The very best of all the alc blade out there. Simply no replacement for this legendary blade. My blade is 89g. I prefer this over my tbs and tb alc. It's just better at everything by a small margin, just got that edge. Very crisp on all shots .has slight softer feel but still medium hard. definitely more precise feel of catching the ball on every loop. Hence high dwell. Throw is also medium to high similar to tbs may be better. Tb alc has slightly lower throw than viscaria and tbs with the same rubber test. Viscaria for me is worth every penny. It is just amazing perfect for close to middle attacking topspin players. It surely shows why so many pros use this.
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Two of the most discussed rubbers on the market right now and here is my honest review (after using hurricanes for 3 years+ and the dignics 09c for 3 days)
We all want that grippy yet bouncy Chinese rubber , that is why boosting and all those booster glues become a part of our gear .Boosting makes a grippy Chinese rubber have more spring and bounce in the sponge( but sometimes over boosting makes the top sheet lose its grip) , one must be very careful as for the amount of booster used could affect the quality of the boosted rubber and boosting also makes the rubber last shorter (cuz boosting sinks into the sponge and damages it).
Enough intro , i guess butterfly came out with Dignics 09c to tackle the Chinese rubber market and they did it superbly well , from my experience Dignics 09c is exactly equivalent to a boosted hurricane 3 39 degrees hardness .... but the thing is you don't have to boost ! And u don't have to wait for 3-4 days of the boost , and another 3 days to clear the top sheet ( brand new Chinese rubbers are very hard to play in the first 3 days due to the tackiness)
One downside compared to the Hurricane 3 is the grip is lesser , so serving and short balls need some adjustments.
Coming from a Hurricane 3 user i am very satisfied and i am sticking to it (but also keeping a H3 on another blade because they have their advantages), what i would look forward to is Dignics 09c HARD ! because as i said it is equal to a 39 degree boosted , but i come from 40-41 degree so im sure butterfly could go harder.
Next thing to test is longevity , i play with Dignics 05 on backhand and it lasted 2 months of 2+hours play per day so that is about 70 hours .. lets see how long will Dignics 09c last
So if u are a Chinese rubber user like me , but are lazy to boost and are tired of the wear and tear and unpredictableness i suggest u to try them out
Pro's and cons comparison between H3
Pros
1.Spin : my practice partners used to be able to block my shots with less efforts , now they need more handling
2.Quality shots : the rubber generates so much speed and spin i can focus my thoughts on accuracy and precision
3. Forgiveness : sometimes my techniques are incorrect but the ball still lands on the other side (when playing with hurricane that doesn't happen because hurricanes needs lot of power to generate the grip on the ball) , in other terms dignics is quiet user friendly
Cons
1: Higher arc : i can feel that the ball that lands on the other side has a higher arc , which makes it easier for an opponent to take his time to block or counterattack once they r used to the spin
2. Less catapult effect : after hitting a shot although the ball is spinnier than before i feel the ball not racing forward but jumping upwards instead
We all want that grippy yet bouncy Chinese rubber , that is why boosting and all those booster glues become a part of our gear .Boosting makes a grippy Chinese rubber have more spring and bounce in the sponge( but sometimes over boosting makes the top sheet lose its grip) , one must be very careful as for the amount of booster used could affect the quality of the boosted rubber and boosting also makes the rubber last shorter (cuz boosting sinks into the sponge and damages it).
Enough intro , i guess butterfly came out with Dignics 09c to tackle the Chinese rubber market and they did it superbly well , from my experience Dignics 09c is exactly equivalent to a boosted hurricane 3 39 degrees hardness .... but the thing is you don't have to boost ! And u don't have to wait for 3-4 days of the boost , and another 3 days to clear the top sheet ( brand new Chinese rubbers are very hard to play in the first 3 days due to the tackiness)
One downside compared to the Hurricane 3 is the grip is lesser , so serving and short balls need some adjustments.
Coming from a Hurricane 3 user i am very satisfied and i am sticking to it (but also keeping a H3 on another blade because they have their advantages), what i would look forward to is Dignics 09c HARD ! because as i said it is equal to a 39 degree boosted , but i come from 40-41 degree so im sure butterfly could go harder.
