New racket after a break - T05 or Dignics?

[hektorowy]

Hi,
I am looking for a new racket after a break. I am now 26 years old and I used to play in a club - training 5 times a week, for 5 years between 11-16 years old and I want to start playing again.
I used to play with Primorac JP blade and a Tenergy 05 2.1 on FH and Tenergy 05 1.9 bh, however I lost this racket and have no idea where it is so I need to buy a new one.
My play style was offensive, close to the table, with very strong fh topspins. I was less confident with my backhand, could not do proper flicks and I rarely used bh topsins on backspin balls. I was mostly forhand player with which I tried to attack with.

So I need to buy a new racket. I thought about buying exactly the same one but in case I find my old one I do not want to have 2 exactly same blades. For a blade I want something a step further, something faster still with control and after searching different forums I think a pretty good choice would be INNERFORCE LAYER ALC. What you think about it?

And now for rubbers. My first idea was to go with Tenergy 05 but I see that there are new ones Dignics 05 or Dignics 09c which many say are better than T05. Should I stay with old T05 or try new Dignics? Maybe I should try Dignics on bh and stay with T05 on FH. What you guys think?

 

[TackyForehand]

I think you should go to the club and borrow some rackets. You've been away so long that perhaps your need in equipment has changed.

 

[ViperTableTennis]

Hi,
I am looking for a new racket after a break. I am now 26 years old and I used to play in a club - training 5 times a week, for 5 years between 11-16 years old and I want to start playing again.
I used to play with Primorac JP blade and a Tenergy 05 2.1 on FH and Tenergy 05 1.9 bh, however I lost this racket and have no idea where it is so I need to buy a new one.
My play style was offensive, close to the table, with very strong fh topspins. I was less confident with my backhand, could not do proper flicks and I rarely used bh topsins on backspin balls. I was mostly forhand player with which I tried to attack with.

So I need to buy a new racket. I thought about buying exactly the same one but in case I find my old one I do not want to have 2 exactly same blades. For a blade I want something a step further, something faster still with control and after searching different forums I think a pretty good choice would be INNERFORCE LAYER ALC. What you think about it?

And now for rubbers. My first idea was to go with Tenergy 05 but I see that there are new ones Dignics 05 or Dignics 09c which many say are better than T05. Should I stay with old T05 or try new Dignics? Maybe I should try Dignics on bh and stay with T05 on FH. What you guys think?

T05 was designed for the old celluloid ball. The Dignics range is designed for the new ball, so for that reason alone I would lean towards trying one of the Dignics over the T05. Or if you did want to go with a Tenergy, maybe consider the T19 which is the newest addition to the Tenergy range (and came after the introduction of the new ball). From what I've read, the T19 seems to be pretty much the new ball version of the T05.

 

[Brs]

I'd say dignics 05 on forehand, and maybe a T19 for bh. Or t05fx bh. The tenergy series is still completely usable for club players.

 

[disaster3]

of course, I tried a lot new fancy/superb/trendy rubbers, including H3N, D09, K3 from Tibhar and returned to old/good and still deadly tenergy series. So if you are not on the pro level do not underestimate old tenergies as they are still very good in 40+ plastic ball era and on amateur level can more than you can give.
They are engaged earlier than harder hybrid rubbers but One likes blondes, other brunettes
In terms of blades if you were playing Primorac JP, it's natural after the long break to go with the similar route and maybe still remain in allwood area but a bit faster then try Korbel JP or new Hadraw 5, still allwood but a bit faster than Primorac.
You will recall what your learnt get used to after the long break and if your EJ bug appears then would go for Carbon if allwood will be not enough and would like to check something new.
But I was there, too and slowed down to Timo Boll ZLF (zylon w/o carbon) which is natural improvement in speed to Korbel JP and beside I owned FZD ALC, Stiga Inspira Plus, Primo JP, Virtuoso+, Joola hyper Ary-90 ZQH, TB ZLF with T05 and T19 suits me best.
Sometimes I use above mentioned on the trainings but this is not the same when I play TB ZLF with Tenergies (T19+T05).
If you were playing with T05s, I would not change it or only think about T19 on BH which seems to feel softer more controllable compared to T05.

 

[Lazer]

Tenergy 05 is unbeatable (can maybe be beaten by Dignics) at a distance. You say you play close to the table with strong spin. That the CV for a typical H3(neo) player. You won’t get a better rubber than that close to the table, but at a distance not so much, it can be a dog but something to think about…

Cheers
L-zr

 

[Wrighty67]

I also support the T05 vs D05 comments - D05 may be the better rubber, but not for most players. If you are not very solid and hit pretty hard then D05 is harder to access the performance. T05 is still fantastic...

I also support the inner fibre carbon option - innerforce ALC or ZLC is great but there are many others.

 

[NextLevel]

I'd say dignics 05 on forehand, and maybe a T19 for bh. Or t05fx bh. The tenergy series is still completely usable for club players.

And pros. I know 2400-2600 players who still use Viscaria with T05 or just regular T05.

 

[NDH]

Am I the only one that thinks Tenergy 05 is possibly the worst choice for a returner to the sport?

It's the least controllable of all the rubbers mentioned, and is very sensitive to spin.

It's absolutely still a rubber that can (and does) compete at the very top of the Plastic ball era - I'd argue it's a more advanced/harder rubber to play with than the Dignics series.

