Backhand loop rubber

Scorpnox said:

Is it good for pushes? Maybe I will try it , should I buy the 1.8 or the 2.0 mm?

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its very good in all strokes ! it has very soft and dense dark-red topsheet (u cant even see underneath the spaces between the pimples) and also a soft sponge . its slower than rakza 7 soft but it has tremendous spin capabilities if u wait for the ball correctly @ backhand shots

try the 2.0mm first and if you wanna go faster , then play max

Scorpnox said:

But i have I final question: what's the difference between the ELite and the Europe?
Europe is medium sponge and elite soft but what's better for the backhand?

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europe is faster with harder sponge , i recommend play the elite first to get used to the topsheet and start producing good spin with your backhand . when your technique is perfect u can try europe or even asia , which is the fastest of the series , but also produces much spin

Since you're not a super advanced player (based on your ranking) I'd advise you to buy a soft rubber with a lot of feeling, that is not too fast. I think the Xiom Elite and Europe won't be good rubbers for you at this point in your development as a table tennis player. I assume that your backhand isn't your strongest weapon since you chose a very slow rubber (compared to the Rakza 7) in the past.

As you already know it is very important to develop a good, solid technique. As your technique gets better you'll still be able to buy faster (and maybe harder) rubbers. My personal opinion is that soft rubbers are the ideal way to develop a proper backhand technique with a lot of feeling.

I think the Joola Energy x-tra (very cheap), Andro Impuls Speed or the Tibhar Aurus Sound would suit you perfect. I advise all youth-players in my team to buy one of those as a backhand rubber and they are all happy with it. Other soft rubbers from other manufacturers might do the trick but I haven't played them (or i forgot) so I don't know. Don't go for max thickness yet.

En voor de rest, keep up the good work. Van E6 naar E0 is een mooie stap. Blijven trainen.

I used Sriver G3 for backhand, later on with advice from my brot, I changed to Xiom Vega Pro, I find that it is easy to loop and open up game by Xiom Vega Pro as compared to previous Sriver G3. It is just my experience for sharing.

Ovtcharov said:

Since you're not a super advanced player (based on your ranking) I'd advise you to buy a soft rubber with a lot of feeling, that is not too fast. I think the Xiom Elite and Europe won't be good rubbers for you at this point in your development as a table tennis player. I assume that your backhand isn't your strongest weapon since you chose a very slow rubber (compared to the Rakza 7) in the past.

As you already know it is very important to develop a good, solid technique. As your technique gets better you'll still be able to buy faster (and maybe harder) rubbers. My personal opinion is that soft rubbers are the ideal way to develop a proper backhand technique with a lot of feeling.

I think the Joola Energy x-tra (very cheap), Andro Impuls Speed or the Tibhar Aurus Sound would suit you perfect. I advise all youth-players in my team to buy one of those as a backhand rubber and they are all happy with it. Other soft rubbers from other manufacturers might do the trick but I haven't played them (or i forgot) so I don't know. Don't go for max thickness yet.

En voor de rest, keep up the good work. Van E6 naar E0 is een mooie stap. Blijven trainen.

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I agree with Ovtcharov on his advice for backhand rubber , i personally have played the Andro Impuls Speed (1 year) and the Joola Energy x-tra (from a mate in the club) both in 1,8 mm , i found the Andro a bit too soft (is really VERY soft i would say 35° softness, but still very good BH-rubber, spin goes away rather quickly), i would prefer the Joola Energy Extra (which is a little bit harder, but equally fast and i think a little bit more spin also, to be bought at Decathlon for 28€ !), i play now with a Tibhar Genius Optimum Sound 1,8 mm (i got this one for free from a friend and restored the grip with my WD40 trick and played it this whole season !) and find it to be also a little bit too soft but this would be a similar rubber to the ones Ovtcharov (the poster here) advises.

A standard Tibhar Genius would be very good also (but is harder). I played with a Tibhar Aurus soft (1,9mm black) also and found it to be very very good at everything.
There are so many very good rubbers today, too much in fact , we keep searching for the "perfect" rubber but should focus more on our technique and tactics.

The manufacturers keep feeding the EJ's with "new" rubbers (Tenergy 80 !? ) but what is really really revolutionary ? I think that i personnaly would not play much weaker with a standard good old Sriver L. (i do like the glue sound my Genius makes !)

Scorpnox said:

I played a year with Genius sound in my FH and it was very good indeed...
A friend of mine plays with aurus and i tried it but it hasn't the spin Rakza has.

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Depends on which Aurus he's playing. You got 3 different ones. Aurus Sound is very soft, Aurus Soft is medium and the normal Aurus is hard. If he has the normal Aurus or even the Soft-version maybe you wouldn't be able to generate much spin because you're used to soft rubbers like Rakza Soft?

I agree with Phillypong, Tibhar Genius-series are very good. I like Tibhar rubbers, but nothing beats Tenergy for me. If you don't mind spending a lot of money you could try the Tenergy 05 FX?

