My expensive and frustrating search for a forehand defensive rubber.

[ejruk]

Hello from Sweden. I am new to defence and been fooling around with it for 6 months or so. I began with using a Stiga allround Classic cybershape and managed to find a long pips that suits me and after alot of purchases and testing i found that the commercial hurricane 3 with a 37° orange sponge felt right both for my chopping and for attacking.
To settle on this i went through and thoroughly tested back and forth:
3 different thickness of the Friendship 729 fx super soft.(2.0 felt best)
Spinlord Marder.
Giant dragon submarine
Friendship geospin tacky.
Hurricane 3.

Stupid as I am though i for some reason thought that i needed a bigger blade and decided to buy the Nittaku Goriki super cut. Thinking i had the rubber matter sorted out i ordered another sheet of the hurricane 3 and the pimples i enjoy. The rubbers arrived and I smacked them on, went up to my robot and started to hit a few balls and that is where i felt like i lost the will to live. The Hurricane 3 with the 37° orange sponge on this blade was way to slow and had a strange throw angle. Since all the other rubbers is cut in the cybershape form i can't put them on and now i need to start over with this testing process, wtf... I now ordered a H3 provincial 38° to see if this will work, until then my plan will be to just get used to the blade with it's current set up, but it is so annoying to have put all this work and money on getting it right and then go back to 0. Is there anyone who can point me in some sort of direction here and help my narrow down my search? 😞

 

[haggisv]

Victas VS 401 is excellent for this. Very spinny, high control for chopping (especially in 1.5mm or 1.8mm) and good attacking power. It's much more consistent than most Chinese-made sheets.

 

[Sedis]

If its a brand new sheet of Hurricane and you are not boosting, it will benefit from some time to break in.

I use 40 degree Blue Sponge Hurricane 3, lightly boosted with Haifu National Yellow. I recently tried my friend's Goriki Super Cut with H3 provincial 39° Orange sponge and I was surprised how good it was, despite not being boosted.

If you don't think there is anything wrong with the glue job, I'd use it a few more times to let it break in and see if you adjust before you give up on it.

 

[NextLevel]

Many players chop with rubbers like Tenergy 05. It really is up to the training and your preferences (Tenergy 64 is pretty underrated). Some also prefer thin/thick but hard sponged H3, sometimes slightly boosted. Again.down to your preferences.

 

[ejruk]

What i have concluded from my tests it that i like linear, and softer rubbers, the Friendship 729fx super soft has a 35° sponge and in 2.0 it was great on the stiga blade, this is why i choose to test the h3 orange 37° and that worked great as well on that blade. I need it to be a bit softer since i experience that it helps me to lift the ball when flipping the blade and attack on bh, something i do more often than attacking on fh. So the two most important this to me is spin, good feel for chopping, prefer Chinese style sponge, and quite soft so that i can get a good feel for my bh attack. I use 2 layers of standard glue on both the sponge and the blade, let them dry in between the layers. Should i go down to 1 layer instead?

Thinking of trying ->
H3 neo, in some variant, any recommendations?
H3-50, either soft or regular, abit scared of the bouncyness that people describe, but my blade seems quite slow so that might be ok?

 

[ejruk]

If its a brand new sheet of Hurricane and you are not boosting, it will benefit from some time to break in.

I use 40 degree Blue Sponge Hurricane 3, lightly boosted with Haifu National Yellow. I recently tried my friend's Goriki Super Cut with H3 provincial 39° Orange sponge and I was surprised how good it was, despite not being boosted.

If you don't think there is anything wrong with the glue job, I'd use it a few more times to let it break in and see if you adjust before you give up on it.

Thanks for your answear. That sounds promising, i ordered a H3 38° provincial orange. And you did not experience that it was wicked slow? While i wait for the other rubbers i will work on breaking this in.

 

[ejruk]

Victas VS 401 is excellent for this. Very spinny, high control for chopping (especially in 1.5mm or 1.8mm) and good attacking power. It's much more consistent than most Chinese-made sheets.

