Cheap rubbers - Am i missing something?

fais · Feb 25, 2019

I'm currently playing with yinhe mercury 2 a $5 USD boosted mildly with baby oil (sssh...dont tell anybody), and I'm actually surprised how much control and gears this rubber has and how linear it is. I'm not a great TT player by any means, but I have decent fundamentals. On a W-6 blade this rubber does NOT bottom out mid distance from the table (I haven't tested far away, like I said I'm not that good).

My question is, am I imagining this? Is it really a crappy rubber and I cant tell? I mean it is dirt cheap, for a reason right? I know the consensus here is "use whatever works for you", but I'm curious how far will a rubber like this get me? Will I be able to play with it at higher levels? No one expects it to be anywhere near as good as a tenergy, but i can't tell if this rubber is crap or not.

What is the general opinion regarding cheep rubbers? Are the decent enough for players who are somewhat serious and can hold there own against good players, decent enough to progress? How far will i have to progress in terms of touch and skills to be able to discern "okay, I need tenergy now, this rubber just doesn't have enough gears"?

I figure I'll try to get my paddle in the hands of my former coach who can let me know how decent my gear is, and how far i can expect to go with it, but also it doesn't hurt to ask some good/decent players here (I'm looking at you Der_Etche).

suds79 · Feb 25, 2019

Options on this will vary but I generally believe that there's about a 5-ish % difference between rubbers. Maybe 10% IDK but that's not the point of my post.

I hit with H3 neo commercial. A rubber I think I got for $20. Just last week the best player at our club, this kid who is 14 I think and USATT 2100 something, was excited to show off his new Tenergy 05 hard. A I think $80 rubber.

We traded for a couple minutes so I could check it out. Was it faster than mine? Yeah. I could tell. But I just didn't like it. Sure I'd get use to it in time but generally I don't like bouncy rubbers. I think they're harder to work in keeping it short in the push/short game but that's just me.

Anyways, I've seen it several times. When he hits with my $20 rubber, his shot quality is generally about the same because he has great technique.

So if you've found a rubber you really dig and it's affordable, don't fight it. Go with it and make no apologies about it.

NDH · Feb 25, 2019

I haven't tried all of the "cheap/Chinese" rubbers, but I have tried some of the Yinhe ones - I've found them all very good.

I'm a Tenergy guy personally - If I'm being honest, I stuck my nose up at the cheaper stuff - Especially the cheap Chinese stuff.

I've put a few videos online of me playing with some Double Fish rubbers which are also cheap - I don't think people would look at them and think "nah, they are rubbish rubbers".

I don't know how long they'll last - But the reality is, for most players, they'd be find for many months!

I think the TT world has been conditioned to associate a high cost with a quality product.

I look at Butterfly, and when they release a £100 baldy (like the Timo Boll CAF), I instantly think it must be average/poor because it's priced less than their older stuff.

The reality is..... It'll be absolutely fine, good even, and the margins between a £100 blade and £350 blade are so small that most people can't tell.

The same applies for rubbers - The "cheap Chinese" rubbers are good these days, and probably provide more value for money than anything else.

fais · Feb 25, 2019

suds79 said:
Options on this will vary but I generally believe that there's about a 5-ish % difference between rubbers. Maybe 10% IDK but that's not the point of my post.

I hit with H3 neo commercial. A rubber I think I got for $20. Just last week the best player at our club, this kid who is 14 I think and USATT 2100 something, was excited to show off his new Tenergy 05 hard. A I think $80 rubber.

We traded for a couple minutes so I could check it out. Was it faster than mine? Yeah. I could tell. But I just didn't like it. Sure I'd get use to it in time but generally I don't like bouncy rubbers. I think they're harder to work in keeping it short in the push/short game but that's just me.

Anyways, I've seen it several times. When he hits with my $20 rubber, his shot quality is generally about the same because he has great technique.

So if you've found a rubber you really dig and it's affordable, don't fight it. Go with it and make no apologies about it.

I absolutely love the H3N commercial for my FH as well. (again, lightly boosted with baby oil). I switched from the 40 degrees to the 39 degrees for control and feedback, both IMO is an amazing rubber. I go back and forth between H3N and TG3N for fun (high throw vs. low throw, both great). I've never felt the desire to switch to a prov/nat version... since they are harder and lower throw that require more skill.

I keep mentioning baby oil in all my posts, because I don't think you actually need boosters if you're athletic enough and have solid technique. I use only to liven the blade up in short game, and soften the sponge just a bit better feedback. I've never felt the need for actual boosters.

