Yasaka Rakza Z vs Victas V>15 Sticky

[pendulumboi]

Hi guys. So currently ive been looking for a forehand rubber to use in my 1month old viscaria alc. First rubber i used was Acuda S2 both side. (Acuda S2 was my rubbers in my previous blade which is Xiom Icecream AZXi so i glued it on my viscaria). In my backhand it works super good, i was able to spin the ball with a lot of quality, backspin serve i can easily loop with my backhand. But in forehand, i didn't like it as much. It felt bad soft for my forehand, all of my shots are slow, low quality and is easily countered by my opponents. Then i have a friend who's offered to swap, his rubber is Loki Rxton 5 orange sponge, medium hard and little tackiness. I loved it, i can hit good shots, i can feel the crisp that the Acuda cannot give me. Until now ive been using it but im looking for something medium hard to replace the loki rubber. Ive been searching and i saw a lot of good review about Yasaka Rakza Z. Semi tacky, Medium hard and is convenient for most people who owns one. Another rubber ive got my eyes in is the Victas V>15 Sticky. Because of the tackiness it's got so much quality in spin but im afraid it'll not be bearable for me. So i need your suggestions. Currently im favoring the Yasaka Rakza Z by a little and still reviewing if there's a chance i will get the V>15 Sticky instead.

 

[jk1980]

this is the issue with "internet reviews" and marketing propaganda.
dont't be afraid of the V>15 sticky because it is more of a tensor than the Rakza Z.
V>15 Sticky is not really sticky but rather as "tacky" as most ESN hybrids(Andro Nuzn, Xiom Vega Pro Hybrid) that were released lately. TLDR: they can not really hold the ball for seconds if you tried, while Rakza Z (even though you might be unlucky with some batches) is actually sticky and can hold the ball for many seconds. I must have admit that i have received the odd Rakza Z sample that was less sticky, but this less sticky example was still at least as tacky as aforementioned Victas, Andro or Xiom ESN hybrids. It is really odd that there is such a big difference in stickyness (since Rakza Z is also manufactured by ESN).

If you want something with dampening in the short game than Rakza Z is your choice, if you want something very easy to pick up speed with than V>15 Sticky should be your choice.

 

[jk1980]

unfortunately i don't have the v>15 sticky glued to a blade anymore, so i had to demonstrate what i am talking about without blade vs a rakza Z.

first is a bounce test where you can clearly see that there is no dampening/slow down effect for the short game visible on the v>15 sticky (as is true for most "new" ESN hybrids) while on the Rakza Z the ball does not bounce much.

second is a stickiness test with my palm acting as "the blade".

For your reference, i currently play the Rakza Z Extra Hard (which shares the same topsheet with the Rakza Z) on my main blade (Acoustic) and have gone through at least 8 sheets of Rakza Z and Z EH and even the least sticky sample of Rakza Z was still way stickier than Nuzn, V15 Sticky, Vega Pro H, Nittaku Genextion V2C, Stiga DNA Hybrid and the like.

 

[Jerrooss]

Hi guys. So currently ive been looking for a forehand rubber to use in my 1month old viscaria alc. First rubber i used was Acuda S2 both side. (Acuda S2 was my rubbers in my previous blade which is Xiom Icecream AZXi so i glued it on my viscaria). In my backhand it works super good, i was able to spin the ball with a lot of quality, backspin serve i can easily loop with my backhand. But in forehand, i didn't like it as much. It felt bad soft for my forehand, all of my shots are slow, low quality and is easily countered by my opponents. Then i have a friend who's offered to swap, his rubber is Loki Rxton 5 orange sponge, medium hard and little tackiness. I loved it, i can hit good shots, i can feel the crisp that the Acuda cannot give me. Until now ive been using it but im looking for something medium hard to replace the loki rubber. Ive been searching and i saw a lot of good review about Yasaka Rakza Z. Semi tacky, Medium hard and is convenient for most people who owns one. Another rubber ive got my eyes in is the Victas V>15 Sticky. Because of the tackiness it's got so much quality in spin but im afraid it'll not be bearable for me. So i need your suggestions. Currently im favoring fnf the Yasaka Rakza Z by a little and still reviewing if there's a chance i will get the V>15 Sticky instead.

Based on your experience preferring a crisper and medium hard feel, Rakza Z seems more aligned since it offers better control and dwell for spin, especially coming from Rxton 5. If you want easier speed and a more tensor-like response then V>15 Sticky could work, but it may feel less controlled in the short game.

 

[jkugin]

For your reference, i currently play the Rakza Z Extra Hard (which shares the same topsheet with the Rakza Z) on my main blade (Acoustic) and have gone through at least 8 sheets of Rakza Z and Z EH and even the least sticky sample of Rakza Z was still way stickier than Nuzn, V15 Sticky, Vega Pro H, Nittaku Genextion V2C, Stiga DNA Hybrid and the like.

Sorry to get a bit off-topic, but could you tell me the difference between the Rakza Z Extra Hard and the Rakza Z? Also, how do they compare to the Loki Arthur China (named after your front rubber?). I'm more interested in how difficult it will be to adapt to them after using purely Chinese rubber (729 or DHS)? I'd really like to hear your opinion on the feel of the rubber. Thank you.

 

[Sherpa]

I found a fair bit of difference between the Z and Z EH. I felt the EH lost the unique feel of the Z. The Z has heaps of control and a high arc, whereas the EH loses some of the high arc and control and replaces it with extra speed which sort of puts it in line with a few other rubbers. The Z is quite different to other rubbers I have tried and for me it causes more drama for my opponents. I have used Chinese rubbers DHS and 729 and the Z feels softer with more spin.

 

[jk1980]

Sorry to get a bit off-topic, but could you tell me the difference between the Rakza Z Extra Hard and the Rakza Z? Also, how do they compare to the Loki Arthur China (named after your front rubber?). I'm more interested in how difficult it will be to adapt to them after using purely Chinese rubber (729 or DHS)? I'd really like to hear your opinion on the feel of the rubber. Thank you.

This really depends on the blade you are using. On an innerforce blade (like the w968 i used with RZEH and LAC) the rubbers felt more similar than on the Nittaku Acoustic that i have tried them on.
The throw is a little different but nothing you can not get accustomed to.
RZEH to RZ has a slightly lower throw and more spin in the high gears. In the end i switched from RZ to RZEH because while RZ is better for people that have trouble lifting backspin, that was never an issue for me. My issue was when i was playing against defenders or lobbers that would stay further back and just bring everything back onto the table. In this scenarios i felt the power of Rakza Z lacking and RZEH pretty much solved this.
Another difference is the "dampening" effect in the short game, which is more pronounced on the RZEH than on the RZ.

If you are coming from a chinese rubber i would rate the progression from chinese feeling to tensor feeling like this:
Chinese Rubber (Like DHS H3N/PF4) > LAC > RZEH > Rxton 7 > Rakza Z > Tibhar Hybrid MK Pro > low catapult ESN like Barracuda/G-1 > regular Tensor like Andro R48.

LAC on an Acoustic is quite demanding (unboosted) and hence i would not play that, but on the W968 i did not have that issue, since the inner carbon helped i guess.