Next thing to test is longevity , i play with Dignics 05 on backhand and it lasted 2 months of 2+hours play per day so that is about 70 hours .. lets see how long will Dignics 09c last
So if u are a Chinese rubber user like me , but are lazy to boost and are tired of the wear and tear and unpredictableness i suggest u to try them out
Pro's and cons comparison between H3
Pros
1.Spin : my practice partners used to be able to block my shots with less efforts , now they need more handling
2.Quality shots : the rubber generates so much speed and spin i can focus my thoughts on accuracy and precision
3. Forgiveness : sometimes my techniques are incorrect but the ball still lands on the other side (when playing with hurricane that doesn't happen because hurricanes needs lot of power to generate the grip on the ball) , in other terms dignics is quiet user friendly
Cons
1: Higher arc : i can feel that the ball that lands on the other side has a higher arc , which makes it easier for an opponent to take his time to block or counterattack once they r used to the spin
2. Less catapult effect : after hitting a shot although the ball is spinnier than before i feel the ball not racing forward but jumping upwards instead
- Speed
- Spin
- Durability
- Control
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This is the review for unboosted 41 degree hardness, 2.2 mm thickness black rubber. USATT rating 1750 (March 2019). This review is only for forehand and based only on my experience for past 2-3 years. I started playing with H3N when I was 1100. That time I was using 40 degree hardness and 2.15 mm, black and red on both sides on a 5 ply blade. I started to feel the rubber was slow and started trying out different rubbers. At that time, I did not realize importance of training and sticking to the same equipment to develop feeling. I tried 729 FX, Palio red and yellow, Mercury 2, Rasanter 42 and Rakza 7 during past 3 years. Then after some training decided to come back to H3N on TB ALC blade. Been playing with the combination for over 2 months and saw that the consistency and spin on my FH loops increased a lot. Maybe because I started playing table tennis with H3N, it just feels right for me. I wish I kept playing with H3N for last 3 years. TB ALC is one of the best blade for H3N. There is very little margin for error but that makes you play the correct strokes every time (a.k.a. no more love tapping). Of course serves and pushes are better with H3N. Best returns for the efforts you put in.
If someone wishes to use this rubber for the first time, I would recommend at-least 3-4 months of practice before the tournament. Otherwise the "slowness" or the lack of correct FH technique\footwork will frustrate you. If you get nervous and freeze in the tournament match, not executing the correct technique\footwork, you won't be able to loop at all. But if you play the correct technique, the rewards are much higher than softer rubbers such as Rakza, Rasanter-42 (I never played with T-05 so I cannot compare it to T-05). During gameplay against players rated under 1700, I find that most of the times my opening loop alone wins points because of the high amount of spin. Playing topspin-topspin counters away from the table with varying amount of spin and placement is also benefited using H3N.
H3N generally last long time (2-3) years (I still have my old rubbers) if you clean the rubber after every practice session and use some covering. Any plastic sheet will work for covering. The tackiness usually "recovers" after you keep the topsheet covered. That is the main reason this rubber lasts long time. Some of my friends complained about the durability of H3N but I also never see them cleaning/covering their topsheets after practice.
If you are really confident in your backhand loop and flicks, there is no reason why you cannot use H3N (maybe 40 deg-2.15 mm) on your backhand too. But then playing punch shots and poking shots would require a very good timing with H3N on BH. Also using H3N on both sides makes the setup very heavy that most of the players do not prefer.
TLDR: One of the best FH rubber to learn the FH loop and develop technique and footwork. Beginners using H3N need to be patient and should spend a lot of time practicing instead of seeking immediate fruits. Best on flexible\hard blades. Only use on backhand if you are spin oriented on both wings and if you don't care about the weight.
Update after playing first tournament with TB ALC and H3N: Forehand was the most reliable shot for me this tournament and overall pleased with H3N on FH.
If someone wishes to use this rubber for the first time, I would recommend at-least 3-4 months of practice before the tournament. Otherwise the "slowness" or the lack of correct FH technique\footwork will frustrate you. If you get nervous and freeze in the tournament match, not executing the correct technique\footwork, you won't be able to loop at all. But if you play the correct technique, the rewards are much higher than softer rubbers such as Rakza, Rasanter-42 (I never played with T-05 so I cannot compare it to T-05). During gameplay against players rated under 1700, I find that most of the times my opening loop alone wins points because of the high amount of spin. Playing topspin-topspin counters away from the table with varying amount of spin and placement is also benefited using H3N.
H3N generally last long time (2-3) years (I still have my old rubbers) if you clean the rubber after every practice session and use some covering. Any plastic sheet will work for covering. The tackiness usually "recovers" after you keep the topsheet covered. That is the main reason this rubber lasts long time. Some of my friends complained about the durability of H3N but I also never see them cleaning/covering their topsheets after practice
.If you are really confident in your backhand loop and flicks, there is no reason why you cannot use H3N (maybe 40 deg-2.15 mm) on your backhand too. But then playing punch shots and poking shots would require a very good timing with H3N on BH. Also using H3N on both sides makes the setup very heavy that most of the players do not prefer.
TLDR: One of the best FH rubber to learn the FH loop and develop technique and footwork. Beginners using H3N need to be patient and should spend a lot of time practicing instead of seeking immediate fruits. Best on flexible\hard blades. Only use on backhand if you are spin oriented on both wings and if you don't care about the weight.
Update after playing first tournament with TB ALC and H3N: Forehand was the most reliable shot for me this tournament and overall pleased with H3N on FH.
- Speed
- Spin
- Durability
- Control
