What Are Hybrid Table Tennis Rubbers and Why Are They So Popular Nowadays?

[Marvinn8686]

Yes same here @Marvinn8686 , Rakza Z is decent tackiness, I like it. 8-80 also

Actually I decided to try again H8-80 after reaidng your review. 2 years ago I had it on slower all-wood blade and it felt dead and not very reactive (although serves were great as it was still really tacky). I bought Donic Waldner WC89 what appeared to be stiffer and harder than I expected, quite fast for inner carbon blade. So I was searching for slower tacky rubbers to balance it, but with not too hard sponge. Also read your review of Rakza Z so decided to give both a try and I am really happy with this setup. Rakza I play for 2 months and H8-80 one month, but it convinced me to suspend my EJing for a while

 

[victormanriquey]

Actually I decided to try again H8-80 after reaidng your review. 2 years ago I had it on slower all-wood blade and it felt dead and not very reactive (although serves were great as it was still really tacky). I bought Donic Waldner WC89 what appeared to be stiffer and harder than I expected, quite fast for inner carbon blade. So I was searching for slower tacky rubbers to balance it, but with not too hard sponge. Also read your review of Rakza Z so decided to give both a try and I am really happy with this setup. Rakza I play for 2 months and H8-80 one month, but it convinced me to suspend my EJing for a while

Ah nice man! Fantastic stuff, those 2 are such great rubbers, when people want power but with control, the Rakza Z and the 8-80 are always in my top 3 FH/BH combos! Very happy you are enjoying the setup and that your wallet is suffering less now Remember when you wanna get new rubbers you have a 25% with my code, why pay more

 

[latej]

So, honeymoon again, I switched from the Andro Chintac 575 max to the Joola Dynaryz ZGR max, which I got from @Haito in Duesseldorf. I knew that I'd not buy Chintac again but was decided to play with it for a while, but a friend wanted to try it, which was a welcome opportunity to switch. So first, Chintac has tacky and rel. soft topsheet, good for serve, but not good for full power top-spin, the softness is too much, the spin doesn't relate to the power enough and the throw is a bit too low in such shots. Dynaryz ZGR is not that far from Tronix ZGR which I have on my 1st SDC blade, so far I like it a lot, stronger top-sheet, the sponge hardness feels similar to Tronix ZGR, and a bit faster perhaps, still enough control. It's 3g heavier than Chintac, cut on 158x150, though.

 

[Haito]

So, honeymoon again, I switched from the Andro Chintac 575 max to the Joola Dynaryz ZGR max, which I got from @Haito in Duesseldorf. I knew that I'd not buy Chintac again but was decided to play with it for a while, but a friend wanted to try it, which was a welcome opportunity to switch. So first, Chintac has tacky and rel. soft topsheet, good for serve, but not good for full power top-spin, the softness is too much, the spin doesn't relate to the power enough and the throw is a bit too low in such shots. Dynaryz ZGR is not that far from Tronix ZGR which I have on my 1st SDC blade, so far I like it a lot, stronger top-sheet, the sponge hardness feels similar to Tronix ZGR, and a bit faster perhaps, still enough control. It's 3g heavier than Chintac, cut on 158x150, though.

Let me know how long it lasts. The biggest issue I had with ZGR is the top sheet longevity.

 

[victormanriquey]

So, honeymoon again, I switched from the Andro Chintac 575 max to the Joola Dynaryz ZGR max, which I got from @Haito in Duesseldorf. I knew that I'd not buy Chintac again but was decided to play with it for a while, but a friend wanted to try it, which was a welcome opportunity to switch. So first, Chintac has tacky and rel. soft topsheet, good for serve, but not good for full power top-spin, the softness is too much, the spin doesn't relate to the power enough and the throw is a bit too low in such shots. Dynaryz ZGR is not that far from Tronix ZGR which I have on my 1st SDC blade, so far I like it a lot, stronger top-sheet, the sponge hardness feels similar to Tronix ZGR, and a bit faster perhaps, still enough control. It's 3g heavier than Chintac, cut on 158x150, though.

Cool @latej thanks for the info! And I'll wait for the durability as @Haito mentioned I'll need to test joola again next year, wanna see those ZGR as well Chintac I think early next year, I'm very curious

 

[Haito]

Cool @latej thanks for the info! And I'll wait for the durability as @Haito mentioned I'll need to test joola again next year, wanna see those ZGR as well Chintac I think early next year, I'm very curious

Try the Loki R9, its stupidly good. I put 40hrs on it, and it has no signs of wear. Spin is stupid.