I will read up in this one, thanks for the tip!

 

[Sedis]

And you did not experience that it was wicked slow?

No, I was surprised that it didn't feel particularly slow.

 

[ejruk]

No, I was surprised that it didn't feel particularly slow.

Cool, im starting to feel a bit more hopeful. It is so time consuming and expensive to try so many rubbers. I feel like i shouldnt have bought a new blade now, but it was so expensive so i have no choice but to stick with it and explore and practice. 😄

 

[vanjr]

First I will say that the Goriki is a different beast-and while it has high control, its attacking properties (imo) is VERY limited. But I will also add I like a little harder sponge than 729 super soft 35 degree-729 tackspeed in 2.0 is a very versatile rubber and great for control, defense and spin. Of course with the goriki you will almost never loop or hit the ball past someone, but the price is very good with cheaper 729 rubbers.

 

[ejruk]

First I will say that the Goriki is a different beast-and while it has high control, its attacking properties (imo) is VERY limited. But I will also add I like a little harder sponge than 729 super soft 35 degree-729 tackspeed in 2.0 is a very versatile rubber and great for control, defense and spin. Of course with the goriki you will almost never loop or hit the ball past someone, but the price is very good with cheaper 729 rubbers.

While i am less than confident when it comes to my general skills in the game, i do have a natural talent. I can hit a ball very hard and be very explosive, specially with my bh. So not a very humble statement, but I do believe based on minor robot testing so far that i will be able to get it past my opponents. I will look into the Tack speed! Thank you for taking your time to answer!

 

[belllfador]

Hello from Sweden. I am new to defence and been fooling around with it for 6 months or so. I began with using a Stiga allround Classic cybershape and managed to find a long pips that suits me and after alot of purchases and testing i found that the commercial hurricane 3 with a 37° orange sponge felt right both for my chopping and for attacking.
To settle on this i went through and thoroughly tested back and forth:
3 different thickness of the Friendship 729 fx super soft.(2.0 felt best)
Spinlord Marder.
Giant dragon submarine
Friendship geospin tacky.
Hurricane 3.

Stupid as I am though i for some reason thought that i needed a bigger blade and decided to buy the Nittaku Goriki super cut. Thinking i had the rubber matter sorted out i ordered another sheet of the hurricane 3 and the pimples i enjoy. The rubbers arrived and I smacked them on, went up to my robot and started to hit a few balls and that is where i felt like i lost the will to live. The Hurricane 3 with the 37° orange sponge on this blade was way to slow and had a strange throw angle. Since all the other rubbers is cut in the cybershape form i can't put them on and now i need to start over with this testing process, wtf... I now ordered a H3 provincial 38° to see if this will work, until then my plan will be to just get used to the blade with it's current set up, but it is so annoying to have put all this work and money on getting it right and then go back to 0. Is there anyone who can point me in some sort of direction here and help my narrow down my search? 😞

You can try the hex-cut rubbers on Goriki blade. The working area is less than 10×10cm. After you like some of the combinations, buy new rubber.

I pass along a similar path with Goriki Danshi 108g. Walnut blades have damping properties and on weak hit appear slower than when you hit hard. The control is supreme, but the extra weight puts some limitations on rubber choice. I really liked H3 BS 39, but it was too heavy. Marder 2 at 1.8mm was very nice all-round rubber, but not dangerous in speed and spin. G1 in 1.7mm was also good, just lacking H3 spin. I tried Dominance Spin Hard in 1.5mm. Spin was better, speed was sufficient, overall good stats for the low weight. Currently, I play with 729 Brocken Boundaries, a semi-sticky topsheet, average weight, average speed and low price. Has some similarity with H3N OS 38.

If the goal is pure spin on FH chop - TG3 BS and blade with soft outer layer and some flex. 980XX, Innershield ZLF, Blockman, for example.

