I looked down on Mark V, too slow, rubber made for ol'gramps.
That was until I tried Butterfly Flextra ( Butterfly's version of Mark V ) because some members here says I need to slow down my set-up to improve.
And so I did. Now I am happy with it. No tension, no catapulty effect to mess with my technique. The ball comes out just in accordance to the effort I put in the stroke, nothing more, nothing less. Another word, I am in control!
I learned to spin, not by design but by necessity to pressure my opponent so that I can get an easy ball for my FH smash kill.
So there you have it folks! Even a flat-hitter / smasher need spin for the magic to happen.
Thanks for that Gozo, and yeah -- you're exactly right.
Gozo's comments illustrate the underlying principle here very well -- tensor sponge is meant to
augment your technique, not
enable it.
While everybody is different, in my experience at least, most beginners who pick up fast tensor rubbers too soon, end up modifying their stroke to try and
accommodate or
compensate for the rubber's extra speed.
This usually manifests as slower arm movement, weaker strokes, less weight transfer on FH strokes, or worst of all -- trying to either stop or slow down their arm's movement near the point of impact, or otherwise halt, stifle or even pull back a bit on their natural follow through. This utterly destroys ball control as they're not creating dwell time at contact, or guiding the ball to its target in the follow through.
With attacking FH play for example, you must learn to:
-
accelerate towards the contact point,
-
hold the ball on the rubber during contact,
- add power via twisting your torso and proper weight transfer, and
-
guide the direction and trajectory of the ball with the follow through...
...all on your own, without any help from the rubber.
Once you have mastered these skills and can maintain consistent control throughout the stroke,
that's when you can
add extra venom into the mix via using faster rubbers.
Switching to fast rubbers too soon only interferes with learning the above feelings, and implementing all these sensations with your entire body, as a natural part of your game.
Hope this all helps, and please keep sticking with it. You're only two months into learning what might eventually become a life-long passion for you (it certainly did for me 🙂) ...but these are arguably also the most important months of all in your table tennis journey.
You have plenty of time - be patient with it.
Good luck! 🙂👍