Baracuda, S1 or S2?

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Hi all,
I was planning to construct a new bat with Donic rubbers, and I'm not quite sure which combination of Donic Baracuda, Acuda S1 or Acuda S2 I should use.
My playing style is mainly close/mid-range aggressive, and I love smashing and driving. I also need quite a decent amount of control on the rubber.

If anybody has had expertise with these rubbers for a decent amount of time, would you please give me some headers, as I'm not a very advanced player.

Thanks!
Eric T, AUS
 
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I'm a casual player and haven't tried many rubbers, but can tell you my experience with Acuda S2 on my forehand and Baracuda on backhand for about 4 months.
Acuda S2 has a softer and weaker sponge. This will make more control and spin on fast shots but will really fail on low and short balls (I can not lift the ball in this situations. I may not have the technique but it is clearly more easy with Baracuda)
Comparing to Baracuda, Acuda S2 has a shorter throw. I can block accurately with my backhand while I really have to drive ball on forehand.
 
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i've played with both S1 and S2 on fh for about a year, very briefly with baracuda, but i didn't really like the bounce of the rubber, the trow angle is too high to my liking.
S1 is quite fast, certainly faster than baracuda, but less spin and lower trow, it's however a great rubber for driving and killoops, in that case the rubber really shines, at the time i was using it it was too fast for me, but that was my bad.
S2 is about as fast as baracuda, but again a little less spin and lower trow, it's a more straightforward rubber and i personally love it, lacking a little in power when you really want to loop kill, nevertheless great rubber.
both are imo better at smashing than baracuda.
 
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I used the baracuda for some years, but changing now to S1 soon since I feel like my shots sometimes lack that bit of extra speed for the points.
The baracuda is really great for generating spin and because of that also for serving. But not only the spin makes the serves great, but also the acceleration you can get from only a small movement. This is great for playing short underspin serves and long flat serves from the same motion.

The openings are pretty easy since the ball cntact is very long, but sometimes the opening shots can be a little weak, because of the high bounce. The bounce makes it a little difficult to play soft and hard shots from the same motion.
 
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Played S1 for the first time today. There is certainly a difference in speed compared to the Baracuda and the top sheet has a lot less grip.
I hoped for the same top sheet with just a different sponge, but well you cant have everything in life.

Compared to the Baracuda I felt like the S1 was a bit softer and had a longer dwell time. My attacking strokes need adjustment, but the strokes that I hit well produced a great amount of speed. The S1 is very good for offensive strokes as it can produce a lot of speed even from a relatively small movement, but I found that it also worked very well in the short game. I was able to keep the ball short and low which allowed a controlled setup for attacking.
The rubber doesn't feel as "direct" on ball contact as the Baracuda though. There is more of a mushy soft feeling to it rather than a crisp and hard feeling.
 
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A good combination would be S1 on your forehand as you like to drive and smash the ball, S1 definitely has the most speed of the three, and then either S2 or Baracuda on the backhand. Both have great control and reasonable spin, probably try S2 on the backhand and see how it goes.
 
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For the forehand, I would suggest using Donic Baracuda as it is perfectly suited for third ball attacks with an exceptionally high throw angle that is suitable for Chinese and European loops along with some power and good control. Control depends on the blade you are using.

For the backhand, I would suggest using Donic Acuda S1 if you have a good backhand technique as it is perfect in winning the first point with strong loops and powerful backhand smashes for close and away from the table. However, if you want a good sound, speed and extreme spin, Donic Acuda S2 (kinda alternative to Tenergy) would be your choice.
 
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