Butterfly Tenergy 19

Setup​

• Rubber: Tenergy 19 – red – 2.1 mm
• Blade: DHS Golden Hurricane Long V
• Construction: 5+2 inner ALC
  (Limba / Ayous / ALC / Ayous / Limba)
• Used on: Backhand

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Feel / Touch​

The rubber is clearly softer than Rakza Z.
At first, I was a bit worried it might be too soft. I was afraid that on harder shots, especially compared to Rakza Z, the rubber might bottom out.


It doesn’t.


You can apply a lot of power, and it almost feels like the rubber changes hardness depending on impact. On small impacts, it feels soft and forgiving. The harder you hit, the more solid and stable it becomes.
This gives a lot of confidence in your shots.

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Spin​

Coming from a hybrid tacky rubber, I expected less spin and more speed-oriented behavior. In reality, I was pleasantly surprised.


I still generate a lot of spin, and opponents often comment on it. The absolute maximum spin is probably lower than a true tacky rubber, but you can reach a very high level of spin with relatively little effort.


I also expected the rubber to be more spin-sensitive, but it’s actually quite manageable.
Blocking — which is not my strongest shot — feels easy and controlled.
Chop blocks still require some adaptation, but they work well once you adjust.

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Speed​

Speed is always tricky to evaluate because my blade is OFF+ / OFF++, and a lot of the speed clearly comes from the blade itself.


That said, even though the setup is fast, it’s very controllable. The rubber is not overly bouncy. I don’t feel like I need to artificially slow down my strokes to keep the ball on the table.


When I miss long, I usually know why — and it doesn’t feel like the rubber is the main issue.


One important point: this combo allows me to play BH-to-BH rallies away from the table with surprisingly little effort.

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Throw Angle​

This is always hard for me to judge on my backhand, but I’d say the throw angle is medium to high.


Compared to Rakza Z, it feels higher, especially when opening up against backspin. It’s easier to create arc and lift the ball safely.

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Short Game​

The short game feels very solid.
The rubber is not too bouncy, which allows me to keep the ball short and low, even with a fast blade.


Flicks were fine, but here I’m clearly the limiting factor. I haven’t practiced them much recently.
I used to flick a lot, but my tactics evolved, and now I often prefer long pushes to set up a chop block or counter-topspin.


That said, the flicks I did attempt worked well. The rubber + blade combo felt quick — maybe even too quick — but only in this specific area.

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Serves​

As a backhand rubber, I mostly use it for backhand serves.
Serves felt spinny, short, and low, which is exactly what I want. Nothing negative to report here.

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Overall Impression​

My goal for a backhand rubber was something:

• easy to open up with
• spinny
• controlled
• reliable in rallies

Tenergy 19 delivered exactly that.


I have slightly less control than with a fully tacky rubber, but in exchange I can dictate play much more easily with my backhand. Rallies feel easier, less physically demanding, and my body stays more relaxed. I’m less tense, and my strokes feel more natural.

My first professional backhand rubber was the Tenergy 19. The forehand was the Tenergy 05. The best table tennis-related decision I've made was the put the 19 on my forehand too.

Speed; The speed is just about the same as T05's speed (only around 5% less). You can pretty easily make the killer shots (smashes, flat hits, volleys, counterattacks) like with the T05.

Spin; The spin is slightly, but not unsignificantly higher than the T05's spin. This is thanks to the greater dwell-time the sponge provides you. Though the sponge hardness for both T19 and T05 are the same, but the T19 feels a little bit softer. Topspins, underspins and sidespins are pure quality with this rubber. The grippy topsheet does all the work for you (some at least).

Control; The control is higher than the T05's control. The T19's greater dwell-time provides you higher safety and margin for error when it comes to handling incoming spins. There is no extreme catapult effect, thus it gives you a better chance to direct the ball wherever you want to. It is spin-sensitive (because it is spinny), but not that spin-sensitive like the T05.

Anything else; This rubber has tons of feel, it is a pleasure to play with it. If you were or have been playing with T05, you'll easily adapt to the T19. It is much easier to use and utilize than T05. It is durable, it can last until 3-6 months if used properly. Only thing you should look out for is to clean it regularly and properly (only water or wet wipes, no cleaners).

