Latest reviews

i now play with tenergy 80 on both my forehand and backhand. not so fast but good control and good spin. tenergy 80 suits my offensive game style great. the price is a little to much i think but otherwise i like them very much.

First of all the blade is 3+2 layered, not 5+2 as mentioned in the product description. A very thin 5,6 mm blade with a hollowed handle (Senso handle). Despite it is a carbon blade, it has a very nice feel. It is an agressive allround looping blade with outstanding control. I have tried 3 of the m and the production of the blades are quite similar, only minor differences in speed. It has a softer touch and a spin-elastic construction. Ideal for nearly all european rubbers, I have tried it with tenergy 05, bluefire M3, JP3, JP1, and even MAXXX 500. When the FH and the BH rubbers are the same, the blade vibrates very pleasingly. But if you play a hard FH rubber with soft BH rubber, the blade begins to resonate disturbingly. With nearly every rubber, this blade is very spinny.

Recommended for every shot type with spin, but note that the blade lacks the power for smash hits. So this is a problem when flicking over the table, not stiff enough to generate the required speed. Also the counterspins from mid distance are weak, many of them will fall into the net. Close to the table this is a looping monster with very good control. Dropshots are very nice, this blade has a very good feedback vibration, absolutely not disturbing, when the blade is symmetrical. If the blade is asymetric I found that the JP01 is the hardest rubber, which can be played if you have a softer rubber on the other side. If you use a harder rubber it will feel dead, you have to hit really hard to engage the sponge of the rubber, and the blade will vibrate very disturbingly.

Because of the hollowed handle many users complain about the head heavyness. For me The best setup was JP1 FH and M3 BH and the weight was 180g and moderately head heavy which helped me to do most of my BH loops and flicks with huge spin. This way the vibration was a bit higher than normal, but playable.

So I really loved this blade, I had to narrow the blade's neck because it was wide for me and I could not grab the handle well. Quality product, very good for old style european looping, agressive allroundish game with nice blocks and clever play.

This year (2015) the manufacturer came out with straight handle version too, which is a bit bigger then the original flared version. Similar like the innerforce series straight handle. So the straight handle version has a bit wider connection between the handle and the blade which results in less vibration and just a bit stiffer feel and comfortable to male / bigger handed players.


I tested the flared version. The blade is a quality product, nice finish and design. Small chinese style handle, even small for my girlfriend. I tested the blade with Donic Bluefire JP01 on FH and JP03 on BH.


The blade has a sorft touch and a nice woody feel, but not much vibrations. Speed is around ALL+/OFF-, but because of the soft touch and the bit tacky JP sheets feels ALL+. The blade is very linear in terms of speed, with high dwelltime gives inormous control. This blade is a looping blade smashes are only good close to the table, midrange strokes are very weak. Looping is very efficient even in midrange, because of the high dwelltime every type of topspin play can be achieved. Spinning up heavily chopped balls are piece of cake. Counterloops are fine. The other big thing is dropshots and drop pounches. These defensive elements can be preformed with very good control and nice speed.


My girlfriend is using this blade at the moment and I recognised, that her loops became stable, with this blade she plays more consistent.
Overall: very good blade for looping and close to the table. Ideal for girls who play counterhit game but want to loop, strategy ALL/OFF-, quality product.
Bit small handle, costs a bit much.

Best blade, this blade will do what you want to do. Easy to control the ball, but fast enough for every kind of stroke. Trully this blade will make you a point catcher.
My best set up for this blade
FH : Hurricane III neo Black
BH : Tenergy 64 Red

Have been playing with this blade for 3 weeks now. Tested with brand new BlueFires M2 both side, a rubber I know very well. Glued with Revolution n?3.

First, I must admit when I recieved the my order, I coudn't believe how much the blade was beautifull, was thinking that it won't be that magnificent dark brown from commercial pictures.......but it is, it's even more beautifull in real
For a very fair price (bought mine new for around ?47), you get a REAL premium blade, you wonder why this blade is not in the ?100-150 range. The blade is factory lacquered.

Some Pictures of my setup :





Blade alone was 86-87gr, the setup is well balanced.

