1.9 or max on forehand!!

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yes i feel a difference; same kind of rubber and touch, but definitely D80 is more spinny, the ball is accelerating more after the bounce. On FH my opponents have a harder time to block. but T80 is more easy to control for blocking and flat hitting

so i'm compromising with T80 because i think i don't think i need the extra spin / power.

I could probably play with T80 on FH as well, it wouldn't be a big deal. I just don't like to change without a big reason.
 
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@MOG i had a session last week with my old setup Korbel + T80 + Spinart because i thought i had forgotten my racket (it was in my bag in its case but somehow i didn't see it)

and I could clearly see the difference between Korbel and Acoustic Inner. Korbel felt so slow to me, and it was impossible to sustain fast BH to BH rallies with my coach. it took too much effort to put spin and i couldn't recover in time for the next shot, and a tiny mis-contact would result in a mistake.
on the FH side, there was much more safety with the Korbel, especially on the FH side. i think the Korbel was absorbing much more energy than the Acoustic on blocking. On the other hand, yes probably the FH attacking shots were slower and/or i needed to put a little more effort.
 
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Thanks Takkyu. I wanted to use Dignic 80 and had actually use it for a few weeks. It just feels slower then T80, so I changed back. Also, blocking wise, I find that T80 is even less spin sensitive than D80. The only bad thing about T80 is it doesn't last as long.
 
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This is interesting I had been happy with 1.9 and better when using either 5 plys and/or older poly balls, but on my force pro I just cant get the spin or speed with 1.9, not even in topspin to topspin warm up rallies.

Immediately with max it is better on this blade, I use mid pimps on bh which make the blade lighter I also think this is contributing to the weight of shot.
I am lifting chop much much better, and am blocking power better as the sponge is absorbing this.

Touch shots are a bit worse when I mis-read a bit like a float return and heavy heavy topspin seems a bit harder to control.
I really find these new ABS balls quite different, to me it is almost a different sport now!!

If you are hitting the ball near table, you should not be able to feel the difference in power between 1.9 or 2.1 rubber. If you counter loop from a distance, the difference is more noticeable but not a big problem. By right, 1.9mm rubber should feel a bit harder than 2.1mm rubber and so it is actually better for ABS ball. But I don't feel the difference there. Most people can't adapt to the ABS ball because they have an upward stroke instead of a forward stroke. ABS ball requires you to have a higher hit to brush ratio.
 
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@MOG If you use hip rotation instead of hand swing, you will have a more consistent contact. Upon good contact of the ball, brush the paddle upward and forward to create the arc. This will give you a good powerful loop, loaded with spin and pace.
 
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I wish I had read these posts before I bought a sheet of max 05fx.

I think last year I tried to emphasise looping more in my game. My strengths are close to table and hitting ball early. So back to 1.9 it is.
I cant drive the ball as hard or as consistently with max 05fx even on fh. I feel like with max I loop then take a step back.
 
I wish I had read these posts before I bought a sheet of max 05fx.

I think last year I tried to emphasise looping more in my game. My strengths are close to table and hitting ball early. So back to 1.9 it is.
I cant drive the ball as hard or as consistently with max 05fx even on fh. I feel like with max I loop then take a step back.

Probably shorten your swing also if near the table. Taking 1 step backward will work too.

 
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I play with Rakza 1.8mm on my FH sometimes. I currently have 1.8mm Rakza 7 mounted on the FH side of my chopping paddle. I chop better with thinner rubbers. As far a normal play goes, I find there is little difference in thickness. However, I get a lot of spin from Rakza 7 Max ( 2.2mm ).

The main thing you don't want to do is to "bottom out" the rubber. When the rubbers "bottoms out" it is the resulting speed is non-linear and probably faster which is OK if flat hitting for a kill but bad if you have your paddle closed and looping. The good thing is that if your paddle is closed then the normal speed of impact is reduced which reduces the chances of "bottoming out".

Also, given the same type of sponge, thick sponges will be softer than thinner sponges. The paddle palace ratings don't change their ratings as a function of the sponge thickness which is flaw and makes me suspect their ratings in general. I have been to the paddle palace and asked how they rated rubbers and I was told it was subjective ratings from very good players. I could guess who they are. I know they aren't calibrated or scientific types.

For the same stroke, thicker rubbers are not as fast as thinner rubbers. Rubbers absorb energy. However, thicker rubber can absorb more energy if you swing faster and therefore can release more for more spin or speed than thinner rubbers. I think better players that play back from the table more can benefit from thicker rubbers if they play back a significant amount of the time. Most of us play close to the table. Also, most are hitters, not loopers.

If you are trying a rubber for the first time I would buy a middle of the road thickness then buy thicker or thinner then next time.
 
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Way back when I played with Mark V in 2.5mm. There were way much more choppers back then, and I've always had barrels of fun playing them, shaping the curve of the ball to suit. The short game was more challenging, and when rallies turned flatter I didn't think it beneficial.

I'm using "MAX" on my FH rubber even now, but that's a mere 2.0mm; my BH is "THICK", which apparently is Nittaku-speak for 1.8mm. Both sides spin like crazy, and I can grab the ball with a very closed angle and still bend it onto the table with good quality on both wings when away from the table. I tried the latest fad in ESN rubbers, and the "ultramax" ones didn't click for me. R53 didn't improve, for me, when trying 2.3mm over 2.1.
 
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These are largely my findings too.

I certainly deal with spin much better with 1.9 than max. And the chance to get to a position where I might be able to loop come up more with 1.9 because I serve better, return better, short game is better block or counter the first incoming loop etc better. So I think what I lose in mid table power loops I more than make up for everywhere else on the table.
 
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One thing that no one mentioned is the weight.
Playing with 2.0, 1.9 or 1.8mm instead of Max (2.1, 2.3mm) on both sides reduces the overall weight by a few grams and sometimes, it's not negligible!
 
One thing that no one mentioned is the weight.
Playing with 2.0, 1.9 or 1.8mm instead of Max (2.1, 2.3mm) on both sides reduces the overall weight by a few grams and sometimes, it's not negligible!
Exactly, that's why I rarely use anything above 2.0mm, 1.9 for BTY.

Cheers
L-zr
 
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