Medium hard rubber for backhand

[dnelsen]

I find myself being suspicious of those who have tried MANY of the most highly regarded rubbers on the market, and yet continue searching.

Are none of them good enough? Really???

At some point you’re just messing with your own head and imagining things. I hope I never reach that level of equipment junkie.

 

[IceLooper]

I am using Donic Bluestar A3 on my backhand and like it very much. A3 is the softest of the Bluestar series. Very good for pushes and confidence inspiring for blocking. Little bouncy but nothing super

 

[Yurifi]

I am using Donic Bluestar A3 on my backhand and like it very much. A3 is the softest of the Bluestar series. Very good for pushes and confidence inspiring for blocking. Little bouncy but nothing super

I have A1 and A2 at home to try, maybe I'll give it a chance ...

 

[Yurifi]

I find myself being suspicious of those who have tried MANY of the most highly regarded rubbers on the market, and yet continue searching.

Are none of them good enough? Really???

At some point you’re just messing with your own head and imagining things. I hope I never reach that level of equipment junkie.

I think you are completely right ... on the other hand, I am really trying to find that right feel for my backhand ... but yeah, maybe I should just leave it as is ... truthfully, a different rubber won't help me much, if I don't even manage to hit the ball on may backhand during open-up loops ...

 

[Sherpa]

I've tried Hurricane 37 on the backhand and it is pretty easy to use. Great at returning serve, easy to push with, but also decent to attack with. I have also used Rakza 7 soft and Rakza Z and I can play with any of them as they all have their pluses and minuses.

 

[Yurifi]

quick thought. after initial satisfaction with Xiom Vega Asia DF this is a bit fading now. even though I prefer soft(er) rubbers on my backhand, I am not gonna believe I will be saying / writing this - I think this rubber is TOO soft. for most of the game, this rubber is really nice. great serve. great block. good control when practicing, but during match play, sometimes I get the feeling the ball just flies off. it is just ... gonne. I don't even hit it hard ...

so I started thinking - maybe its blade - rubber combo? TMXi with upper veneer and Vega Asia DF not friends with each other?

 

[Egon]

quick thought. after initial satisfaction with Xiom Vega Asia DF this is a bit fading now. even though I prefer soft(er) rubbers on my backhand, I am not gonna believe I will be saying / writing this - I think this rubber is TOO soft. for most of the game, this rubber is really nice. great serve. great block. good control when practicing, but during match play, sometimes I get the feeling the ball just flies off. it is just ... gonne. I don't even hit it hard ...

so I started thinking - maybe its blade - rubber combo? TMXi with upper veneer and Vega Asia DF not friends with each other?

Perhaps the rubber simply lost its grip. This is typical of Vega. Out of the box, this rubber plays great, has a bite comparable to Tenergy, but it does not last long. After a few workouts, this bite disappears, but there is still grip, especially if you activate the sponge. And this mode lasts a very long time. But there is no longer a bite at the slightest touch.

 

[Yurifi]

Perhaps the rubber simply lost its grip. This is typical of Vega. Out of the box, this rubber plays great, has a bite comparable to Tenergy, but it does not last long. After a few workouts, this bite disappears, but there is still grip, especially if you activate the sponge. And this mode lasts a very long time. But there is no longer a bite at the slightest touch.

it's 10 days old. ball still sticks to the rubber. plenty of grip and tackiness still there ...
if I think about it - I have a feeling, that I have to fight the rubber a bit, like it has no forgiveness at all ...

 

[Egon]

it's 10 days old. ball still sticks to the rubber. plenty of grip and tackiness still there ...
if I think about it - I have a feeling, that I have to fight the rubber a bit, like it has no forgiveness at all ...

There is a grip, but changes did happen...

 

[NetProphet]

it's 10 days old. ball still sticks to the rubber. plenty of grip and tackiness still there ...
if I think about it - I have a feeling, that I have to fight the rubber a bit, like it has no forgiveness at all ...

Sounds like it might be too bouncy for you.
If it's quite soft and has a lot of catapult then there's good touch needed to control that.
Can be good in that it forces you to really focus on the short game to play it well. It (in theory anyway) can make other shots easier too but there are pros and cons, depends what you want to fit your game.

Perhaps a slightly harder sponge will be easier for you?
Less catapult, so more emphasis for technique to generate ball speed and easier short game too.
I can tell the difference between Rakza 7/X and their soft variants and this was my experience before trying the slightly harder Rakza Z.

 

[Yurifi]

Sounds like it might be too bouncy for you.
If it's quite soft and has a lot of catapult then there's good touch needed to control that.
Can be good in that it forces you to really focus on the short game to play it well. It (in theory anyway) can make other shots easier too but there are pros and cons, depends what you want to fit your game.