The touch is very good, I was able to generated good backspin while keeping the ball short and low, I'm not able to do that with all blades.
The blade has a direct touch, hard one, has some flex but not much, dwell is good.
You will love this blade for power loops, any distance from the table. The throw with bluefires M2 is medium-high, it's rather easy to loop backspin balls also.
I was able to keep the ball low and short in the touch game, returning serves with ease, awesome flicks, very powerfull, the speed of the blade is rather accessible.

I had some difficulties in blocks, felt like I had very little margin of error, but I had the same problem with Bluefire M2 on various blades, I guess the rubber just doesn't suit me for blocks.

The blades speed is Off+, sweet spot is very good, just like you will have one on a Butterfly ALC blade.

I give 5 stars to this blade, it's a true priemum carbon blade with noble wood outer, factory lacquered and awesome finish for a very very fair price.
Feel free to ask me any question, if you want to compare it to a specific BTY composite blade for example (I own or have owned a lot of them).

Very balanced blade, it has it all. Fast, but also controlable and dwelly. good quality and nice finish. Its worth to give a try, its good for all kind of looping, blocking style. good close to the table and away also. I tried only with Tenergy 05 on both sides(boosted and unboosted. it's good in both ways)

The Tenergy 05 rubber is spetacular! I play on both sides, with 2/3 layers of Falco Long Booster. Extremely spinny, Excelente block, good away and close to the table. I haven't seen nothing better yet, at least for my forehand ahaha

It is a well balanced forehand rubber, good for looping.

Yasaka New Era Review


Speed: 8.2

Spin: 8.3

Control: 7.5

Tackiness: 6.0 - Medium Heavy

Throw Angle: 5.4 - Low in this sense

Weight: 4.9 - Average

Sponge Hardness: 7.8 - Medium Hard

Durability: 6.5 - Lasts longer than average



As soon as you hit the ball with New Era, you will feel the difference from other rubber sheets.

As the name implies, New Era offers new possibilities. For offensive players who want to counterattack, there is a new feeling and a new way to use the energy in the most efficient way.

New Era is a high-tech product with Latent Energy Inside technology. Yasaka uses a new revolutionary gluing technique to attach the top sheet to the sponge. It keeps the rubber and the sponge in a constantly expanded form.

Speed-gluing not recommended.


Spin: Alright. Looping is a bit hard with this rubber because it has a little bit of a spring sponge thing, so after 3 or 4 hits the sponge sort of pops and can send the ball flying of the table. But topspin and drives are very easy with this rubber.

Speed: It's pretty slow. The rubber itself is quite heavy, and the rubber makes it hard to get back into your ready position. The rubber is actually pretty fast though when looping and can generate a fair amount of spin.

Control: Average. It will go where you want it but sometimes it's control is horrible with it's 'pop sponge' effect.





After using New Era for 3 weeks, I found that it is hard to control it... However the spin is very good especially the loop... New Era is suitable for the advance player.


I compared this rubber to a Mark V both of them in max. What I noticed is that is much harder and has lower throw that is what I liked about this rubber which is very good in the backhand but not as good as the Mark V on the forehand.


Here is one photo of the Yasaka New era rubber

Butterfly Tenergy 05 Review

Speed: 9.1
Spin: 9.5
Control: 7.5
Tackiness: 2.3 - Slightly Tacky
Throw Angle: 7.3 - High in this sense
Weight: 6.9 - Medium Heavy
Sponge Hardness: 6.4 - Medium Hard
Durability: 8.4 - Lasts longer than average

I was sold the moment i played my first loop with Tenergy 05. The rubber has an incredible feeling of grabbing the ball and then catapulting it out at great speed with so much spin.

Butterfly Tenergy 05 gives out a much shorter arc in distance compared to other rubbers I've used in the past, making it much more forgiving when I go for a kill shot over the table.

Although this is not a tensor, it certainly is fast enough to play like one, but Tenergy 05 has a much better short game. Overall, it is not the fastest rubber there is, but definitely one more the easiest one to play with in its speed class.

