Rubber Recommendations

[Lando]

Hi TTD!

I started playing around a month ago after being away from the sport for 20+ years.
Apart from being much older than when I used to play, I am also heavier.
I am a Cpen user with TPB. I figure I need to develop a FH again before venturing into RPB land.
I am currently using a Viscaria blade with a h3neo unboosted, and a bty super anti just in case I can't read the opponent's serve.

I like the tackiness of the h3neo, but I read that the h3neo requires a much more physically demanding stroke.
I have tried this stroke and can barely make it through a match without sweating buckets and missing a few easy FH's due to bad footwork.
I am also 6'2 and bending low and exploding upwards is killing me.

I rely a lot on my serves. They are pretty decent. I practice my serve everyday, at least 100 balls a day (I have a table and robot in my garage).
This is the reason I am scared to try a Japanese/European rubber as I can put the ball very short when serving and figure I won't be able to do that with a faster rubber. But even if I could manage to place it short with a faster rubber, I fear that it will not have as much spin.

Is there a better rubber out there for me or should I just power through with the h3neo until it gets me more fit and my body gets used to the more demanding effort?

Thanks!

 

[mocker88]

Xiom TAU II is H3-like, but bouncier. That one could fit you fine.
LOKI Arthur China is another one that feels like a boosted H3
Yinhe Big Dipper is similar to H3, but got a softer feeling, and a little bounce. Only half tacky, but works great for brushing the ball still.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Hi TTD!

I started playing around a month ago after being away from the sport for 20+ years.
Apart from being much older than when I used to play, I am also heavier.
I am a Cpen user with TPB. I figure I need to develop a FH again before venturing into RPB land.
I am currently using a Viscaria blade with a h3neo unboosted, and a bty super anti just in case I can't read the opponent's serve.

I like the tackiness of the h3neo, but I read that the h3neo requires a much more physically demanding stroke.
I have tried this stroke and can barely make it through a match without sweating buckets and missing a few easy FH's due to bad footwork.
I am also 6'2 and bending low and exploding upwards is killing me.

I rely a lot on my serves. They are pretty decent. I practice my serve everyday, at least 100 balls a day (I have a table and robot in my garage).
This is the reason I am scared to try a Japanese/European rubber as I can put the ball very short when serving and figure I won't be able to do that with a faster rubber. But even if I could manage to place it short with a faster rubber, I fear that it will not have as much spin.

Is there a better rubber out there for me or should I just power through with the h3neo until it gets me more fit and my body gets used to the more demanding effort?

Thanks!

You can boost the H3 which will make it much bouncier and easy to use.

You can also use Yinhe Jupiter 3 or Big Dipper, both are factory boosted.

 

[SleepyMaster]

Hi TTD!

I started playing around a month ago after being away from the sport for 20+ years.
Apart from being much older than when I used to play, I am also heavier.
I am a Cpen user with TPB. I figure I need to develop a FH again before venturing into RPB land.
I am currently using a Viscaria blade with a h3neo unboosted, and a bty super anti just in case I can't read the opponent's serve.

I like the tackiness of the h3neo, but I read that the h3neo requires a much more physically demanding stroke.
I have tried this stroke and can barely make it through a match without sweating buckets and missing a few easy FH's due to bad footwork.
I am also 6'2 and bending low and exploding upwards is killing me.

I rely a lot on my serves. They are pretty decent. I practice my serve everyday, at least 100 balls a day (I have a table and robot in my garage).
This is the reason I am scared to try a Japanese/European rubber as I can put the ball very short when serving and figure I won't be able to do that with a faster rubber. But even if I could manage to place it short with a faster rubber, I fear that it will not have as much spin.

Is there a better rubber out there for me or should I just power through with the h3neo until it gets me more fit and my body gets used to the more demanding effort?

Thanks!

100 balls of serving every day? Good job, man! Keep it up! I usually do 100 balls for one of a kind serve a day. Mostly is pendulum, backhand, reverse pendulum. I win a lot of points strictly from a serve too. The bests rubber for serving are hybrids like: dignics09c, nittaku Sieger pk50, yasaka rakza z etc..

 

[NextLevel]

For some reason, people never mention Golden Tango, and Golden Tango is definitely a top 3 amongst them IMHO.

 

[DukeGaGa]

Best replacement for H3 neo I've tried is VICTAS TD, tackier, and crispier at the same time, so your serves won't be affected, while loops and other stuff are not as physically demanding as h3

 

[SleepyMaster]

Best replacement for H3 neo I've tried is VICTAS TD, tackier, and crispier at the same time, so your serves won't be affected, while loops and other stuff are not as physically demanding as h3

Never tried it, i guess gonna be my next EJ move, with Tibhar K3, and fastarc g1 - all of those i will apply to my backhand. Will see how it goes 🤔

 

[Lando]

Thanks everyone!
I will check out all the rubbers mentioned.
I know a couple of club members have some of the rubbers mentioned, so I will try them out.

