degrees which sits between Tenergy 05 at 37 and Tenergy 05 hard at 43 degrees.
For me the most interesting thing about Dignics is that the topsheet is meant to be grippier which I find exciting. Comparing here to a Tenergy 05 it does feel the surface is more tackier.
The weight of Dignics 05 is 68 grams so sits at the same weight to Tenergy which is 68 grams.
Okay guys so I used the Dignics on my Timo Boll ALC blade to give this a fair test and tom used it on his Stiga Hyrbrid wood blade. Lets get to the action.
Topspins:
So 10 years after the release of Tenergy 05, here we go Butterfly’s latest high end rubber, the Dignics 05. As always we started with topspins and this rubber is something else. The sheer amount of grip you get during topspins is incredible and immediately noticeable.
What's so unique about this rubber is the arc, it’ pretty direct but with tons of spin, usually you only get this amount of spin with rubbers that produce a higher arc like Tenergy 05 or rubbers with lower arc but with less speed like Hurricane 3. This made my shots very effective and hard for Tom to block as they came in sharp and spinny.
Where I particularly loved this rubber was on my backhand side, it really is a joy to use and really stood out to me. I found it to be extremely consistent and the grip gave me the safety in my strokes. I have found for example Tenergy 05 can be hard to control at times on my backhand due to its responsiveness.
Due to the grip the rubber produces it works really well from mid distance to the table, you can take a step off the table and feel very confident in your strokes.
Spin
Okay guys as expected with a rubber with this amount of grip, playing topspins against backspin with Dignics 05 was fantastic, tons of spin and bite on the ball. Interestingly, playing against backspin reminded me of using Tenergy 05 hard as you can really accelerate into the ball as you have a lot of control. At first I found that due to the slightly lower arc the ball sometimes went into the net which meant i had to slightly adjust my stroke and brush the ball more, to get it on the table.
The amount of time Dignics 05 holds the ball onto the rubber was again extremely noticeable and very useful during shots over the table such as the backhand flick, allowing you to produce a lot of rotation on the ball and play hard and fast. This is where the rubber really shone for me and allowed me to pick up the ball even when it was low with a lot backspin.
Passive play:
When you’re on the backfoot in the rally Dignics 05 has superb amounts of control when you need to block. When Tom attacked I was able to literally just put my bat behind the ball without adjusting my angle that much, and the ball went over sharp and effectively. I am very use to Tenergy 05 and when I block on the backhand side I have to make quite a bit of adjustment, with the Dignics 05 it felt quite a bit easier due to the less responsive, and solid impact.
The stability and control that Dignics 05 gives you when playing away from the table is fantastic, in particular this really helped with my backhands away from the table as the ball doesn’t just fly out so easily which is what happens usually when you use fast rubbers.
Short Game:
Here we try some short touches over the net. Dignics 05 allows you to play passive shots like this very easily due to the grip and control. Although it’s great for this area we still had to have soft hands and solid technique to feel the ball well over the net.This rubber is also not only good for touching, serving with this rubber is superb, you can really get a lot of spin keeping it short with ease
Like with backhand flicks, forehand flicking is also very effective with the rubber whether that is guided or aggressive flicks, its very strong here off the short ball. The ball doesn’t just fly off the end of the table and you have a lot of control to play with high quality.
Conclusion:
Alryt guys, there was the review of the Dignics 05. Thanks to Butterfly for sending us this new gear in the post. This new high end rubber by Butterfly to me doesn't knock Tenergy 05 off the top spot however i would say it joins it there, it’s got its own uniqueness.
Dignics is simply different and I feel caters for a broader range of players. Tenergy is for advanced players and so is Dignics but I feel Dignics is better in the passive game and will give people that Tenergy feeling but give you greater control and spin. After using Dignics now for a few weeks me and Tom both feel that Dignics 05 is slightly slower than Tenergy 05 especially during passive shots like serving, blocking and touching short but during max effort, high speed shots like forehand topspin there is less of a difference, whilst there definitely more spin.
The great advantages of Dignics 05 is how easy it is to handle in fast situations. The rubber really holds the ball which gives you a lot of spin and stability in your strokes.
Now will I use this rubber? 100%! For me I will still stick with Tenergy 05 on my forehand side just so I can get more ease of speed when I need it and Dignics 05 on my backhand. The Dignics 05 on my backhand gives me much greater control and feeling and really bites into the ball well.