Ma Long Forehand Rubber

says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
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In the past two years Ma Long has used both Hurricane III NEO and Skyline III NEO. He has gone back and forth. The Chinese National Team does get DHS rubbers of a higher quality than most people can get their hands on. And they also boost the hell out of it.
 
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
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and the main difference between h3 commercial and national?

When they make the rubbers they are in a giant sheet that gets cut into the squares that are the size we buy. In the very center, there is one sheet. In the square around the center there are 9 sheets. In the very outer row there are 16 sheets. The theory is that the very center has the best rubber. The row surrounding the center is still pretty good but not as good. And the outside row, furthest from the center, the rubber is a little less good than the center and the inner row.

The outside row is commercial. The next row in is Provincial. And the one sheet at the very center is National.

They do this with Tenergy for the pros as well. So, with Tenergy, if you are buying it, you are getting the sheets from the very outside row. And it is still pretty good. The pros get the sheets from inside. I believe the Japanese players get the center sheets. :)

How different are they? With Hurricane, I believe, it is more important that you get the durometer (hardness) that you want and boost it well. They are a little different. Not so different that it really matters. A sheet of Commercial Hurricane that is 38-39 degrees that is boosted well is better than a National Hurricane that is 42-degrees and not boosted. All things being equal a National version that is 39 degrees and well boosted is a little better than a Commercial version that is 39 degrees and well boosted. Perhaps a little more than a little, but, not enough to matter to anyone, unless you are really playing at a very high level. I will keep the extra $80.00 (Commercial Hurricane=$20.00, National Hurricane=$100.00). The difference is nowhere near as much as the difference between Tenergy and Sriver. And the price difference between Commercial and National is a much bigger difference.
 
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says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
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By the way, I recently switched from using Hurricane III NEO on my forehand to using Xiom Omega IV Pro on my forehand. I was using Hurricane for about 2 years. As soon as I switched to Xiom, my level jumped considerably. I think Hurricane is a great rubber for beginners and for players who are at a very high level. It has a lot of control so it is good for beginners. If your technique is really good it gets a lot of spin. If you have a really big powerful swing it is really good. Only problem, most mid-level players who are trying to take a really big powerful swing don't have such a good recoil so if the ball comes back Hurricane makes it harder to get ready for the next shot. Euro/Japanese rubbers are actually better for many players who are not as fast as Ma Long. :) And sometimes you can see Ma Long take a giant swing and not expect the ball back and not be ready for it to come back.

What am I saying? What the pros use is not always what we should use.
 
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i have noticed the same! i was using skyline a hard rubber too of course and then i experimented the xion and i think i was better than before using skyline. but now i back to skyline because i want to improve more. Thanks for the explanation! it is a bigger difference between blue vs orange sponge than national vs commercial version?
 
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
Dec 2010
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17,685
54,747
Read 11 reviews
i have noticed the same! i was using skyline a hard rubber too of course and then i experimented the xion and i think i was better than before using skyline. but now i back to skyline because i want to improve more. Thanks for the explanation! it is a bigger difference between blue vs orange sponge than national vs commercial version?

Blue Sponge vs Orange Sponge? That issue I do not really know the answer to.
 
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