says
Table tennis clown
Finally tried boosting
- Thread starter Michael Zhuang
- Start date
This user has no status.
Member
Why don't you use a faster and/or spinier rubber instead of going through the hassle of boosting your rubbers every few sessions. Apologies if this has been answered before.
This user has no status.
Almost all the rubbers I buy are under $15. Most are closer to $11 or $12. I don't want to get into the habit of paying $45 or $50 for ESN rubber. So if booster improves their performance, its a big boost.
Also, I like playing with tacky Chinese rubber as its better for serve, short game, receive, spin, etc. But it is sorely lacking in power, and booster helps to increase the range of potential speeds you can produce.
I tend to think that tensor rubbers trains people into the wrong technique.
This user has no status.
I'm still in amazement how much my play changed from the booster. I think it could add a good 100-150 points to your rating (depending on what equipment you are using. obviously if you already have Tenergy, it might not make a big difference). I felt so much more springy and powerful, especially on the backhand.
says
Table tennis clown
Well-Known Member
so then did the additional springiness have an effect on the quality of your control ???
This user has no status.
Well, yes and no. For the most part, I think there was a positive affect on control.
On opening loops against backspin, like I said, I became much more consistent because I found the rubber grips and lifts the ball with much more ease. So +1
On drives, the springiness helped to lift the ball over the net easier and with more speed. +1
Mid range loop was easier to both clear the net and spin the ball into the table. +1
Occasionally, the ball would fly long over the table with the additional springiness. -1
This user has no status.
Also I haven't tried boosting a completely new rubber. Would the result be even better on a brand new sheet with no previous baby oil?
Or did the baby oil mixed with booster create a special secret boost?
Or did the baby oil mixed with booster create a special secret boost?
says
Table tennis clown
Well-Known Member
you will not be able to "guess" this.
You will have to find out by ideally having an unboosted rubber on one side of your blade and a boosted one on the other side.
I now only ever use one layer of boosting on my rubbers.
Both my Hurricanes and my Rxton5 are hard sponges and i just soften them up a little but principally i actually do better with hard rubbers than with soft ones.
Even NEOs are a bit too soft for me.
It has stronger effect on new rubber since the sponge is new.
My backhand ESN rubbers used to to go dead after 2 months or 3. Now they last only a month since I hit hrder and more with the backhand. And I reboost H3 every month. Boosting Chinese rubbers is still a bit of a hassle but not as much as people think if you play regularly. Since otherwise you’ll have to cut a new piece of rubber at around the same time.
i think the problem is people tend to overdo it way too carefully, such as putting a layer of glue before hand, 2 or 3 thin layers how many and spread them every 24hs etc. Perhaps you’ll find an optimal point but you’ll realise that it’s not much different, at least at club level playing.
(the rubber can only go that far, so there is a diminishing return)
if an unboosted rubber performance changes so drastically after 1 month, I wouldn’t expect myself to to boost a rubber to churn out more consistent performance. If you set the bar reasonable, it’ll be a little easier.
My backhand ESN rubbers used to to go dead after 2 months or 3. Now they last only a month since I hit hrder and more with the backhand. And I reboost H3 every month. Boosting Chinese rubbers is still a bit of a hassle but not as much as people think if you play regularly. Since otherwise you’ll have to cut a new piece of rubber at around the same time.
i think the problem is people tend to overdo it way too carefully, such as putting a layer of glue before hand, 2 or 3 thin layers how many and spread them every 24hs etc. Perhaps you’ll find an optimal point but you’ll realise that it’s not much different, at least at club level playing.
(the rubber can only go that far, so there is a diminishing return)
if an unboosted rubber performance changes so drastically after 1 month, I wouldn’t expect myself to to boost a rubber to churn out more consistent performance. If you set the bar reasonable, it’ll be a little easier.
This user has no status.
How would the effect be on "factory boosted" rubber, such as Big Dipper? Would that experience diminishing returns since it has already been boosted in the factory?
This user has no status.
I was just thinking, when you boost a rubber, maybe it would be a better idea to just boost the center of the rubber?
Because you really only play the ball on the center of the rubber. And if you avoid boosting the edges of the rubber, maybe it won't curl up so much and make it easier to glue the rubber.
Anybody tried this method?
Because you really only play the ball on the center of the rubber. And if you avoid boosting the edges of the rubber, maybe it won't curl up so much and make it easier to glue the rubber.
Anybody tried this method?
It depends on specific rubbers. H3 neo for example is very slightly boosted in factory so you’ll see a significant difference. Some ESN rubbers are so heavily boosted in factory that some people say they get mushy very easily if you boost. When I talk about diminishing return, I’m talking about fine tuning the boosting process to edge out maybe 5% more performance/consistency/longevity. If you boost a rubber too much, it’ll be damaged (mushy, too soft and losing bounciness, curling too much, detaching top sheet etc.).
This user has no status.
I added 1 more layer of booster, and now the rubber is even faster. Almost too fast, it took me a while to adjust to the bounciness.
Similar threads
