Stiga DNA Dragon Grip

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in Europe.In Japan, where the rubber is/was made it´s still available, like some of the long pips they are selling out over here.https://stigasports.jp/product-category/ラバー-rubber/I understood it would be discontinued in Europe so Stiga could concentrate on the ESN-made DNA series (since there were quality issues with the made in Japan rubbers from Calibra Tour onwards that made Europe shy away from Stiga, at least in Germany I can say Stiga rubbers are dead in the water and I hear similar stories from other places), but they´d continue to sell in Asia.

But I could be wrong and the Mantras will vanish from the Japanese site soon as well.

Am I looking at the wrong site? It still seems to be available here: https://www.stigasports.com/eu/dna-dragon-grip-55-2-3-table-tennis-rubber-red

 
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I was keen to try a Chinese-style rubber just for a bit of fun, and decided to give the DNA Dragon Grip a go. I've only had a couple of hours with it so far, but these are my initial thoughts:


  • Note 1: Bear in mind that I've not played with Chinese-style rubbers before apart from a quick knock with someone else's bat from time to time, so my comparisons are against Euro/Japanese style rubbers.
  • Note 2: I didn't use any booster on the rubber. I just played it 'as is' out of the wrapping.

Spin: Brutal! I've never used a rubber with this much spin before.
Speed: Slow in general play. By comparison, if we said Fastarc G-1 had a speed rating of 9/10 then I'd put Dragon Grip in the range 8.0 - 8.2. That said, when you hit the big power-loop the top end speed probably isn't far off G-1.
Control: Superb.
Throw angle: Low.

Overall, so far, I like it. Not sure if I like it enough to make the switch permanent - I'll play for a while and see.

 
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I was keen to try a Chinese-style rubber just for a bit of fun, and decided to give the DNA Dragon Grip a go. I've only had a couple of hours with it so far, but these are my initial thoughts:


  • Note 1: Bear in mind that I've not played with Chinese-style rubbers before apart from a quick knock with someone else's bat from time to time, so my comparisons are against Euro/Japanese style rubbers.
  • Note 2: I didn't use any booster on the rubber. I just played it 'as is' out of the wrapping.

Spin: Brutal! I've never used a rubber with this much spin before.
Speed: Slow in general play. By comparison, if we said Fastarc G-1 had a speed rating of 9/10 then I'd put Dragon Grip in the range 8.0 - 8.2. That said, when you hit the big power-loop the top end speed probably isn't far off G-1.
Control: Superb.
Throw angle: Low.

Overall, so far, I like it. Not sure if I like it enough to make the switch permanent - I'll play for a while and see.

hope to hear further info from you when you played with it more. especially the durability of the rubber. good luck

 
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Recently Sergio made a twin of the current blade I have been using, so rubbers were needed !!!!! EJ bug has settled down somewhat, I've been pretty quite regards trying new rubbers compared to a couple of years ago!! But I couldn't bring myself to slap on Rakza Z/Z EH again!!! Kept the RZ on BH and bought a sheet of the DNA Dragon Grip for the FH.
Out of the packaging the rubber looked of high quality, the protective film was a joy to peel off, I love this feeling with tacky rubbers, having said that the film peeled away fairly easily compared to H3 Neo (Etc) so I could tell that the tackiness was no where near as high as H3/H3N/H8-80/RZ etc, the tackiness level is pretty low, similar to D09C / Bluegrip C2. maybe even less. Didn't do a ball pick up test, which I'll do tonight.

Played with the set up for a couple of hours on Tuesday, well I say played, 1hr feeding balls for multi-ball and an hour of relatively loose coaching with a higher standard junior, which mainly revolved around serve practice, and his 3rd ball attack. I didn't play many regular routines, so didn't give the DNA DG a proper run out to be honest, I had no issues switching from the RZ EH to DNA DG, yeah the DNA DG doesn't have the high throw of RZ EH but I felt comfortable using DNA DG from word 'go'!!!

Once I have played it in some more and played some more 'serious' games / training sessions I'll give some more feed back!!!
 
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I 've been playing with Stiga DNA Dragon Grip for almost 8 months. I really like it. Good control, stable, spinny and not too bouncy or fast. I don't have any complaints and I switched it from Dignics09c.
It could be a bit faster, but if you put a proper technique you can make strong shots. I like to make a power forehand with speed and spin.
 
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I 've been playing with Stiga DNA Dragon Grip for almost 8 months. I really like it. Good control, stable, spinny and not too bouncy or fast. I don't have any complaints and I switched it from Dignics09c.
It could be a bit faster, but if you put a proper technique you can make strong shots. I like to make a power forehand with speed and spin.

Why did you choose DNA Dragon Grip over other tacky rubbers such as D09c, Rakza Z, BlueGrip, and Dynarz ZGR?

Have you tried playing with Chinese tacky rubbers like Jupiter 3, Apollo 5, 729 Bloom, Battle 2?

 
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Why did you choose DNA Dragon Grip over other tacky rubbers such as D09c, Rakza Z, BlueGrip, and Dynarz ZGR?

Have you tried playing with Chinese tacky rubbers like Jupiter 3, Apollo 5, 729 Bloom, Battle 2?

