Product information
Hello ALL!
I was interested in this rubber since I saw some video test of it on Youtube and also played with TinArc3, 2-3 years ago. Now thanks to a discount I could get a sheet for €13. Te other reason was, that nowdays Evolution P and S series came out with a more robust topsheet, and I liked MX-P, MX-S. To be honest Tinarc3 was a mix of those two with a bit less power. I predicted Tinarc to be a bit stiffer and more of a chinese feel, but sort of euroean hibrid rubber, but still mailny a chinese sheet.
Packaging is simple, the graphics are fine, the text is well done by google translate. The sheet is covered with a protective film. The paper box is in a resealable plastic, which is nice. There is slight curve to the sheet, unfortunately the rubber is on the upper side of the dome. Smell is definetly chinese burned rubber odour. Package clearly instructs not to smell... did it anyway. Sponge is hard a bit more elastic than standard brick hard chinese sponges, there are pores inside, faint yellow colour. Topsheet is protected with an adhesive foil, design is the usual. Surface is shiny tacky. Can lift the ball, but can not hold it. So I can throw the ball up to 0,5 meter from the table. Bluefire M throws the ball 0,2 meter when out of the package. My sheet was black, max thickness, weighing 63 g uncut.
Because my friend ordered one in red, which he intended to use as is, I boosted my black sheet just a little. So I added enough oil to streighten it out, nothing more, but for shure I can tell you the rubber could intake a lot more, because the oil was soaked immediately. My racket for this rubber was my spare, a Yinhe/Galaxy Venus 14 (TBS clone).
Counterhits
First few hits went into the net. No problem. Overall throw was lowish on slow motion shots. When applying more force the rubber comes to life, making all the balls fly low over the net, but the feeling of contact is reassuring. Stepping away from the table to do some longer strokes the balls find the other side of the table. Control is noticable immediatelly, but speed also. The topsheet feels a bit rigid chinese style, but not that an intermediate can't handle immediately. So from far away there was no bottoming out, with M2 and EL-P, you may feel the knock on the wood, but not with this rubber. So after a short excercises and flat hits you recognise, that there is absolutely no catapult effect on the rubber, but there is power in the sponge, you just have to ask for it. Contact time is generally good.
Smashing
Due to the tacky surface, there is no need to loopdrive balls, simply smash them, the rubber will grab the ball. Speed is sufficient, aiming is fully predictable.
Looping
So this is where I came in because I consider myself a looper. Loop mechanics have to be adjusted. In case of normal looping the ball has to be a bit lower, to get the desired effect. This was not really a problem, the arc of the ball is medium, medium-low. The rubber is very consistent but in this case a bit more lifting is needed to engane the sponge. On opening loops, the traditional chinese brush loop is finely executable with decent spin on the ball. European style loops are harder to execute, because you have to engage the sponge and in some cases you may not have sufficient space and time to do that move. Counterlooping heavy spin or no spin balls are a breeze. Topshhet grabs the ball, the sponge kicks it out, I hav to experiment with the angles and the line of the stroke. As far as I see, a bit more linear, then curved blade trajectory will give the most spin and speed when countering, which is nice, because it requires a less polished technique to execute. On the other hand, you can just simply smash that ball. With a non catapult rubber you have to engage the sponge if you want a decent spin with speed or else you must brush fast. As an european style player who is always there to loop the ball when it comes, I did not find this rubber hard to handle, it even teaches and demands the right force to be applied in a shot.
Dropshots
Low trajectory. Even heavy spin balls can be tossed back, but if you are experienced you can kill every shot with it. Because of the lack of the catapult every ball can be placed short, heavy shots can be blocked back down the line. It really give the control back in your hand.
Over the table
When serving, I mostly used the topsheet and was not disappointed by the spin I generated. Somewhere near MX-P, but the sponge won't kick the ball long. On serve recieve it was relaxing to push the ball very short and low. Flipping was not demanding, but required a bit more forward momentum. Slow motion heavy spin over the table openings can be done with this rubber.
Chopping
Hey man this rubber works fine
. Like a defender, just have to take the swing early, and a monster underspin will be the result. Have done some fun chops, but I am no defender.
Overall
This rubber is a mirror. It will show you how much you worth, it will only give you power if you ask it with correct technique. It is a nice blend of Euro and Chinese style more to the latter. I tried it with and without boosting and I must say it behaves linear. Boosting gives more softness and more elastic power and base tempo to the soft, maybe later I will try to soften the topsheet with some oil too and give a nice boost to the sponge. Many advanced players use it boosted, because it can be fast when you want and it can be slow too. When dry it is not a fast rubber, on normal stroke it is similar to an M3 or S3 on my scale is around 7,5-8, but when you hit with power the rubber will not bottom out and transfers it to the ball. So yes I could hit off the table and loop long balls with this with 70% and with full power also.
The playing style of this rubber is an aggressive allround, where you can manipulate the ball as you wish, but you intend to smash it or loop it when you can. I personaly don't feel that an opening loop is a killer with this, maybe a high spin loop, that comes back for a finishing hit. When boosted it is an offensive rubber. For normal price I would not buy this rubber, Acuda and Baracuda is at the same price range in my country.
If boosted use any ALL+ blade, preferrably nearly stiff or speed elastic. If unboosted use at least an OFF- stiff or speed elastic blade.