Perhaps a slightly harder sponge will be easier for you?
Less catapult, so more emphasis for technique to generate ball speed and easier short game too.
I can tell the difference between Rakza 7/X and their soft variants and this was my experience before trying the slightly harder Rakza Z.

that's what I was thinking about. but before that, I tried Rakza 7 Soft (which is similarly soft as Vega Asia DF) and it was okay (albeit on a different blade) ... so maybe it is blade-rubber combo.
I know I have one relatively new Donic Bluegrip S1 which has a bit harder sponge if I am not mistaken which I had on my backhand before the new blade and it was okay, but it was completely different setup. specwise it is supposed to be a bit faster than Vega Asia, but if it has less catapult it might be okay. will try later today ...

I know that Omega 7 China Guang is too hard, as is Bluegrip C2, for my backhand, so I guess I will have to find something in this window then ... or maybe just pay attention to catapult factor.

 

[kingkimchi]

Hi all,

Any advice/suggestions for a medium or medium hard rubber on a carbon inner blade fitting to points mentioned below?

-Easy to push and drive
-Not big of catapult effect
-Not to speedy
-Not to spin sensitive
-Good in touch- and short game
-(relative) good in serve receive (not to springy)

I don't do any power loops with my backhand.. I rely on a stable serve receive / drive/ push / block / slow spin in my backhand game. I mainly use my backhand for controlling, I like to be agressive with drives in combination with active blocking.

Either go European with one of the Andro Hex Grips, or go with one of the Fastarcs from Japan. If you come from a butterfly background but don't mind the switch to chinese. Get H8 one layer of booster. Seen some ppl recommend xiom vegas but I've never tried one so I can't recommend it.

 

[Yurifi]

Either go European with one of the Andro Hex Grips, or go with one of the Fastarcs from Japan. If you come from a butterfly background but don't mind the switch to chinese. Get H8 one layer of booster. Seen some ppl recommend xiom vegas but I've never tried one so I can't recommend it.

since you mentioned it - I see a lot of talk about boosting - but isn't boosting illegal, as per ITTF?

 

[kingkimchi]

since you mentioned it - I see a lot of talk about boosting - but isn't boosting illegal, as per ITTF?

Differs in every region, some local TT authorities don't care, and he hasn't specified what kind of competition it is and how major, shall I say, it is. I don't think we get many Ittf pro players on this forum, so no need to worry. Our little friend here just has a local competition probably.

 

[Yurifi]

Differs in every region, some local TT authorities don't care, and he hasn't specified what kind of competition it is and how major, shall I say, it is. I don't think we get many Ittf pro players on this forum, so no need to worry. Our little friend here just has a local competition probably.

hehehe, just asking, because everyone is talking about xyz rubber boosted and a couple of days ago I read about boosting being illegal, that's why I asked. thanks for clarifying!

 

[kingkimchi]

hehehe, just asking, because everyone is talking about xyz rubber boosted and a couple of days ago I read about boosting being illegal, that's why I asked. thanks for clarifying!

Revisit this issue when you get to represent your country on the world stage, I'm sure you'll get there!

 

[Yurifi]

Revisit this issue when you get to represent your country on the world stage, I'm sure you'll get there!

haha, well, to be honest, I did that in late 1990's ... not world stage, but yes, represented my country internationally, albeit for a short time, but I got the idea what it feels like.

I think those times are gone, even though I have much better self-discipline and calmer train of thought now at 42 than I had in my teens and would probably be able to pull more out of practice sessions now than I did back then ...

 

[WingTT]

Stiga Mantra Pro H or M. You should try the H version and see how you like it as it feels consistent, transparent and reliable to me. Quite inexpensive at around $35 on aliexpress.

 

[Larshos]

Stiga Mantra Pro H or M. You should try the H version and see how you like it as it feels consistent, transparent and reliable to me. Quite inexpensive at around $35 on aliexpress.

I second this! Mantra Pro M is 47 ESN scale hardness. For me it's a great BH rubber.

 

[Yurifi]

Stiga Mantra is not available in my region, unfortunately ... so ...

this may be a bit stupid question, but I am still not the best friend with modern table tennis equipment. I did play with 55 rubber on forehand (BlueGrip C2 and Xiom Omega VII China Guang) but always go back to softer rubber - it just gives me better feeling. on backhand, I still don't know what suits me well - this is why I never actually tried a hard(er) rubber on backhand, but yesterday I was testing during a practice match with a colleague with O7CG on backhand and Xiom Vega Asia DF on forehand (the opposite of what I played for a while now) and while I preferred the Vega Asia DF feeling on forehand in all types of play I am still trying to decide whether I liked the O7CG on backhand. it was great for short play, good for long pushes, blocks, open-ups were okay but general drives and loops were ... okayish ... thinking about maybe I can do it actually. what did suprise me was the amount of control, I thought harder rubber means more speed, less control, but I had a feeling I was more in control than with softer rubber(s) I had on my backhand previously ... plus the serve is a bomb with this rubber (I serve a lot with backhand, though forehand serve is very important too)

is it a general rule that backhand rubber should be softer or it can be hard rubber as well?