Sapphira? Anyone ever played with one?

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Hello
At the moment I am using Sriver L, Mark V and Flextra. I am looking for something a little bit faster and spinnier than a Sriver L with similar feel and play. I am looking at the BTY line . . . I am considering Sapphira which TT site describe as having more speed and spin. The price for Sapphira is about right for my budget, also one of the reasons I'm not considering the G2/G3 Srivers and Roundell and Bryce. Clearly Tenergies are out of my league based on my playing capability, not just yet. I have tried several Chinese brands and did not like it much.

I'd like to ask those who own or have played with Sapphira. How does it compare to Sriver L? How it behaves in blocking, looping, chop, serving, flat smash, and other fundamental moves of the sport, etc. It would also help if someone can add a word on durability (one of the letdowns on my Flextra, very fragile).

I am almost leaning towards ordering one, but I know that consulting first the TT gurus on this site will be the wisest thing to do.
 
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my friends first setup was a timo boll off- with sapphira on both sides. i didnt get to use it when it was new since it was his :p
but i will say it is good at everything, doesnt necessarily excel in anything. and if your looking for fundamentals, i dont think theres many rubbers better than sapphira for building them.
durability is decent. he had it for about a year maybe year and a half before upgrading, and it only had a bit of top sheet peel on the edge but not much.

i would definitely say its worth a shot. ive played with mark v, i would say its probably on par. but i have to keep in mind my friend had 1.7mm sponge i think it would have been better with thicker sponge.
hope that helped. thats all i got :p
 
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my friends first setup was a timo boll off- with sapphira on both sides. i didnt get to use it when it was new since it was his :p
but i will say it is good at everything, doesnt necessarily excel in anything. and if your looking for fundamentals, i dont think theres many rubbers better than sapphira for building them.
durability is decent. he had it for about a year maybe year and a half before upgrading, and it only had a bit of top sheet peel on the edge but not much.

i would definitely say its worth a shot. ive played with mark v, i would say its probably on par. but i have to keep in mind my friend had 1.7mm sponge i think it would have been better with thicker sponge.
hope that helped. thats all i got :p

At long last a reply to my Sapphira post! It took more than a year to find someone who knows or have played with the rubber.
My experience on the sport in the last few months have improved my game and also the equipment I was seeking to use.
I have tried rubbers from different brands: Donic Baracuda: Baracuda Big Slam, Acuda S1, S2, Traction, Tibhar: Genius, 1Q, 5Q, Stiga: Calibra LT, LT Plus, LT Spin, LT Sound, Magna TX II, Butterfly: Tenergies 05, 05FX, 25FX, 64FX,Sriver G2 FX and Killerspin Blast.
My favorites at the moment are: Magna TX II, Killerspin Blast, 1Q and Calibra LT with Magna topping the list.
I have also played around with some darkside rubbers like Butterfly Super Anti and Double Fish long pimples.
I am satisfied with the rubbers I use at the moment, but I am sure I will be trying something new as my skill develops.
I haven't had the chance to buy a Sapphira but I had so much fun trying all the other rubbers.
Thank you for replying to my thread John_Pish. I totally enjoy and enrich my knowledge of the sport by visiting this site.
 
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lol wow a year, I was just going through the rubber section to learn stuff and i saw sapphira :p
and wow thats quite alot of rubbers to try, i wish i had the resources to do that.
And your welcome.
and if your still developing i would keep it in the list of rubbers to get, I actually wish i started with something more like it and kept it longer, I think my game is hindered from lack of development.

and how does the 1Q compare to Genius?
 
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We have a newly organized club of about 40 members, most are kids. I get the lucky job of finding and buying equipment for my members. I also assemble most of their new gear. Hence I often get first crack at most of the goodies I ordered mostly thru mail. Most of the rubbers I try belong to my friends.

Now Genius is a very good rubber capable of practically any stroke you can think of, but 1Q is just a big step better (IMHO) than genius. One of my members was using Genius both sides for several months. He recently moved on to 1Q and 5Q rubbers and his game improved so much. His very first provincial tournament and he came in 4th! He said that 1Q on his FH was so awesome. I think so to. He uses 5Q on BH.

Hope this helps
 
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good to know, I have had Genius 2.0 on forehand and Genius sound 2.0 on BH for over a year now (same set of rubbers, but i dont play or practice nearly as much as i would like so)

i just got some xiom omega pro on fh and omega europe on bh.
so far i still need a little adjusting, but i do think they will be better than genius.
 
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