Speed - 9.1/10

Tenergy 05 is a very fast rubber. Its unique spring sponge makes the ball catapult hard off the rubber but the best part of its speed is when you combine it with spin. Most rubbers you have a choice you can either generate loads of spin, sacrificing speed, or lots of speed, sacrificing spin. With Tenergy they have got the balance just right and you get the best of both worlds. Although it is not the fastest rubber out there it’s still a speed demon, thanks to its spring sponge, which makes it such a lethal weapon when combined with the spin possibilities. The best asset of Tenergy 05 is its looping but what makes it better than other rubbers is the speed you can generate with the loop, power looping is absolutely lethal. Power can be generated easily from short strokes but power can be generated so easily from this rubber it can be very effective from even the back of the court.

Spin - 9.5/10

Tenergy 05 generates bundles of rotation. It is one of the grabbiest non tacky rubbers I have ever played with. Not only is it the amount of spin that Tenergy 05 can generate at high speeds it is the sheer mechanical grip of the top-sheet that makes it a world class looping rubber. When playing a brushing shot you can generate loads of rotation and it barely ever looses grip no matter what angle you try. As a result serving with Tenergy 05 is also extremely good as it can generate so much spin at slow speeds. The top-sheet on Tenergy 05 is really the best I’ve seen and looping with this rubber is an absolute dream. When you strike the ball the rubber also gives a pronounced short arc which means you can play attacking shots than you wouldn’t dream of with other rubbers. Almost looping perfection!.

Control and Consistency - 7.5/10

I think partly the reason why I keep on going back to Tenergy 05 is its shot consistency. I can play the same shot 1000 times and it will always do the same thing which is very desirable in a rubber – it is completely stable. The consistency is absolutely spot on.

There are however a few downsides to Tenergy 05 control.

Incoming spin can be extremely difficult to handle. Because the rubber has extreme grip it is very sensitive to incoming spin and as a result the ball tends to have a very strong reaction on the rubber making it hard to control. This isn’t such a problem for pro’s as they have experience and top technique but if you are a beginner you could really struggle to control the oppositions incoming spin.
The other downside is the spring sponge and high throw angle. Tenergy 05 is a very bouncy rubber which aids you in attack but not in controlling shots like touches and blocks. You’ve got to have really good touch and technique to compensate for the high throw angle and bouncy nature of the rubber. This rubber is not an ideal choice for beginners.

Durability - 8.3/10

I have always regarded Butterfly products to be really high quality but they have really shown they’re pedigree with the Butterfly Tenergy 05 rubber. The quality is absolutely top notch. The topsheet grip is fantastic, it’s durable, it doesn’t easily perish, from what I hear from suppliers there is very rarely a bad sheet. Everything about this rubber screams quality and this is what makes it stand out above the rest in my opinion – it’s just sheer quality.
A lot of players state that Tenergy 05 isn’t as durable as other rubbers but I tend to disagree. Sure the speed glue effect soon wears off like all speed glue effect rubbers do but the aspect that lasts is that grabby topsheet. I had a 2 year old sheet of Tenergy 05 that out performed a 2 month old sheet of Joola Phenix hands down, which is very impressive. It is also a strong rubber that keeps its structural integrity when scuffed on the table as opposed to crumbling.

Other Key Attributes

Tenergy 05 is quite a heavy sheet of rubber and tends to make your blade very top heavy if you have maximum thickness on both sides
The throw angle of Tenergy 05 is very high.
Shot Selection

The only thing I find tricky using this rubber is power driving and smashing the ball. All Tenergy 05 wants to do is grip the ball and this makes it the perfect rubber for looping but when you come in for the kill I find myself making more mistakes than I would with other rubbers. I find it extremely hard to find the shot between heavy loop and the big ‘ole’ slap with Tenergy 05. At first I thought it was just my style and my technique when I tried other rubbers I could drive and smash effortlessly. As much as I can kill the point with heavy powerful loops it does bug me that I can’t just smash the ball effortlessly past the opponent like I can with some rubbers.

Overall - 9.4/10

Tenergy 05 spin and arc is just incredible and combined with its bouncy spring sponge power is a true weapon! If you are an attacker this is a rubber you definitely need to try at least once because there is a reason 90% or the world top players have it. Looping with this rubber is effortless, powerful and unbelievable. For me personally Tenergy 05 is the best rubber for looping in the world – hands down and in my opinion it is still the best rubber for attackers you can currently buy at the moment.


