Xiom Omega VII Euro vs...

Originally Posted by KM1976

Hello Yogi,
Will not O7A be too hard for the backhand? Ya, few players who prefer harder rubbers on the backhand might like it as it is style dependent but normally players who prefer to topspin on both wings prefer harder rubbers on the FH and a bit softer rubber on the backhand.

Really a personal preference because I love to brush the ball in the bh but I have lots of people who are soft bh rubber users that find it good.
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Originally Posted by langel

For me O7Asia is perfect on both sides. I don't like softer rubber on BH.
I think that most of the amateurs use softer BH just because they see the top pros to do so and they read so on the forums. Even new beginners are asking here for advice about their first ever bat and are pushed to softer BH.

With harder rubbers, you are relying more on your stroke and touch.

Originally Posted by thomas.pong

I bought and tried Rakza Z when it first came out, mostly to compare it to R7 (one of my favorite rubbers ever), and to see how sticky it was. While I thought it was a very good rubber, kinda like a slightly harder/upgraded version of R7 if you will with a little stickiness, if I do play with a tension rubber on my FH, I prefer a 45-48 degree one that doesn't feel too hard and is well-balanced like T80, Fastarc G-1 or C-1, or even slightly softer like T05 FX, all of which I like to use on my BH as well. T05 and R7 can also do on my FH, but they feel too hard and heavy for my BH, where I need to feel the ball first then swing accordingly to generate what I want, as hard as I want, without having to stop myself because of the hard feeling from the rubber or thinking/fearing that the ball's gonna too far (with T05, it's a feeling that it's too hard and fast on BH, with R7 that it's too heavy mostly, although it has plenty of safety).

I see, you are approaching from the true tension rubbers, I don't have much exp. with those...

I tried RZ on my Harimoto ALC at the time, because that was my main blade, and I liked the way R7 played on it. Looking back, it probably wasn't the best pairing to try RZ, at least for me, since the Harimoto ALC is thicker, less flexible and more crisp than blades I prefer like the Viscaria (compact, thin and very flexible). I probably would have enjoyed RZ on the Viscaria more, or even on blades like the Innerforce ALC, Apolonia ZLC and even Primorac OFF-, but I sold it (RZ) almost right away since I still had a preference for R7 over it. I can understand why people really like RZ though, on FH and BH (IB66 and Tango's feedbacks are highly respectable, yours too!), especially on a flexible blade, as a harder Rakza that can produce more spin.

I had Rakza Z on FH and Rakza X on BH for a while, and I thought RZ was too soft on FH, and that I prefer RZ to RX on BH.

Right now, I think H3 is the way to go for me on the FH, it doesn't feel hard to me, I like how straight forward and controllable it is, how amazing it is at serves, serve receives and the short game. If I want to play a faster game on FH in the future, especially do deal with hitters or no-spin push-blockers, I will boost it to see how it feels, or go back to one of my preferred tension rubbers on the FH so I can hit at them more.

Questions for you, do you boost your H3 Neo's? Do you use Provincial or National? Orange or Blue Sponge?

The H3Ns I have now are commercial (37 BH, 41 FH) orange sponge. It's good. I know I'll stay with H3 on FH in the future, BH I'm less sure, but most likely too. The feeling in BH topspin is just good, also the hardness seems to be right. It seems to be sensitive to where exactly the ball contacts the bat, but it may be my illusion. I had Battle 2 prov. BS H39 on FH, I knew I wanted harder. H41 is good, H40 can be too, but now I think I'll stay 37/41. The rubbers are boosted with 2 thin layers of Falco, I'm gonna try 3 but thin. Also I want to try H3 (non-neo) provincial BS next time, see if the difference will be similar to B2 blue sponge and B2 orange sponge. Maybe provincial on BH too, red sponge would look nice, but there isn't :-). Honestly, already the commercial is all I need. Tango gave encouraging tips for gluing, and also the motivation to use H3 non-neo. I'm glad I tried BlueGrip C1/C2, it's good, but H3 is what I want.

It will be interesting to follow your BH rubber testing/settling-on process.

Edit: If you didn't buy booster yet, I'd hear Yogi's recommendation for Seamoon. I can't truly compare to Falco though.

Originally Posted by thomas.pong

Yea, the way pricing is here, it makes more sense for me to buy Tenergy, if I'm not buying Fastarc, Rakza, Vega (or Evo). I know it's very different in the US where Butterfly prices are completely insane, which will make me think twice when I move back there in a year or two. I'm not a fan of the European brands' ESN rubbers, their sponge is trying too hard to ressemble Tenergy but they're very brittle, then the factory tuning makes the topsheet bubble a bit, and it wears out after a couple of weeks, and their rubbers don't last as long. I do like most of the rubbers ESN makes for Nittaku, Yasaka and Xiom, more simple but effective sponges, no bullshit factory tuning, great quality topsheets that last long. For my BH, I'm between Tenergy (80, 05FX) and Fastarc (G-1, C-1) right now.