FruitLoop · Feb 25, 2019

Those cheap Chinese rubbers are perfectly playable. How far could you go with them? Honestly, you could play close to national level with those rubbers, especially if boosting. You seem to like the concept of gears, but these rubbers will be able to hit absolute rockets in the hands of Ma Long that mere amateurs wouldn't dream of. It's not like they have a speed limit. This all depends if you prefer tacky dead hard sponged Chinese rubbers. They play totally differently than EU or JP rubbers. But there is nothing wrong with them. They are significantly better than premade rubbers. If I wanted to get a load of spare bats for a club I would order a load of these type of rubbers and glue them onto a Yinhe or Sanwei blade for next to nothing and you have a set up that could easily play 2500+ USATT level in the right hands, probably less than $20 each.

dominus7 · Feb 25, 2019

I've tried several Yinhe rubbers, and the difference is the boosting, and the consistency through the time, when someone boosts the rubber mostly times the quantity and the quality are not consistent through, then if you can make a standard of boosting and save money, a lot of money, I can give you an example, Yinhe Jupiter 2 are similar to Hurricane 3 Neo, but cheaper, it's less tacky but as spinny as H3N, I put it on a Korbel, V16, and now a Viscaria, and I can tell you, attached in Viscaria is spinnier than v16 and Korbel, but more bouncy because the koto, so you can realize the outer ply affect the spin and control, of course not completely, but affects.

thekleifheit13 · Feb 25, 2019

fais said:
I'm currently playing with yinhe mercury 2 a $5 USD boosted mildly with baby oil (sssh...dont tell anybody), and I'm actually surprised how much control and gears this rubber has and how linear it is. I'm not a great TT player by any means, but I have decent fundamentals. On a W-6 blade this rubber does NOT bottom out mid distance from the table (I haven't tested far away, like I said I'm not that good).

My question is, am I imagining this? Is it really a crappy rubber and I cant tell? I mean it is dirt cheap, for a reason right? I know the consensus here is "use whatever works for you", but I'm curious how far will a rubber like this get me? Will I be able to play with it at higher levels? No one expects it to be anywhere near as good as a tenergy, but i can't tell if this rubber is crap or not.

What is the general opinion regarding cheep rubbers? Are the decent enough for players who are somewhat serious and can hold there own against good players, decent enough to progress? How far will i have to progress in terms of touch and skills to be able to discern "okay, I need tenergy now, this rubber just doesn't have enough gears"?

I figure I'll try to get my paddle in the hands of my former coach who can let me know how decent my gear is, and how far i can expect to go with it, but also it doesn't hurt to ask some good/decent players here (I'm looking at you Der_Etche).

Another low level guy here. But all I have ever bought is cheap rubbers. H3N, 729 Super FX, 2008 XP, all the 999T variants, and some of the newest Gambler rubbers. They play well and I could serve and loop with decent power for my level. I've traded off with people that have T05/R47/etc. on carbon blades and was able to play the same game as with my cheap stuff. The dudes I traded with maybe had to modify their form a bit but were able to play very similarly as well. The older variants (729 and 999T) feel very different than Euro/Jap rubbers, but the newer stuff - especially the Gamber rubbers - isn't that different feeling when compared to EuroJap rubbers of similar hardness.

Baraka552 · Feb 25, 2019

What can I say… don't mind too much. That's indeed a matter of your skill, not rubbers. Especially considering Yinhe rubbers are pretty good and underrated I guess. There was time I was pretty good with noname Atemi premade. It costs like a single H3 sheet.

BryanY · Feb 25, 2019

First off, tensors are for people who don’t want to deal with boosting.

Second, not everyone wants to do a big athletic stroke (compared to tacky rubber). I prefer a more compact stroke so that I can get ready for the next ball. (I don’t have Xu Xin’s level of footwork).

Third, smashing is better with fast bouncy rubber.

Fourth, aggressive blocking seems to be better too.

Fifth, a lot of people appreciate extra speed on backhand.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Zeen · Feb 25, 2019

mercury 2 medium, heavily boosted, plays 85% as well as the most acclaimed med-hard rubbers from ESN (VP, G1 etc) in terms of performance but not in feel.

So nope, you are not missing out on anything(except fancy marketing). Just remember to reboost every 4 weeks.

langel · Feb 25, 2019

There is no bad rubber the same way as there is no ugly women.
And in Norway there is a fish for everyone.

fais · Feb 25, 2019

thekleifheit13 said:
The older variants (729 and 999T) feel very different than Euro/Jap rubbers, but the newer stuff - especially the Gamber rubbers - isn't that different feeling when compared to EuroJap rubbers of similar hardness.

Interesting. would you mind sharing what newer gambler rubbers in particular share these characteristics?

thekleifheit13 · Feb 25, 2019

So far I've tried Burst with Thor's Hammer sponge, Big Gun with Thor's hammer, Mech-Tek Predator, and I'm waiting on a sheet of Nine Ultra Tack. I couldn't tell much difference between the first two at all, maybe Burst is a tiny bit more tacky. They're both semi tacky though and faster than H3 neo. Mech-Tek is grippy and sponge is medium hardness. Nines is supposed to be exactly like Mech-Tek but semi tacky. None of them have a catapult effect but they're pretty fast and Euro feeling.

