Picking rubber philosophy

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Hello forum

I am interested in hearing your thoughts on how jpen players should pick their rubbers. Traditionally jpen players used bouncy rubbers like tenergy 05, but considering the wide range of rubbers now available and the lack of jpen pros/players to emulate, I am
overwhelmed by the options available.

There are now a very wide range of rubbers available for fh:
1. Sticky, slow chinese rubbers (eg Hurricane)
2. Semi-bouncy, semi-sticky ‘hybrid’ rubbers (eg Yasaka Rakza Z)
3. Hard, non bouncy Tensors (eg Andro Rasanter R53)
4. Bouncy, medium hard tensors (eg Tenergy 05)
5. Non bouncy, medium hard tensors (eg Fastarc G-1)

Obviously with jpen, playing with one rubber, it has to be able to do everything. So every trade off matters — if your rubber is too bouncy, that is difficult in the short game, if it is too slow you are underpowered. There is no ‘other rubber’ to use for specific shots (like using sticky rubber for pushes and fh and tensor for flicking and bh).

I play with a non bouncy tensor (fastarc g-1) and have had trouble with both overshooting in attacks and short game. Obviously my technique needs work, but I am interested in perhaps pursuing a bouncier or stickier rubber sometime.

A bouncier rubber is the obvious jpen choice, but will require even greater skill. A sticky rubber may bring more control but kill the power of jpen.

Which of these 5 rubber options would you say makes the most logical sense? I don’t plan on immediately changing, but I would like to hear your thoughts.
 
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Every rubber has shortcomings. You train to compensate for the shortcomings.

If you stay with bouncy rubber, you must train to improve your short touch.

If you pick tacky, you must train to improve your stroke in rallies.

Hybrid might be the way to go. Not all hybrids are the same. Some are only slightly tacky.
 
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Hello forum

I am interested in hearing your thoughts on how jpen players should pick their rubbers. Traditionally jpen players used bouncy rubbers like tenergy 05, but considering the wide range of rubbers now available and the lack of jpen pros/players to emulate, I am
overwhelmed by the options available.

There are now a very wide range of rubbers available for fh:
1. Sticky, slow chinese rubbers (eg Hurricane)
2. Semi-bouncy, semi-sticky ‘hybrid’ rubbers (eg Yasaka Rakza Z)
3. Hard, non bouncy Tensors (eg Andro Rasanter R53)
4. Bouncy, medium hard tensors (eg Tenergy 05)
5. Non bouncy, medium hard tensors (eg Fastarc G-1)

Obviously with jpen, playing with one rubber, it has to be able to do everything. So every trade off matters — if your rubber is too bouncy, that is difficult in the short game, if it is too slow you are underpowered. There is no ‘other rubber’ to use for specific shots (like using sticky rubber for pushes and fh and tensor for flicking and bh).

I play with a non bouncy tensor (fastarc g-1) and have had trouble with both overshooting in attacks and short game. Obviously my technique needs work, but I am interested in perhaps pursuing a bouncier or stickier rubber sometime.

A bouncier rubber is the obvious jpen choice, but will require even greater skill. A sticky rubber may bring more control but kill the power of jpen.

Which of these 5 rubber options would you say makes the most logical sense? I don’t plan on immediately changing, but I would like to hear your thoughts.

Consider this.

I have seen many jpen users with ESN/Butterfly rubbers. But I have not seen many with Chinese Rubbers.

On the flip side, if we take Ma Lin who consistently used traditional backhand with chinese rubber and was a more forehand dominant player; there are parallels with his style and jpen users. I cannot imagine that a sticky rubber would kill the power. power = hit the ball harder.

The inherent power of jpen lies in the user not the rubber.

t05 is easy to use and I have it on a jpen blade. It is effortless to produce speed and spin and quickly third ball, however I don't feel like I am in control during service or in the short game. It's like a cheatcode.

with Chinese rubbers, I am able to manipulate the ball a lot easier around the net and in service but I have to physically generate the power and I can't rely too much on the rubber's speed.

I like the idea of hybrids as a choice. Whether you lean more tacky or less is up to you.

I found that Sanwei Target National surprisingly enough plays really well on Hinoki.

 
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Hello forum

I am interested in hearing your thoughts on how jpen players should pick their rubbers. Traditionally jpen players used bouncy rubbers like tenergy 05, but considering the wide range of rubbers now available and the lack of jpen pros/players to emulate, I am
overwhelmed by the options available.

There are now a very wide range of rubbers available for fh:
1. Sticky, slow chinese rubbers (eg Hurricane)
2. Semi-bouncy, semi-sticky ‘hybrid’ rubbers (eg Yasaka Rakza Z)
3. Hard, non bouncy Tensors (eg Andro Rasanter R53)
4. Bouncy, medium hard tensors (eg Tenergy 05)
5. Non bouncy, medium hard tensors (eg Fastarc G-1)

Obviously with jpen, playing with one rubber, it has to be able to do everything. So every trade off matters — if your rubber is too bouncy, that is difficult in the short game, if it is too slow you are underpowered. There is no ‘other rubber’ to use for specific shots (like using sticky rubber for pushes and fh and tensor for flicking and bh).

I play with a non bouncy tensor (fastarc g-1) and have had trouble with both overshooting in attacks and short game. Obviously my technique needs work, but I am interested in perhaps pursuing a bouncier or stickier rubber sometime.

A bouncier rubber is the obvious jpen choice, but will require even greater skill. A sticky rubber may bring more control but kill the power of jpen.

Which of these 5 rubber options would you say makes the most logical sense? I don’t plan on immediately changing, but I would like to hear your thoughts.
In my club there are many JPen players because there are many senior players.

Some use tacky Chinese like Frienship Battle 2 with boosting; one use Tenergy 05; one uses Dignics 05, some use Fastarc G1 and another use Xiom Vega Pro.

All of them play fairly well and each of them bring a different flavour to our club diversity. To each their own. In the end, it all boils down to personal preference.

 
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