Now.... If you were very good before, you'll likely pick it up quickly regardless of what rubber you use.

My play style was offensive, close to the table, with very strong fh topspins. I was less confident with my backhand, could not do proper flicks and I rarely used bh topsins on backspin balls. I was mostly forhand player with which I tried to attack with.

However, and I don't mean to be overly harsh here.... Your statement above makes me think that Tenergy was probably the wrong choice back then as well.

I would encourage you to try some set ups at a local club if you can.

I also think the Innerforce blade is a great choice!

Good luck!

 

[Gozo Aruna]

T05.

Leave those Dignics for em' pros.

 

[NextLevel]

T05.

Leave those Dignics for em' pros.

Common misconception: "Faster rubber is for amateurs."

 

[Gozo Aruna]

Common misconception: "Faster rubber is for amateurs."

Hi Nexy ( Next Level ),

I wanna try T05fx on my FH. I have found recently from my EJ'ing exercise, 42 is my magic number. 42 refers to ESN degree sponge hardness.

What say you?

 

[NextLevel]

Am I the only one that thinks Tenergy 05 is possibly the worst choice for a returner to the sport?

It's the least controllable of all the rubbers mentioned, and is very sensitive to spin.

It's absolutely still a rubber that can (and does) compete at the very top of the Plastic ball era - I'd argue it's a more advanced/harder rubber to play with than the Dignics series.

Now.... If you were very good before, you'll likely pick it up quickly regardless of what rubber you use.


However, and I don't mean to be overly harsh here.... Your statement above makes me think that Tenergy was probably the wrong choice back then as well.

I would encourage you to try some set ups at a local club if you can.

I also think the Innerforce blade is a great choice!

Good luck!

I definitely understand how you come to this perspective and I like it. I think the early activation of Tenergy can work for both amateurs and pros. I find it interesting how equipment analysis works sometimes. We treat features of rubbers as absolute strengths and weaknesses sometimes based on our understanding of the game and the issues players have relative to our levels, but sometimes underappreciate how a rubber encouraging an overwhelming strength can be more important than it mitigating a weakness (apologies to Gozo because I also sometimes make this mistake analyzing his choice of equipment, though I still think I am right lol).

 

[NextLevel]

Hi Nexy ( Next Level ),

I wanna try T05fx on my FH. I have found recently from my EJ'ing exercise, 42 is my magic number. 42 refers to ESN degree sponge hardness.

What say you?

I have seen guys beat me up with FX rubbers - no hatorade here, I love the idea.

 

[Wrighty67]

Am I the only one that thinks Tenergy 05 is possibly the worst choice for a returner to the sport?

It's the least controllable of all the rubbers mentioned, and is very sensitive to spin.

It's absolutely still a rubber that can (and does) compete at the very top of the Plastic ball era - I'd argue it's a more advanced/harder rubber to play with than the Dignics series.

Now.... If you were very good before, you'll likely pick it up quickly regardless of what rubber you use.


However, and I don't mean to be overly harsh here.... Your statement above makes me think that Tenergy was probably the wrong choice back then as well.

I would encourage you to try some set ups at a local club if you can.

I also think the Innerforce blade is a great choice!

Good luck!

I think it very much depends on level and blade choice - for somebody with decent basics and an ability to spin the ball, then on a slower inner blade T05 can be a great choice. On a faster outer carbon or for somebody lacking the basics it may not be so clever..

 

[NextLevel]

I think it very much depends on level and blade choice - for somebody with decent basics and an ability to spin the ball, then on a slower inner blade T05 can be a great choice. On a faster outer carbon or for somebody lacking the basics it may not be so clever..

I actually find T05 best on outer carbon blades for rallying. Because the spin activates early, you know you will always get a quality shot, while a rubber that gives you more touch with slower bounce and less spin on softer shots might not get you quality if you don't get into position to play a full stroke. The problem with T05 early activation is that you need to read the spin precisely on touch shots, but the ball quality spin wise is always good. If I wanted to use a really fast blade and setup again, I would consider T05 or T05H for sure.

 

[latej]

The blade I think is a good choice. For the rubbers, something more controlled:

Fastarc G1 (FH) / C1 (BH)
Xiom Vega Pro (FH) / Euro (BH)

Spoiling the game again - stay away from Tenergy/Dignics for the first year. And then for all the coming years up to eternity...

 

[Gozo Aruna]

The blade I think is a good choice. For the rubbers, something more controlled:

Fastarc G1 (FH) / C1 (BH)
Xiom Vega Pro (FH) / Euro (BH)

Spoiling the game again - stay away from Tenergy/Dignics for the first year. And then for all the coming years up to eternity...

Currently using Xiom Vega Euro on FH and it is doing a marvelous job. I heard @JJ Ng singing its high praise to high heavens I said to myself, I've gotta try it.

 

[Aizen]

If you were happy with t05’s back then you may just use again t05, no need to jump on EJ train. Maybe for one side you can try t19.
if you were using good old srivers, then I would be another story.

Once you settled back, you can try newer rubbers as well. Otherwise, if you try dignics, with every error you faced, you might miss tenergies. Then welcome to EJ club.

But for blade, you consider innerforce for bit more kick, however with tenergy you should not be need much.

 

[SleepyMaster]

Best rubber after a break? Glayzer or glayzer09c if we talking bout the BTY ones 😌