Need help on choosing rubber

Pie · Feb 22, 2019

Hi all,

I am new here! I am having difficulties choosing rubbers!

I had used a pre-made Butterfly 402 for few years. Few months ago, I bought an ALC blade (84g) and a pair of Butterfly Rozena 1.9 mm for both backhand and forehand. Unfortunately, I found Rozena too bouncy for short-games. Most of my shots went off the table. Plus, Rozena is quite heavy; and this made my whole set-up quite head heavy!

Then I ordered a new pair of Sriver EL 1.9 mm for both backhand and forehand. Oh my god...my previous consistent and explosive backhand shots are back, mainly due to 2 factors: light set-up and much less bouncy Sriver EL (compared to Rozena). I am a backhand oriented player. However, my forehand really lacks in power with Sriver EL 1.9 mm. I had to swing my right arm like hell to produce powerful strokes, which still couldn't finish off the rallies.

I am looking for an ideal set-up, which offers me the following:
1. Light weight rubbers (both backhand and forehand)
2. Less bouncy than Butterfly Rozena. I want a good control in short games
3. Durable
4. Spinny serves and loops

I have come up with 6 options below; and I do need your advice:
- Option 1: Sriver EL 1.9 (backhand) + Mark V 2.0 (forehand)
- Option 2: Sriver EL 1.9 (backhand) + Xiom Vega Pro 1.8 (forehand)
- Option 3: Sriver EL 1.9 (backhand) + Xiom Vega Pro 2.0 (forehand)
- Option 4: Xiom Vega Europe 1.8 (backhand) + Xiom Vega Pro 1.8 (forehand)
- Option 5: Xiom Vega Europe 1.8 (backhand) + Xiom Vega Pro 2.0 (forehand)
- Option 6: Xiom Vega Europe 2.0 (backhand) + Xiom Vega Pro 2.0 (forehand)

I am really concerned that Vega Europe and Pro are as bouncy as or more bouncy than Rozena!

Thank you for your help!
Pie

thekleifheit13 · Feb 22, 2019

Pie said:
Hi all,

I am new here! I am having difficulties choosing rubbers!

I had used a pre-made Butterfly 402 for few years. Few months ago, I bought a ALC blade and a pair of Butterfly Rozena 1.9 mm for both backhand and forehand. Unfortunately, I found Rozena too bouncy for short-games. Most of my shots went off the table. Plus, Rozena is quite heavy; and this made my whole set-up quite head heavy!

Then I ordered a new pair of Sriver EL 1.9 mm for both backhand and forehand. Oh my god...my previous consistent and explosive backhand shots are back, mainly due to 2 factors: light set-up and much less bouncy Sriver EL (compared to Rozena). I am a backhand oriented player. However, my forehand really lacks in power with Sriver EL 1.9 mm. I had to swing my right arm like to hell to produce a powerful strokes, which still couldn't finish off the rallies.

I am looking for an ideal set-up, which offers me the following:
1. Light weight rubbers (both backhand and forehand)
2. Less bouncy than Butterfly Rozena. I want a good control in short games
3. Durable

I have come up with 6 options below; and I do need your advice:
- Option 1: Sriver EL 1.9 (backhand) + Mark V 2.0 (forehand)
- Option 2: Sriver EL 1.9 (backhand) + Xiom Vega Pro 2.0 (forehand)
- Option 3: Sriver EL 1.9 (backhand) + Xiom Vega Pro 1.8 (forehand)
- Option 4: Xiom Vega Europe 1.8 (backhand) + Xiom Vega Pro 1.8 (forehand)
- Option 5: Xiom Vega Europe 1.8 (backhand) + Xiom Vega Pro 2.0 (forehand)
- Option 6: Xiom Vega Europe 2.0 (backhand) + Xiom Vega Pro 2.0 (forehand)

I am really concerned that Vega Europe and Pro as bouncy as or more bouncy than Rozena!

Thank you for your help!
Pie

Your blade is most likely wayyyyyy too fast coming from a premade paddle. It may work OK for your strong wing (backhand) but will probably hinder your development of your forehand. Also, the weakness of your forehand is most likely due to technique and not equipment. When you had Rozena, the rubber was so fast that it masked sub-optimal technique, but with Sriver, the weakness became apparent. It would probably be best to stick with your current rubbers and maybe even switch to a slower, allwood blade and learn to generate more of your own power first.

If you insist on changing and you're in the US, you should try Gambler Mech-Tek Predator in max sponge for both sides. It has more power (spin and speed) than Sriver but is still very controllable in Max sponge. You can get it for $14 US per sheet.

Pie · Feb 22, 2019

thekleifheit13 said:
Your blade is most likely wayyyyyy too fast coming from a premade paddle. It may work OK for your strong wing (backhand) but will probably hinder your development of your forehand. Also, the weakness of your forehand is most likely due to technique and not equipment. When you had Rozena, the rubber was so fast that it masked sub-optimal technique, but with Sriver, the weakness became apparent. It would probably be best to stick with your current rubbers and maybe even switch to a slower, allwood blade and learn to generate more of your own power first.

