Butterfly Rozena

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.

Butterfly Rozena (44.9€) (21/04/17)
Cheaper than Tenergy, but more expensive than most other tensor rubbers (with some "price reduction" in France for exemple)

Speed : it is fast (isn't for beginner at all !) little bit faster than t05fx
Spin : the spin is good but not like t05/t05fx which is spinner (more speed than 05fx but less spin because of the speed)
Control : good control, 35 degree is great, the ball is fast and spinny but is "linear", it doesnt make any weird trajectory
Weight : between t05fx and t80
Hardness : between t05fx and t80, it has a harder sponge than 05fx but a more elastic topsheet than 05fx like a 80 but the overall is quite the same
throw angle : medium/medium high (lower than t05/t05fx like the 80/80fx
durability : seems to be good like tenergy

special points : good for counter topspin because of a softer sponge like t05fx, also good for blocking

Conclusion : very good rubber ! Like a mini tenergy but with lower price ! Not for beginner, it isn't so forgiving

Using black Rozena in max on backhand (on forehand I have red 05 max) of my Apolonia ZLC blade for about 3 weeks... Overall I like this rubber, it's just what I wanted for my backhand, I like how 05 max plays on Apolonia blade, but my level is too low and I can't control it my backhand properly (too fast and too sencetive to my mistakes), so I wanted a rubber that will be like 05 (same feeling), but a bit softer than 05 (not to the level of 05FX, which I dislike greatly...), slower than 05 and as tolerable to my mistakes... so this is all about Rozena IMO, so I like this rubber and plan to continue using it on my backhand for a while.

BUT found a very big con though, Rozena plays horrible in high humidity...played in a tournament that took place in a very humid room... not that 05 played good in this circumstances, but it somehow played, it had some coherency with the ball... but Rozena didn't play at all, topsheet had almost zero coherency with the ball, it was like antispin... I didn't even finish first match, it was pointless, and I just forfeited and go home...

I feel mostly the same about the rubber in my short time using it as Yoass and Dan. Quite similar to JP03, with a slightly bouncier short game and a higher catapult in the top end. Same level of (extremely high) control with more oomph. Hope the durability is better than JP03. The rubber is quite light too. I do not have a specific weight as I forgot to weigh after cutting, but it my racket is 4-6gr lighter with Rozena than with DHS 3-60. I feel over all your highest quality shots maybe very slightly capped compared to a t05 or boosted h3, in terms of speed/spin (again very marginally), but your low quality shots will be better to a much more noticeable degree. A good trade off for new or seasoned players. My out of position shots now get a serviceable amount of spin where they may not prior with say a Xiom Asia/Euro DF or JP03. My training partner agrees on the receiving end of the hits. I am not a great player so I appreciate the help in the lower quality shots over the slight cap on the top end.

I was very worried this would play too bouncy in the short game, but with use it is perfect. It really plays quite tame with pushes. Serves seem no worse/less spinny than with my normal Hurricane 8, and surprisingly short. Blocking didn't suffer if you are used to ESN rubbers catapult. All of this is based on a sample of 1 red sheet in 2.1 (max sponge size I believe for this rubber) on the BH of a 92gr Viscaria. I flipped the racket around against my robot and the FH loop arcs were noticeably lower than H3, even lower than H8. Could really feel the catapult on FH. I really like this rubber. It satisfies the ridiculous internal desire to "play with the best "(ie Tenergy) while costing less and being more aligned with my playing level.

Having dropped a few remarks about Rozena before and being challenged to do a proper review I thought, well, why not.

I'm a Tenergy renegade. A lot of T05 I liked, ut as Scott Yu so succinctly put it, I'm probably just not good enough for the entire dog & pony show. What worked for me: opening up, usually leading to a decisive advantage even if not a immediate winner. When pressed, it also enabled strong comebacks from second position. Yet not everything worked; the short game, service reception, they remained insufficiently robust. There you have it, just not good enough. Adding insult to injury, I also made debilitating errors instead of killing counters/blocks, and flat hits in general became a strange hit and miss thing. And I loathed having that intuitive, natural kill shot's confidence undermined. Yes, powerful spinny loops, and yes, stupid errors when applying caution.

So I was curious about Rozena, and ot to play with it about an hour with Rozena 2.1 on Stiga Emerald VPS V. There was a Mantra H 2.0 on that frame as well. Later, I got to hit with Rozena 2.1 mounted on FH and BH of a Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon frame. I'll go through a few basic techniques.