Here is one photo of the Butterfly Tenergy 05 rubber

[h=2]STIGA Polaris Blade + Evo Review[/h]

STIGA Polaris Blade + Evo Review

Hello everyone, this is going to be my very first Review of the STIGA Polaris Blade + Evo Rubber.

So, I was in Stockholm and went in to Intersport to buy a wristband, but then I saw a Blade called Stiga Polaris with a wristband included. The price was about 90 dollars before but now it had a discount being only 15 dollars! I was actually out after the wristband but then I bought the blade aswell. So I decided to make a review of it

I recieved the STIGA Polaris Blade in a red and a black box with a little bit of information on the back.

The rubbers I have been using for the review is Evo on both FH and BH and the ball I have been using is Stiga's Optimum 40+ poly ball.

The weight of the Polaris Blade was 93g.

I have been playing with the Polaris Blade for about 4 hours each.

STIGA Polaris

Weight: 93 grams, with Evo Rubber, 176 grams.

Handle: Flared

Speed: OFF

Test Rubbers: Evo 2.0mm rubber

Test Ball: Stiga Optimum 40+ ball.


7-ply lightweight blade

Flared handle

Evo 2.0mm rubber

ACS system

WRB system

Crystal technology

Balsa construction

NCT technology

Speed:95
Spin:86
Control:47

I was excited to try out the STIGA Polaris Blade because it's a light blade compared to my current blade that im using that is 189 grams. And because of the WRB system and the Crystal technology delivering high speed and spin. The weight was 93 grams and I noticed directly that it felt very light in my hand. The Evo rubber looked perfect on the blade!

I started of with some counter drives and the first I noticed was a decent balance between both power and control, it was a little bit faster than I was expecting it to be, and that was positive because I could feel a great power and control over the ball.

When I started to loop a bit away from the table I could feel the power this blade was able to generate. Together with my Evo rubber I was able to get a good topsin loop with great control. The only thing I noticed when I was far from the table was that I didn't have to put a lot of effort in my loops and strokes as the blade had a great power.

When I started to block and to counter-attack, the first thing I noticed when I was blocking was that it felt almost the same as my current blade with Tenergy 25. The Polaris could generate much speed from using my opponents power and I felt that I could get a good pressure at my opponent. I think that the Polaris Blade is well suited for players who likes to put pressure on the opponent close to the table and a little bit away from the table.

Short play and Serves: it was in the flicks that it required accurate timing when I tested the forehand flicks, if it got mistimed the ball would fly of the table. The blade had great control touching the ball short. With the Evo rubber I had good control over the short game and I could without any problems get really low spinny serves and returns. So a great attribute of this blade was it's ability in the short game.

Mid and Close distance and my experience overall: I could get good pressure playing at mid and close distance. My goal when I play is usually to stay close to the table and to play faster than my opponent. At far range I sometimes felt that I needed to put a little bit of effort into my loops while at close and mid range I almost didn't have to put any effort into my strokes and loops.

I would actually recommend this blade for offenive and agressive players that plays in mid to close range to the table, and that this blade suits all round offensive players very good. I must say that I had some expectations on this blade and I must say that this blade did not dissapoint me at all. I have only been playing with the Polaris Blade for about five practices, so it might be a little bit early to say exactly how this blade plays in the future but the first impression really made an impact on me What I think is that Stiga has made something really good here and this is what makes the blade worth the price

Here are some photos of the STIGA Polaris blade
​

i was using this rubber on a 729 bomb and it is fast. first of all the backhand with this was deadly. almost nobody returned my down the line lasers, or my sidespin blocks. though on forehand it lacked a bit of control, but when you did put it on the table your oponent would have no chance.

I've played this rubber from a friend and it's just a great solid rubber. Other cheap rubbers usually lack something like speed or spin. I liked the sound it does when you hit it hard, and seems to be pretty durable. My friend is using it 7 months and the top sheet still got good grip. It has that extra bounciness to suit the speed lacking beginner blade. And it comes in a price that no one will believe is true. It is also an affordable solution if someone has a table and plays with friends that tend to forget their bats !