If you insist on changing and you're in the US, you should try Gambler Mech-Tek Predator in max sponge for both sides. It has more power (spin and speed) than Sriver but is still very controllable in Max sponge. You can get it for $14 US per sheet.

Hi Thekleifheit13,

I agree with your opinion! I rarely make mistakes with my backhand (Sriver EL 1.9mm). My backhand shots are faster and more deadly and also more consistent than my forehand ones.

I should improve my forehand technique with my current set-up first. Thank you for your advice!

By the way, I have been practicing pendulum serves for a while. Unfortunately, I feel that Sriver EL can't produce enough spin. Even beginner players could return them fairly easily. Is it a technique or Sriver EL problem? Is Mark V spinnier than Sriver EL?

Thank you again
Pie

FruitLoop · Feb 22, 2019

Going from pre made to ALC is a hell of a step up. Probably should go a 5 ply all wood blade as an intermediate step.

thekleifheit13 · Feb 22, 2019

Pie said:
Hi Thekleifheit13,

I agree with your opinion! I rarely make mistakes with my backhand (Sriver EL 1.9mm). My backhand shots are faster and more deadly and also more consistent than my forehand ones.

I should improve my forehand technique with my current set-up first. Thank you for your advice!

By the way, I have been practicing pendulum serves for a while. Unfortunately, I feel that Sriver EL can't produce enough spin. Even beginner players could return them fairly easily. Is it a technique or Sriver EL problem? Is Mark V spinnier than Sriver EL?

Thank you again
Pie

You seem very willing to work to improve, which is a good thing! You might want to look into buying a cheap, slow blade as well. It will help you learn to feel the ball better, which is really important when you're learning.

As far as serves go, that's a technique issue as well. Sriver should get plenty of spin to learn heavy spin serves with. I know that when I serve I think about holding the ball on the rubber as long as possible. I don't know how or why that gives me more spin, but it does. Others think about having their paddle move as quickly as possible while brushing the ball with very thin contact. A lot of people (myself included) don't have enough feel and/or coordination for that method, though. Brett Clarke has some good tutorials on how to increase spin on your serves that you may want to YouTube. Also, just practicing serves for an hour or so a week will make a huge difference. Just keep your focus on generating as much spin as humanly possible each serve.

Pie · Feb 22, 2019

FruitLoop said:
Going from pre made to ALC is a hell of a step up. Probably should go a 5 ply all wood blade as an intermediate step.

Hi FruitLoop,

Thank you for your input. The problem is that I don't want to spend more money on buying a new all-wood blade. Probably I should just stick with my ALC blade + slow Sriver EL 1.9 mm for a while to see if there is any improvement.

By the way, is Mark V better than Sriver EL for forehand? I heard that Mark V is a light rubber. I really hate heavy set-up as it reduces my agility. Rozena was my bad real-life experience!

Pie

thekleifheit13 · Feb 22, 2019

Pie said:
Hi FruitLoop,

Thank you for your input. The problem is that I don't want to spend more money on buying a new all-wood blade. Probably I should just stick with my ALC blade + slow Sriver EL 1.9 mm for a while to see if there is any improvement.

By the way, is Mark V better than Sriver EL for forehand? I heard that Mark V is a light rubber. I really hate heavy set-up as it reduces my agility. Rozena was my bad real-life experience!

Pie

You can get a decent allwood blade for about $15 US from a few different shops - Zeropong, Colestt.com, etc.

Pie · Feb 22, 2019

thekleifheit13 said:
You can get a decent allwood blade for about $15 US from a few different shops - Zeropong, Colestt.com, etc.

I'll look into getting one all-wood blade! Thank you very much!

Pie · Feb 22, 2019

thekleifheit13 said:
You seem very willing to work to improve, which is a good thing! You might want to look into buying a cheap, slow blade as well. It will help you learn to feel the ball better, which is really important when you're learning.

As far as serves go, that's a technique issue as well. Sriver should get plenty of spin to learn heavy spin serves with. I know that when I serve I think about holding the ball on the rubber as long as possible. I don't know how or why that gives me more spin, but it does. Others think about having their paddle move as quickly as possible while brushing the ball with very thin contact. A lot of people (myself included) don't have enough feel and/or coordination for that method, though. Brett Clarke has some good tutorials on how to increase spin on your serves that you may want to YouTube. Also, just practicing serves for an hour or so a week will make a huge difference. Just keep your focus on generating as much spin as humanly possible each serve.

Really appreciated your suggestions! I'll Youtube his tutorials!

thekleifheit13 · Feb 22, 2019

Pie said:
I'll look into getting one all-wood blade! Thank you very much!

I would try to stick to a 5-ply blade that's not very fast. From Zeropong the Gambler Zen is good, and from Colestt the Galaxy 896 is good as well. Both shops have wood blades that are fast enough to still hinder your development if you're not careful.

Pie · Feb 22, 2019

thekleifheit13 said:
I would try to stick to a 5-ply blade that's not very fast. From Zeropong the Gambler Zen is good, and from Colestt the Galaxy 896 is good as well. Both shops have wood blades that are fast enough to still hinder your development if you're not careful.

I'll check it! Thank you very much!

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