TP,

When you going (coming here to USA) and where you gunna go? I would like to run into you some day... not to knock you over or knock you out, but to have a hit and bite or three... of food, not your neck.

Originally Posted by KM1976

Thanks for the elaborate reply Thomas, I really appreciate your effort and time to answer my query. I also play around 12 hours (max.) every week and I think your choice of rubbers is same as mine. I, however, also read that you prefer H3Neo which might be a completely unexplored option for me as I haven't played with Chinese rubbers ever.
I am getting more and more interested in Nittaku and Yasaka rubbers from the life Vs. Performance point of view and would try them once my current stock of O7P is finished (which might be till 2022 )

You're welcome KM! I appreciate your contributions to the forum as well.

I'm fairly new to H3 (only Chinese rubber I've tried), I might go back to tension rubbers on FH eventually (if I do, likely T80, T05 FX, G-1, C-1 or R7), but I really appreciate it right now, I will very likely stick with it for a while (or forever lol), and I definitely think it's one of the greats and worth a try at some point.

It's hard to beat Nittaku and Yasaka rubbers (also Xiom Vega's, Tibhar Evolutions, and H3) in terms of price to performance ratio, and even performance period, regardless of price. I really like the Fastarc's, Rakza's and Vega's more straightforward sponges, often times more than more porous sponges, especially the newer ESN very brittle ones. There's something special about Tenergy, but it's not for everyone and doesn't necessarily justify its extra cost.

You might want to try a sheet of G-1 or C-1 and R7 now/soon, see how they stack up vs. O7, and see if you want to sell or hold on to your stock of it, or sell the used Fastarc or Rakza once tested. If you cut them large and they're still in good shape (after a few weeks), they're usually pretty resalable.

Originally Posted by latej

I see, you are approaching from the true tension rubbers, I don't have much exp. with those...

I had Rakza Z on FH and Rakza X on BH for a while, and I thought RZ was too soft on FH, and that I prefer RZ to RX on BH.

The H3Ns I have now are commercial (37 BH, 41 FH) orange sponge. It's good. I know I'll stay with H3 on FH in the future, BH I'm less sure, but most likely too. The feeling in BH topspin is just good, also the hardness seems to be right. It seems to be sensitive to where exactly the ball contacts the bat, but it may be my illusion. I had Battle 2 prov. BS H39 on FH, I knew I wanted harder. H41 is good, H40 can be too, but now I think I'll stay 37/41. The rubbers are boosted with 2 thin layers of Falco, I'm gonna try 3 but thin. Also I want to try H3 (non-neo) provincial BS next time, see if the difference will be similar to B2 blue sponge and B2 orange sponge. Maybe provincial on BH too, red sponge would look nice, but there isn't :-). Honestly, already the commercial is all I need. Tango gave encouraging tips for gluing, and also the motivation to use H3 non-neo. I'm glad I tried BlueGrip C1/C2, it's good, but H3 is what I want.

It will be interesting to follow your BH rubber testing/settling-on process.

I'm always curious what fellow Viscaria/ALC or H3 users combine them with, so thanks for sharing!

How would you compare Battle 2 with H3N in general? Do you have a preference between the two?

I'll be trying H3 non-Neo soon too on various blades, Provincial and Blue Sponge later for fun as well, and boosting at some point down the road. Although I'm pretty sure commercial H3/H3N is plenty good for me as well, even as is.

All the rubbers I have in mind for my BH are ones I know I really like and have tested on other blades before. I really picked up my Viscaria again to try H3 and it is such a good pairing that I couldn't keep it down! lol. So you could say H3 is dictating my other choices at this point, although the Viscaria might be too, I'll have to see which is the primary factor if not both! So I'll eventually get down to trying some used sheets I have laying around on my BH and see which one I can be most agressive yet consistent with. I don't think it'll make too much of a difference, but my BH has been getting better, so who knows.

tried VII euro when it first came out
nice if you are NOT a hard hitter
my partner is a hard hitter on the forehand side, someitmes it bottomed out, hit the blade, and went to net,

Originally Posted by virtuososiu

tried VII euro when it first came out
nice if you are NOT a hard hitter
my partner is a hard hitter on the forehand side, someitmes it bottomed out, hit the blade, and went to net,

must be a very hard hitter for the O7E to bottom out!