Tenergy 19 is a new rubber from Butterfly that has been added to the already known Tenergy collection, so I will compare it with Tenergy collection. Although these have the same sponge, due to the different geometry of the pips, Tenergy 19 has the feeling to be the softest of all of the rubbers from the Tenergy collection. If, of course, we exclude the FX versions. So with Tenergy 19, the ball gets into the sponge more and because of that it stays on the racket a little longer, so the control is very good. The most famous rubber from the Tenergy collection is the 05. It is much bouncier than the Tenergy 19. So Tenergy 19 is easier to control than Tenergy 05 during the service and short game. Also, because the ball is on the racket longer, it is easier to play a counter topspin.When I started playing with the Tenergy 19 I saw immediately that it was very good in the block, but the more I played with it, the more I used the active block and noticed how much security I actually had in that active block. Practically, if I positioned my feet well, I couldn't miss the block. For flat shots and block, this combination of Tenergy sponge and the new topsheet is really good.See my more detailed analysis in the video review below.

The 19 is very spinny, a tad more than 05. The dwell is longer on the paddle, which helps make your shots more secure and predictable. This sacrifices some power and kick you would get with 05. The flight path of the ball is longer than 05, but it doesn’t jump off the table as much. Easy to use in backhand flips due to longer dwell. Full 15 mins review is linked below if you want the details!

There is a lot of hype and interest about T19, so I will post my first impressions to help out.I've paired T19 with Dignics05 on to Xiom Vega Pro blade, and first impressions a very positive. Before I've used MXP on my fh, and it is a very fast rubber, so T19 is definitely slower that MXP, but don't get me wrong it is still very quick rubber, and you can finish the point very effectively. But T19 gets the upper hand when opening up the point, it is much easier to play with, and definitely more spin with T19.I would say that the feel is just as T05, same hardness, but you can get more dwell time and because of that extra dwell one my think it is softer. I would also rate T19 to be as fast as T05, but T05 has more prominent ball arc, so when the ball hits the table on opposite side it kicks off more prominent as well, and that is harder to predict, so again, one could think that T19 is a bit slower, but I don't think so, and Butterfly experts don't think so as well. Because of that high arc and kick that follows it I would say that T05 is more lethal rubber.T19 is very grippy so the spin is excellent, as good as T05. But T19 is also less bouncy as because of that control is much better than T05. The ball trajectory is lower compared to T05, but still high enough to give you over the net safety, and confidence to really go for it! So even thou T05 is more lethal because of its arc and kick, I prefer T19 because of the confidence it gives you, and much better control.Dignics 05 does have more spin but it is much harder to utilize it, and you have to be more precise, while T19 has more forgiveness. Blocking with T19 is also very good, again tribute of its good control. On the backhand side again it is very easy to use, especially on low impact, really gives you the safety, so you can go trough the ball, full on! There are more lethal rubbers out there both on fh and bh side, but but very few are so universal and easy to adopt to it. Serve and receive also quite good with T19 due to more dwell time and controlled bounce.All in all, I personally liked Tenergy 19 very much, it is well rounded rubber, easy to play with, and just joy to play with if you will. Pros out there will probably go for more lethal rubbers, but as amateur , I liked it very much, confidence it gave me, led me to believe in my stroke, to play and experiment more, to be more creative, and go for it!Hope my impressions with T19 helps all curious players out there. Enjoy the game, cheers

