How long do rubbers stay grippy for?

Originally Posted by Dominikk85

I read with modern rubbers usually the sponge dies before the rubber because the tension or factory turning goes away.

And since he is using H3N, that does not exactly apply to what MZ is using. But how frequently MZ boosts, and how much boost he uses each time on his H3N, that could effect how long the sponge will last.

Something to note about what Tony said:

"Tenergy 05H will last around 240~300 hours."

Take your time and think about that.

Also, note, Tony is talking about how long a rubber will last for fairly high level players with power in their contact. Probably notably higher level than a vast majority of players on the forum.

Originally Posted by Michael Zhuang

Well I bought a bunch of rubbers thinking that they would die off one by one on their own from just wear and tear. I thought that I would switch rubbers every 3 months. But after all this practice, the rubber doesn't seem to be worn down at all. At this rate, should I even bother trying to wear the rubber out?

I really don't understand how these kinds of ideas come into your head.

Just use the rubber till it is dead and then change. You should be able to feel when it is no longer that great.

Ask Der_Echte how long he used to go using an old sheet of H3 years ago. See what he says.

Originally Posted by Michael Zhuang

That's what I'm saying, the rubber seems great to me. The point when the rubber is "no longer that great" does not appear to be anywhere in sight. It seems like the rubber could go for another 2 years. After almost 2 months, I thought that the rubber would start to show some signs of drop in performance, but I don't see any.

And that is why you should use your own judgement. There is no formula. But you will know when it is time to change rubbers if you are paying attention.

Originally Posted by Michael Zhuang

That's what I'm saying, the rubber seems great to me. The point when the rubber is "no longer that great" does not appear to be anywhere in sight. It seems like the rubber could go for another 2 years. After almost 2 months, I thought that the rubber would start to show some signs of drop in performance, but I don't see any.

Start hitting harder lol. I think it took me 5-6 months of constant use 6-10 hours per week to fully feel that h8 was getting pretty difficult to use. It felt like I had to work really hard to lift underspin.

some people’s tolerance to how often they’d want to switch is dependent on what they deem acceptable.

i think for most low level people like me u2000-1900 usatt, we switch out of boredom, sort of like, “oh I want to try provincial bs h3” while your h3 is still pretty good. Kind of like buying a blade. You really only need one, but it’s the curiosity that makes you come back for more.

Originally Posted by Michael Zhuang

Yeah, it's my curiosity that led me to buy all the rubbers. I rationally justified it by thinking that the rubbers would eventually wear out and I would use all of them. But at the current rate of decay, they do not seem to be wearing out.

I mean they will. It will just take more training time.

personally, I don’t think I have worn a h3 so hard that I felt the need to switch. I usually switched because I felt that I wanted something different.

What I’ve heard is that commercial is made to last longer versus national hurricane.

ESN rubbers wear off quickly compared to chinese sticky ones "in general", there are some differences of course between a Rasanter that does not last more than 3 months playing only 5h a week and a Stiga DNA Pro M or a Rakza Z that can last up to 6 months if well taken care of.

The ESN sponge may shrink a bit depending the rubber (Rasanters shrink really too much to my taste !), hence that lack of speed and spin, harder sponges like the hybrid shrink really less and stay consistent longer, it's a common issue we all know here now. Less air bubbles = less deflation = less shrinkage, that's why chinese rubbers with hard sponges last more than the ESN ones. I've seen guys still using their H3Neo commercial version after more than a year of 2 training sessions + a league championship day / week.

Originally Posted by Michael Zhuang

Well I bought a bunch of rubbers thinking that they would die off one by one on their own from just wear and tear. I thought that I would switch rubbers every 3 months. But after all this practice, the rubber doesn't seem to be worn down at all. At this rate, should I even bother trying to wear the rubber out?

you not hitting hard enough.
get off the forum now, and go hit the ball

For H3N

other than the rubber feels wrong/dead, another major factor is the bubbling (breakage of topsheet from sponge).
That can happen any time and easier to happen when you boost.
It can bubble the first day or first week or first month of use.
It is also easier to happen on blue sponge.

So it is more a "test your luck" calculation.

So having saying that, it is more likely to bubble from hard contact.
So if you are not of a high level, I don't think you need to worry too much, but if it does happen, either you are very strong and hit hard, or you boost too much or you just unlucky.