Butterfly Rozena

This is a double-sided review, for one single reason: this rubber is not a good fit for me. I do feel that in the hands of a person that likes bouncy rubbers, this is a very good, sensible option to use.

First off, I have been using this for a relatively short period of about a month. In that month, the rubber has shown no signs of wear whatsoever. The topsheet looks like it just came out of the package, so that indicates to me you will be getting great mileage out of this rubber.

I have been using this rubber on Innerforce Layer ALC (and shortly on Outerforce ALC), primarily on the BH side, and bought it in 2.1mm to replace T05 which felt too unpredictable and in turn that was bough to replace Fastarc C-1.

The good points:
Serving, doing a BH serve, the soft rubber really allows the ball to sink in and make good spin with a light effort.
Punching is great. If you like to punch fast with a lot of control, this is a really good rubber to do so. Got some great BH slaps in which was lovely.

The "hmm" points:
Opening up is easy, but also hard for me as it gives a lot of speed if I make even a slightly thicker contact. I prefer to grab a ball rather than shooting it, which might be something to improve on my side too, but it just doesn't work for my current technical level. If you, however, do like to be able to just loopdrive through with light effort, I think this rubber is an absolute shiner. (I really need to learn take that ball a bit higher)
The bounce becomes a bit of a problem when pushing, but far less so than Tenergy.

The bad points:
Hard to say. I think the sponge is a bit fragile so don't keep regluing this rubber I guess.
On FH I found it a complete mismatch. Again, just me, and I can see it working even for me if I'd been using all-wood blades.

Conclusion:
It has a lot of the Tenergy feeling and that gives a really lovely sensation. The ball sinking into the rubber easily, shooting out, and producing good spins with lighter efforts. I feel the marketing bit about "tolerance" is completely right, as getting spins and punches in is just pretty easy to do safely. Not my cuppa, but it's really good in its league and I would easily recommend it to someone who likes bouncier stuff.

One of the best for backhand. Due to its controlled catapult, but decent free speed, it can place nasty, active punch blocks quite precisely. I find myself looking for opportunities to utilize my backhand with the Rozena as I can easily speed punch the ball into side table extremities or into the elbow of the opponent where it is hard to reach.

The spring sponge gives it a clear ball feel especially on carbon blades, but it is also no slouch on all wood blades. I love this rubber.

But if you are an active spin generator on your backhand, you loop alot, open up backspin and love to chop on backhand, the Rozena's topsheet grip will leave you wanting as you get better. I'm not as confident in flicking or opening up backspin with the Rozena than say a Glayzer or a G1. It also reacts badly to regluing, if you do it a few times the sponge can crater and the topsheet can bubble. It's also not as beginner-friendly as many advertised, it's bouncy and quite unpredictable for a new player.

I would not recommend it on the forehand for the beginner or the advanced player. It is okay but it definitely has a ceiling on grip where brushing is concerned.

Good for backhand.

I went into the Rozena for my backhand which is weaker and slow than my forehand as my first racket. It worked for a while until I got better and more experienced like when in training I was training for chopping and blocking, it lacked the spin and speed that I wanted. I would personally recommend just saving up some extra money for a more expensive rubbers in maybe the Tenergy series.

Jack of all trades but the sponge stick to the glue if you peel it off. The sponge will end-up like the moon's surface. Maybe because of the cake sponge

I'll talk about backhand only. This rubber is very balanced, I recommend putting this on the backhand. It's a very good rubber if you want to practice your backhand topspin. The spin is not crazy like dignics 05 or 09c, but it is good enough to produce high ball quality if done right. If you can master this rubber, then you can move on to better rubbers like dignics 05, tenergy 19, dignics 09c. Not so sensitive to incoming spin as well. However, the topsheet of the sponge can be a bit fragile even when the ball hits the edge of this rubber, but it should be fine. The topsheet of this rubber can still produce good amount of spin after playing it for 50 hours. I feel like this rubber can easily last 150-200 hours of playtime. You should buy this if you lack backhand skill and is looking to improve, you can buy it without thinking because of its low price

This was the BH on my first custom. I played with this on a bat lent to me by my coach and thought it was great. Similar experience on my own bat. It is good on the BH. Great speed, decent spin and just nice to use. But on the FH is where it shines. The loops from 1 step back are a dream. I can destroy a backspin serve and with enough power to finish the point on the 4th ball. I have used this for at least 11 hr a week and it is still playing like its new. Overall, this is a fantastic starter rubber for someone with good technique looking for a cheapish and durable tensor.

