Modern Defender FH rubber

[Zain Khan]

Hey gang,

Wanted to get folks' thoughts on a good FH rubber for a developing modern defender. (USATT Rating:1400)

I have been playing Hurricane 3 Neo in some form (currently soft) for most of my career. I have a very strong FH loop, but it just isn't as consistent as I'd like. I'd like to slow it down and be able to consistently topspin pushed chops onto the table as opposed to worrying about generating a high amount of speed and spin and ending the point outright.

H3 (never boosted) has been good to me as the tackiness makes my short game very safe and spinny, and it feels very easy to FH chop. Looping away from the table is something I've adjusted to.. but have really been struggling with lately against more advanced players that actually know how to spin.

Any advice is much appreciated!

 

[lodro]

Hey gang,

Wanted to get folks' thoughts on a good FH rubber for a developing modern defender. (USATT Rating:1400)

I have been playing Hurricane 3 Neo in some form (currently soft) for most of my career. I have a very strong FH loop, but it just isn't as consistent as I'd like. I'd like to slow it down and be able to consistently topspin pushed chops onto the table as opposed to worrying about generating a high amount of speed and spin and ending the point outright.

H3 (never boosted) has been good to me as the tackiness makes my short game very safe and spinny, and it feels very easy to FH chop. Looping away from the table is something I've adjusted to.. but have really been struggling with lately against more advanced players that actually know how to spin.

Any advice is much appreciated!

I am not at your level of play but I am still an H3 fan, although i now use mostly loki Rxton 5

Can i ask you what hardness of h3 neo you use ?
I am not a fan of soft rubbers and have always done better with about a 39 to 40.

 

[Zain Khan]

I am currently using 37. I switched to a softer one to try and achieve more forgiveness on my loops, also since I have to twiddle to loop on the BH side too. (Though I've just been attacking with my LP instead of twiddling lately).

I've always stayed pretty loyal to H3 as well since switching to defense. I tried 09c for a month but honestly think I had a defective sheet... it felt absolutely awful, everything I'd loop would go straight in the net.. which should have been the opposite coming from H3, one would think?

 

[Zain Khan]

In a perfect world, I'd love to have a grippy rubber that generates enough spin so that the ball can consistently dip on the table and I don't have to be too worried about racket angle. Like I mentioned, not particularly worried about speed, just looking for consistency.

Since I am far from the table while chopping, I like to catch balls low and loop with super heavy spin and high arc, it's opening consistently closer to the table against passive players where I'm struggling.

Maybe I am just describing H3?

 

[lodro]

I am currently using 37. I switched to a softer one to try and achieve more forgiveness on my loops, also since I have to twiddle to loop on the BH side too. (Though I've just been attacking with my LP instead of twiddling lately).

I've always stayed pretty loyal to H3 as well since switching to defense. I tried 09c for a month but honestly think I had a defective sheet... it felt absolutely awful, everything I'd loop would go straight in the net.. which should have been the opposite coming from H3, one woI was never convinced about the merits of the NEOs. uld think?

I was never impressed by the Neo s, I would try a normal H3 , probably a 38

 

[brokenball]

The OP didn't say what blade he is using. It makes a difference since I think it is harder to chop with faster blades and rubbers.
I would stick to what you are using and doing ( not boosting ) because anything that is faster will be too fast for chopping. If you are like me, I find it hard to chop with fast spinny rubbers. I think H3 Neo is a good compromise between being able to chop and still loop. A lot depends on how fast your blade is. Hopefully your blade isn't too fast. I have tried chopping FH rubbers like Reflectoid/Submarine on the FH and it was just too slow on a chopping blade. Vega Pro 1.8mm worked for me. I have used lots of H3 NEO in the past, just not for chopping. I would stick with what you have and are doing. There is no magic combination that is going to solve your problems. The big thing with chopping is mobility and being able to wait for the ball to drop to the right level to make the chop and keeping the ball low and deep.

 

[Zain Khan]

Interesting. I have used normal H3 in the past, but have never had a chance to compare side by side on the same blade. It's very hard to conceptualize the difference without feeling it first hand I feel. I just went with Neo because my coach at the time told me to...

 

[Zain Khan]

The OP didn't say what blade he is using. It makes a difference since I think it is harder to chop with faster blades and rubbers.
I would stick to what you are using and doing ( not boosting ) because anything that is faster will be too fast for chopping. If you are like me, I find it hard to chop with fast spinny rubbers. I think H3 Neo is a good compromise between being able to chop and still loop. A lot depends on how fast your blade is. Hopefully your blade isn't too fast. I have tried chopping FH rubbers like Reflectoid/Submarine on the FH and it was just too slow on a chopping blade. Vega Pro 1.8mm worked for me. I have used lots of H3 NEO in the past, just not for chopping. I would stick with what you have and are doing. There is no magic combination that is going to solve your problems. The big thing with chopping is mobility and being able to wait for the ball to drop to the right level to make the chop and keeping the ball low and deep.

Appreciate the insight! I am currently using Victas Matsushita Special.

To clarify though, I feel like H3 Neo is great for chopping, and I'm happy with it there. I've just had a few higher rated players mention that it might be too early for me to develop a consistent open with Hurricane, which is why I'm considering something more forgiving.

