Rubbers for DHS Hurricane Long V

[NextLevel]

More than 30 years ago my rating was equivalent to US 2000 nowadays. I used to have a rank of "Candidate to Master of Sport" in the SU times. Then I stopped playing t/t completely. I am quite physically fit now to practice for 3 or 4 hours non-stop. The problem is that I don't have enough time to practice at least 3 times a week. Sometimes it's one or two times a month. Sometimes 3 times a week (in summer mostly).
My style is playing close to the table and in the mid zone. I attack at the slightest possibility and exercise pressure on my opponent with every ball. It's mostly drive looping from FH and blocking with BH.

Then you are too good a player to be asking these questions the way you ask them. You should know the rubbers you like and just use them. If you want to EJ, then have fun with the rubbers. But if you don't want to waste money, just buy the rubbers that you know you play well with and use them. Good rubber has nothing to do with the blade once the blades are in the same class (like your JM and HL5). Good rubber has to do with the contact you like making.

 

[Giangt]

I think it is ok for the OP to ask what experience other people have with the blade and with their rubbers. But to the the OP the best way to find out is to try yourself. First option is to try specific rubbers at the club or at the shop if they have some test setups. Keep in mind that the best setup for Ma Long or Zhang Jike wouldn't certainly be the setup that you like. If you can get some old rubbers try them on for size before gluing some new rubbers on.

 

[alex5908]

You should know the rubbers you like and just use them.

No, I don't know. In my times there were only Mark V and Sriver rubbers available. At least as far as I remember.

 

[alex5908]

But to the the OP the best way to find out is to try yourself.

That's correct. I just wanted to know what to start from. Of course I will try all the rubbers I have on these two blades to understand which suites me most.

 

[Giangt]

The blade itself is quite around 94ish grams. As Carl mentioned all the rubbers would be ok for the blade but would the setup be Good for you?
If you have a pretty decent FH Andro Rasant Powergrip would be a good option there. I remember the Andro rubber being quite heavy. If you are a good brush looper in your BH you could go with the rest of rubbers. If you are more a hitter and blocker in BH the softer rubbers with floor out into the wood which is not ideal. If you don't mind the weight go with whatever you want. Some of the combos would definitely end up 200+ grams.

 

[NextLevel]

No, I don't know. In my times there were only Mark V and Sriver rubbers available. At least as far as I remember.

Understood. Some people today still use Sriver and Mark V and play well. Most of the rubber diversity is hype from manufacturers. You have used Tenergy 05 and Tenergy 64 for a while now. Usually, you may even have rubbers like Mark V so that you can figure out your blade before trying other stuff. I can always play with Mark V - still love it. I just love spin so much that I need something grippier.

 

[alex5908]

Sorry, I've repeated the same message and it was not complete.

 

[alex5908]

If you are more a hitter and blocker in BH the softer rubbers with floor out into the wood which is not ideal.

I did not quite understand that. Could you explain what you meant? Especially "with floor out into the wood" part.

 

[Giangt]

Speaking as a coach now I would recommend to play with the JM with Tenergy on both sides for a month or so and tell me what you like about it. Try to switch T05 To fh and BH and visa versa with T64 and tell what you like about that. If you are in that period are hitting 50% of balls away from the table the setup is either too fast or your technique is not good enough yet. If you are missing both feel and control then you might like the HL5 better. I say might because that is some I experience but that foes not mean the same goes for you.

 

[Giangt]

I did not quite understand that. Could you explain what you meant? Especially "with floor out into the wood" part.

The phenomenon occurs when you have too soft rubbers on a blade, if you feel the ball digging through the rubber and sponge into the wood the rubber is too soft for you.

 

[NextLevel]

I did not quite understand that. Could you explain what you meant? Especially "with floor out into the wood" part.

Everyone has a different contact depth and speed that generates the speed and spin they like to consistently generate. Power is a combination of speed and spin - some like to put more into spin, some like to put more into speed.

Usually, if you use a soft rubber, at lower impact, you will get spin. However, at harder impact, you will get to the wood of the blade more easily. And at this point, there is no more spin. So unless you are flat hitting or driving the high ball, your margin for error is less and adding more power will not create more spin unless your contact is thin, but that is not easy when driving hard. But harder impact varies from person to person - if your hardest impact with a soft rubber still gives you good spin and pace for how you play, there is no reason to get something harder. Not everyone swings hard all the time.

