Nittaku Fastarc S-1

Product information

Brand
Nittaku
Category
Rubbers
Reviews
5
Rating
3.80 star(s) 5 ratings
Price
$38

User stats

Speed
8.5
Spin
7.8
Durability
7.5
Control
8

Reviews summary

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Overall rating
3.80 star(s) 5 ratings

Item details

The Nittaku Fastarc S1 is the soft version from the Fastarc family. The rubber has excellent speed and control. The soft sponge gives extra control and slightly less speed.

Latest reviews

Pros
  • Medium weight
  • Decent Speed
  • Decent spin
Cons
  • Not very durable
I tested the Fastarc S1 on DHS Hurricane WL on the Forehand side, Red sponge. The rubber has decent spin provided you have adequate technique for looping. I felt i was in control of rallies while opening the loop. 3rd ball and 5th ball attacks were pretty adequate too. This rubber pretty much does everything OK. Away from table the spin/speed is also quite ok. What i did not like about this rubber was the durability. It started to chip away towards the end of 2nd month, which was a bit surprising for me, as Nittaku products are usually quite reliable.
Other than that the rubber is quite adequate. Not the best forehand rubber out there if you ask me, I felt that T05, MX-P are far better in terms of generating spin. This fastarc S-1 rubber isnt quite of that class.
Speed
8.1
Spin
7.1
Durability
5.6
Control
6
Pros
  • Not Heavy
  • Good Blocking
Cons
  • Not that spinny
  • Not that Fast
Not much to say about this rubber on my RPB wing. Great rubber for close to table blocker that relies on precision & variability.
Speed
7.7
Spin
7.4
Durability
7.7
Control
7.8
Almost instantly into my evaluation of the rubber, it becomes evident that the S-1 also is the softest and slowest of the Fastarc rubbers during gameplay, thus not fitting the “speed first” description very well. I could clearly feel the subdued woody feeling of the test blade when performing aggressive shots. Nonetheless, the S-1 provides a good response, slight clicking sound, and excellent control on FH drives. The throw angle on loops is fairly high but because the S-1 is rather slow, several of my FH loops didn’t clear the net. Once I started looping with a more open blade angle and/or greater arm swing speed, I had excellent control over my loops, although they didn’t feel very fast or spinny. Read our complete review here.
Speed
8.4
Spin
8.8
Control
8.8
Pros
  • Good feel
  • insensitive spin
  • Cheap
Cons
  • not that spinny
  • short game
EDIT: After 6 months of further use I have to make a new assessment about this rubber

In a nutshell, this is exactly like T64 but different enough to make a distinct difference unlike the G-1 and T05 comparison. Its faster, less bouncy, less spinny , significantly less dwell time and less control, but more feel and insensitive to spin.

EDIT 2: I notice some quality control issues after a talking to a chap of mine. He complained about the lack of speed with this rubber and sure enough after i tested it, it was slow and controllable unlike the one i had which was too fast. As if by fate, my Hong Kong friend told me his mates had the same issue. One said it was too quick while another said it was slow. I personally enjoyed the slow version of the rubber but unless u can tell the future, you probably cant tell which version you will be getting. You've been warned.

Pro
Not sensitive to spin. This makes blocking very good.
You can feel the ball and tell where it hits the rubber, you cant find this in ternergy
Its very direct so you can control the trajectory well but the dwell time might be an issue

Cons
its not very spinny. Its very fast but a simple counterhit will put the ball right back at you
Its very fast with less dwell which makes flicking and looping underspin very very hard as the rubber is not tacky so it has very little grip to generate spin and the significantly small dwell time means your margin of error is very small as you have to be very quick.
Its hard to keep it short. I find it more effective to chop it deep for heavy spin than trying to touch it in short.

Conclusion
This is like a weaker version of T64. I honestly would use T64 anyday for BH unless it doesnt synergise well with your blade. This is why i tried this rubber as T64 was just too hard to keep the ball on the table while putting pressure on my opponent with JM ZLC. Fastarc S1 solved this problem due to it being less bouncy. However the small dwell and small gripiness makes it hard to perform advance spin based techniques such as flicking and looping underspin. Therefore I would not use this rubber as a T64 replacement as you really only can block and counterhit which may not be enough if your opponent is very skilled.
Speed
9
Spin
6.5
Durability
8
Control
8.3
Pros
  • Soft/not mushy
  • Fast
  • Very Spinny
Cons
  • Crumbles
  • Bouncy
  • Durability
I was skeptical about trying Nittaku rubbers. Despite owning a whole bunch of Nittaku blades i still had nightmares with Refoma and Midship SC. And as a fanboy of Rakza line i didnt thought that there would be similar rubbers to my like. I was wrong.

It has 42 degrees. Either sponge and topsheet are very soft. It is thin, small pips and very spaced.
Easily damaged.
It has awesome spin potential, but due softness, might not be good on FH rallies.
It has a high throw.
Not linear, a bit bouncier than rakza when block and pushing.
Does serves well. OK~ish
A good BH rubber or an outstanding intermediate FH rubber.
Huge sound! Reminded me a bit of LT Sound :)
I dont think it ever bottomed out with me and im not a small guy, 1.83 105kg
--
The setup i used was Nittaku Acoustic Carbon, Fastarc G-1 FH, Fastarc S-1 BH.
I must say im not prepared to perform with the blade at its full potential.
The best setup i found so far to play mid distance exchanges, counters and loops. But as i my game still close to table, i find difficult to control sometimes and adjust the distance.
Despite all of that "dear diary..." , the setup is very good! As i tend to use BH still middle of the table, i really require a spinny controled rubber to my game. S-1 fits it. I can easily open any underspin, not mattering how heavy it is. The change between spin and speed is very easy also, 3rd/5th ball are my main weapons. I cant safely vary spin that much tho. I got the feeling sometimes that if i flatten my hits i will miss, or spin it more will get the ball too high. I prefer Rakza 7 at these moments.

Worth a try, you wont be disappointed ;)
Speed
9.4
Spin
9
Durability
8.5
Control
9
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