Latest reviews

this rubber has great feeling and is good for blocking and controlling but does lack the speed edge to get through opponents. i found this to be a very good backhand rubber due to its spiny nature and controllable. unlike the vega pro this rubber is very forgiving and allows a little margin for mistiming and such like.

This rubber requires impeccable timing for you to be in complete control of it as it is very unforgiving. very quick and spiny rubber but is no good for the passive or all-round player. you need to be a solid topspin attacker for this rubber to work for you. one very good thing with this rubber is that it is very good with serving and is very easy to generate spin with them. as well as this it does have a prolonged life and does last a long time without dropping off. what i did find is that the edges are very brittle.

This blade has an incredible feel that allows you to feel the ball totally on the bad and has impeccable control without losing speed. All aspects of the game are easily done with this blade and I find this blade very forgiving as it has a large sweet spot. The only con with this blade is that with tenergy in can sometimes be top heavy.

This blade is well suited for those who seek for powerful topspin shots and dominating rallies. It blocks incoming topspin shots with great speed and control as if you're a wall, but I couldn't find this consistency in playing aggressive shots. For me overall it was too stiff and not controllable enough but I can imagine that in the right hands this could be a deadly weapon.

I've tried this rubber on both backhand and forehand. It's well suited for close to mid-range looping with enough speed and spin. Basic backspin pushes and flicks are fine as well. The only problem here is the control; sometimes it's hard to find the correct angle and arc, topspins flying over or into the net. Same with blocking.

I have this robot and I've really enjoyed to practice with it. It's really easy to set up and the balls goes back to the machine automatically thanks to the "net-barriers". The Newgy Robo-Pong 2050 has a great variety of training programs and you can also make your own ones if you plug it to a computer. I don't think the price is that bad either.

But what could be better with this robot?
-You have to either choose topspin OR underspin (OR sidespin). What I mean with this is that you can set up the machine only to 1 position (top-,under- or sidespin) before you start the program. Meaning that you can't for example have it serve you first 1 short underspin and after that 1 long topspin. The maching can though put short and long balls in same programs.
- Another slightly bad thing is that when you program it to serve you underspin, the spin is WAY too heavy. It's like playing against a defender who pimple chops your topspin and you have to hit from that ball next. In a way this is good (if you want this kind of training) but I find it a bit disturbing that I can't regulate the amount of spin the machine produces.

But as said, I have really liked this robot and it can surely help you develop your game. The (rather) low price makes this certain robot a good choice if you are thinking of buying a table tennis robot.

I tested Stiga Airoc M rubber a few weeks ago. I played only about 15 mins with it but here is how it felt:

The sponge felt quite soft. That was my first thought. Compared to Tenergy 05 (that I've been playing for several years with now) it was a big difference. The rubber had good spin and control but I put the speed both to "pros" and "cons". It felt like I had to hit really hard to get the same speed as with Tenergy 05 but to be honest it wasn't really that bad.

From what I've heard from my friend they have also really liked the rubber and said it's the best one Stiga has made so far. I think it fits quite well with poly ball. The rubber is certainly worth a try if you want to try something new and a bit different than Tenergys. I'm thinking of starting to play with this rubber.

I use this rubber on my forehand it's does everything I ask of it and can create heavy top spin ( with medium/low throw ) but has lots of control and spin for the short game and serves. I have two blades set up with this on my forehand and 425 on my back hand. Blades, Jolla wing passion fast and Rossskopf emotion fast. This rubber works best with a stiffer blade, I have tried it on all-round blades, its just not as good power/spin wise . Its not as quite spiny as 05 but has more control . This is just my opinion, as are all reviews.

I used this rubber for a period of time as a replacement for tenergy 05. It definitely has the speed but not the grip to match. I enjoyed using the rubber but tenergy was just that bit better so I went back. It wasn't very durable, only lasted a few weeks when I was playing full time.

I trained with these balls for a few weeks and have used them in one competition. They are the best plastic ball I have used so far. There is still issues surrounding the ball. They break far more often and the balls are not always consistent in a pack. They 'fly' much better than the other plastic balls I have played with though. So I will continue to use them until a better alternative comes along.

These shoes are excellent in all departments. I have been using them for 4-5 months now and have had no issues with grip. They are very comfortable due to the asics gel that is in the sole of the shoe. You can wear them for hours and not want to take them off. If the durability is anything like the previous Energyforce shoes I have owned I will still be wearing them for a few years.

There is however one big drawback to buying these shoes and that is the price. They are ridiculously pricey! If you only play table tennis occasionally and are not playing several times a week you don't need these shoes. I bought these shoes as I am a full time coach and wear them almost everyday. I have to get my moneys worth some how.

The Boll spirit is a classic blade and will be for years to come.

The reason for it's popularity is that any style of player can use it and get success from it. It has great control for a carbon blade, better than a lot of the faster wood blades. You can get the speed you need easily and never disappoints.

