Review of Double Fish Athlon 2

NDH

says Spin to win!
I recently received an order from a relatively new Table Tennis shop in the UK (www.ttequipment.co.uk), and after chatting with Dean on the forum, I decided to get some of the new Double Fish (DF) rubbers he was going to start stocking.


The order I received was:


Blade - Yinhe T7s (used in this review).
Black Rubber - DF 8338
Red Rubber - DF Athlon 2


This review is about the DF Athlon 2.


Initial impressions:


Packaging was much nicer than I had expected for a £19 rubber (yes, £19!)


Athlon 2 is billed as DF’s “top end” rubber, and is advertised at a thickness of 2.2mm and a hardness of 45 degrees.


Initial squeezing of the rubber would suggest it’s a little harder, but not much.


It came out of the packaging with a slight dome, but not as drastic as the 8338.


It was slightly less tacky than 8338, put still gripped a stationary ball, and could “lift it” up to about 10 inches before it dropped.


Uncut, it weighed in at 61 grams and DF give it the following stats (out of 12):


Speed: 11
Thrust: 10
Spin: 12
Control: 11


Playing Experience:


The first thing I noticed on the basic forehand to forehand drill was the incredibly low throw angle - More typical of a Chinese rubber, and a long way from any Euro rubber.


After a small adjustment, I could comfortably hit solid consistent strokes.


Whilst the speed suggests it’s quicker than 8338, I’d personally disagree - If anything, I’d have 8338 at 11, and Athlon 2 at 10.


Due to the hardness of the sponge, you didn’t get much help, so if you weren’t playing a positive stroke, the ball was going no where.


In forehand looping rallies, it’s quick! It has a few more gears than it would seem, and you can generate extra spin when hitting the ball faster.


It’s similar to 8338 in that respect - Generating spin from a static ball (serve), is not the easiest.


In my opinion, this is not a backhand rubber at all - It’s too hard and requires too much effort for the majority of people to play with it comfortably on the backhand.

I found that unless you produced a good, high arcing backhand stroke, you'd end up giving the opponent an easy shot to attack, or you'd bump the ball in the net.


But on the forehand - If you like Hurricane 3, you’ll like Athlon 2 - Perhaps even more.


Blocking took a little adjustment again, but once I’d done that, I found it easy to block and drive block on opposing loops.


This is the one area people who have been used to Euro Tensors will really benefit - The block and counter loop ability of the harder Chinese/Euro rubbers like Athlon 2 is better than the typical Euro/Jap rubbers (IMHO).


It’s also good in the short game, due to the lack of rebound effect.


But if you find yourself out of position, I’m afraid you will be getting no help with this rubber - It really is for people who can play a positive stroke in all positions, so if you are someone who often gets caught out of position, and ends up playing a block type return away from the table - This rubber won’t be your friend.


That being said, I’ve seen some lower level players get on with this, because they can still swing hard, and not have to worry about the ball spinning and bouncing away.


It can certainly cater for both the low end, and the high end of the playing spectrum.


I’d like to thank Dean at www.ttequipment.co.uk for helping with some of the Chinese translations!

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