Stiga Mantra S

STIGA Mantra Soft
Weight: 63 grams uncut, 45 grams uncut
Sponge Hardness: 42°
Hardness: Soft
Speed: Medium/Fast
Spin: Medium
Blade used: Carbonado 90 & 145 + Infinity



Written Review

Initial Inspection

Here is mine and Tom's review on the STIGA Mantra Soft in the TableTennisDaily Studio. The Mantra seems to have a gripper top sheet on initial inspection than the airoc series.

The soft, medium and hard versions of the Mantra all have the same pimple structure with the only difference being the sponge hardness. The Mantra sot has a 42 degree sponge hardness and comes in at 63grams when uncut and when cut is 45 grams.


Speed

It was apparent from the beggining that the Mantra series were fast rubbers with myself and Tom making errors with our shots just missing the end of the table. The Japanese based rubbers are known for their speed. Within the series the soft was slower by quite a notch however had more control over the medium and hard versions.

The Mantra worked very well on the backhand side and gave great consistency and control. For example on wide balls when out of position the Mantra soft grabbed the ball well giving good arc in the shot.


Spin

As mentioned in our Mantra Medium Review we were pleased with the amount of spin we were able to produce. This spin excelled it's predecessor Airoc by quite a margin. The soft being the softer sponge soaked the ball into the sponge well producing lots of spin. The spin was not as high as what the recent Stiga Genesis produces but it was enough to put our opponents under all sorts of pressure to follow up with a strong 5th, 7th ball attack.

Tom found he could produce a lot of spin on his backhand side and found it easier with the soft version. More safety and accuracy was found when using the softer sponge of the series.


Backhand flicks

The backhand flick has become an integral part of table tennis. This shot requires a grippy top sheet to pick up the ball against backspin. I found with the Mantra soft I could grab the ball well over the table producing a reasonable amount of spin.


Counter topspin

Initially the ball shot of the end of the table during the counter topspin again this was due to the speed and we found this quite often with the hard version. When using the soft version there was greater control and with the rubber being slower we had more time and precision to execute a successful counter topspin.


Touch play

During touch play we had enough bite on the ball to keep it low over the net which helped to stop each other from attacking. Sometimes the ball did pop up a little high as you can see in the footage, but again, with a few adjustments to the bat angle, we were able to keep the ball low over the net.


Conclusion

The latest rubbers from STIGA, the Mantra series is a great development to the previous Airoc series with one major key advancement, the rubber being spinnier.
STIGA’s latest Mantra rubber series are a great advancement to their predecessor Airoc. The major difference between the Airoc and the Mantra is found in the topsheet. The topsheet of the Mantra is a lot grippier, however packs similar speed to the airoc, thus the Mantra allows you to have more safety in yours shots without compromising on speed.

In comparison to other rubbers the Mantra series have similar spin capabilities to ESN based rubbers Donic Acuda and Joola Rhyzm. But less than the previously released STIGA Genesis series, although they do have greater speed. The speed being similar to the recently reviewed Tibhar evolution series.

A key feature we like with the Mantra series is its quality during active blocking and holding against aggressive topspin balls. The rubbers are not too sensitive to incoming spin which gives you great confidence when you need to really control the ball.

The Soft is good for all round offensive players, as it's slightly slower than the medium and hard versions and possesses more control giving greater safety. The Medium is for players who want a equal balance between high speed and good spin. Finally the hard version is good for all out attacking players wanting decent spin but are primarily focused on playing hard offensive shots.

I have given this rubber 4* as I prefer the medium version of the Mantra which I have given a strong 5* which you can read here.

Stay tuned for upcoming TableTennisDaily reviews in 2017.

Pictures

Weight of the STIGA Mantra Soft



Sponge hardness of the STIGA Mantra Series

Mantra S
Weight: 62 grams uncut
Speed: Off-
Spin: High

After eagerly waiting several months for the new Mantra rubbers, I finally got hold of all 3 versions. Also to stop all the rumors that the Mantra rubber series needed to be recalled due to low durability is in correct. It was due to factory enhancement with the rubber which I know but do not have the liberty to discuss.









I paired the Mantra S, alongside the Genesis Rubber on a DHS Hurricane 3 for the Carbonado 290 and 245 and the Celero Blade. Out of all 3 versions soft, medium and hard I preferred the hard. The soft version is 42 degrees in hardness. Between all 3 versions the pimple structure between the Soft, Medium and Hard are the exact same the only difference being the hardness of sponge.

A Japanese company developed the Mantra and it is surprisingly different to what I expected especially with The topsheet. The new topsheet on this rubber is very grippy and not like the Airoc series whereby it has that plastic like texture. Lots of people have been asking what are so good about the Mantra's, is it just a marketing gimmick, I have asked myself the same questions. I also asked myself when I tried to place myself on other people’s shoes especially the doubtful ones and I do not blame them for being doubtful.

Between the 3 Mantra rubbers I found the soft version to be the slowest, slower than a Tibhar Evolution FX-P. The Medium version is faster and similar speeds to a EL-S. The Hard version was the fastest one, it matches similar speeds if not faster than a Tibhar Evolution MX-P. The Japanese rubbers didnt really have much problems with speed in the past it was that they needed more spin.

In terms of speed all 3 versions are very grippy, this is the first time that the Japanese company produced such a topsheet for STIGA. The Airoc series was spinny but not on the level of the Mantra rubbers.

The soft version reviewed here requires more hit through the sponge to produce spin. This rubber is for players who compress the sponge a lot when driving or top spinning.

The M version has a medium arc while the S version has a medium to high arc. The S version needs to be hit through the sponge to produce more spin. This rubber is designed for people who compress the sponge a lot when driving or looping. The Genesis rubbers are initially more spinny but when you compress more on the sponge and when you do very strong attacks, that is where the Mantra H and M rubbers shine and you can feel the combination of the speed and spin.

I have also posted a review on the Medium and Hard versions which I preferred more.

For those players who do like to boost their rubbers here is the review-

Stigas Mantra S is far softer than the Airoc or Genesis S- you can tell that even as you attempt to hold the sheet -it just flops around!
I prefer to use Haifu oil oil on my rubbers and therefore boosted it as i do with my DHS h3n

I tried the 2.1mm thickness and found the following-

This rubber i found to be fast and spinny- you can really feel the ball sink in to the rubber and therefore dwell time is excellent- especially good for backhand looping v underspin.

Additionally i found pushing and serving to be effective with this rubber from my backhand
Counterhitting and driving is really impressive with much speed and power. And heres the great thing blocking is so good with control and feel allowing for soft hands to get the best out of blocking.

The Mantra rubber is not a heavy rubber so the blade doesn't feel top heavy (DHS HN3) is a heavier and denser rubber.

Although the surface of the topsheet is not as tacky i found this to be a spinnier rubber than both Astro s and Genesis s and i for one will be changing to this rubber- in fact order a couple of sheets to keep me stocked up!!
T