It's my first pick every time.

lgreggs

Timo Boll ALC is an outstanding blade.
-In my opinion, one of the blade with best control and touch for its speed range.
-Suitable for players seeking to win through precision in addition to speed and power (not suitable for total powerplay or hard hitters imo).
-Arylate carbon provides larger sweetspot = larger margin for quality shots even during unfavourable position + consistent ball feedback and return.
-Ply formation gives wide range of gear - supports various strokes in all phases of the rally (your skill is most likely the limit!).
-Blade head comparatively small = good maneuverability over the table for quick shots such as backhand banana flick.

Rubbers reccomendation:
Your preference, the blade is compatible with quite an extensive range of modern rubbers.
I personally prefer medium to medium-hard rubbers on this blade (currently using the blade with H3Neo Provincial 39deg on FH and Bluefire M2 on BH).

Cost more than all Butterfly ALC blades. Probably paid the extra premium for the Grand Slam Champion's name alone. But the craftsmanship and package is simply first class so the higher price is justified somehow.

Weight is manageable at a tad under 180g with Max Tenergy both sides. Well balanced and not head heavy. Crisp with slight flex and sweet amount of vibration. Got one of the best FL handle in the market. Too bad it is overshadowed by Viscaria because of the choice of ZJK.

This is a good overall blade from Butterfly. The best part with the blade is that it's so cheap; it can be bought for about 30-35 USD from some stores. Fits perfectly for any offensive player. Thanks to its low price you don't either really have to be "scared" (breaking the bat) of taking some risks when hitting half long balls. Breaking a 30 USD bat instead of a 200 USD bat is quite a difference

I've been using this blade probably like 5-7 years and I think it's good combined with Tenergy 05 rubbers. There are definitely better blades out also but this is a good choice for an offensive player who doesn't want to spend a fortune to his racket's bat.

Lucky if you can get more than 15 minutes out of it. I learnt to play smart and avoid using this ball when the other side is a hard hitter. Then it all comes down to how hard your wall and floor is. This ball should be restricted to loops and chops only.

Durability aside, it has all the typical characteristics of seamed plastic ball. Bounce low, not going forward as much as celluloid, less spin and speed...etc. Yet I don't think it is making life easier. The ball bounce low and not going forward means you have to move into position quicker. That is more running back and forth. Also less spin and speed needs more of your own effort in return. Still it is not the end of the world. One should be able to get the hang of it and forget about the passing celluloid within days.

I hope DHS will work hard on iimproving their balls in their future batch.

Have bought this new plastic balls along with 3 stars for test. Not round as expected for 1 star quality. You can add inconsistent bounce to all the negative comments given to DHS balls. But to my surprise I can get more life from it than 3 stars. That is Hours compare to Minutes! Seems like using different material to me. Price is still high. Good for fun only. Yet that is quite a challenge to play if you want to get serious.

This is the rubber I've played with probably 7 years now. I have used it all that time as my BH rubber and nearly all the time as FH too (I used XIOM omega V Asia as FH rubber a couple of years until changing that also back to Tenergy 05) . IMO the best part with this rubber is its control that allows you to really do what you want with your strokes while letting you still hit the ball with a great speed and spin.

Another great thing with this rubber is that it is good for many different playing styles. No matter if your playing style is very aggressive or more block/defence sorted, this rubber fits you really well.

The only bad side with this rubber (IMO) is that it doesn't maybe last as long as other rubbers. I think the rubbers' grip gets worse faster than other rubbers I've tried. I have still been able to use it 2-3 months while playing a lot (5-10 times/week), but I know many that likes to change the rubber every 1 month. Remember that this is though from a perspective of a player who play(ed) a lot every day and week.

This rubber combined with a Timo Boll Forte- bat is simply awesome. That is the combination I've enjoyed to play the game for several years. If you want to try a rubber with good speed, great spin and awesome control - Tenergy 05 is a great choice

Calibra LT Spin is the 2nd softest in the Calibra LT Series from STIGA (Sound > Spin > LT > Plus)

The rubber is a good spinney rubber for people who play an a spin/attacking game - very good forehand or backhand when playing against Backspin..

If you demand spin - this rubber is for you!

In my opinion this is one of the best rubbers for Backhand. This is my favorite backhand rubber. I had this on my racket and a friend who is a pro was using T80. I asked if I could see how his racket played. He had H3 on FH and I wanted to try that. He used my racket and said, "I like your backhand rubber. It is better for backhand than mine. I am going to switch to that!" Hahaha. He saw how easy it was to do over the table backhand loops (banana) with 05FX. Nothing is as good. The ball sinks into the sponge so well on backhand so that you can really spin the ball when you flip. Not as fast for backhand as T64, but a bigger arc and a higher throw angle.