Suga D · Feb 25, 2019

It might just be me, but this

thekleifheit13 said:
None of them have a catapult effect but they're pretty fast and Euro feeling.

sounds a bit contradictive to me. Isn't this catapult what Euro rubbers are known for?
[Emoji12]

mart1nandersson · Feb 25, 2019

Play with whatever makes you happy. Ma Long, Vladi, Xu Xin or Herr Boll would be able to beat 99% of the players in the world with whatever rubber you give them (and so will a lot of other elite players).

Some people like to make huge full body strokes using tacky Chinese rubbers, some like to chop with LP and some like to kill the ball using ESN/JAP rubbers. Whatever floats your boat.

Der_Echte · Feb 25, 2019

What one selects for a blade or rubber ought to integrate with what one does and make it easy to do the tasks.

For me, on bh, a control rubber is good. I have a lot of good bh shots and impact. I can make a control rubber bark out loud.

For years, it was Dawei XP 2008 Super Power. Then Nexy Elpis and now since erm gave me some sheets, Nittaku Moristo, an old school Japanese control rubber.

If a cheapo rubber fits in with what you do well, buy a pile of that rubber before the next batch gets dodgy.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Chen Chen · Feb 27, 2019

I won't say the rubber that you pay less money is not good or the most expensive rubber on the market is good value either.

First of all, I guess you need to know what your level is. What technique you are good at or some shots you won't be able to do. Then try to find the blade and rubber suits your level ( somehow I think blade is more important than rubber), whatever is cheap or expensive. For beginner level players, they won't be able to tell what's good or bad. Then there is no point to say what's expensive or cheap.

I have two stories wants to share with you. My Chinese coach once beat me by using fake Tenergy rubbers

, which costs him 15 pounds, maybe less. When you reach to certain level (after several years training), you will understand more and more about what you need.

In 2016, I went to watch world cup in Germany and Swedish open, saw Dima changed his FH rubber to hurricane blue sponge, he was not playing well. Eventually, he switched 05 back on his FH. Hurricane didn't suit his style at all. Hurricane blue sponge is not a cheap rubber, but to him it wasn't the good option.

Find the one suits you the best is the most important thing. Let's have fun and play hard.

fais · Feb 27, 2019

Chen Chen said:
I won't say the rubber that you pay less money is not good or the most expensive rubber on the market is good value either.

First of all, I guess you need to know what your level is. What technique you are good at or some shots you won't be able to do. Then try to find the blade and rubber suits your level ( somehow I think blade is more important than rubber), whatever is cheap or expensive. For beginner level players, they won't be able to tell what's good or bad. Then there is no point to say what's expensive or cheap.

I have two stories wants to share with you. My Chinese coach once beat me by using fake Tenergy rubbers, which costs him 15 pounds, maybe less. When you reach to certain level (after several years training), you will understand more and more about what you need.

In 2016, I went to watch world cup in Germany and Swedish open, saw Dima changed his FH rubber to hurricane blue sponge, he was not playing well. Eventually, he switched 05 back on his FH. Hurricane didn't suit his style at all. Hurricane blue sponge is not a cheap rubber, but to him it wasn't the good option.

Find the one suits you the best is the most important thing. Let's have fun and play hard.

My concern stems from my experience with premades. I've been in those situations where taking a few steps away from the table and the racket bottoms out. Basically, no higher gear. That is what i question when it comes to cheap rubbers. I intend to improve my technique and get better via that. Realistically, I'm never going to reach beyond USAT 2100/2200, not because of lack in skill, technique or physical prowess, rather because of lack of time and training investment. My question is, will these cheap rubbers crap out on me or will they continue to behave decently as i get better? Will my mercury 2 hold up if/when i try to backhand loopdrive 5-10 feet away from the table (with proper form and technique)?

dominus7 · Feb 27, 2019

fais said:
My concern stems from my experience with premades. I've been in those situations where taking a few steps away from the table and the racket bottoms out. Basically, no higher gear. That is what i question when it comes to cheap rubbers. I intend to improve my technique and get better via that. Realistically, I'm never going to reach beyond USAT 2100/2200, not because of lack in skill, technique or physical prowess, rather because of lack of time and training investment. My question is, will these cheap rubbers crap out on me or will they continue to behave decently as i get better? Will my mercury 2 hold up if/when i try to backhand loopdrive 5-10 feet away from the table (with proper form and technique)?

Do you play close, mid or away to the table? If you play close/mid then those rubbers are enough, even if you go far away you can put the ball to the other side net, just have to put more effort that's all

langel · Feb 27, 2019

Easy-Peasy, you say

Cheap rubbers - Am i missing something?

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