Donic Acuda S1——BH auto pilot

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Today I tried Acuda S1 on the BH for the first time. It was amazing. Tons of spin and speed, and lots of safety left to spare( for me). 9/10 would recommend to someone with money and some training. Great for offensive topspin playstyle close or mid range from the table. Needs a little more power from user for far range, and a little short in the touch game( control). All in all it just felt like auto pilot for my BH, and every shot just magically went on with insane quality( for me). Also, flicking is good, but not the best. All in all, awesome!
 
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That generation of rubbers is still one of the best, if not the greatest, rubbers for more passive blocking/driving. A lower spin sensitivity with high kick/catapult really makes blocking a fun sensation!

I find they are harder to loop with consistently. Though, I think this depends on your stroke type. I'm always brushing the ball a bit, and these do not facilitate the stroke with near the force or power I get from modern hybrid rubbers. In turn, the hybrids do not have near the ease of blocking that acuda gives. I'm trying to play more actively, so I have decided to stick with the stickier/slower rubbers for the time being. With me, using acuda/bluefire types, my technique gets lazy as you can rely on the rubber much more... using less body and movement, getting a similar result in the drive/block shots.

I would agree these factors make players with lackluster technique appear to have better 'quality' shots when driving/blocking, it also seems to stunt their growth if they wish to improve beyond that point. Just my observation when users learn to borrow speed/power from equipment. A perfectly valid style, certainly, but depends on your goals.
 
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says toooooo much choice!!
says toooooo much choice!!
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That generation of rubbers is still one of the best, if not the greatest, rubbers for more passive blocking/driving. A lower spin sensitivity with high kick/catapult really makes blocking a fun sensation!

I find they are harder to loop with consistently. Though, I think this depends on your stroke type. I'm always brushing the ball a bit, and these do not facilitate the stroke with near the force or power I get from modern hybrid rubbers. In turn, the hybrids do not have near the ease of blocking that acuda gives. I'm trying to play more actively, so I have decided to stick with the stickier/slower rubbers for the time being. With me, using acuda/bluefire types, my technique gets lazy as you can rely on the rubber much more... using less body and movement, getting a similar result in the drive/block shots.

I would agree these factors make players with lackluster technique appear to have better 'quality' shots when driving/blocking, it also seems to stunt their growth if they wish to improve beyond that point. Just my observation when users learn to borrow speed/power from equipment. A perfectly valid style, certainly, but depends on your goals.


Sure if an individual is ‘lazy’ doesn’t train or have regular coaching then the bouncy grippy type rubbers can seem easier to play with, give good spin and speed etc

Perhaps there could be a case to say that the bouncy grippy rubbers are HARDER to learn with, more because of the very bouncy sponges, this requires better touch and feel especially in short game, for me the bouncy sponges also result in a larger difference in length of your shot for a similar increase in power / force applied compared to a hybrid or tacky H3 type rubber. So again it’s a case of better touch / feel needed to adjust. ( bouncy / grippy = less predictable, less margin for error for power input?? Tacky / dead = more predictable more margin for error for power input?) yeah, when blocking with tacky / dead more input of force needed to achieve a ‘passive’ grippy bouncy block type outcome.

Whether progress would be ‘stunted’ is more a case of a players natural talent and they’re ability to have better control of their strokes, are they able to be more precise? Micro adjust better?

So if bouncy grippy rubbers are both lazy/easier to use (up to a certain level) and harder to use at the same time!!! Then do Players that use bouncy grippy rubbers have better feel and touch than those that use tacky dead rubbers??

It would be very interesting to see what would happen if CNT players could use any FH rubber they wanted, rather than the ‘contracted’ DHS FH rubber.
It may be the case that they prefer tacky dead rubbers because they are ‘EASIER’ ‘more predictable’ to play with !!!!! And with their excellent technique (assisted by some boosting of the rubbers!!!!😉 Opps, many ESN rubbers are boosted in factory!!!!😂) speed is more than enough, so do you need the inherent speed of bouncy grippy rubbers combined with a (possibly) ‘HARDER’ to use characteristic ???
Are bouncy / grippy international FH rubber users at a disadvantage just because of their choice of equipment on the FH wing??

I’m not saying the above is correct, but it’s food for thought, how we see things vary, What we like to play with varies, what we ‘feel’ varies, what playing style we use has an impact on what equipment is better suited to our needs/playing standard.

