My blade + rubber combos [emoji971]

Setup 1
Blade: 90s Stiga Offensive Classic (koto outer layer)
FH: Friendship 729-2 45°
BH: Friendship 729-2 42°
Weight: 182g
I really like this setup. The blade is very loud and with tensor rubbers it was too distracting. The 729-2 makes a nice muted thump which prefer. I got them because I wanted to try Chinese rubber and the original 729 RITC is recommended as a decent basic rubber for $5/sheet. The 729-2 appears to be the upgraded version for around $8/sheet. They come in a very nice packaging that even includes protector sheets, they are not smelly and they are solid - I glued them on 3 different blades to try and they held up perfectly. Overall very impressed. The setup feels balanced in the hand and pushes are much easier than with tensors - the ball clears the net effortlessly. Easy to block and good control. Downside: the rubbers are not fast nor too spinny, so I need a correct and big stroke to generate spin, but I think that is good for learning. The same stroke with a spinier rubber generates heaps of spin. I would be interested in an upgrade, what other rubbers can you recommend that have a little more spin and serve without being too heavy? Also what can I expect from boosting this rubber with something like baby oil?

To be continued...

Julian

Anyone? What's a good evolution from 729-2 that is hard (a little) faster and spinnier, not heavy?

Julian

olzetezkarzo said:

sanwei t88-I has similar speed and a lot of spin.

Click to expand...

That one is listed as very heavy....

Julian

lasta said:

But, IMO 729 is already one of if not the spinniest rubber around...is 729-2 very different? Non-tacky? What kind of strokes do you have trouble generating spin from?

Click to expand...

Thanks Iasta. 729-2 is completely non tacky, maybe 0.5/10. One example would be a backspin serve, where I try to stop the ball dead or even come back after it lands in the other court. If the racket is not level during the stroke or I don't brush over the entire width, the ball still has some forward momentum. With other rubbers like Stiga Mantra and Jupiter II, it's much easier to put backspin on the ball with a shorter or imperfect stroke.

Friendship actually just answered an email I sent them 2 months ago, and they recommended Visnatura which is made in Japan, but it doesn't seem to be on sale anywhere yet.

Julian