Table Tennis Rubbers for Beginners

Woah... Stay away from these. I've made this suggestion in a different thread but Cornilleau Drive Spin is really good. Versatile. Pretty grippy. Plenty fast. Durable. And pretty cheap. Of course there'll be plenty more and I know this one gets no hype, but I can safely vouch for it.

I wouldn't go for MXP, it is very fast but that is not the main point, such a rubber has a very high catapult effect so you don't have to hit as hard which I think is bad to develop a solid technique. Hexer Duro is a very nice rubber for that and definitely enough. It would be completely fine to just get this rubber on FH and BH I think.

I can't say much about the beginner friendliness of MXS.

If I may make another suggestion: The Tibhar Aurus Soft is an awesome rubber, very good price, lot of control and good spin.

Even if your current rubber is not ITTF approved, it could help to let other people on this forum know what you are using and how you feel about them (too fast, too slow, too spinny, can't generate spin etc.)

About me: Beginner-intermediate, have used 7 premade rackets, all of which have ITTF-approved rubber but one. Currently playing with a custom setup.

I would suggest you stay away from MX-P, MX-S, and Hexer Duro, especially if you are a beginner.

Those rubber are built with a technology called tensor, which makes those rubber really bouncy.
Imagine tapping the ball and the ball fly away. Unless you have been playing for years and have excellent control, it would be best to stay away from them. There is no point to hitting a fast and spinny shot if it doesn't land on the table.

So what should you get?
I have not tried a lot of rubber, but here are some that you might be interested.

Yasaka Mark V:
I'm currently using it on my forehand. Considerably faster than most premade.
A whole lot spinnier than any premade rubber. This is a great rubber!

DHS Hurricane NEO 3:
Most people at my club are using this. Very spinny, but a little hard to use. (Most people at my club have table tennis training from China -- they're Chinese -- and so they can utilize this type of rubber well.) Also very cheap. If you have proper coaching you might be interested in this, or you can just ask your coach.

Xiom Vega Intro:
The fastest and most spinny of all the rubber I recommend.
My friend who has just started table tennis for 4 weeks thinks it's too bouncy. (Too fast)
It's one of the slower tensor, but unless you have proper coaching I would advice you to stay away from it.
I have some TT coaching, and sometimes I still find it too fast and hard to control when compared to my Mark V.
I'm currently using it on my backhand.

Palio CJ8000
Overall it's great. Not too fast. Spinny enough. Also very cheap.

There are also other great easy to use rubber that I haven't tried but are recommended like
Butterfly Sriver, Sapphira, Flextra
Xiom Musa
Donic Coppa, Vario
Stiga Mendo, Innova
Tibhar Rapid
Dawei 2008 XP <= Really cheap!
Gambler Reflectoid
Air Illumina
Other forum members might be able to tell you more about it.

Try the same rubber on both sides.

I was probably the last generation of players that learned it with old non tensor rubbers. We got kids at the club that don't know anything else than tensor and they turned out fine so I don't think that is such a big problem

Yasaka Mark V, Butterfly Sriver or Xiom Vega Intro are all great entry-level rubbers that will allow you to have good control and feel as well as to develop the right strokes as a beginner so you can learn to generate a lot of spin in the long run and a lot of touch in your short game (very important). Use the same rubber on both sides to avoid confusions at first.

I'm not sure what you're using now for a blade, but I would also recommend you invest in a decent 5-ply all-wood blade like a Donic Appelgren Allplay, Yasaka Sweden Extra or Stiga Allround Classic.

Yes, you wouldn't want any less than 1.8 but that should do the trick. Everybody has a different opinion on this... To me anywhere between 1.8 and 2.0 feels just right, Goldilocks-y if you like.
I've played with the Epox and it's okay but I thought it has this weird "toc" noise and a feeling to match. A bit dry. Still a pretty safe compromise all together.

@Garrison: same here but it can't hurt to know the difference.

With Mark V or the likes, I'd say 2.0mm so you get used to having some sponge to brush the ball with and generate some spin.

In the old days when Mark V and Sriver were high end rubber sheets the beginner rubber was D13. I am pretty sure Butterfly still makes it too, though you may have to order it from overseas. I think it is called Soft D13 now days. But there is nothing wrong with just buying Mk V or Sriver either.

However a decent blade and two sheets of rubber will be an easy $50-60. If you go out and just buy a pre-made Stiga paddle at a sporting good store is cheap enough and good enough that if you give up on the sport you have not wasted to large of an investment.

vega intro on both sides is pretty good. if you want to go cheaper, try to find a pair of focus 3 snipe. you don't need to find super fast rubbers to play offensively. remember that YOU are the offense. not your rubbers

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Hey, who like pimps , chops or blocks, i recommend for a start TSP curl p-1

Vega intro is good, but use 2.0 . Stiga mantra s 2.0mm is also good.

Well i began with a already made raquet by andro it has a power 3 both sides but those are aproved by the ITTF but they arent selling the rubbers the the first rubber I used was the rocket by andro in my forehand and in my backhand a long pimpled chaos then I got an hexer + is kinda hard but very spinny you create mounts of spin but it gets discontroled a little bit right no I recomend you the rocket then the hexer + or hd (when you go on a higher level) and then the shifter powersponge and then whatever kind of rubber you want right now I use a joo sae hyuk paddle with a shifter powerponge on my forehand and in my backhand a feint long II

sderyke2002 said:

However a decent blade and two sheets of rubber will be an easy $50-60. If you go out and just buy a pre-made Stiga paddle at a sporting good store is cheap enough and good enough that if you give up on the sport you have not wasted to large of an investment.

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(I tried to post a reply twice but my message didn't show, here's another attempt!)

I'd advice against any pre-made bats. The blades are almost always of poor quality, the rubbers are old stock, and such bundles are overpriced and not good to build up on. A better alternative yet cheap custom setup can be purchased from sites like www.colestt.com. He's dedicated to providing quality cheap alternatives to the big brands and to cater to each potential customer's needs.