I used the Rozena on BH with a TB ALC blade. I was not impressed. I used to play with T05-fx on backhand and decided to change to something a bit slower for more control. While it was a bit slower it was also a LOT LESS spiny and less gripy. Long story short I liked the Tenergy more. Rozena was only 14 Eur cheaper than tenergy so still pretty expensive for what it offered. I liked that it was a bit less responsive than the Tenergy which helped me a bit when out of position.However I see a lot of people recommending that rubber so I am sceptical about what I did wrong, xD

Been playing for about seven years and I tried this rubber just to see butterfly products starting at a lower price range. I will say that I am disappointed with the spin the rubber generates. It is almost like an anti-spin rubber. I may also say that this is a good rubber for beginners. It is fast and soft.

Rozena is a good rubber for intermediate players with a good
technique that want to play with more speed than begginer rubbers while still remain a lot of control.

I played the rozena rubber in 1.9 mm on both sides on an ovtcharov s2 blade and I'm very happy with it. I've been playing with it for about 1,5 years now. For me it's a very good combination of speed and control. You can make every shot with good spin but there is nothing that really stands out. That's why I changed to tenergy 05. But I would recommend it to intermediate players who want to have a offensive rubber that's good in every department and want to get better.
Pros

• Control
• Serve and receives
• Topspins
• Close to table and mid distance
• Blocking

Cons

• medium-soft sponge
• Nothing that stands out

Rozena is a medium-fast rubber with above average rating for all other attributes. Kind of a do-it-all rubber (not a defensive rubber). Hits, serves, blocks, short game, loops all can be done with great ease. But none can be done top-grade. Hardness is "medium". Speed-glue effect is less compared other modern rubbers.

I think it's well suited to intermediates, developing players or BH of many FH oriented players.

Great for beginners starting out.

The Butterfly Rozena rubber is a really forgiving, yet spinny and fast intermediate level rubber. While highly skilled players should probably opt for the Tenergy or Dignics series, the developing player that still has problems with reading spin and adjusting the racket angle, should definitely give the Rozena a try. I am using the Rozena on my backhand, which is why I don’t review forehand techniques. I used this Rubber on a 92g heavy Nittaku Violin FL LG All+ blade.

Countering/Blocking:
Countering is easy going. The rubber is still speedy enough to not let the ball drop into the net. Blocking takes some adjustment, because it reacts much less to incoming spin. I sometimes have the problem that the ball slips on my racket, when blocking a diagonal ball down the line. This is really bothersome but can be adjusted to accordingly.

Topspins:
Topspins played with a thin contact, such as flicks and slow loops, don’t benefit from the sponge as much. They are spinny, but not as spinny as they would be if the sponge was engaged properly. This means that the rubber has plenty spin from mid distance and at the table, if you drive loop the ball. In this regard the spin production is quite astonishing, considering the spinsensitivity or lack thereof. Topspins against backspin should be player engaging the sponge, to guarantee the clearance of the net.

Short game/pushes:
The short game isn’t the Rozena’s strong suit. It is very safe; considering you do get away with bat angle inaccuracies without the ball popping up high. But the spin developed is subpar when compared to other rubbers. Again, you must engage the sponge to develop proper spin, so touching short whilst creating spin is hard, but long pushed should be alright with proper technique.

TL;DR: Perfect rubber for developing player. Low sensitivity to incoming spin, producing surprisingly much spin when engaging the sponge.

I wrote up a little review shortly after having started using Rozena. I've been using it for a long time now, time to restate things. The following pertains to sheets of Rozena used for 10-16 hours/week in intensive training and matches during about 6 months, which is about 300-400 hours of use.

Rozena is a relatively spin-insensitive rubber. This also seems to entail that it is not always as easy to impart spin with it. This is especially so when pushing.

The short game is fine, but if at some point you seek to deliver a very tight and heavily loaded deep backspin ball, well, that's relatively hard to do and the ball won't be as spinny as with some other rubbers. So, don't do that.

When countering, blocking (actively or passively), or flat hitting, Rozena is extremely dependable. You can just keep going on and on keeping the ball in play if that's what you set out to do. As long as you're in position and manage to stay awake you'll keep going like a machine.

Opening up backspin balls is relatively easy, and the pleasant surprise Rozena brings to the table is a very high level of spin when engaging the sponge. A light brush will be less loaded than (say) with Tenergy 05, but with deep contact the difference isn't that big. Flicks are a bit easier, but might be a little less pressureful than with said T05.

It shines when counterspinning in half position or second position. Again, here Rozena produces massive spin, T05 level, upon deep contact, and has plenty punch to deliver quality of speed too. A high quality counterspinning game is enabled that way. My game has grown in solidity. This is a tradeoff; I also have a spare T05/NanoflexFT48 setup, with which I have higher percentages of both spectacular winners as well as abysmall errors. By now I prefer the certainty of getting in place, hitting the ball in full confidence that I'll bend it onto the table wherever and however I want it to.