Definitely a rubber that will guide a new player into the sport providing great fun !

I used this rubber for two years and was very happy with it. It was good for blocking and punching and could produce a fair amount of spin

I started using this blade when Tom Maynard recommended it to me, I still haven't reached Tom's level though aha! I like how much control it has even though it is very fast especially with Tensor rubbers. I am now going to try the Rosewood blade as I have discovered a chip out of my blade (not to sure what has caused this). I have used this Hybrid blade for around 4 years now and it has served me well.

Excellent shoes that are good value for money. They have good grip and look great. I like in comparison to other expensive shoes I have tried these seem to be as good quality. My other shows seemed to only last 1 season, the grip get worn out quickly, however these Mizuno shoes the grip last a long time.

This rubber need to be boost to get the rubber in full speed

I have tried it and I like it, good for loopers and attack players

Speed 9.0
Spin 9.7
Control 9.8
Tackiness Slightly Tacky
Weight Medium
Sponge Hardness Medium Soft – Softer than MX-P, MX-S and EL-P
Overall 9.6

Thank you all again for those people that messaged me a couple of weeks ago after my review of the TIBHAR Evolution EL-P. I’ve had some other requests, and I’ll get round to them in time - I promise! For now I’m going to review the last in the Evolution range which is the FX-P. I only had one sheet so I played with this rubber on my backhand initially for a while and then twiddled to play with it on my forehand for a while as well. It was quite useful as I could twiddle in between shots and get a good comparison of how it compared to my usual Evolution MX-P rubber.

Everything I’d seen on this rubber was that it was for those players who liked a slightly softer, more controlled version of the other Evolution rubbers, which allowed heavy topspins strokes to be executed with ease, and made controlling easy due to the softer sponge. After my testing, I can without doubt say this is certainly the softest type of the Evolution, and I think some players who like to play with this type of rubber for the controlled attacking topspins will really like the feeling it provides.

This rubber is currently available from my UK sponsors Bribar Table Tennis at a special offer, first 100 sheets sold price of £34.99, reduced from £46.99. You can view and buy it here:

http://shop.bribartt.co.uk/tibhar-evolution-fx-p.html

The sheet I got was maximum sponge thickness, the same as the other members of the Evolution family I have tested. The surface ‘feels’ high quality, if that makes sense – when I rub my hand over the top sheet it’s not dissimilar to my MX-P, or the other Evolutions I have tried. I suspected the real difference will be in the sponge, and I was right!

I started with a few backhand drives with my opponent, and straight away the strengths are obvious – it’s so easy to control and feel the ball with. I was able to move my opponent around the backhand side of the table with ease, slight variations to my block were simple to make, and when he started top spinning the ball at me the rubber just absorbed the oncoming spin and speed and made my blocked returns incredibly easy to control. I tried a couple of small re loops and top spin blocks and a couple of soft blocks, and the rubber was really outstanding here, the ball feels like it is staying on the bat for an age! Immediately I can see the all round player who likes to mix the play with varied top spin strokes and blocks will really love the feeling this rubber provides.

I moved onto top spinning the ball to my opponents block. The feeling and control here is really, really good. I’m able to topspin the ball with control and a lovely arc time and time again, playing a medium paced loop feels great, the rubber is so consistent. The rubber sounds brilliant when I’m brushing over the top of the ball, and I can generate some really heavy spin. It’s easy to vary the strokes I’m playing due to the high control the rubber offers, it’s always difficult to say this as every player is different but it just feels incredibly easy to play with.

Just as an experiment, I tried top spinning a couple of balls and then stepping back and chopping a couple, really to test the control. I was hugely impressed, the dwell time was great and I was easily able to chop with very heavy back spin and float the ball back in a controlled manner. Another indicator that this is a really fantastic rubber for the all rounder who likes to mix the game and spins up, it’s really versatile in this respect!

When I’m serving, the soft sponge allows me that much control I feel I can place the ball anywhere on the table with a really good amount of spin without having to worry about keeping the ball short. It’s easy to serve the length I’m trying, which is short and if left second the second bounce would be right on the white line – the area of indecision! Of course, the ‘feeling’ of the rubber is very different to my Evolution MX-P, it’s very obviously different when serving. I can attack the ball much more with my wrist without having to worry about keeping the ball short. The FX-P is very forgiving in this respect.