I was interested in this rubber since I saw some video test of it on Youtube and also played with TinArc3, 2-3 years ago. Now thanks to a discount I could get a sheet for €13. Te other reason was, that nowdays Evolution P and S series came out with a more robust topsheet, and I liked MX-P, MX-S. To be honest Tinarc3 was a mix of those two with a bit less power. I predicted Tinarc to be a bit stiffer and more of a chinese feel, but sort of euroean hibrid rubber, but still mailny a chinese sheet.
Packaging is simple, the graphics are fine, the text is well done by google translate. The sheet is covered with a protective film. The paper box is in a resealable plastic, which is nice. There is slight curve to the sheet, unfortunately the rubber is on the upper side of the dome. Smell is definetly chinese burned rubber odour. Package clearly instructs not to smell... did it anyway. Sponge is hard a bit more elastic than standard brick hard chinese sponges, there are pores inside, faint yellow colour. Topsheet is protected with an adhesive foil, design is the usual. Surface is shiny tacky. Can lift the ball, but can not hold it. So I can throw the ball up to 0,5 meter from the table. Bluefire M throws the ball 0,2 meter when out of the package. My sheet was black, max thickness, weighing 63 g uncut.
Because my friend ordered one in red, which he intended to use as is, I boosted my black sheet just a little. So I added enough oil to streighten it out, nothing more, but for shure I can tell you the rubber could intake a lot more, because the oil was soaked immediately. My racket for this rubber was my spare, a Yinhe/Galaxy Venus 14 (TBS clone).
Counterhits
First few hits went into the net. No problem. Overall throw was lowish on slow motion shots. When applying more force the rubber comes to life, making all the balls fly low over the net, but the feeling of contact is reassuring. Stepping away from the table to do some longer strokes the balls find the other side of the table. Control is noticable immediatelly, but speed also. The topsheet feels a bit rigid chinese style, but not that an intermediate can't handle immediately. So from far away there was no bottoming out, with M2 and EL-P, you may feel the knock on the wood, but not with this rubber. So after a short excercises and flat hits you recognise, that there is absolutely no catapult effect on the rubber, but there is power in the sponge, you just have to ask for it. Contact time is generally good.
Smashing
Due to the tacky surface, there is no need to loopdrive balls, simply smash them, the rubber will grab the ball. Speed is sufficient, aiming is fully predictable.
Looping
So this is where I came in because I consider myself a looper. Loop mechanics have to be adjusted. In case of normal looping the ball has to be a bit lower, to get the desired effect. This was not really a problem, the arc of the ball is medium, medium-low. The rubber is very consistent but in this case a bit more lifting is needed to engane the sponge. On opening loops, the traditional chinese brush loop is finely executable with decent spin on the ball. European style loops are harder to execute, because you have to engage the sponge and in some cases you may not have sufficient space and time to do that move. Counterlooping heavy spin or no spin balls are a breeze. Topshhet grabs the ball, the sponge kicks it out, I hav to experiment with the angles and the line of the stroke. As far as I see, a bit more linear, then curved blade trajectory will give the most spin and speed when countering, which is nice, because it requires a less polished technique to execute. On the other hand, you can just simply smash that ball. With a non catapult rubber you have to engage the sponge if you want a decent spin with speed or else you must brush fast. As an european style player who is always there to loop the ball when it comes, I did not find this rubber hard to handle, it even teaches and demands the right force to be applied in a shot.
Dropshots
Low trajectory. Even heavy spin balls can be tossed back, but if you are experienced you can kill every shot with it. Because of the lack of the catapult every ball can be placed short, heavy shots can be blocked back down the line. It really give the control back in your hand.
Over the table
When serving, I mostly used the topsheet and was not disappointed by the spin I generated. Somewhere near MX-P, but the sponge won't kick the ball long. On serve recieve it was relaxing to push the ball very short and low. Flipping was not demanding, but required a bit more forward momentum. Slow motion heavy spin over the table openings can be done with this rubber.
Chopping
Hey man this rubber works fine
. Like a defender, just have to take the swing early, and a monster underspin will be the result. Have done some fun chops, but I am no defender.Overall
This rubber is a mirror. It will show you how much you worth, it will only give you power if you ask it with correct technique. It is a nice blend of Euro and Chinese style more to the latter. I tried it with and without boosting and I must say it behaves linear. Boosting gives more softness and more elastic power and base tempo to the soft, maybe later I will try to soften the topsheet with some oil too and give a nice boost to the sponge. Many advanced players use it boosted, because it can be fast when you want and it can be slow too. When dry it is not a fast rubber, on normal stroke it is similar to an M3 or S3 on my scale is around 7,5-8, but when you hit with power the rubber will not bottom out and transfers it to the ball. So yes I could hit off the table and loop long balls with this with 70% and with full power also.
The playing style of this rubber is an aggressive allround, where you can manipulate the ball as you wish, but you intend to smash it or loop it when you can. I personaly don't feel that an opening loop is a killer with this, maybe a high spin loop, that comes back for a finishing hit. When boosted it is an offensive rubber. For normal price I would not buy this rubber, Acuda and Baracuda is at the same price range in my country.
If boosted use any ALL+ blade, preferrably nearly stiff or speed elastic. If unboosted use at least an OFF- stiff or speed elastic blade.