 
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Sure if an individual is ‘lazy’ doesn’t train or have regular coaching then the bouncy grippy type rubbers can seem easier to play with, give good spin and speed etc

Perhaps there could be a case to say that the bouncy grippy rubbers are HARDER to learn with, more because of the very bouncy sponges, this requires better touch and feel especially in short game, for me the bouncy sponges also result in a larger difference in length of your shot for a similar increase in power / force applied compared to a hybrid or tacky H3 type rubber. So again it’s a case of better touch / feel needed to adjust. ( bouncy / grippy = less predictable, less margin for error for power input?? Tacky / dead = more predictable more margin for error for power input?) yeah, when blocking with tacky / dead more input of force needed to achieve a ‘passive’ grippy bouncy block type outcome.

Whether progress would be ‘stunted’ is more a case of a players natural talent and they’re ability to have better control of their strokes, are they able to be more precise? Micro adjust better?

So if bouncy grippy rubbers are both lazy/easier to use (up to a certain level) and harder to use at the same time!!! Then do Players that use bouncy grippy rubbers have better feel and touch than those that use tacky dead rubbers??

It would be very interesting to see what would happen if CNT players could use any FH rubber they wanted, rather than the ‘contracted’ DHS FH rubber.
It may be the case that they prefer tacky dead rubbers because they are ‘EASIER’ ‘more predictable’ to play with !!!!! And with their excellent technique (assisted by some boosting of the rubbers!!!!😉 Opps, many ESN rubbers are boosted in factory!!!!😂) speed is more than enough, so do you need the inherent speed of bouncy grippy rubbers combined with a (possibly) ‘HARDER’ to use characteristic ???
Are bouncy / grippy international FH rubber users at a disadvantage just because of their choice of equipment on the FH wing??

I’m not saying the above is correct, but it’s food for thought, how we see things vary, What we like to play with varies, what we ‘feel’ varies, what playing style we use has an impact on what equipment is better suited to our needs/playing standard.

You are right, it’s a personal thing.
Most coaches in China will recommend tensor rubbers for BH, even for beginners. Almost none will tell students to use tacky BH rubbers. Lots of my schoolmates who play at a junior national level have used tensors on BH from the start, and they have some of the best development in the world.

 
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Right, and they're probably being coached by high level instructors on a weekly, if not often times daily schedule... under those circumstances, starting from a young age, they could use pretty much anything and still look awesome!

If you play down at the local club vs Ned and Jethro a few times a week, with hardly any guidance at all, if not zero... the situations are not really even worth comparing
 
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says toooooo much choice!!
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You are right, it’s a personal thing.
Most coaches in China will recommend tensor rubbers for BH, even for beginners. Almost none will tell students to use tacky BH rubbers. Lots of my schoolmates who play at a junior national level have used tensors on BH from the start, and they have some of the best development in the world.

Am I right in thinking that the main reason for a tensor on BH is for speed, because it makes up somewhat for the general lack of strength of a players BH compared to what they can produce on the FH side?
This is also shown by the fact they twiddle to forehand for smashes (flatter hits) because the speed is better.
Tacky rubber just isn’t as effective at flat hits compared to tensors regarding speed.

As for spin, I think that very high spin levels are capable with both types of rubber.
Recently I’ve used both types, although the tacky hybrid rubbers like H8-80 rather than say H3Neo. The main difference has been how I can control the serve speed and length, the tensors require more care and attention and a lighter brush / contact in order to get the spin and keep the speed down for a short serve. The same serve using H8-80 would end in the net. More force is needed to get the serve over.
Both types of rubber produce high spin, and it isn’t noticeable that one creates more errors from a serve receive than the other. Both types of rubber are effective!!!
So which do I find easier to control for serves?
for short or half long serves Tacky
for long fast serves Tensor. !!!!!! Life’s never simple !!!!!'!

 
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Right, and they're probably being coached by high level instructors on a weekly, if not often times daily schedule... under those circumstances, starting from a young age, they could use pretty much anything and still look awesome!

If you play down at the local club vs Ned and Jethro a few times a week, with hardly any guidance at all, if not zero... the situations are not really even worth comparing

Yes, the training does matter a lot. For me I think it’s okay to use tensor on BH because I train 1-2 times a week with a coach, play with the mentioned high level players often, play everyday, and is always breaking things because I try to do full strokes in my room.
For non professional players that don’t train regularly, tacky rubbers on BH are just too much work and too hard to use, they are better off using tensors.
I think tacky rubber on BH is something that some people with enough skill will choose if they feel so, and not fit for the general public.

 
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Am I right in thinking that the main reason for a tensor on BH is for speed, because it makes up somewhat for the general lack of strength of a players BH compared to what they can produce on the FH side?
This is also shown by the fact they twiddle to forehand for smashes (flatter hits) because the speed is better.
Tacky rubber just isn’t as effective at flat hits compared to tensors regarding speed.