So, here we go!! took the plunge and bought T19, 1.9mm black, T05 1.9mm red & a Viscaria!!Previously I had tried T80FX Max sponge, this was when I 1st started playing again, so I wasn’t where I am now technically and was ‘rusty’ to say the least!!, I have also used D09C 1.9mm sponge. I have played with T19 for about 5 hrs v robot and serve practice.I will also try and compare to T05 and D09C where possible and Rakza Z [RZ] (rubber I been using for a couple of months)Top sheet is grippy, not sticky.Bounce test - typical spring sponge - very bouncy!! D09C has less bounce because it has slight tackiness.Serving - Very good, once I got accustomed to the additional bounce I found that I could control my serves pretty easily. Spin levels were high = to T05, D09C and on average slightly better than RZ, but when I caught the ball really well ( not that often!! ) RZ had a tad more spin.This was evident for example with ‘ghost’ serves, BH and FH. T19 produced slightly better spin on serves with average contact, but with optimum contact, fast light brush, both T19 and RZ brought the ball back to the net, RZ had a tad more reverse acceleration. For consistency T19 was slightly better, T05 was similar, D09C is similar to RZ in that there was slightly better spin on perfect contacts.Short game - again, once I was use to the bounce, in general, short pushes were easier than I thought they would be, care has to be taken though, as soon as you use a little more force, the bounce kicks in and the ball can go longer than you may like. T19 and T05 are similar, I had quite a lot of net cords that dropped over nicely!!!!! Compared to RZ when playing really short push returns to backspin robot serves. More short pushes went in the net with RZ😖!!Fast pushes were fast!! Both T05/19 quicker for the amount of force imparted than RZ, very direct, good spin.push variations were good, no spin, light, heavier back spin and slice side/back spin were all consistent.D09C is in between T05/19 and RZ, slightly less bounce than T05/19 slightly more than RZChopping, yep that’s right chopping!!!! Considering that my table is in a garage with limited space, max 6 ft behind the table and the robot pumping reasonably fast topspins at me!!! Chopping with T19 was good, now, this may seem strange compared to what I’m going to say later. When chopping T19 had a higher throw than T05, to my surprise chopping with T05 was really top notch, lower throw and a low flight, very direct great spin. Both T19 and T05 produced good spin, I found that T05 had, for me better control and consistency when chopping, it suited my chopping technique very well.Once I adjusted to the higher throw, I started to get a few more low deep fast chops with the T19 as well.with RZ it was harder to keep the ball low and fast, D09C was more like T19 slightly higher throw. For chopping T05 was way better than the others for me.Butterfly may have missed a trick here!!! I think T05 with a 1mm thick spring sponge would be a choppers dream!!! Topspin vs backspin, so now the opposite seemed the case for me!! T19 had a lower throw than T05 when playing topspin shots, both BH and FH.when I first started this exercise (FH) I was using T05 and doing ok, good speed, spin and nice arc, twiddled after 20 or so shots and put the next 7 - 10 balls in the net with T19!!! Adjusted bat angle slightly and got similar results as T05, twiddled again and put the next 3 balls off the table with the T05 !!! So for me T19 has a lower throw than T05, RZ has a higher throw than both. RZ feels much softer, seems as if the ball sinks into the top sheet more. T19 = mid low throw, T05 = mid throw RZ = high / v high throw.Top spin drive and counter top spin - T19 was crisp when countering, good control and speed - pretty quick, very direct. T05 was very similar, tad quicker. When counter hitting both T19/05 remind me of R48/53, definitely a strong point of these rubbers.Stepping in and playing aggressive fast top spin drives were really very good for both T19/T05, this I really enjoyed!! Fast, good spin and forward kick for both, but again T05 slightly quicker. Both generally better in this department than both D09C and RZ, ( D09C is no slouch though!! Still pretty crisp, Neither is RZ, but the softer feeling RZ just doesn’t come over as being as crisp)FH and BH top spin / loop - both produce great speed and spin, with good kick, T19 comes over as having a little more control, I could place the ball slightly easier with the T19. D09C is slower has a higher arc and from memory is a little more spinny, RZ has a high arc with more dip, just as much spin.I liked looping with both rubbers, T05 would be preferable on FH, T19 on BH. That little bit of extra control on BH and that little bit extra loop kill potential on FH !!!!Blocking - controlled , crisp and fast with both, more control with T19, but I only block practiced for a short period of time.What I did notice, in general, is that T19/05 are a little less forgiving than RZ/D09C, if I was a little out, timing wise, or out of position, late to the ball etc then there were wider errors with the T19/05, this is partially due to the grippy top sheets compared to the tacky top sheets and the closeness of the sponge hardness to that ‘magical’ 50 degree sponge hardness that I struggle with, when in conjunction with grippy top sheets !!!Now ‘DWELL TIME’ ha ha here we go!!!I’d by lying if I said I hadn’t read the reviews on the ‘review’ posts, and watched both Dan’s and Brian’s video reviews!!!So far, taking into account my lower level of standard than both Dan and Brain !!!! I can safely say that the difference in ‘dwell’ between T19 and T05 is FOR ME pretty small !!! Does T19 ‘hold’ the ball longer? If so it seemed minimal to me? The difference that I could feel was small.🤔 Now comparing T19/05 to RZ, there’s a BIG difference, I can feel the ball sinking into the RZ top sheet so much more!!I think the sponge hardnesses are pretty similar, within a degree or so, Butterfly seems to have a better quality control regarding sponge hardness, Yasaka give a wider margin for their sponge hardnesses. if the sponge hardnesses are similar then it’s RZ’s top sheet that is softer. Pimple pattern, size of pimple etc all play a part as well. For the record RZ was mounted on a Nittaku Acoustic inner. Regarding speed of the set ups, I tend to relate landing depth of shot played with similar force.So an average FH topspin,Both T19/05 on the Viscaria landed within 150 mm of the end of the table.RZ on Acoustic inner landed around 450mm from the end of the table.RZ on Acoustic (all wood) landed around 750mm from end of the table.T19 is a quality rubber as is T05. I would be happy to use either of them!!!

