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.
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