This user has no status.
Member
There is confusion on thickness of rubber for a lot of people. I consistently hear people say that thicker rubber is faster and harder to control.
On the faster part: thinner sponge can be shown to be faster on direct contact. There are videos that clearly show this to be the case. The sponge dampens contact. Less sponge causes a faster shot than more sponge. This is simple physics.
Thinner sponge is easier to control if you are making direct contact. But not if you are spinning the ball.
Thicker sponge is actually slightly slower. It is harder to control in direct contact because the rebound of the sponge makes how the ball comes out less predictable. But thicker sponge makes it so you can let the ball penetrate deeper into the sponge before it hits the wood. If you are making spin contact (tangential--which is sort of the opposite of direct contact) you will get more spin with the thicker sponge. And the rebound of the sponge and topsheet will not cause the ball projecting out to be less controllable because of the tangential contact and how the topsheet grabs.
Since on offensive topspin shots, you control the shot with the amount of spin, the thicker sponge makes it easier to control shots with heavy spin because it makes it easier to create that spin. This also makes it so, on those kinds of heavy spin shots--which in table tennis are called loops--you can swing with more force and not bottom out and still spin the ball.
So, you might get a faster shot when spinning the ball with a thicker sponge. But that is not because the thicker sponge makes the rubber faster. It is because, provided your contact is tangential (brush contact) you can put more power into the shot.
So, for someone who is mostly looping or making spin contact on all shots, it is actually easier to control a shot with a thicker sponge.
Therefore, if you are sort of hearing a harsh, sharp, high pitched sound on contact, from the wood, then thinner rubbers will be easier for you to use in general. If you are hearing a more muted, soft sound, [or, very high level players with powerful impact hear a popping sound like a cork that is not as high pitched as the sound from the wood], then you will be better off with max thickness.
The corking sound, is actually the sound of the rebound of the topsheet, almost like the sound made when you crack a whip or pop a cork out of a champagne bottle. The sound is actually caused by how fast the rubber moves, after it has been stretched and distorted by the ball contact when the rubber rebounds to its original shape. Likely, you are not getting this sound as it takes high level technique and considerable force on impact to stretch the topsheet that far sideways to get the pop. So if you hear "crack", probably you are hitting the wood. You can still spin if you hit the wood. But not nearly as much. And if you hit the wood and spin, I would call that a drive loop rather than a loop.
One more detail on this, if you really want to make over the table BH loops, you need to not hit the wood for the shot to be consistent.
So, based on what you want, I would get the max. Even if what you are doing and what you want to be doing are not yet the same.
A decently high level player can spin the ball with either thick or thinner. But thicker helps you learn NOT TO contact the wood when you want that spin. So, that may also have to do with why you are having trouble with openings. That and the thick balsa blade would be a bad combination for learning over the table loops. (BH flips are over the table loops--FH flips can be loop or direct contact).
Why Tenergy, for what you are saying you want, nothing is really as good.
Why do I use MXP and FXP. They are good enough and I can get 4 sheets (2 MXP and 2 FXP) for the price of 2 Tenergy. And MXP/FXP are good enough; slightly faster, slightly less spin. I would take the extra spin. But I would rather the extra $$$.
Also, what makes Tenergy unique, there are other rubbers that get as much spin. There are other rubbers that get as much speed. No rubber has a sponge anywhere near as good as the Tenergy sponge. And it helps you feel the ball better than any ESPN sponge. So, if price were not a consideration, I would get Tenergy. I actually may get Tenergy next time I buy because I am starting to need new rubbers.
Why the OSP Virtuoso Plus? I have tried a lot of blades. There was a point where I was using a Timo Boll ZLF. Now, that blade was really great. I still have it. I got it from a friend who was sponsored by Butterfly. But one day I tried a friends blade (it is always good to take a few hits with someone else's setup to see how it feels) and he had an all wood blade and I realized how much I missed that all wood feeling.
I tried a bunch of different things. But the blade I am using now, I just never wanted to put it down or try anything else after. It may not be good for everyone. But it is perfect for me. So.....that is why I use the V+.
How refreshing to get such a logical explanation regarding the characteristics of less or more sponge thickness. I have asked this question of suppliers on a few occasions and have simply received the stock answer, as you have stated, that thicker sponge is faster and harder to control and I have been dissuaded from ordering the thicker versions. I knew that there was more to it along the lines that you have explained although my thoughts were simply that a thinner sponge would allow the ball to bottom out more easily and therefore potentially go long off the end of the table. Everyone should read you post, including suppliers.
I am interested in your comments on your current setup and also that you once used the TBZLF blade. That must have been significantly faster and have less control than the Virtuoso I would have thought.
I believe that you have been instrumental in helping me make up my mind on the direction that I am going to take. It is coincidental that it was exactly what my thoughts were initially but without the in-depth knowledge that you have applied to reach that conclusion.
I had been waiting to see if prices might drop due to the lockdown but this seems unlikely so I will place my order as soon as there is the likelihood that we can resume play.
If you are in agreement, I would like to keep in touch occasionally to let you know how it is going. Is there a way we can do this outside the forum?
By the way; why UpSideDown?
Best regards