After a while you get used to the way Rozena produces spin and incorporate the required deep contact in serving as well. That takes a little extra effort, and it requires a bit more skills. Learning this is a good thing anyway, and once this is mastered you get to play the deception game by way of deeper and shallower contact as well.

My slabs of Rozena are old enough to develop EJ rash in the meantime. They're worn a bit, visually, with a few crumbs breaking away from the edges; Rozena is more prone to breaking up when hitting the table edge or your partner's blade in doubles. I actually have a very little clot broken out when I brushed a ball that just cleared the long table corner, ever so gently grazing that corner. My index finger rest shows discolouration. Yet the rubbers still play pretty much like new; there's ball slippage only when things get all too wet/humid, and not more so now than when new. To I'm not giving in to EJ impulses just now; there's no justification for that.

I had a hit with this new rubber from butterfly. The word "Tolerance" was given emphasis over the PVs from butterfly and I know the reason why. It is because it is such a forgiving rubber. Adjusting from a Chinese rubber BH to a Spring sponge/High Tension rubber took a bit of time.
Topspin to topspin: I had to close the Angle more. It has Low Throw.
Looping Backspin: It requires opening up a bit more and brushing upwards even more.
Service: I had a hard time adjusting on the service game and incorporating the High toss serve because its a bit bouncy for me. it produces massive spin if the ball dug into the sponge. Need to practice more.
Flicking: Since the sponge is soft, its a bit hard.
Banana Flick : E-A-S-Y. My favorite part of the test.
Other Observations:

• Pink Sponge
• Low Throw
• Non Tacky
• Soft

A lot of people just look at this as Tenergy-lite but if you evaluate it on its own merits it’s a really excellent rubber for those looking for a balanced attack with good control and consistency, while still being dynamic with good spin and speed.

It has the same spring sponge as the Tenergy series, my best comparison being a slightly softer and more forgiving Tenergy 80. It’s throw angle is similar to MX-P or just less than T80 on the Tenergy scale. It also has relatively good spin and speed being just a notch below the most aggressive attacking rubbers.

The other criticism I’ve heard of this rubber is that’s it’s “jack of all trades, but a master of none.” While it doesn’t quite match the spin and looping ability of Tenergy 05 or speed of Tibhar MX-P, if your game is more than just pure looping and utilizes blocking, control, and placement (and you like Butterfly’s spring sponge) then this is an excellent rubber you should give serious consideration.

There's nothing you can't do with this rubber. It offers the dynamic attacking feel of Tenergy while being less spin sensitive and easier to use in the short game.

Update: after initially using this just on the BH side I’m now using using it on FH too. Really like this rubber, can’t find any faults with it and it’s a great fit for my game. Plan on sticking with it.

My friend had this rubber so I tried it. He was using it with a petr korbel blade. It had a different feeling to any rubber I have ever tried, I really liked it. It felt closer to an esn rubber than to Tenergy. I would still choose Tenergy over the rozena although rozena had more hit power and would be easier against awkward players.

The pro with this rubber is if you want to use a Butterfly rubber using the Rozena will not set you back as much as purchasing two sheets of Tenergy.

After using the rozena, I saw blocking was very easy. The downside was the rubber did not produce enough speed and spin that i normally am used too. I would recommend this rubber to beginners who love butterfly and are not used to the high speed and spins of the game to help develop their game. Overall, a decent rubber for $50 from butterfly.

Some impressions from playing 3 hours with Rozena today, glued on a BTY Innferforce ALC.S:


- Spin generation is definitely below Tenergy 05 and 80. I'd say its about on-par with the 64. It generates less spin than EL-S and MX-P. I'd even go and say it generates less than a Karis M.
- Speed is about 20% slower than a Tenergy 05; speed is again very similar to the Karis M, maybe a tad quicker.
- The arc of the shot is significantly lower than the one of the 05. I'd say its in-between the 80 and 64. (close to 80)
- The rubber is very easy to play. Pretty tolerant to incoming spin
- Rubber is significantly easier to handle in passive play than the Tenergy's, about the same level of a Karis M.
- Rozena is less bouncy than Tenergys
- Category-Wise I'd put it on OFF-


I think $50 for Rozena is OK. Yes, it can always be cheaper but its certainly a high quality rubber that is very suited to developing players and people with a less than stellar technique that don't practice often. Is it cheap? No, but other high quality material such as the Karis are also in the same price bracket.

more suited as a backhand rubber rather than a forehand rubber. this is more suited for players who are still developing their game and also for all around type of play where every stroke counts a a point earning stroke liek push chops and flicks. advanced players can use this more as a backhand rubber and just stick to Tenergy 05. Spin is much less compared to Tenergy 05 or MX-P.