 

[TTAntiPlayer]

Just wanted to mention the DHS Tinarc 3, one of the first hybrid rubbers on the market. I bought it recently just out of curiosity (37).
It was slightly tacky, you can lift the ball for a fraction of a second. I found it very controllable In the short game and reasonably spinny .
Fast attacking was also quite good, with a bit of a tensorish effect when you hit hard, I didn't feel it was much slower than Rakza 7 in that regard.

Take my impressions with a grain of salt, as I've only played with it for a couple of sessions on my FH, and have no idea how long the tackiness will last.

 

[DBsystem78]

Try the Loki R9, its stupidly good. I put 40hrs on it, and it has no signs of wear. Spin is stupid.

You're taking about the orange sponge or the blue sponge ? National or prov ?

 

[Haito]

You're taking about the orange sponge or the blue sponge ? National or prov ?

Orange one. The thread that you contributed to as well has the pictures of the exact rubber I am talking about. That is the only one I have.

 

[victormanriquey]

Try the Loki R9, its stupidly good. I put 40hrs on it, and it has no signs of wear. Spin is stupid.

Orange one. The thread that you contributed to as well has the pictures of the exact rubber I am talking about. That is the only one I have.

Yeah wanted to ask the same as @DBsystem78, thanks for clarifying!

I need to dive deeper into the thread of the new sponge you guys have, I really don't like Rxton 5 unboosted (except for beginners but tough to use) but boosted was fine, LAC is good boosted as well, so need to look in detail at the R9

I'm planning on making a H3N alternatives post early next year, testing B2 and B2 Neo (the latter upcoming) in depth and maybe I need to add R9, I also have Vega China in the list and some other hybrids (STN, Joola Charged, etc), even though it's nowadays very different than a chinese rubber, review coming soon.

So B2 and B2 Neo and Rxton 9 aside, any other recommendations for me to try? I'm open to ideas, still early days!

Ps. Got the national booster (still in yellow though) to test as I always used commercial so let's see, will add that info to the reviews

 

[DBsystem78]

Orange one. The thread that you contributed to as well has the pictures of the exact rubber I am talking about. That is the only one I have.

Ok i think it throws little bit higher than my BS , i have the orange sponge just waiting for my bs to be used but seems very durable indeed , bs is beautiful for blocking and smashes and counter spin , a bit difficult for backspin balls

 

[Archosaurus]

So B2 and B2 Neo and Rxton 9 aside, any other recommendations for me to try? I'm open to ideas, still early days!

I'm trying Dianchi D right now and it's honestly very close to H3 but without needing to boost the first time. Much more-so than all of the other ones people claim are similar IMO. My mistakes are basically identical too LOL.

I've also ordered Pinyui Cuifeng blue sponge 39-40 which I will try some time. Supposedly also close to H3 although that one will need boosting.

 

[victormanriquey]

I'm trying Dianchi D right now and it's honestly very close to H3 but without needing to boost the first time. Much more-so than all of the other ones people claim are similar IMO. My mistakes are basically identical too LOL.

I've also ordered Pinyui Cuifeng blue sponge 39-40 which I will try some time. Supposedly also close to H3 although that one will need boosting.

Adding to the list thanks!! I'll see what I can do

 

[Archosaurus]

Adding to the list thanks!! I'll see what I can do

The one I am using is the "Classic Pro" 40A 2.20 version in the blue vac sealed packet, price around same as H3N Commercial.

There are a ton of versions, and I don't know if they're just packaging updates or what, but there seems to be 3 basic grades, "Training", "Pro" and "Professional".

I've seen at least 5 different packages.

I suspect they're all similar but it'd probably be most representative to try the middle or high grade. I will try the training version as a serious H3N Commercial replacement if the Classic Pro holds up good enough.

 

[Crillo]

Have K3 not been mentioned in this thread yet? 09C and K3 are the best hybrids IMHO.

 

[ZSQ]

Have K3 not been mentioned in this thread yet? 09C and K3 are the best hybrids IMHO.

K3 is absolutely one of the best rubbers, but its lifespan is just too short.

 

[Kilogramme]

Yeah wanted to ask the same as @DBsystem78, thanks for clarifying!

I need to dive deeper into the thread of the new sponge you guys have, I really don't like Rxton 5 unboosted (except for beginners but tough to use) but boosted was fine, LAC is good boosted as well, so need to look in detail at the R9

I'm planning on making a H3N alternatives post early next year, testing B2 and B2 Neo (the latter upcoming) in depth and maybe I need to add R9, I also have Vega China in the list and some other hybrids (STN, Joola Charged, etc), even though it's nowadays very different than a chinese rubber, review coming soon.