100 balls of serving every day? Good job, man! Keep it up! I usually do 100 balls for one of a kind serve a day. Mostly is pendulum, backhand, reverse pendulum. I win a lot of points strictly from a serve too. The bests rubber for serving are hybrids like: dignics09c, nittaku Sieger pk50, yasaka rakza z etc..

That's a lot!
I really need to practice the BH serves, but I can't put as much spin on the ball that way.
Serving has to be my favorite part of the sport (I really enjoy the deception angle of TT).

I also need to learn this BH

 

[Doum]

One player i have a lot of trouble returning his serve use butterfly rubber, non tacky. Spinny as hell. The secret is in the technique.

And for me, at my age, i find european style rubber a lot easier to play. With smaller stroke you can produce a quality ball that put pressure on your opponent.

 

[SFF_lib]

Tacky rubber is best for service. There are plenty of less demanding options:

Boosted H3
H8
39 degree Neo TG3(softer topsheet than H3)
Vega China
K1 pro
Tau 3

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

H3, NeoH3 for pro athletics or amateurs who are into self torture.

For the rest of us regular folks, thank god for ESN. Best thing since white bread.

 

[blahness]

Just boost your H3 like what everyone else is doing haha. If you're lazy like me Hurricane 8-80 is quite good and about 80-90% there.

 

[blahness]

Also on penhold BH, long pips is insanely good. Imo LP RPB + a strong penhold FH works wonders. One older guy (he's a bit semi pro tho) playing like that even wins against the top players here including the ex Chinese provincial player 😂

The amount of variations you can get with inverted TPB and long pips RPB is gonna cause a lot of grief from your opponents. Any opportunity balls are just gonna get blasted by the strong penhold FH. At the amateur level I feel like this is actually one of the strongest styles to play albeit a little evil. If you can twiddle it increases the opponent's headaches even further lol...

 

[Lando]

Thank you for all the replies!
I purchased a Big Dipper from Aliexpress and am looking at trying one more out.
D09c, rakza Z and H8, I can't decide!
Do the hybrid rubbers still require that full body stroke?

 

[TheProfessor]

My apologies to the OP, I don't mean to hijack the thread.

Xiom TAU II is H3-like, but bouncier. That one could fit you fine.
LOKI Arthur China is another one that feels like a boosted H3
Yinhe Big Dipper is similar to H3, but got a softer feeling, and a little bounce. Only half tacky, but works great for brushing the ball still.

@mocker88, what blades have you tried the Loki Arthur China with? Thanks.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Thank you for all the replies!
I purchased a Big Dipper from Aliexpress and am looking at trying one more out.
D09c, rakza Z and H8, I can't decide!
Do the hybrid rubbers still require that full body stroke?

BD good choice. Maybe get a sheet of Bloom Power to compare.

 

[IB66]

For some reason, people never mention Golden Tango, and Golden Tango is definitely a top 3 amongst them IMHO.

Yeah, Golden Tango (GT)is often ignored, it’s a quality rubber no question!!
I used it on BH for a year or so.
I think it is a little faster than H3N, has similar spin, and good tackiness.
If you prefer a little more ‘bounce‘ then there is the Golden Tango PS version which has ‘easier’ speed because of the bouncier sponge.
I gave this a try for a few practice sessions but preferred the GT to GT PS.
Wish I’d given GT a proper run on FH, but I think I was using H8 or H3N provincial on FH at that time.
OH by the way, FOR ME, H8 and H3N provincial played very similarly, so on the cost side of things, don’t bother with Provincial H3N get H8 and save some bucks!!!

 

[mocker88]

My apologies to the OP, I don't mean to hijack the thread.

@mocker88, what blades have you tried the Loki Arthur China with? Thanks.

My apologies to the OP, I don't mean to hijack the thread.

@mocker88, what blades have you tried the Loki Arthur China with? Thanks.

I don't remember all, but of course my yinhe v14 pro and then a sanwei v5 pro. They both worked good with LAC. 👍

 

[Der_Echte]

Even with a rocketship super fast setup you can serve short with spin... it is a matter of your grip, acceleration, impact, and blade angle being flat full open.

Buy and use whatever rubber entices you.

 

[Lando]

I went ahead and purchased the dignics 09c and Big Dipper!
Waiting a couple of weeks for the BD to arrive.
Just got the 09c this morning!