 

[ejruk]

You can try the hex-cut rubbers on Goriki blade. The working area is less than 10×10cm. After you like some of the combinations, buy new rubber.

I pass along a similar path with Goriki Danshi 108g. Walnut blades have damping properties and on weak hit appear slower than when you hit hard. The control is supreme, but the extra weight puts some limitations on rubber choice. I really liked H3 BS 39, but it was too heavy. Marder 2 at 1.8mm was very nice all-round rubber, but not dangerous in speed and spin. G1 in 1.7mm was also good, just lacking H3 spin. I tried Dominance Spin Hard in 1.5mm. Spin was better, speed was sufficient, overall good stats for the low weight. Currently, I play with 729 Brocken Boundaries, a semi-sticky topsheet, average weight, average speed and low price. Has some similarity with H3N OS 38.

If the goal is pure spin on FH chop - TG3 BS and blade with soft outer layer and some flex. 980XX, Innershield ZLF, Blockman, for example.

That is a good idea, thanks! Goal is not only high spin on fh chop. I am looking for a bit more speed and wonder if i need to consider the throw angle that seem to have gotten very much lower. I would say that the backhand attack is more important than the forehand for my game so when i commit and twiddle i need a reasonable amount of speed and here is where i appreciate a softer rubber, i find it easier to "grab" the ball and get it over the next with my backhand attack. I am commiting to this blade and I am sure that more time with it will help, right now i am very much refering to the feel and how i played the old blade, i need to learn the new blade in order to get a better understanding. My frustration and cry for help here is more due to the fact that i put alot of time to really test and evaluate before i found a good fh rubber last time, and yeah. Thanks for replying and sharing your thoughts. What was it that you liked with the h3 bs39? I ordered a OS38 that i am waiting on now, hopefully that is a bit more alive.

 

[NextLevel]

That is a good idea, thanks! Goal is not only high spin on fh chop. I am looking for a bit more speed and wonder if i need to consider the throw angle that seem to have gotten very much lower. I would say that the backhand attack is more important than the forehand for my game so when i commit and twiddle i need a reasonable amount of speed and here is where i appreciate a softer rubber, i find it easier to "grab" the ball and get it over the next with my backhand attack. I am commiting to this blade and I am sure that more time with it will help, right now i am very much refering to the feel and how i played the old blade, i need to learn the new blade in order to get a better understanding. My frustration and cry for help here is more due to the fact that i put alot of time to really test and evaluate before i found a good fh rubber last time, and yeah. Thanks for replying and sharing your thoughts. What was it that you liked with the h3 bs39? I ordered a OS38 that i am waiting on now, hopefully that is a bit more alive.

The guy I play with who uses the Goriki uses T64 on FH but he doesn't seem to chop much on forehand.

 

[belllfador]

That is a good idea, thanks! Goal is not only high spin on fh chop. I am looking for a bit more speed and wonder if i need to consider the throw angle that seem to have gotten very much lower. I would say that the backhand attack is more important than the forehand for my game so when i commit and twiddle i need a reasonable amount of speed and here is where i appreciate a softer rubber, i find it easier to "grab" the ball and get it over the next with my backhand attack. I am commiting to this blade and I am sure that more time with it will help, right now i am very much refering to the feel and how i played the old blade, i need to learn the new blade in order to get a better understanding. My frustration and cry for help here is more due to the fact that i put alot of time to really test and evaluate before i found a good fh rubber last time, and yeah. Thanks for replying and sharing your thoughts. What was it that you liked with the h3 bs39? I ordered a OS38 that i am waiting on now, hopefully that is a bit more alive.

I played a lot with H3 BS 39 on various blades. Hardness is around 52 degrees with 2 layers of booster Falko Platinum. The spin on chop and service is only surpassed by TG3 BS. The throw angle is lower than H3 OS, and it is heavier and not so responsive. Looping requires extra effort but produces nasty balls loaded with spin. The main issue for all H3 rubbers is surface oxidation. Protective sheets and regular cleaning is a must.