 

[mocker88]

Check out Yinhe Big Dipper 38deg. It's a nice H3-like rubber, but with a little bit of "hybrid-feel".
Pimplepark - Epos is a softer, tacky German rubber, with a mild catapult. Available up to 1.9mm.

The Big Dipper gives a better "Chinese" kick, and Epos a more European feeling.

 

[Attitude]

Appreciate the insight! I am currently using Victas Matsushita Special.

To clarify though, I feel like H3 Neo is great for chopping, and I'm happy with it there. I've just had a few higher rated players mention that it might be too early for me to develop a consistent open with Hurricane, which is why I'm considering something more forgiving.

Great blade. As long as you wanna play that style you can stick with it until it breaks.

Picking a FH rubber as a modern defense player is probably the worst thing, because you need attackpower and enough speed from your rubber because your blade lacks in that department. But on the other side you probably wanna chop with it, so you dont need that high amount of power.
As someone who put many many hours in thinking about that for my couching setup (i play full attack myself) i would advise to either stick with H3 and learn a decent technique to attack with it or you pick something which bounces a bit more.
On of the most famous defender in the german league (Florian Bluhm) plays Victas V>01 and his FH.
Some impressions on his capabilities:

So if you lack in power you might checkout that rubber.
For myself i picked the V>15 Extra because i usually counterattack with my fh anyway, so i rarely chop with it. It is possible though but the technique has to be on point and not that big of a margin for error as you seek. So i would search for smth slower and more controllable.

So either way it depends on what you want to work on, or think you can learn the fastest. Either you stick with H3 and improve on you looping technique (Btw the defender Han Ying plays with H3 on fh), or you switch and to a slight faster rubber as the V>01 and work more on your chopping skills because those will be harder with this rubber.

Another alternative would be a rubber used from inverted rubber defender, which would be smth like the Tibhar Mx-K, which is definitly capable of defense and offense.

 

[Michael Zhuang]

Check out Yinhe Big Dipper 38deg. It's a nice H3-like rubber, but with a little bit of "hybrid-feel".
Pimplepark - Epos is a softer, tacky German rubber, with a mild catapult. Available up to 1.9mm.

The Big Dipper gives a better "Chinese" kick, and Epos a more European feeling.

Have you boosted Big Dipper before? Which booster has a strong effect on it?

 

[mocker88]

Have you boosted Big Dipper before? Which booster has a strong effect on it?

Yes I tend to boost it nowadays with Haifu Seamoon booster. It has a good effect and feels really good playing with.

 

[jammmail]

Appreciate the insight! I am currently using Victas Matsushita Special.

To clarify though, I feel like H3 Neo is great for chopping, and I'm happy with it there. I've just had a few higher rated players mention that it might be too early for me to develop a consistent open with Hurricane, which is why I'm considering something more forgiving.

What LP do you use on the BH? I have this blade https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/equipment/blades/11665-koji-matsushita Is yours the blue handled version? I struggled to find a Fh rubber i really liked for attacking on it. I tried Battle 2 but found it too hard and Tenergy was too bouncy defensively

 

[brokenball]

Have you boosted Big Dipper before? Which booster has a strong effect on it?

your answer to everything is boosting. You don't want anything that is too fast on the FH if you use it to chop. It doesn't need to be fast when back from the table and chopping and it doesn't need to be fast when looping near the table.

 

[MarcAnt01]

Hi, I play modern defence and I'm not particularly aggressive on forehand side and often rely on the chop. I use a Victas VS > 401 It's a rubber specially thought for the forehand of modern defenders. It has hard sponge and soft topsheet. It allows me to have both a good control,placement and variation for forehand, for flat attacking it's quite easy to use, but having a hard sponge you need a good technique for forehand topspin loop.If you want something slower you could consider Tackiness Chop, but that would affect your ability to attack with forehand.

 

[MarcAnt01]

your answer to everything is boosting. You don't want anything that is too fast on the FH if you use it to chop. It doesn't need to be fast when back from the table and chopping and it doesn't need to be fast when looping near the table.

Agreed, anyway why even suggesting to boost since it's an illegal practice?

 

[lodro]

Why suggesting to boost since it's an illegal practice?

we boost because we can.
The voc free boosters are not detectable by the electronic sniffers so ittf has got a rule but can not enforce it.

 

[Michael Zhuang]

Yes I tend to boost it nowadays with Haifu Seamoon booster. It has a good effect and feels really good playing with.

Awesome, I have a BD 38 that I am planning on using for backhand. I will try seamoon on it as you recommended

 

[MarcAnt01]

we boost because we can.
The voc free boosters are not detectable by the electronic sniffers so ittf has got a rule but can not enforce it.

Rules don't work in these way that you don't care since they don't catch you, as a honest player, I find this behavior really unsportsmanship. But I think we are going to off topic, in the end it's just a player asking for equipment suggestions

 

[lodro]

Rules don't work in these way that you don't care since they don't catch you, as a honest player, I find this behavior really unsportsmanship. But I think we are going to off topic, in the end it's just a player asking for equipment suggestions

Don't worry about going off-topic. Most threads in this forum end up going that way 😂
At my level of play nobody cares or inspects rubbers or blades. It is more a ping pong play and ITTF rules are far far away.
One also does not really get an unfair advantage from playing with a boosted rubber because most boosted rubbers
would have equivalent qualities as some shop-bought rubbers.