Difference Between Speed-gluing and Boosting

speed glue is voc based and the booster oil voc free. booster seems to last for a bit longer, although it is a bit of a long process to use. both seem to act by expanding the sponge and hence tensioning the rubber which has an effect of speed and spin generation. speed glue is banned outright whereas the rubber manufacturers can boost their rubbers at the factory and it is still legal.

there are lots of threads about boosting, both the effects, legality and alternatives ... use the search feature and get settled in for some looooong threads

speed glue-illegal.

Boosting-legal.

mahomedy13 said:

speed glue-illegal.

Boosting-legal.

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I'm pretty sure both speed glue and boosting is illegal.

krro said:

I'm pretty sure both speed glue and boosting is illegal.

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Correct, it is not allowed for competition use, but if you want to have fun practising then you can speed glue and boost all you want

For competition use, you may only use rubbers "straight from the factory", and by that I mean: the only thing you may do to the rubber after it has left the factory, is simply glue it to the blade, no boosters or speed glue allowed after the rubber has left the factory

But factory boosted is allowed,isnt it?

Both are illegal.
Factory boosted is legal in a sense that it is controled to be below the limitation level and because ITTF said so.
But still becareful, many coaches will advise players to make sure the rubbers are "aired" atleast 2 days prior.

IE if you are going to glue new rubbers (where majority are factory boosted nowadays), on the day or just a day before an ITTF tournament with racket testing being present - you will have a high risk of getting your equipment banned due to high voc levels.
So this is why, if you are going to use new equipment, to make sure you used it at least 2 days prior, and don't put your rubbers in a sealed container

mahomedy13 said:

But factory boosted is allowed,isnt it?

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Yes it is. You can receive rubbers form factories that are boosted like hell but they are still legal.
The only rule is not to do anything to rubber "out of factory" but just glue it on the blade. That's how so many pros use boosted rubbers without contravening the rules.

Tony's Table Tennis said:

Both are illegal.
Factory boosted is legal in a sense that it is controled to be below the limitation level and because ITTF said so.
But still becareful, many coaches will advise players to make sure the rubbers are "aired" atleast 2 days prior.

IE if you are going to glue new rubbers (where majority are factory boosted nowadays), on the day or just a day before an ITTF tournament with racket testing being present - you will have a high risk of getting your equipment banned due to high voc levels.
So this is why, if you are going to use new equipment, to make sure you used it at least 2 days prior, and don't put your rubbers in a sealed container

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Thanks for clearing my confusion.

But will it become illegal to use eg baby oil or parafin?

mahomedy13 said:

Thanks for clearing my confusion.

But will it become illegal to use eg baby oil or parafin?

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Also illegal, any "tweaks" is considered illegal

mahomedy13 said:

Thanks for clearing my confusion.

But will it become illegal to use eg baby oil or parafin?

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It is also illegal. But as it's virtually impossible to control if a rubber has been boosted with oil most players in higher leagues do so, as long as it don't get to thick in the process.

Yep, and for the ones who do boost, they tend to go one size on the sponge short of max, this is to prevent it going over 4mm.
Difficult to detect, but ITTF is saying some Japanese firm has come out with a new device that can dectect boosting, but i'm not sure how factory tuned rubbers will be effected

Tony's Table Tennis said:

Both are illegal.
Factory boosted is legal in a sense that it is controled to be below the limitation level and because ITTF said so.
But still becareful, many coaches will advise players to make sure the rubbers are "aired" atleast 2 days prior.

IE if you are going to glue new rubbers (where majority are factory boosted nowadays), on the day or just a day before an ITTF tournament with racket testing being present - you will have a high risk of getting your equipment banned due to high voc levels.
So this is why, if you are going to use new equipment, to make sure you used it at least 2 days prior, and don't put your rubbers in a sealed container

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I agree with you verbatim.

However, comma, sometimes, when the speed limit is 30 KM and you actually drive 30 KM, you get run over for going too slow. Sometimes, when you park in a legal parking spot (like next to a handicap spot) your car gets banged into like it is in a demolition derby.

just saying.

For the record, I use ITTF approved rubber without speed glue or tuning for both club play and tourneys. It is too much trouble to constantly tune or glue up for me.

Tony's Table Tennis said:

Both are illegal.
Factory boosted is legal in a sense that it is controled to be below the limitation level and because ITTF said so.
But still becareful, many coaches will advise players to make sure the rubbers are "aired" atleast 2 days prior.

IE if you are going to glue new rubbers (where majority are factory boosted nowadays), on the day or just a day before an ITTF tournament with racket testing being present - you will have a high risk of getting your equipment banned due to high voc levels.
So this is why, if you are going to use new equipment, to make sure you used it at least 2 days prior, and don't put your rubbers in a sealed container

Click to expand...

Airing a perfectly legal rubber purchased from a legit dealer (for two whole dame days !!! who is gunna air their condom for 2 full seconds before applying it??!!) is an absolute rubbish bullshit go suck my left to that is oozing toe jam kind lousey ITTF decree that ranks of stupidity in the highest order.

Still, I pressed like on this post and am impressed that Tony has a ratio of at least one like for every two posts he makes. Considering he has made more than 200 posts, his ratio easily means his posts are worthy of reading and are not rubbish.

Well, maybe a like for every three posts, but well above the elite level here.

There are two basic ways to boost and predominantly one way to speed glue. All three require layered usage of the booster/speed glue. With Speed glue the key is to put as many layers as you feel is the right touch letting each layer dry in between the next application. Many people make home made speed glues where they will take solvents and mix them to a nice ratio with rubber cement. However since all of these solvents including the rubber cement include VOC's in their contents (Volatile Organic Compounds) the ITTF has banned the use of glue application.

With Booster you have predominantly two styles of boosting with oils. Some players choose to boost the sponge with the oils such as paraffin or baby oil and this causes the rubber to curl more quickly. However this also runs the risk of bubbling your rubber and expanding the rubber beyond the 4.04 mm limit. Most professional players boost their rubbers and have a lot of experience in how much to use to both avoid detection and failure of racket control tests. Many actually use max thickness rubbers, but again from experience know just the right amount of both glue and booster to put on to pass the tests.

The other style of boosting is the "Chinese styles" where this especially works best for Chinese rubbers which are more dense. The idea is to use the glue as an extension of the sponge and with proper white glues you have a level of elasticity that reacts well with the booster while still adhering the sponge to the blade. This allows the sponge to expand only slightly, but due to the multiple layers of glue makes it feel as though the sponge has expanded immensely.

The issue of legality is whether or not it can be proven. While yes technically boosting is illegal as the rules have now been adjusted to include the topsheet's characteristics as well, many players could simply claim that the rubber was tuned from the factory and this is the way it was sold to them out of package. Even if a test were possible to detect boosting which is actually not that hard as you can smell the booster or see the curling from the edges of the blade, the issue still becomes regulation of the TT manufacturers. There's no way to regulate every company out there seeing as that level of quality control is too high of an expectation and would cause a lot of friction in the TT world if the brand companies all had to change their factory contracts to include these unattainable regulations.