With a harder sponge/rubber, the problem is that at low impact, the ball is relatively dead unless the topsheet is grippy. But even in this case, the spin is less than a softer rubber. However, as you swing harder, it is harder to get into the sponge so there is more room to swing and brush hard and still get more spin. So you can swing even harder. But the problem is that not everyone wants to swing this hard. And there is also a point here where swinging harder will not add much spin. But again, it depends on how you like to contact the ball.

I like to contact the ball fairly hard. So I brush hard and fast. I don't hit much. When I contact harder, I Want more spin. So I prefer harder rubbers/sponges. But other players may prefer to hit into the sponge at a fairly consistent speed and don't want to get more spin when they swing harder. Others may want mostly speed when they swing so they don't mind letting the rubber bottom out. I want my spin to continue to get higher with the effort I put into my stroke.

OF course, I am only discussing hard contact for larger strokes. For the short game, people have other things that they want that may affect the whole rubber choice. Some people want large spin on short strokes (T05), others want lesser spin on shorter strokes so that the spin is related to their effort level (Hurricane Neo, MX-S). And his is comparing T05 and MX-S - relative to another rubber, MX-S might seem to give easy spin, or Hurricane Neo might be lively on smaller strokes. Again, everyone does this differently but if you know what you are looking for, you test the rubber to determine that, rather than think of the rubber as matching the blade.

 

[bobpuls]

Hmmmm this is next level ? And what to count the blade contact.... In this case wery important .
Do not be afraid of this theory. Just play. you has already chosen the rubbers you already have . just check hardnes to corespond to your play stile you already have and play. Then you will see.

 

[NextLevel]

In general, if people have time to spend and want to understand blades and rubbers, this is a good website/blog.


thoughtsontabletennis.wordpress.com/

 

[bobpuls]

Yes i now this page..... I'm also creating blades so this all is behind me. And i do not agre with all on this page .

 

[NextLevel]

Yes i now this page..... I'm also creating blades so this all is behind me. And i do not agre with all on this page .

Human beings do not agree all the time. The page author requests people who find anything that is wrong to correct him. Thankfully, he did a lot of good work and it accords with most of my own experience.

 

[bobpuls]

Ok agree .. Lets get back to this page about long v .... It will be nice experience for me to test this blade... If i have it then i personaly will put a tg3 or tg2 bluesponge on fh... But they are not in your list....

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I prefer to play close to the table and in the mid zone. I attack at the slightest possibility and exercise pressure on my opponent with every ball. It's mostly drive looping and smashing from FH and blocking with BH.

This is the central info here.

Since you are mostly blocking with your BH you would do well with a rubber that has a lot of control and is not too sensitive to incoming spin

Since you mostly drive loop and smash with your FH more than you go for heavy spin, your forehand would probably do well with a rubber that is higher on the speed ratio of speed to spin rather than the other way around. This could also simply be a rubber that is not too reactive to incoming spin. Like some of those new ESN rubbers are fast and grippy but still really good for for driving, smashing and blocking.

XIOM OMEGA IV Elite
DONIC Bluefire M3
YASAKA RAKZA 7 SOFT
TSP Agrit
Donic Acuda S2
Donic Baracuda
TIBHAR AURUS SOFT
Cornilleau Target Force 45
STIGA CALIBRA TOUR M Medium
Maxxx 450
Tibhar Evolution EL-P
ANDRO RASANT POWERGRIP
Donic BlueFire JP03

Of the rubbers on the list, plenty of them may be good for what you need. All of them should work fine on either blade. But some will be better for you than others.

Which one would be best for you really depends on if you tend to use mainly the sponge or the sponge and the topsheet.

For BH the Evolution EL-P or the Maxxx 450 may be good for your BH. They are both rubbers that are good for spin but still would work well for what you do because of how much control they have and how non-responsive to incoming spin the can be with certain kinds of contact.