Service took a little getting used to. At first my serves were a bit long, and it took some effort to adapt. Service being a relative weakness of mine, I could still perform my repertoire with confidence and with good results after that. Short and spinny, fast and long, these went well. For some or other reason I had excellent results in imparting heavy sidespin. Which of course then bit me back when returned. (Just. Not. ...) Underspin serves, nospin serves: yes. Certainly better than T05 (for me), and on a par with other modernish rubbers I know well: Rasant Grip, Vega Pro get me about the same results.

Service reception was a relief compared to T05, offering me a much wider range of options. More passive approaches worked well too, whereas I could get by using T05 in a gung-ho mode, attacking everything even when too risky (for me). I felt surer even than my regular go-to gear, especially on the OCC. Active reception of short serves by flicking, kill-flicking or banana-flicking felt certain too (within the confines of my abilities, that is), but less lethal than with T05. Or Rasant Grip. Or Rasanter. Quite near to Vega Pro, to my taste.

Short game is where Rozena shone. I had an immediate sense of control in touch play, with precision placement and excellent feel of varying spin - either loading it, or slightly lifting it and making it deadish (and probably pop up a bit), all that went confidently.


I'm not a defender and while I tried a few chops, I don't dare to remark about that. But I can make a few remarks about lobbing and such. When pressured from the table, Rozena gave me safety in lobs. You need power and speed, and Rozena has it. I've dealt with other rubbers, though, that are harder to use this way when having to deal with stray or strange sidespin. The type of ball you get on slight mishits, or when you meet one of these strange fellows that manage an aggressive attack with long pimples. Rozena suffered less there, and you can have lots of fun loading up lobs with your own spin and wreak havoc that way. Also, once you're in position to fight your way back to the table...

Counters, blocks and flat hits are excellent. I like spinning on both wings near the table, and closing in for a kill with a direct hit, taking the ball right of the bounce. That goes for active blocks especially, aggressively punching your opponent's supposedly lethal spins back like speeding bullets. Rozena behaves well here, with a great sound upon impact. The feeling is crisper than T05, Rasant Grip, Rasanter, but slightly less so than Mantra H, Vega Pro. Rozena, for me, is a far better rubber for direct hits (all kinds of them) than T05 ever was. Opening up a loop, then closing in for the kill? Absolute confidence with Rozena. (As with Mantra H, or Vega Pro. Not with T05, not with Rasant Grip, not with Rasanter.)

Looping with Rozena put a smile on my face immediately. For it recalled the good things about T05, albeit a bit duller. Once you relax that swing you feel the ball being chewed up and spat out, in that special way. Rasant Grip and Rasanter have that feeling too, but Rozena (and T05, even more) are much heavier-handed here. Rozena is like Vega Pro here with a similar feel, but to me it felt Rozena just chewed on that ball a bit longer and harder. Counterloops work well, with one caveat: you need to put in more power, more stroke, than you would with T05. Once you get the power in, you get great safety and a good arc. I don't know why (just. not...), but the thing is my opponents tell me that with T05 and Rozena the first few loops are heavily loaded, and the consecutive ones slightly less so. With Rasant Grip, Vega Pro, Rasanter they tell me my opening/first few loops are slightly less spinny, but the third, fourth get ever more loaded. This is obviously my deficiency. For now, I'm not sure which I prefer.

Fun and balance is what I got out of Rozena. Table tennis not being a single player game, you need to adapt to your opponent. If things don't work out, you need to change your game and try other options. These options need to be there, then. Rozena did let me change my game with confidence. But it doesn't do that in the "servant of all, master of none" kind of way; it really brings things to the table, for me at least. Excellent service reception, both active and passive. Disturbingly short passive blocks, very speedy active blocks with amazing control; counters, smashes - including hitting through underspin and wonky, wobbly balls — with confidence. Loops bring a smile to your face, with gracious arcs, good power and good feedback. You feel you hit it right, you hear you did it right. Your opponent does so to, and some get to fear that sound.

So Rozena yes or no? Certainly, you can file it away as T05's dimmer sibling. But that doesn't do it justice. Rozena brings a good balance, in its own way. In the end, I pretty much don't care if I win or lose. What matters is playing with fun, feeling connected to the game and knowing that what you feel you're doing right actually does work. Rozena has some of that safety to offer, while still offering tons o'fun. Nice one, BTY.