Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 05
Weight: 69 grams
Blade used: Timo Boll ALC & Timo Boll Spirit
What’s going on guys its Dan here from TableTennisDaily. Today we are joined by none other than the table tennis legend Michael Maze reviewing one of the most popular rubbers of all time, Tenergy 05 by Butterfly.
Intro
This is by far the most requested rubber review we have ever had, so it is finally time to find out if Tenergy 05 lives up to hype. Used by many of the top players including Timo Boll, Zhang Jike, Michael Maze and of course many many others. Last week I headed to the Denmark National training Centre to pick Michaels brain about this rubber and find out why it has become so popular and what makes it so special.
A quick bit of history on this rubber. It was released in 2008 just after the speed glue ban so it’s been around for 10 years now and features Butterfly’s famous spring sponge technology. The weight of the Butterfly Tenergy 05 when uncut is 69 grams and cut is 49 grams. In the review I used the Timo Boll ALC and Michael used his Timo Boll Spirit blade, lets get into the action.
Topspin Strokes
So first up we started out with topspin strokes as this is what Tenergy 05 is renowned for. The stand out attribute to Tenergy 05 is simply the amount of speed you can produce on the ball whilst at the same time getting tons of spin. The topsheet is very grippy and when combined with the sponge helps create fantastic topspin shots that are both extremely fast and spinny.
Michael Maze explains how he changed from the Bryce speed rubber to Tenergy. He found he could produce more spin with the Tenergy 05 in comparison to Bryce Speed. The advantage with the Butterfly Tenergy 05 is when you are out of position you can still produce a quality ball.
When topspinning with Tenergy 05 I love how I am able to still be very consistent even when playing at high speed. I find that tenergy always gives you a consistent contact that is always reliable. This gives you loads of confidence in your strokes as you never have to worry about how the rubber is going to react.
You can also remain very relaxed as the rubber has a lot of propulsion on its own, without always having to go for full power to create high amounts of speed. When you do go hard at a ball the consistency doesn’t change as much as other rubbers I have reviewed in the past.
Spin
Here we are both playing topspins against backspin and this is an area where the rubber really comes into its own. You can really feel the rubber bite into the ball against backspin producing a lot of spin, making open ups very easy. Tenergy 05’s ability to grip the ball is superb and allows you to produce a tremendous amount of spin.
Maze mentioned how you can get a lot of spin on the first ball, I felt I could follow up very strong with the 5th and 7th ball with Tenergy, it keeps your opponent under pressure throughout. The crisp quality during contact is what gives you the confidence in your strokes.
Michael Maze pulled off crazy chop blocks, which firstly how good his touch is, but secondly how well Tenergy grips the ball producing spin so well.
Downside to Tenergy 05
Okay guys talking of all this goodness such as spin, control and speed, there is a downside to Tenergy 05. That is that it is simply not for everyone, you need to have sufficient technique due how sensitive and responsive the rubber is. This works perfectly for competent players, but will be hard to control for players who don’t have sufficient technique.
This rubber has a medium to hard sponge and also a medium to high throw and due to its intense spin capabilities can tricky to handle for beginners and intermediate players who don’t have the skill yet to handle such a beast.
This is an advanced rubber that is perfect for attacking players with solid technique who can control the ball at high speeds. Here are some examples where I struggle with this rubber on passive shots such as the block.
A slower, softer, less responsive rubber would enable me to do the basic shots slightly easier, but less effectively as the speed and spin would be reduced.
Of course don’t get me wrong, Tenergy 05 is a fantastic rubber for blocking as well if you have experience and ability to handle it. For example Michael has no problems sending me all over the table haha!
Flicks and short game
Michael explains how its great for the short game with serves and flicks, the rubber grips the ball very well in this department. When it comes to serving with Tenergy 05 it’s a very similar story to how the rubber performs in the top spinning department whereby you can produce tons of spin and it is only rivaled by tacky Chinese rubbers like the hurricane 3. However as it is a very fast rubber if you do not have the timing down, then the ball can drift long during attempted short serves.
Counter topspins
The Butterfly Tenergy 05 is superb for counter topspins. When timed well counters with the rubber are usually outright winners. Again it does require sufficient technique to control these counter topspins as the rubber is very sensitive to spin. The fantastic advantage Tenergy 05 gives is even when using little effort, counter topspins are very fast and explosive.
Conclusion:
Thanks to Michael Maze for hanging out with me to review the ever so popular Tenergy 05. It was an incredible experience playing Michael, his play really is extraordinary and everything you would expect and more. Thanks also to Butterfly for providing the equipment so we could test it out
Tenergy 05 is a tried and tested rubber and after 10 years on the market is still one of, if not the most used rubber in the modern game. It is the benchmark for modern era rubbers to which every new rubber created is automatically compared to. After you try Tenergy 05 it is easy to see why. The rubber has an almost perfect balance between spin, speed and control for aggressive attacking players.
Next it’s time to address the main complaint the table tennis community have about this rubber, and that is the price. Tenergy 05 has higher price tag than most rubbers, but even with this price tag people still choose Tenergy 05 because you just don’t get the same combined characteristics with other rubbers. Even with this drawback however like any premium product, you pay for what you get.
Of course as mentioned previously in the review, you have to be at a good level to use Tenergy 05 optimally.
The reason for this is if you use it too early in your development than you may start playing lazy and inefficient shots where you only use your arm because the rubber is so fast and doing a lot of the work for you. This can make developing players forget that using your legs and body too is extremely important during topsin strokes.
Also due to the rubbers high sensitivity to spin you also need to have good ball control to be able to handle this rubber.
Think of it like this, you wouldn’t want to learn how to drive in a Ferrari. If you are in that development stage then a slower less responsive rubber would probably suit you better.
All around guys I absolutely love this rubber it really deserves all of the hype and praise it gets online and in the table tennis community in general.
Product information
