Sponge on rubbers

Hey I just got back from the Western Open in Berkeley California, so sorry I'm late on that azlan . As to your question they realistically with every brand out there and more being created have probably made every combination of soft to hard rubbers with soft to hard sponges.

As to the comment on dye. Black dye and red dye are made of different chemicals so one way to look at it is that some people are allergic to red dye 40, but not red dye 30. So yes the color can change the characteristics of a rubber's topsheet. Being apart of Joola and getting to really see the other side of the Table Tennis world has really opened my eyes. You can check out some of our photos on the Facebook page JoolaUSA and I'll have videos of our event soon.

The black dye I'm told in general makes the rubber slightly tackier than the red dye so that is why the traditional red FH and black BH has been switched. Realistically unless you're at the highest levels of play it won't hinder your game unless you strive for a technique driven game.

I'm also not sure what the question is azlan. Do you want rubbers that are a good example of soft topsheets with soft sponges or what have you?

Just let me know brother.

Peace out fellow TTers.

I don't really have anything to say about this topic, since most of it has been said. But I'll tell you one thing, and that is that the Andro Hexer HD is the best backhand rubber I have ever had!

But ofc, the Tenergy series and the Calibras are nice too.. Just I like the Hexer HD the best

Oh sorry my bad I didn't mean to say I was competing in a tournament. The company I work for runs some of the top tournaments in the U.S. I am the videographer/photographer. It was a blast watching everyone play and even some of the up and comers. We had one U13 boy (not sure what his age is he is like 4 foot tall) who ended up winning 3 of his 4 events. For a second during the first day I thought he was going to die of exhaustion. He literally played for 5 hours straight with only a couple minutes of rest time in between all of his matches. Good thing is that he'll probably end up being rated higher than all of those events and then won't be able to enter as many in the future. I'm really excited to see what is in store for him in the future.

Now back on topic. What you mentioned about combinations is a more generalized term of what rubber and sponge combo's produce the most spin and speed. With the more modern technologies it's generally medium sponges and pip structure (doesn't really matter whether soft to hard) that produces the most speed and spin in a rubber. The reason being is that harder sponges are the best for feeling the ball and generating spin by technique with a medium to soft topsheet. That combination is generally more player friendly. For instance we are getting ready to market and sell the new Joola rubber Rhyzm which is in the Tenergy 64 category of speed and spin, but is extremely player friendly with a medium hard sponge and a softer topsheet.

What was mentioned about the Red topsheet for Blue Sponge skyline 2 is (and I don't mean to reiterate but...) that red topsheets may not have dark sponges as they change the color of the topsheet and produce a different, but close color to black thus breaking the rule of different color rubbers. Ma Lin will still use the red skyline 2 with orange sponge in doubles as I saw in either the Hungarian or Slovenian (I'm so far behind been so busy with USA Pong).

Regardless of the combination very often there are a lot of rubbers these days the produce speed and spin at very high levels. The combinations of soft vs hard sponges and rubbers are mostly for the players touch and preference, typically it's the blade that will help produce the best qualities from the rubber rather than vice versa.

I hope that helps if I'm still not answering the question just let me know lol.

Later everyone.

Anders said:

I don't really have anything to say about this topic, since most of it has been said. But I'll tell you one thing, and that is that the Andro Hexer HD is the best backhand rubber I have ever had!

But ofc, the Tenergy series and the Calibras are nice too.. Just I like the Hexer HD the best

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now i play with Calibra. I agree it's the best!

Mr. RicharD said:

Ma Lin will still use the red skyline 2 with orange sponge in doubles as I saw in either the Hungarian or Slovenian

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If you're talking about this year, I'm sure you saw Ma Lin just warming up using the backhand rubber on the forehand stroke. He does that quite often.

azlan said:

Yup, it's true. Ma Lin uses orange sponge DHS, not blue.

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He did but uses blue sponge at the moment(Well who knows about really at the moment, but at least in the last tournament).
But what Mr.Richard suggested was that he is using RED rubber on the forehand, not just a black rubber with orange sponge.

I think first time Ma Lin was using a black rubber with blue sponge was 2008. At least in the olympics he did. I believe that was Globe 999, the same rubber he used to have in red before. Kong Linghui used that rubber too, in black, years before the speedglue ban.

Lol, I can't seem to find the video anywhere I think I may just have dreamed it up. I definitely hear him hitting with his bryce, but I can't find him serving with the red rubber and orange sponge. I may have just seen an Orange sponge Black sheet and switched the colors in my head.

Correction noted JustAlt. Thanks for that :S.

YosuaYosan said:

I know! I know!
But.. I am going to school now (extras and tests on Saturday due to national exam)..

I will write here right away if I could

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Gah I guess Sir Carl has explained quite much..
There are also lots of discussion on the internet about this..

Sorry I can't help too much further because of the limited time too

Mr. RicharD said:

Lol, I can't seem to find the video anywhere I think I may just have dreamed it up. I definitely hear him hitting with his bryce, but I can't find him serving with the red rubber and orange sponge. I may have just seen an Orange sponge Black sheet and switched the colors in my head.

Correction noted JustAlt. Thanks for that :S.

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You just remind me that he quite often use red DHS top sheet for doubles play. I think he still do this up until 2010 if not mistaken...But I have been rarely or not at all to see Ma Lin use red topsheet as FH since last year.

A comparison of the Tenergy rubbers is showing that the figures speed/spin/control are not the same. If you look at the stats of the Rakza's (http://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/fo...Yasaka-Rakza-9) changing the topsheet gave the Rakza 9 more speed and control. They probably figured that changing the structure of the pimples wouldn't meet their goal.

The more deformation the topsheet has, the more spin you can produce because of the contact area with the ball. The more tension in the rubber you have, the more speed you have.

By changing only the structure of the pimples the deformation of the topsheet wouldn't be the same, thus changing the spin and control characteristics.

Hope this helps your understanding a bit