When my opponent serves, it’s frighteningly easy to touch the return short anywhere I want on the table. His serve is a good length, just short enough without being too short and close to the net, so this should be difficult but the high control rating allows me to touch with ease. Flicking is also made easy, and anybody who flicks with topspin or topspin and side spin will love how the rubber allows you to have that extra split second to perform this stroke. It’s a little trickier to flick straight through the back of the ball, I always find a slightly harder sponge helps here so this is one small disadvantage. If my opponents serve is slightly long, it’s easy to spin up with a really heavily spun top spin shot. This works really well when setting up the strong fourth ball attack shot – it’s not quite as easy to do a direct, hard third ball when his serve drifts just long, so this again leads more to the all round player who likes to rally and set the points up with good, controlled attacking shots.

For speed, I have rated the Evolution FX-P as 9.0. The softer sponge means that although this will still suit attacking players, a little speed is loss in order to gain all that control! Playing topspins from a metre away from the table produces a great arc that will kick heavily and surprise your opponent. Although by no means slow (especially with the Maximum sponge thickness on this particular sheet) it’s certainly the most controlled of the Evolution range. The ‘rebound’ effect is great, it’s very springy and feels brilliant when playing strong consistent topspins.

For spin, I have rated the Evolution FX-P as 9.7. Those players who like to play with heavy topspin, produce heavy spin serves, and receive with heavily back spun push shots will LOVE the feeling the FX-P provides. I could control the ball easily when changing from control to attack, and the amount of back spin I could produce whilst maintaining control was really superb.

For control, I have rated the Evolution FX-P as 9.8. To put this simply – it’s brilliant. The feeling on the ball is great when I’m producing my first topspin shot from a push ball, playing a stronger topspin, receiving or blocking – the feeling provided is superb and makes playing with the FX-P really easy. Serving short or any length is made very simple as you feel like you have so much control, and re looping also feels easy to control and place. Those players who like a nice soft sponge will love attacking with this rubber.

To sum this up, the FX-P is a really great choice for the all rounder or all round attacking player who likes the softer type of sponge to add control and variation to their game. Those players who maybe struggle to control their attacking shots, serves or returning difficult serves – now is the off season, give this rubber a try! You’ll be amazed at the control and amount of spin you can produce. In my opinion, lots of guys especially at local league and lower National League level would really love this (I do actually know of a couple of top pro’s who play with the FX-P also, especially on the backhand) because of the array of shots you can produce and play with control. If you like to topspin, block, flat hit, chop or push heavily as well as serve with heavy spin confidence, this rubber could well be a really god choice for your game. I prefer the harder MX-P for my particular style which is a little more attacking, so I’ll be staying with that but for the all round attacker this could well be the rubber you have been looking for.

WOW

This rubber is a dream! Of course, it has its cons but other side of the table really shines!

LT Plus is a very hard sponge rubber with medium top sheet i think.
It is not tacky but it is grippy. Top spins are a breeze. Loop is tricky due low arc. Full motion text book stroke needed.
This is the perfect rubber for those who like to pressure all the time. You can change speed very well although change spin needs some keen.
Serve is very very good, either with a jpen or a shakehand i was able to produce huge under, side and topspin serves!
Not good on OFF+ blades, it wont have any feeling and will be way too fast.

I use it on a Jpen Yasaka Aries 8, used on a Malin Extra Special and used on a Rosewood V.
As jpen it awesome! the one ply hinoki adds a smooth arc and makes looping a breeze. awesome!
with Malin extra special there was little feeling, difficult to loop. good for drive. block was tricky.
With Rosewood V is awesome! One was made for other. Soulmates!

In short

Not good on OFF+/carbon blades.
Grippy
Nice serves
Huge amount of speed, insane
Nice spin if proper technic.
Ok~ish blocks.
Low arc
Medium catapult
Very good attack control. ))))

Aw, i almost forgot. When you try to cut the rubber be aware because it crumbles when a box cutter/stiletto is used! id recommend a very sharp scisor