Hit a wall with my BH on OSP Virtuoso Off- – Rubber recommendations or time to change blades?

[matti77]

Hi everyone,

I’ve run into a bit of an equipment dilemma regarding my backhand and would really appreciate your insight and experience.

I currently play with an OSP Virtuoso Off- and I absolutely love the blade itself—the feel, touch, and control in passive play are top-notch. However, I’ve hit a wall when trying to put real power into my backhand shots.

Right now, I’m running Rasanter R48 on the backhand. It works fine for controlled/slower play, but as soon as I try to push the pace with active punches, counters, or penetrating BH loops, I feel a distinct lack of top-end speed. To get any real penetration, I have to swing so hard that I end up tensing up and losing my stroke mechanics. It feels like the rubber/blade combo simply lacks that higher gear.

My questions :
Can this be solved with the right rubber? I’m looking for a rubber that delivers noticeably more speed and punch in counters/flats, but without being so hard or flat that it feels dead/stiff when looping. I still need good dwell time and arc to open up comfortably against backspin without having to exert maximum physical effort every time.

Or is the OSP Virtuoso Off- simply too flexy/soft on the BH side for players looking for more direct penetration?

Has anyone in a similar situation with the Virtuoso- found a winning backhand rubber (e.g., Dignics 80, Tenergy 19, Evolution MX-P, etc.), or is the ultimate answer to transition to a stiffer/faster blade?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Tyce]

I have played Rozena for a bit, and it punches like crazy in my opinion. But every rubber has a downside.
Punching is always going to be easier with a solid blade to back it up. But also here, switching just to be able to punch better is going to come with serious drawbacks, in this case I would say feeling and ease of creating spin.

In my experience, flexible blades do better when you treat them as a whip rather than try to punch through the ball.

 

[Haito]

If you mainly punch, and focus on punch efficiency, why do you bother with smooth and grippy rubbers? 7 plies and pips might make more sense.

 

[matti77]

If you mainly punch, and focus on punch efficiency, why do you bother with smooth and grippy rubbers? 7 plies and pips might make more sense.

Thanks for the input, but short pips would change my playstyle far too much. I still rely heavily on spin, arc, and opening up with BH loops—I just need a rubber with a higher top-end gear than R48 that doesn't lose energy or feel dead when I drive or punch through the ball.

 

[blahness]

Join the Viscaria gang lol, the perfect blade for BH bang bang games

 

[Souther]

I use a similar wood combination, although 7 ply, and Zyre 03 works very well for the things you said you wanted. I got mine second hand after 6 months and I added another 4 months of use and still going. It's very long lasting. It is not a rubber for defense.

 

[matti77]

I use a similar wood combination, although 7 ply, and Zyre 03 works very well for the things you said you wanted. I got mine second hand after 6 months and I added another 4 months of use and still going. It's very long lasting. It is not a rubber for defense.

Thanks! I'm afraid that Zyre03 sponge is too difficult to engage for me. How do you feel about that?

 

[Haito]

Thanks! I'm afraid that Zyre03 sponge is too difficult to engage for me. How do you feel about that?

Yeah, you have to have some muscles and technique to work Zyre. It was also too much for me. I could not load it properly.

 

[Tyce]

Spring sponge in general is good for this stuff. Rozena I mentioned, Glayzer also brings a mean punch while keeping a lot of grip and spin capability, but I'm not sure if it will work on a 5ply.

 

[GhostBackhand]

Definitely a blade issue. I've had the exact same experience. Against strong defensive opponents, I always have to whip out the Viscaria because my Inner Carbon just can't penetrate through their defense.

 

[matti77]

Will give Dignics (on BH) a try before I give up on the Virtuoso. Deciding between D64 and D80. Has anyone tried them on the Virtuoso or similar blades?

 

[Tyce]

I don't know if I would put Dignics on a 5ply, Glayzer falls short on those blades, my guess is that Dignics will have that, too. But it's a guess.

 

[Füty Imre]

I kind of had the same issue as you before I switched to a TB ALC. Before that, I played with a Nittaku Acoustic, and my main problem was that I had to use too much force on powerful backspin backhand open-ups and counters from far away from the table. That caused my arm to tense up and ruined my technique.


After switching to a TB ALC and T05 (which was a drastic change), my backhand became a lot more stable and reliable. But keep in mind that if you don’t have proper technique, it can still be difficult to open up against backspin, but it will be a lot more stable in open play.