So B2 and B2 Neo and Rxton 9 aside, any other recommendations for me to try? I'm open to ideas, still early days!

Ps. Got the national booster (still in yellow though) to test as I always used commercial so let's see, will add that info to the reviews

Haifu Nat booster ? I am considering going back to an easier rubber to get than QSB. R9 national looks promising if no H3. Battle 2 seems to have a low throw, STN could be an option too. I have the Haifu Nat White, and was considering to find a longer lasting booster. I read somewhere than the black last 2 weeks, and the yuellow 6 to 8 weeks. The white being a mix of yellow and black in terms of boosting effect (not softening to much, but adds more dynamism than the black) might be between the two in lasting effect too.

 

[Archosaurus]

Haifu Nat booster ? I am considering going back to an easier rubber to get than QSB. R9 national looks promising if no H3. Battle 2 seems to have a low throw, STN could be an option too. I have the Haifu Nat White, and was considering to find a longer lasting booster. I read somewhere than the black last 2 weeks, and the yuellow 6 to 8 weeks. The white being a mix of yellow and black in terms of boosting effect (not softening to much, but adds more dynamism than the black) might be between the two in lasting effect too.

None of this is scientifically verified, but:

The different National versions are more or less dense formulations of Seamoon with a dye. The order should be something like Black > White > Yellow > Seamoon. I don't know where Red, Brown, 2017 or any other obscure versions fall.

The peak effect lasts a day or two or so, then a stable high effect for 1 to 2 weeks (Haifu claims +8.5% for 1 week for Black), then drop off to nothing after about 3 to 4 weeks.

They all soften the sponge maximally as much (Maxing out at around 9deg softening for many sponges I've boosted 4-6 times to see where it reaches asymptote) although the stronger national boosters soften it faster, and denser sponges soften more per layer.

Black softens the sponge the easiest and Seamoon the hardest. However you need less of Black to get a similar elasticity effect as with Seamoon, so maybe there's a breakpoint where you get more elasticity than you get softening. I have no clue where the idea that Black softens the sponge less comes from; I find on average 1deg more per layer (2ml or so) than with Seamoon.

I've found on less dense sponges with Seamoon it can be as little as 1deg per layer, while on dense sponges with Black it can be as much as 3deg per layer.

In practical use I haven't noticed a real difference other than National boosters are stronger so you can get less added racket mass for the same softening and elasticity. Black and White are a lot stickier and much harder to evenly apply than Seamoon, and harder to drain back into the bottle. I haven't tried Yellow but under spectrometry it's identical to Seamoon so it's probably just a denser variant as well.

 

[JustANoob]

Have K3 not been mentioned in this thread yet? 09C and K3 are the best hybrids IMHO.

Because anyone who trains seriously seems to say it looses performance in about 3 weeks, or 6 weeks for casual play, so for non-sponsored players its insanity to recommend. For performance when fresh people have nothing but praise.

 

[victormanriquey]

The one I am using is the "Classic Pro" 40A 2.20 version in the blue vac sealed packet, price around same as H3N Commercial.

There are a ton of versions, and I don't know if they're just packaging updates or what, but there seems to be 3 basic grades, "Training", "Pro" and "Professional".

I've seen at least 5 different packages.

I suspect they're all similar but it'd probably be most representative to try the middle or high grade. I will try the training version as a serious H3N Commercial replacement if the Classic Pro holds up good enough.

Cool I will check @Archosaurus thanks! And agreed, it's always a bit of a puzzle with Chinese products, naming of versions and subversions goes a bit left and right haha

Haifu Nat booster ? I am considering going back to an easier rubber to get than QSB. R9 national looks promising if no H3. Battle 2 seems to have a low throw, STN could be an option too. I have the Haifu Nat White, and was considering to find a longer lasting booster. I read somewhere than the black last 2 weeks, and the yuellow 6 to 8 weeks. The white being a mix of yellow and black in terms of boosting effect (not softening to much, but adds more dynamism than the black) might be between the two in lasting effect too.

Yeah I have read similar things @Kilogramme , but since I have not tested black and yellow I cannot tell you I'm sorry! I will test now the national and compare to commercial, let's see, rubbers are nicely tunneling now

Have K3 not been mentioned in this thread yet? 09C and K3 are the best hybrids IMHO.

You are not wrong @Crillo those are both very good, but indeed as @ZSQ and @JustANoob mentioned, the durability of K3 is on the lower side, so it's very expensive for what it lasts 😅