The Cornilleau Target Force 45 actually may be good too. I believe this falls into that category of having a topsheet that doesn't grab as much and a sponge that gives more catapult. The Calibra Tour M may be a good fit for your BH for the same reason.

Personally I don't love Calibra and I don't love Cornilleau' rubbers. But these may be good for you on either wing. You also may actually do well with Mark V for BH though.

If you can adjust to those first two (EL-P and Maxxx) they would be better for helping you grow and develop more spin. Otherwise the Calibra or the Cornilleau may be the right answer for your BH.

For your FH, the biggest consideration is you probably could use something a little harder than for your BH since you are probably able to make stronger impact based on your former level and your general skill.

So, if you had Calibra Tour H, that might be good. But you don't. The 47 and 47.5 versions of Target (Pro GT-H 47 and Ultim 47.5) may also be good for your FH but you don't have those either. The Tour M and the Target Force 45 may still be good for FH but the may be soft enough for you to bottom out and hit the wood too easily.

Probably the best rubber on that list for your FH is Andro Rasant PowerGrip. In spite of the super grippy topsheet, it has that quality of being non-responsive to incoming spin and is good for looping, loop-driving and smashing. So it is pretty versatile.

If you had Evolution MX-P I might say to try that and give MX-P a slight edge. But, again, you don't. EL-P may work for your FH too but it is probably a bit too soft for the power of someone who predominantly drive loops and smashes at a 1900-2000 level.

That is all I am going to write because I think that is already too much.

Good luck.

Whatever you choose, flip your racket around every so often to see what the FH rubber feels like on BH and vice versa.


Sent from TheDepthsOfTartarus via TheHouseOfHades

 

[alex5908]

To UpSideDown Carl
Thank you for the profound answer. Tons of useful info! The same as for NextLevel. I really appreciate your time and desire to help.What a nice forum!

 

[NextLevel]

Carl,

I disagree with this though I understand where you are coming from:

"If you had Evolution MX-P I might say to try that and give MX-P a slight edge. But, again, you don't. EL-P may work for your FH too but it is probably a bit too soft for the power of someone who predominantly drive loops and smashes at a 1900-2000 level."

Remember Der Echte uses FX-P and so do other players. Calibra Sound is also a soft rubber. In the end, it all comes down to the kind of contact you prefer. A 2200+ visiting student from France used Acuda S3 on the forehand and short pips on the BH. He loved to drive the ball and was largely unconcerned with the spin he was leaving on the table with that rubber. EL-P is harder than those rubbers and is touted as a T80 /T05 equivalent. Both T05 and T80 are on world class forehands.

OP will figure it out though. But it all comes down to his testing and knowing what he prefers.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Carl,

I disagree with this though I understand where you are coming from:

"If you had Evolution MX-P I might say to try that and give MX-P a slight edge. But, again, you don't. EL-P may work for your FH too but it is probably a bit too soft for the power of someone who predominantly drive loops and smashes at a 1900-2000 level."

Remember Der Echte uses FX-P and so do other players. Calibra Sound is also a soft rubber. In the end, it all comes down to the kind of contact you prefer. A 2200+ visiting student from France used Acuda S3 on the forehand and short pips on the BH. He loved to drive the ball and was largely unconcerned with the spin he was leaving on the table with that rubber. EL-P is harder than those rubbers and is touted as a T80 /T05 equivalent. Both T05 and T80 are on world class forehands.

OP will figure it out though. But it all comes down to his testing and knowing what he prefers.

Yep. You are right. Der is a touch player with his FH but I know guys who drive hard and like T05fx. I am just talking in general terms.

There is too much info to say everything. Those would definitely also be worth testing out for FH.

Here is the important info that says exactly what you are saying from my post:

Of the rubbers on the list, plenty of them may be good for what you need. All of them should work fine on either blade. But some will be better for you than others.

Which one would be best for you really depends on if you tend to use mainly the sponge or the sponge and the topsheet.

But it is true, sometimes softer rubbers work for certain people who like to make deep, direct impact.

So in the end the best thing to do is to try every one of those rubbers on both blades and on both FH and BH to see what works best. But the info I presented is a shortcut to save a bit of time. I am going with the percentages.

Sent from TheDepthsOfTartarus via TheHouseOfHades