Mr. RicharD said:

If you're having trouble opening up on loops then that is a technique thing not a rubber thing. No matter what the rubber as long as the technique is solid you should be able to open up on the underspin serves or pushes. If you need a bit more dwell then softer rubbers will help, but if you can't open up with sriver fx or even with your razka 7 soft you shouldn't be upgrading to the more medium sponge levels of calibra and xiom.

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Fully agree with RicharD - unless one is, and wants to remain an equipment junkie - your technique is what you should focus on - NOT rubbers. Our top players in our club can do very decent backhand loops with hardbats.

azlan said:

It's best if you use Calibra Sound (soft and immense spin plus that great sound when you hit it). Calibra Spin is a bit springy.

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Agreed. I used Calibra LT Spin on both FH and BH and find that these rubbers are more suitable for FH loop/drive. It is medium hard and can produce spinny shots. Its better to use Calibra Sound for BH.

phillypong said:

I would NOT recommend Calibra Sound for your backhand Scopnox , i have played with this Calibra Sound and it is not so spin oriented, but i find it VERY springy, a LOT of catapult and speed , very aggressive stuff. Very difficult to push short or other short game. I play in Belgium as a C4 (2e prov Vlaams-Brabant, we zijn 2de dit jaar in onze reeks). Waar speel jij ? Klassement ?

It is possible to make good spin with it but after a short time the pure grip of the rubber is gone and it becomes a speed deamon imo

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I have hit with my KFTTC team mate (Iceland's David J.) bat (Timo Boll ZLF + 2 ea calibra Sound) several sessions to learn the softer version of Calibra. Those rubbers are very supple, grip the ball outstanding (His rubbers at the time were 2 months + old and ready for the trash can after 5+ hours a day training) and like azlan sez, OUTSTANDING cork sound, plus some awesome spin and ability to re-loop the ball. That rubber works great for FH or BH. It was very easy to flick with topspin or make heavy BH opening loops. If I squatted down low to explode up and forward throw the ball, I was rewarded with a sonic boom of a cork sound and a spinny missile going downrange. Oddly enough, it had Tenergy spin on half power controll loops. A softer sponge kinda helps that, but the flexy topsheet elasticity helps too.

I can see where philly is fundementally opposed to keep using calibra, because on the wrong blade (lie one with any flex or softness) Calibra can be difficult to manage.

Myself, I hit 3-5 hours a day and replace my Calibra LT (the much harder version than Spin or Sound) every 2 months. I tend to use it on my BH wing 90% of the time, because Aurus is such an awesome allround OFF rubber I can control better, I usually prefer to use it on FH over Calibra, unless most of my strokes will be topspin vs topspin. Calibra LT is also outstanding on BH wing, but I can make pretty much most rubber work there pretty well. I have a high impact speed on my BH wing with good timing and Calibra's low throw and high spin are a good combo to win points. Calibra is like philly sez a very agressive rubber, perhaps among the fastest rubbers out there without further tuning or gluing if attached to a stiff OFF blade. At the 2 month mark, I move the rubbers to my bats I use to play at lunchtime. Only wear is the normal stuff on the edges where the topsheet gets chipped bit by bit. Just aout every rubber I use does that with T05 doing it more than Calibra.

Ovtcharov said:

Depends on which Aurus he's playing. You got 3 different ones. Aurus Sound is very soft, Aurus Soft is medium and the normal Aurus is hard. If he has the normal Aurus or even the Soft-version maybe you wouldn't be able to generate much spin because you're used to soft rubbers like Rakza Soft?

I agree with Phillypong, Tibhar Genius-series are very good. I like Tibhar rubbers, but nothing beats Tenergy for me. If you don't mind spending a lot of money you could try the Tenergy 05 FX?

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Concur. Tibhar Genius is a very good rubber that can be used sucessfully (like T05) on a wide variety of blades. I recommend that rubber frequently, along with Aurus.

I actively use Aurus on FH and I seek to maximize the use of MY FH whenver I can safely. I can tellyou, Aurus (the hardest version) is NOT lacking in spin. It is everybit as spinny as T05 with more speed. The topsheet is very supple and in rallies (just like Tenergy) you simply land your shots more. All in all, I will never again pay for T05 as Aurus and Calibra work so well for me on the TBS.

I agree that NO RUBBER is feels and performs the same as Tenergy, especially T05.

I feel that Aurus, while atotally different feel than T05, has much of the control and allround OFF capabilities as T05. The throw and kick are somewhere in between Calibra and T05. Very stable and predictable rubber. Topsheet grabs ball like velcro.

I have little to no experience with rubbers above..

However, at the highest level of table tennis, most pros use rather a medium to medium quasi-soft backhand rubber with single layer topsheet (non vulcanized aka grippy, not tacky, or Euro-Jap, yeah)..

All in all, the best backhand loop rubber is the one that suits you.