I just made a blind decision at that time. Because the specs from a website are just a reference. I played years ago with Stiga, like Innova Ultra Light, Calibra, etc. And then I moved to Donic M1, M1 Turbo, Gewo Nexxus, Nanoflex.
I think I made a big change once I started training again 2 years ago with Dignics09c, I like it but is too expensive for its performance.
And like 8 months ago, I saw that Stiga released DNA DG to the market, and I found a good opportunity to move away from BTY. I like so much the control and spin.
Can't wait to test the new DNA Hybrid.

By the way, I tested H3 boosted and I didn't like it "Talking about Feeling". Personal preference. Maybe I'm not a Chinese hard rubber player 🤣

Note: I tested Donic BlueGrip C2 on Stellan's paddle. And I like it. But for now, I will keep my stuff. Things start getting out of control if you change too much your equipment.
 
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Why did you choose DNA Dragon Grip over other tacky rubbers such as D09c, Rakza Z, BlueGrip, and Dynarz ZGR?

Have you tried playing with Chinese tacky rubbers like Jupiter 3, Apollo 5, 729 Bloom, Battle 2?

Earlier this year I wanted to try new hybrid rubbers so I started trying different ones. I tried Rakza Z, Tibhar K3, Xiom Omega V Guang and Bluegrip. I didn't like any of them because they were too slow. They had good grip but no punch behind the grip. The closest one that was any good was the K3. But Dragon Grip was the best. I liked it so much I put it on both FH/BH. The grip really lets me flip on my BH and the power is great for FH. The only problem is that when the tackiness starts to go the grip drops off very quickly. I find it only lasts about 3 months. When it starts getting translucent in the middle you know it's going to go pretty soon.

I normally get it from TableTennis11 but they often run out of stock of the black. I just wonder if it's too popular of difficult to get from Stiga. Also I hope they come out with different colors as long as it doesn't effect the performance.

 
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Played for the 2nd time tonight with the DNA DG / RZ combo, being the end of season here, the 1st hour of the 2hr coaching session, no one turned up for myself and the other coach to coach!! So I was able to play properly (well as much as my knee would allow!!!)
DNA DG is really easy to play with!!! OK I’m use to playing with Hybrids, but this one is very good!! Up there with the best.
I’ve used D09C, with is a great rubber, but it has that BTY feeling, which for me isn’t as nice as RZ, Bluegrip C2 or DNA DG, I never really felt like I was looping well with D09C, which is probably down to me and my technique rather than the rubber!!
looping rallies were great with DNA DG, just felt right!! I was able to twiddle between RZ and DNA DG the high arc / throw angle of RZ was real noticeable!! The other coach asked which I preferred, I replied ‘which ever one you DON’T like playing against!!!’ He replied ‘swings and roundabouts, when you twiddle mid rally, it is sort of strange to get a low tight loop then a high kicking loop!!’ Food for thought.
Serving is good, high spin, good speed, able to control serves well.
open up v back spin was ok, but a few went in the net, the lower throw needed a little adjustment.
blocking good, I can control returned speed well, ie a slow or fast block is possible, for me easier than with D09C, which is likely down the BTY springy sponge.
Short game is good, able to control pace and placement well.

I think that DNA DG is excellent value for your bucks!! Cheaper than D09C by a country mile!! Cheaper than BG C2, slightly more expensive than RZ.

For someone of my level / ability and likes, this one’s a keeper!! It’s a toss up between RZ and DNA DG, more than happy to use either, well I won’t be stripping off the DNA DG so I can stick on a sheet of RZ EH to match this blades twin’s set up!!!
In fact, I quite like the idea of twiddling mid rally !!!
 
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I 've been playing with Stiga DNA Dragon Grip for almost 8 months. I really like it. Good control, stable, spinny and not too bouncy or fast. I don't have any complaints and I switched it from Dignics09c.
It could be a bit faster, but if you put a proper technique you can make strong shots. I like to make a power forehand with speed and spin.

exactly what's I'm looking for, thank you. I have the same style as you, with the same blade. I am looking for a replacement for my Battle II Gold on FH, D09c seems to be too bouncy for my game, after your video I've decided to try Dragon Grip

 
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exactly what's I'm looking for, thank you. I have the same style as you, with the same blade. I am looking for a replacement for my Battle II Gold on FH, D09c seems to be too bouncy for my game, after your video I've decided to try Dragon Grip

Why do you want to replace your Battle 2 ?

 
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1 week with Stiga DNA Dragon Grip after changed from Battle 2 Pro Gold: this rubber is very controlled whether you do half swing or full swing shot, not too bouncy like 09c, not too spinny like Battle 2 Pro. Real strength of this rubber is the counter loop off the bounce (like Ma Lin), and the serve returns is great due to its spin insensitive. Really happy with it.
 
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Only 1 small issue I noticed was sometimes there was some ball slippage on FH top spin, rubber was clean, so likely my technique, but with RZ it happens less often.

This rubber initially has good grip but after some time the tackiness wears off and I did notice some slippage. When I checked it I can see that the grip was greatly reduced.

 
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