The End of the Chinese Forehand

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The End of the Chinese Forehand?

You can see from my sig. that I use Skyline TG3 Neo for FH and now Donic Baracuda for BH. I do not boost/tune my rubbers, so in effect my FH is a bit slower than my BH, which is good, as I can place the ball far easily with that speed. I learned the chinese "way" through some hard unboosted/untuned H2 and have stayed with Chinese rubbers since then. NOTE: I only use commercial Chinese rubbers because National, even provincial ones are quite expensive and there's a high probability that they're fake here.What I love: spiny serves, spinny loops, and high control and durability.What I need: speed, and "punch"So, I've tried Baracuda in my FH.I've got all what I need except maybe a bit of control and durability(?) because of the high throw, but even if its FD that it's quite bouncy, I managed to keep the ball close to the net in pushing. I think this will be overcome in a month's training.I think this will be the end of me using Chinese rubbers for FH?I've edited this part to reflect now my final decision.That is, TO STAY IN THE CHINESE WAY.LOL.Maybe what I need is a hybrid rubber. Sticky rubber with a faster sponge ?Maybe a Tibhar Grip S? TinArc?I've now narrowed down my search to Chinese rubbers OR to Hybrid rubbers.Thanks for your replies guys!:)
 
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says cornilleau hinotec off+ is a carbon blade well suited...
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baracuda is one of the underrated rubber out there, It has very good speed and great spin, nice control and to top it off, not so expensive as some of the japanese rubbers are. Only drawback is it tends to have bubbles at the part where the ball hits the racket. just my two cents
 
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Thank you for your replies. I appreciate it. Now, I'm quite annoyed by the high throw of Baracuda. I would like to know any suitable replacement. And can you guys suggest some controllable but spinny(like Baracuda's really vicious spin) rubber from Xiom? I prefer low to med-high throw, but not like Baracuda's. I can get some really good discount from Xiom here in our country so I think I better utilise that.;)
 
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Hmm I'd love to help but i'm not hugely familiar or knowledgeable with Xiom's rubber. I've tried Omega IV Europe and that was quite firm and spinny with a lower throw angle, perhaps that would suit you ok?

Ok, will look into that. Thanks,btw.

I see that you use Tenergy. I'm quite tempted also to try a Tenergy 80? I'm just not sure about the durability 'cuz I will certainly not pay high prices if durability is poor. Can you give me some details on it's durability. I have a tournament in September and I hope it will last long enough until then?
Thanks again!:)
 
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vega asia would be a good choice. if you want something tad harder omega/vega pro.. vega euro would have decent spin but its very mushy.

like i said vega asia or omega asia are far better rubbers and they have good durrability, but take some time to break in. my year old omega asia plays way better than my brand new one
 
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Let me throw an idea in your way: dhs tin arc3 or gold arc. Both are bouncier and faster than tg3/h3 but slightly tacky, so more control on the short game. Speed is like T05 for both. Durability is good.
 
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Ok, will look into that. Thanks,btw.

I see that you use Tenergy. I'm quite tempted also to try a Tenergy 80? I'm just not sure about the durability 'cuz I will certainly not pay high prices if durability is poor. Can you give me some details on it's durability. I have a tournament in September and I hope it will last long enough until then?
Thanks again!:)

My flatmate uses Tenergy80, he's had it a few months so far and it's still in good shape so I think durability is ok :)
 
says Spin and more spin.
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If you play with Baracuda for a while you will get used to it and then it will work fine for you.

Xiom Omega IV Pro is great, so is Europe. Have not tried Asia but I would assume it is as good, just harder.

Xiom Sigma II Pro and Europe also feel great. Sigma II is a little step up from Omega. Omega is a decent step up from Vega. If you have a deal where you can get Xiom equipment at a good price, there rubbers are really good.
 
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Yes, Donic Baracuda is a very good rubber. I personally consider it to be the best rubber in the whole of the Donic series, and it easily matches with Tenergy series. I use it on my forehand, and it is a very good forehand rubber. I would not personally recommend it on the backhand, as it lacks a bit of control to handle, however, with a good blade, it is very suitable for both sides. It's durability is exceptional if you treat it right, I train about eight hours a week and after proper cleaning every session (water, sponge), it plays fine the next time I use it. I have personally used my current sheet of Baracuda for about 2 years, and there are very little cracks and damages done to the rubber (I don't use edge tape either).

There are many professionals that use Baracuda, though the very top world-class rubbers mainly use Tenergy 05/64 or Hurricane III Neo. The top player in womens in my state uses Baracuda on the forehand, and is ranked top 8 in Australia for Open Womens. DO NOT be discouraged with rubbers just because world-class players don't use them. There are tens of millions of table tennis players, with THOUSANDS of different combinations of rubbers, and Baracuda is most definitely used by many upper-class players.

If you like Baracuda, go for it! Many good players use it, and if you dislike it, just change. No problems whatsoever.
 
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Baracuda very spinny rubber, good for close to the table looping, Bluefire is more fore middle-table looping I think. Rasant sounds good though, I've read it's got a great speed-glue feel, very fast and that green sponge :p

But in the end all these tensors rubbers are too fast for what body is fully capable of when doing FH stroke. That's why sometimes that deadness of Hurricane rubbers can be a very good as an exercise rubber to improve better strength in looping. Me it improved my swing a lot better since I've used H3 on FH to practice on.
 
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Baracuda very spinny rubber, good for close to the table looping, Bluefire is more fore middle-table looping I think. Rasant sounds good though, I've read it's got a great speed-glue feel, very fast and that green sponge :p

But in the end all these tensors rubbers are too fast for what body is fully capable of when doing FH stroke. That's why sometimes that deadness of Hurricane rubbers can be a very good as an exercise rubber to improve better strength in looping. Me it improved my swing a lot better since I've used H3 on FH to practice on.

I've used unboosted Hurricanes for 4 years. I loved the control and I can go all-out in an attack without worrying too much if I'll overshoot. But I've realized in tensors (Baracuda and Sigma 2 Pro) that when I do that, I create like craters in the wall.LOL
I do not want to change that style but I wanted a lil bit speed on my shots.

So now, instead of using tensors for FH, maybe what I really want and what is suitable is a hybrid Chinese rubber/Euro rubber.
I'm now putting back my Baracuda in my BH. I'm now eyeing Tibhar Grip S. As I've researched it's a hybrid one. It's not really a tensor, is it?
 
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But I've realized in tensors (Baracuda and Sigma 2 Pro) that when I do that, I create like craters in the wall.LOL
I do not want to change that style but I wanted a lil bit speed on my shots.

Me too I usually have 2 blades, one for practice with H3 on it and because you have to exert more force to penetrate through the ball I then get used to that heavy feeling of H3 and when I then go to play important matches/tournament I switch to fast tensors and it feels so light, when I launch off one of those chinese-style loops developed from hours of using H3 into the ball it's so fast is almost like shooting flaming meteors.
 
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Me too I usually have 2 blades, one for practice with H3 on it and because you have to exert more force to penetrate through the ball I then get used to that heavy feeling of H3 and when I then go to play important matches/tournament I switch to fast tensors and it feels so light, when I launch off one of those chinese-style loops developed from hours of using H3 into the ball it's so fast is almost like shooting flaming meteors.

Uhm, why do you have separate blades for training and tournaments?
 
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I train with a slower bat so I have to work on the ball to produce the power rather than the bat doing the job for me. Hurricane on some stiff blade is perfect for that. Then when I go somewhere where I want to win I switch to the blade with tensors that give me that extra boost which you don't get from H3. It makes me then more confident in matches :D
 
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