As for spin, I think that very high spin levels are capable with both types of rubber.
Recently I’ve used both types, although the tacky hybrid rubbers like H8-80 rather than say H3Neo. The main difference has been how I can control the serve speed and length, the tensors require more care and attention and a lighter brush / contact in order to get the spin and keep the speed down for a short serve. The same serve using H8-80 would end in the net. More force is needed to get the serve over.
Both types of rubber produce high spin, and it isn’t noticeable that one creates more errors from a serve receive than the other. Both types of rubber are effective!!!
So which do I find easier to control for serves?
for short or half long serves Tacky
for long fast serves Tensor. !!!!!! Life’s never simple !!!!!'!

The most common reason for tensors on BH is that tacky rubbers don’t have enough speed in the hands of the general public. Heck, even FZD feels better with a tensor.
Well trained pros don’t have to worry about tensors messing up their technique, and just go for the extra speed. And most amateurs can’t use tacky rubbers on BH well enough to justify using them.
Also, my experience with H8-80 was not very pleasant. Probably because I was at a very low level back then, but it just felt dead and hollow. Do you get a similar feeling?

 
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The most common reason for tensors on BH is that tacky rubbers don’t have enough speed in the hands of the general public. Heck, even FZD feels better with a tensor.
Well trained pros don’t have to worry about tensors messing up their technique, and just go for the extra speed. And most amateurs can’t use tacky rubbers on BH well enough to justify using them.
Also, my experience with H8-80 was not very pleasant. Probably because I was at a very low level back then, but it just felt dead and hollow. Do you get a similar feeling?

H8-80 unboosted 37 degree BH and 38 degree FH, compared to a tensor they are pretty dead feeling but nothing like how a 40 or 41 degree H3 (unboosted) would feel !!!!
personally I found the 37 degree H8-80 fine to use, same with H3 37 degree (boosted) I tried, the boosted H3 felt softer than the 37 degree H8-80, until the booster wore off!!! I would say that maybe the unboosted H8-80 feels a tad softer than the H3 37 now the booster has worn off, but very similar.

I don’t think that a 40/41 degree H3 etc would be good for the BH. But a 37 degree H3 is useable boosted or not, to what degree depends on the player.
I found I can produce enough speed on the BH side with the 37 degree versions, if I twiddled to the 38 degree the difference was negligible, very hard to tell the difference.
This is likely down to the manufacturing tolerances, DHS QA accuracy????? for all I know the 38 degree could actually be 36 degree and the 37 up at 39 degrees!!!! The one degree different sponge hardnesses DHS package up may actually be unreliable!!!! And ‘crossover’ as it were.

I played badminton from 11yrs old, so have a pretty strong and flexible wrist, this probably helps out!!! I’ve used a few unboosted tacky rubbers, Golden Tango was one I liked more on BH than FH!!!

 
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H8-80 unboosted 37 degree BH and 38 degree FH, compared to a tensor they are pretty dead feeling but nothing like how a 40 or 41 degree H3 (unboosted) would feel !!!!
personally I found the 37 degree H8-80 fine to use, same with H3 37 degree (boosted) I tried, the boosted H3 felt softer than the 37 degree H8-80, until the booster wore off!!! I would say that maybe the unboosted H8-80 feels a tad softer than the H3 37 now the booster has worn off, but very similar.

I don’t think that a 40/41 degree H3 etc would be good for the BH. But a 37 degree H3 is useable boosted or not, to what degree depends on the player.
I found I can produce enough speed on the BH side with the 37 degree versions, if I twiddled to the 38 degree the difference was negligible, very hard to tell the difference.
This is likely down to the manufacturing tolerances, DHS QA accuracy????? for all I know the 38 degree could actually be 36 degree and the 37 up at 39 degrees!!!! The one degree different sponge hardnesses DHS package up may actually be unreliable!!!! And ‘crossover’ as it were.

I played badminton from 11yrs old, so have a pretty strong and flexible wrist, this probably helps out!!! I’ve used a few unboosted tacky rubbers, Golden Tango was one I liked more on BH than FH!!!

Ok, so it probably was just me.
What’s interesting is some players will have advantages due to involvement in other sports. For example you have strong wrists from badminton, and I have stronger than normal legs from martial arts( makes FH topspin stronger).

 
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says toooooo much choice!!
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Ok, so it probably was just me.
What’s interesting is some players will have advantages due to involvement in other sports. For example you have strong wrists from badminton, and I have stronger than normal legs from martial arts( makes FH topspin stronger).

I have a weight advantage!!! (Disadvantage) 😂😰
​​​​​​​

 
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