Summary: the Tenergy 19 is a controllable offensive rubber that has a higher arc, is slower, slightly spinnier and has a softer feel with more ball feeling/dwell time in direct comparison with the famous Tenergy 05. Overall it reminds a little bit of the Nittaku Fastarc G1. Visual impression: t19 has a slightly more glossy appearance than t05 and you can easily see the name-giving pimple code 219 that has very thin and narrowly arranged pimples, which is the obvious difference to the other Tenergy rubbers. The topsheet feels very grippy but still less than Dignics. Sound: with topspin and smash shots you can hear a distinct sound that reminds a little of the good old speed glue era. It is much more perceptible than with t05 and you feel like little child when the cracking sound appears and the winner shot lands counters: no real surprises here. It’s an offensive rubber. You might already notice that the rubber is a little slower and less direct and the trajectory is shorter than t05. topspin: the Main department of t19! You will very soon recognize that t19 feels different to t05. It feels a little softer, has a higher arc, less speed and therefore will land less deep on the table. The good thing about it is, that all these attributes will give you more forgiveness and safety for your shots.topspinning opponents pushes is quite easy, but not as fast and therefore less deadly than with t05. It might be that you experience a big kick which seemed a little uncontrollable when you hit hard, which reminded me a little bit of the Tibhar evolution EL-S. BUT: it was not as extreme and as early as with the EL-S!Please don’t get me wrong here: t19 is still a very fast offensive rubber that should not be used by beginners or intermediate players. It’s just a comparison with t05, which can be seen as a very fast and demanding rubber!countertopspins: in recent days we’re seeing more and more rubbers that offer very grippy and spinny topsheets with a high arc and a not too long trajectory. In my mind, the special reason is the countertopspins quite close to table. Famous examples were Dignics 09C, Dignics 05 and other grippy/ sticky hybrid rubbers. The new member of this category now with a medium hard sponge is the t19. Due to its properties of high arc, shorter trajectory and grippy topsheet it performs very well in countering the opponents topspins. short game: the grippiness is very good for spinny short game and pushes. Some people on the other hand might struggle with the high dwell time and grippiness. Being able to give a lot of spin always means, that the rubber will also be spin sensitive!Flicks: spinny flicks are easy to perform as expected with the rubbers properties. Faster flicks are less dangerous than d05 or t05. Blocks: in this department I’m personally struggling a bit. Playing active blocks is ok, but there are better rubbers out there. I personally like very direct and harder rubbers like Dignics 05 for blocking. The increased dwell time might help some people to get more control in blocking. I detest that feeling. When being passive, I want the rubber to redirect the ball instantly. Especially on the backhand. Blades: I think that t19 perfectly fits fast outer and fast outer carbon blades. Due to the rubbers properties it will be still controllable and the blade might give you the speed to kill shots. Slow inner carbon blades and wood blades might be too slow in combination. forehand or backhand: with quick carbon blades I personally think t19 is a nice forehand rubber. T05 usually created a too low arc and too long trajectory with carbon blades like Viscaria for me. With t19 this issue is gone. Therefore I will give t19 a longer chance here On backhand I will stick to d05, as it is more direct, spinnier and easier to control.

Tried T19 for an hour on backhand. Only seemed slower to me (vs my usual bh rubber T05) when blocking. Didn't notice much difference in speed near the top end. It is more linear. My coach thought it was faster with a flatter trajectory on drives. Less bouncy, easier to keep serves and pushes short and low. Plays softer, easier to grab and spin at low impact.

Butterfly's Tenergy 19 is here and everyone wants to know how it compares to Tenergy 05. Well in this video we find out! Dan uses his Timo Boll ALC blade and Tom used his Hybrid Wood. Let’s see how Butterfly’s latest rubber performs!