 

[Der_Echte]

UR rubber WAY TOO HARD.

Go for 42 degree sponge same rubber and watch how damn easier it is to do everything.

Aurus soft or T05FX will also do well much easier to do everything, try a 42 degree sponged modern rubber if U can get ur pawz on one.

 

[Archosaurus]

UR rubber WAY TOO HARD.

Go for 42 degree sponge same rubber and watch how damn easier it is to do everything.

Aurus soft or T05FX will also do well much easier to do everything, try a 42 degree sponged modern rubber if U can get ur pawz on one.

OP shouldn't be surprised if he does this and his shots are even slower and need even more effort. Of course I could be wrong, I'm disagreeing with you after all, but I'm willing to bet a dollar on it.

 

[Tyce]

Yeah this is partially a matter of playing philosophy... BUT a springy, softer rubber (did I mention Rozena yet?) would be a great fit on this type of blade. If OP switches to a fiber reinforced blade, this advice doesn't hold up as well.

 

[matti77]

I don't know if it's of any help, but here's a short video of me (green shirt) a couple of years ago. This is how I typically want to play with my backhand - relatively close to the table with quite high tempo. Blade was Yasaka Sweden Extra, but I cannot remember which rubber I used. Maybe Evolution FX-D . How does Rozena compare to FX-D?

 

[5plyguy]

What about thibar MX P or MX D? If you have overall great touch/feel and are happy with your forehand with your current blade, it could be worth trying a few more options on BH first. I have had success with adding alot more overall speed via rubber. Specially MX D added alot of stability and speed for me on my BH over various other options like Vega pro, rakza 7, fastarc g1..even r50 might be worth trying if you generally like the r48.

 

[Der_Echte]

OP shouldn't be surprised if he does this and his shots are even slower and need even more effort. Of course I could be wrong, I'm disagreeing with you after all, but I'm willing to bet a dollar on it.

Archo,

You have developed a LOT over a long time, but are very naive about how equipment works. I do not need nor want ur dollar. use that dollar for TT research.

On the blade in my sig (OFF- PPP) with Aurus soft on the BH, I can do BH hits vs slow balls a few inches above the net that are CLEARLY FASTER than many Players' FH Smash with modern carbon blades.

There is a star developing youth girl in Freemont TTA who POUNDS the ball relentlessly on FH, I told her she is going to the DOG POUND she hits so damn fast... but when I lift my bat up to strike a BH, she ducks under the table and runs for cover.

All this with an older SOFT rubber on BH. The key to final fast ball is fast bat, acceleration in a short space, and timing of the firming of grip. That final aspect really delivers the big bang boom. Try it yorself... hold bat loose and no firming of grip at impact and see how fast the ball goes.

Archo, you have no idea about collision dynamics of physics and power transfer to ball in TT, or you wouldn't be doubting that soft rubber can hit hard.

The rationale to ditch the med hard to hard sponge on BH is that is becomes WAY EASIER to get the ball into the topsheet (and sponge) long enough to use your acceleration to make fast bat and heavy spin easy to generate- way easier than hard rubber of same stroke. I am discussing a spin stroke, not a hard hit, but I can hit hard if not harder with Aurus soft 42 sponge over regular Aurus 47.5 sponge or at a minimum just as fast on my hits.... and my spin shots are so spinny players look at their bat in disbelief.

Ask the last two mods of this forum if you still do not believe... and that was ten years ago when they last saw me. I was using soft sponged rubber on BH then too, often FX-P or some rubber similar. I have the impact to do it with med/med-firm rubber too, but I land 1-2 more out of 100 and I like to play the percentages.

 

[Der_Echte]

To get back to OP's question, a few things going on.

OP has not yet learned how to use fingers.

The squeeze of fingers before impact to make bat go fast in a tiny space is important, as is the control of final squeeze at impact to transfer power to the ball or transfer less.

The equipment thing is a softer rubber makes faster pushing easier with less or more use of fingers... softer sponge of same rubber is a little more bouncy rebounding than firm same rubber...

A firmer, less bouncy rubber is way easier to control the rebound a slow incoming ball like a short serve... to give back a short return easier... but maybe OP isn't in that situation so much or chooses that response.

A softer rubber on BH makes it way easier to develop feel for the ball on spin shots and spin production is a good objective in any development.