Andro Rasanter R50

R50 is the hardest of the Rasanter series. Normally, it is more orientated to top players. You need already a good technique and quite much power in your stroke to use it. Otherwise it is hard to wake up all the spin and speed inside.

If you have such a technique, you can have in response the huge spin that it can deliver. I love it!
People who already saw me playing and know my game know that, in forehand, I am gripping a lot the ball to give it maximum spin. This is the perfect rubber for that.

On a occasion got myself a red R50 on ultramax sponge... didn't expect much from it, because recently bought R47 with 2.0 sponge and wasn't impressed with it's performance compared to tenergy 05 max rubber that I use on both sides of a blade (tried it on Apolonia ZLC blade... on BH it was "so-so", on FH not bad, but 05 is much better), I just wanted to try new blade that I bought (Innerforce ZLC)... but, to my surprice, R50 ultramax was fantastic on FH, especially when you make powerful topspin, I was quite dumpfolded when I realise that the more powerful topspin is the more control you get (with 05 for me it's quite an opposite), also the powerful topspis has quite low through angle, but still have a lot of rotation and (as I already sayd) a loooot of control, so it's quite hard for the opponent... the thing I didn't like in R47 2.0, the "cushion" feeling of the sponge, in R50 ultramax on FH is a great thing for short play and block, but, as I sayd, topspin is great thanks to hard and thick sponge... the are still cons though, when you try play relatitely "soft" and slow topspins control is lacking (I think the "cushion" feeling of the sponge is a main reason), so IMO if you attack with this rubber it needs to be done with some power, "soft" attack is not for this rubber, and for my lousy play it means that this rubber is not for my BH, which doesn't have much power, so on BH I prefer Tenergy 05 which compensates my lack of power with bouncy sponge...

So my choice for now is R50 ultramax on FH and Tenergy 05 on BH... but it's a choice for Innerforce ZLC blade, still haven't tried R50 with Apolonia ZLC blade, hope it will be as great as on Innerforce... also, currently Innerforce ZLC with red R50 ultramax on one side and Tenergy 05 1.9 on the other is weight quite much and have quite noticeable overweight to side of the racket with rubbers, and I like it, it helps me to accelerate wrist on the topspin in the moment before racket contact the ball which probably give additional rotation on power to the ball, so maybe some part of my WOW effect of R50 is actually due to that...

The spinniest Rasanter rubber having also the hardest sponge.The feel of the rubber is closer to the Joola Maxxx 500 and Gewo Hype Pro 50. Produces high amount of spin and it seems suited more for players who use Chinese rubbers. The speed is medium fast like that of an EL=S or EL-P. It is spinnier than the Andro Rasant Power Grip but still a notch shorter than MX-P or MX-S. Still, it is a good forehand and backhand rubber but specifically opted for a certain style like a looping style. Rubber is easier to control than the V or R47 versions. Sometimes, it feels like a faster Chinese rubber with no tack.

Hi,

This is my first review ever, so I'm not really sure how to begin with it. I'll start with telling more about my playing style and playing level.

I play Table Tennis for 13 years in Belgium. When I was younger I had some training but my technique is far from perfect. I have no idea how to convert my Belgian rating to USATT but I guess it must be around 2000 or more. When I look at our rating website, I'm in the 5th percentile of all competitive table tennis players in Belgium. My playing style is based upon my serve and my serve return. I'm no rally player. Around 40 percent of my serves are straight winners. If they do come back I try to end the pont with the third ball. My serve return is quite agressive and full of risk. Most of the time I open up with my backhand and then I try to put pressure with my backhand. My main weaknesses is my footwork and short balls to my forehand. I'm not good at flicking with the forehand.

Now the review:

I bought two Rasanters R50 2.0. One for my forehand and one for my backhand. The Blade I use is BTY Liu Shiwen ZLF. I used the rubbers immediately in a league match and had no training with the rubbers. After the league match I did an hour of training with a club mate to verify my initial observations.

Feeling: The feeling of the R50 is quite similar to the powergrip. It feels a little bit softer, maybe because of the thinner topsheet. Overall I really liked the feeling of the rubber. It was fun to play with.

Speed: It's the fastest rubber I've ever played with. It's a hard rubber so it's quite good in the short game but it has an immense power reserve. When I went all out for a power loop they were unreturnable. I've never experienced a rubber where I can put so much power in.

Spin: This is not a rubber to do slow spinny loops. The sponge is very hard so I had difficulty creating spin on slow balls. Maybe my power loops were loaded with spin but I can't really say because all my power loops were straight winners. Anyway, I had no problems spinning heavy backspin balls with my forehand and backhand but I did not have the feeling that they were loaded with spin.

Serving: Easy to do short serves but my opponents had way less problems returning my long serves than usual. I'm not sure why. The topsheet is very grippy but I just couldn't put as much spin on the balls than I usually can. Maybe because of the hard sponge and my serving technique needs a softer topsheet and/or sponge? I don't know.

Blocking: It was great for blocking. I like hard rubbers to block because of the stability. It's easy to smash through spin with this rubber and to do power blocks. No complaints.

Overall: I'm going to keep using this rubber on my backhand but not on my forehand. I simply can't put enough spin on the ball when I serve or open up against backspin. Probably this has more to do with my technique than with the rubber. My forehand technique is not as good as my backhand technique. I still decided to give this rubber 5 stars. Why? Because it's a pleasure to play with. It's great for doing power loops, my forehand never had so much power than yesterday. My power loops were fast as light and unreturnable. The short game was also good and the rubber provided me with great stability in rallies. Andro made a good rubber with the R50. In the right hands this rubber is a great weapon.

Update: I decided to quit playing this rubber. I have the feeling that every shot needs to be a rocket to be effective. It's simply too fast and too hard. I can't seem to put any spin in slower loops. The Rasant Powergrip was easier to play with. Blocks were easier, flat hits were more efficient and it was easier for putting topspin on slower loops and flicks. Anyway, the R50 is certainly a good rubber but it's not for me.