Do rubbers really 'break in'?

[allfj]

Do they

 

[mihalichtheone]

yes

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

they do

 

[DukeGaGa]

Yes, especially for tacky rubbers.

 

[Dan]

Yeah. I find they are optimum after a few sessions.

 

[Michael Zhuang]

Yes, especially for tacky rubbers.

When a tacky rubbers "breaks in", is it because the tackiness wears off so the rubber feels more responsive? or does it have something to do with the sponge?

 

[DukeGaGa]

When a tacky rubbers "breaks in", is it because the tackiness wears off so the rubber feels more responsive? or does it have something to do with the sponge?

both. and they break in different rates, that's why I said especially tacky rubbers.

 

[Michael Zhuang]

What exactly happens with the sponge? It becomes softer and bouncier?

 

[igorponger]

YES, SPONGE NEEDS pre-CONDITIONING A GOOD DEAL.
In the laboratory impact tests, the testing Pendulum is applied on a sponge sample repeatedly -- 6 times in a succession, because the sponge material getting more elastic upon each try. This is to sustain the theory of "breack-in" effect on table tennis sponge.

Be happy.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

Most modern performance rubbers come factory boosted, and about 1-2 weeks in they usually become much less jumpy and sensitive as they lose that factory freshness.

 

[DukeGaGa]

Most modern performance rubbers come factory boosted, and about 1-2 weeks in they usually become much less jumpy and sensitive as they lose that factory freshness.

That’s not the break-in we are talking about here. What you said is degradation.

 

[JediJesseS]

Yes, most notably harder less porous sponges

 

[brokenball]

Can anybody tell us what happens to the rubber when it is has been "broken in"?
Exactly what changes?
Has anybody measured the changes?
I think it is more TT non-sense.

I do agree that rubbers degrade over time. The so called "breaking in" is just the player getting use to the difference between the old and new rubber.

 

[Der_Echte]

My subjective empirical data opinion show with a new rubber glued on, it becomes more dynamic after a couple sessions than new.

When I am about to do an important tourney, I replace the rubber about a week before the tourney and get in at least two sessions.

Of course, it is only my opinion, of which everyone has one, to include a dung-hole. My opinion may be worth as much as one of those holes, it may be worth more.

 

[DukeGaGa]

Can anybody tell us what happens to the rubber when it is has been "broken in"?
Exactly what changes?
Has anybody measured the changes?
I think it is more TT non-sense.

I do agree that rubbers degrade over time. The so called "breaking in" is just the player getting use to the difference between the old and new rubber.

At least for boosted tacky rubber it’s not nonsense. The initial tackiness of the top sheet is super strong but after a session or two it calms down a bit and stays more or less the same for the few weeks the boosting lasts, if you take good care of it it’ll last longer of course. The boosting effect is the same, the initial boosting effect is rather strong and could be unpredictable at times, but after using it for a while it will become much more predictable. This is kind of like back in the days when I worked on robots, we never use batteries right out of the chargers, we usually let the batteries drain a bit, maybe 1-2%, the motors and servos can be a bit jumpy with batteries at full charge.

 

[JustANoob]

Can anybody tell us what happens to the rubber when it is has been "broken in"?
Exactly what changes?
Has anybody measured the changes?
I think it is more TT non-sense.

I do agree that rubbers degrade over time. The so called "breaking in" is just the player getting use to the difference between the old and new rubber.

Maybe you should do an experiment and prove it. Otherwise it's still just your opinion against the rest.

 

[lodro]

Can anybody tell us what happens to the rubber when it is has been "broken in"?
Exactly what changes?
Has anybody measured the changes?
I think it is more TT non-sense.

I do agree that rubbers degrade over time. The so called "breaking in" is just the player getting use to the difference between the old and new rubber.

I support this 100%

 

[lodro]

At least for boosted tacky rubber it’s not nonsense. The initial tackiness of the top sheet is super strong but after a session or two it calms down a bit and stays more or less the same for the few weeks the boosting lasts, if you take good care of it it’ll last longer of course. The boosting effect is the same, the initial boosting effect is rather strong and could be unpredictable at times, but after using it for a while it will become much more predictable. This is kind of like back in the days when I worked on robots, we never use batteries right out of the chargers, we usually let the batteries drain a bit, maybe 1-2%, the motors and servos can be a bit jumpy with batteries at full charge.

And this is exactly why some players break the initial strong tackiness by rolling new balls over the rubbers so the small amount of talcum powder takes the tackiness away a bit.
As for the boosting part, everybody needs a little bit of adjustment when first grabbing a blade with new boosted rubbers.

 

[DukeGaGa]

And this is exactly why some players break the initial strong tackiness by rolling new balls over the rubbers so the small amount of talcum powder takes the tackiness away a bit.
As for the boosting part, everybody needs a little bit of adjustment when first grabbing a blade with new boosted rubbers.

I.E. break-in is not nonsense

 

[davizoosk]

i think is no sense talking about pro players, if the rubber really "break in" after something like 2 weeks and most pros change their rubber after 3 or 5 days if have a tournament, pros cannot have the best performance of the rubber like you are talking about?