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Pros
  • Fast
  • Spinny
Cons
  • Hard feel
  • Expensive
I bit the bullet and bought a sheet of 09C black max.I have been using Neo H3 Provincial blue sponge 41 degree, boosted with 4 layers of seamoon oil.I replaced the H3 with 09C on the same blade - Stiga nostalgic OFF. After 5 hours of play, I can write the following comparison.ServiceH3 definitely reign in short spinny service. I struggled to keep my service short with 09C. It's claimed to be tacky. But the tack is about 20% of what is on H3. Understandably it was difficult to produce comparable spin with 09C.Close to table flat hit09C reigns in this area due to the powerful sponge and semi-tacky topsheet. But the ball tends to go very long. I had to adjust the angle.Lifting back spinBoth are equally easy in this area. It is quite easy to engage the sponge in 09C to produce tons of spin. However, H3 still produces more spin.Topspin rallyIt is easier to counter loop topspin with 09C. You don't have to have a full swing to do power loop.Let's 50% power produces 70 spin in 09C, and 60 spin in H3. 70% power produces 80 spin in 09C but 85 spin in H3. If you give 80-90% of your full swing, 09C might top at 100 but H3 can go 120.Bear in mind, I was using 41 degree H3. If you use 39degree you might bottom out sooner, thus equal spin with 09C.ConslusionSpin (service, loop in high impact): H3>09CSpin (loop in low to medium impact): H3=09CSpeed: H3<09C
Speed
9
Spin
8.9
Durability
9.6
Control
8.1
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Pros
  • Good shortgame
  • Explosive loop
  • Good blocking
Cons
  • heavy
  • expensive
For this review, I will compare Tenergy 05 Hard (T05H) to the following rubbers I had played on my penhold ZJK ALC:

  • Hurricane 3 National BS (H3N) 40degree
  • Tenergy 05 (T05)
  • MXS


I play spin game most of the time and step away to mid distance for two-wing looping.

Topspin

Power - T05H=H3N>T05>MXS
Spin - H3N>T05H>T05>MXS
Feel (medium impact) - T05>MXS>T05H>H3N
Feel (high impact) - T05=T05H>MXS > H3N

I expected the T05H to be faster and more spinny than T05 due to its harder sponge. It turned out as expected. Most of my topspin landed further than usual and it created a lot of trouble for my opponent to block. For spin, H3N is still the king. However, at high impact when looping at mid-distance, T05H is only slightly less spinny than H3N. The feel of the rubber improves as you hit or loop harder as you are breaking into the hard sponge.

Flat hit
Power - T05H>T05>MXS>H3N
As many of us expected, flat hitting with T05H is a joy when the ball travels at bullet speed. The consistency is also higher than tacky rubber as the angle of your racket does not need to be super precise.

Flick
Consistency - H3N>T05>T05H>MXS
I do FH flick near the net a lot. In this aspect, H3N tends to deliver a higher success rate due to the grippy topsheet. When I first flicked with T05H the ball went to the net a lot. Then I realized at low impact, the T05H topsheet doesn't grab the ball as well as the H3N. T05 is easier than T05H as a softer sponge is bouncier at low impact.

It took me a few games to adjust to T05H. To flick with T05H I had to brush less and hit more to lift the ball. Once you can flick the ball over the net, it is faster than with H3N but less spin.

Block
Consistency - MXS>T05>T05H>H3N
The difference is very marginal once you've adjusted to the rubber. But overall the ones with softer sponge (T05 and MXS) means blocking is more linear than ones with harder sponge (T05H and H3N). Again, due to the powerful harder sponge, the ball may fly all the way out with T05H. You just need to close the angle a little. The difference is quite marginal.

Serve
Spin - H3N>T05H>T05>MXS
As I said, when it comes to spin, H3N is still king. No exception here. H3N delivered the most spinny shortest serve. I took me some time to adjust to T05H. But due to its harder sponge, it was easier to keep the ball short than with T05.

Service return
H3N>T05H>T05>MXS
Again, H3N keeps the return low and short due to the grippy topsheet. T05H can still keep the ball low and short once you've put enough practice into it. In fact, T05H has one advantage over H3N - topsheet less sensitive to spin. I was surprised I kept my return nice and low when I was guessing the opponent's serve.
Speed
9.5
Spin
8.9
Durability
8.6
Control
8.3
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Pros
  • High control
  • Light
Cons
  • Too much flex
I have a very old penhold Primorac with black tag. I have tried various rubbers on it.

The feel of the blade is out of this world. It has very decent flex which is a dream for looper.

But the flex means my BH control is low as the ball can fly up too high. I had to put rubber with low arc on my BH to counteract that.

For FH, Chinese rubbers are way too slow for Primorac in ABS ball era. Hard tensor works the best.
Speed
6.7
Control
9.3
Hardness
4.5
Durability
10
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