1.8 vs 2.0 vs 2.2 vs max Thicknes °-° I'm confused

[Kyon98]

Hi I wanted to know the differences between these thickness cause I've been looking for some rubbers to build a setup but I always find this thickness property in them, and I'm super confused about what is better for me. I used to train in a club like 3 years ago, but I stopped playing for a long time. I read higher thickness mean faster rubbers, so I wonder what kind of rubber should I pick for my FH and my BH, since I want to improve my technique. I'm close to a intermediate kind player and very offensive, but still beginner idk something weird xD.

 

[Airoc]

Hi so I've been looking for some rubbers to build a setup

Thicker means bouncier (not necessarily faster on full direct shots) for the same rubber, but you may well find rubbers that are bouncier/faster with 1.8 mm sponge than others with 2.2.

There are so many rubbers out there that it is nearly impossible to make the one recommendation.

If you´d like to go "classic", you might want Sriver or Mark V.
If you´d like to go "modern", there are a couple of rubbers made for your purpose, faster than classic rubbers but still moderate, a good example being XIOM Vega Intro.
For "Chinese" I personally liked Friendship Sky Wing, it is relative soft and bouncy for a Chinese rubber, but easy to play and very affordable.

What I can recommend is trying the same rubber in the same hardness on both sides, to give both sides the same chance to improve. Like many, you may eventually opt for softer/slower/thinner on backhand, but that should be the result of a process, not a prerequisite because others have it that way. For all the above, 2.0 mm would be good for a start. Pick an allround blade that fits your hand nicely and off you go. Have fun

 

[Brs]

Just buy max in whatever rubber you choose. There is no reason not to.

 

[Brs]

The hardness of the sponge will make more difference than the thickness. Maybe go for something around 47 degrees if you use euro rubbers. That's kind of a neutral, in-between hardness. You can go up or down from there after you get a feel for what suits you.

 

[NextLevel]

Most of what you are looking for is not really determined by equipment - whatever equipment you play with, it will require practice and training to make it work.

Usually, after picking a rubber, and playing with tor a while, you may have certain problems, and then you will try something else based on a recommendation or your testing of something someone else uses to see whether it makes you better or not.

But in the end, no matter what you use, it is a trial by playing and practice issue that leads you to know how you want to play. Or coaching from friends.

The rubber manufacturers take advantage of a lot of things in other to stimulate demand for their products. It is best to just copy or borrow from someone you trust.

As BRS said, try something around 44 to 48 degrees hardness in the max sponge. Even if you have problems with thicker sponge on backhand, you can change later. All of that said, I find that these things don't make a big difference, they just make you think differently, which isn't the same as getting you better results.

 

[Airoc]

All of that said, I find that these things don't make a big difference, they just make you think differently, which isn't the same as getting you better results.

I agree that there´s too much philosophizing about the equipment.

 

[Fedex78]

For FH max, for BH one step below max. If you have a good BH, so you can control the ball very well, go with max thickness on BH too.

 

[brokenball]

Yes, thickness is a matter of preference. However, there is a "Goldilocks" zone. Max may work. There is such a think has too thin, too thick, too soft, too hard, too fast too slow, too spinny and frictionless. I sometime use max on my FH but 1.8 to 2mmm on the BH. It is preference. Choose a rubber in the "Goldilocks" zone and you will be all right.

BTW, there are many myths that circulate on TT forums. One is that thicker rubbers are faster. They aren't. Sponge absorbs energy, it doesn't create energy. Someone above said that thick sponge is "bouncier". Doesn't that imply faster? A question I ask, can I keep adding more sponge and more sponge so the rubber becomes bouncier and bouncier until the ball bounces back faster than the impact speed? If so we have a perpetual motion machine. If so I would be doing some calculations to find the optimal size room, what percentage of the rubber must be covered with the optimal thickness of sponge, the optimal number of balls and what percentage of the room is covered with sponge and the rest covered with sensors that generate electricity when they are hit by TT balls. Can you imagine thousands of TT balls bouncing around generating power? I would be a gazillionaire! I would be able to solve global warming! I would also need to find a way to moderate the speed or slow down all the balls for maintenance. I would need to be able to pick up the broken balls, the waste product..

 

[dingyibvs]

Just buy max in whatever rubber you choose. There is no reason not to.

There are two common legit reasons people don't.

1) Weight. You can get a lighter racket with a thinner sponge. If you don't have the power to fully penetrate the sponge, then this may be a reasonable choice. Once a sponge bottoms out though you lose spin and control.
2) Boosting/gluing. If you intend to boost a lot and put many layers of glue on, a max rubber may exceed max allowed thickness. So choosing one that's slightly thinner may be useful here.

 

[Creek]

Just buy max in whatever rubber you choose. There is no reason not to.

There is almost no point in this for most amateurs. There are only a few amateurs or even almost none who really bottom out 1,9 / 2,0 rubber on topspins.
on flat hits, where it can be bottomed out, it does not matter.

Good reasons for not choosing max:
less weight
better BH - FH transitions
increased ball feeling - max sponge makes feeling more numb

there are several really good players in 3rd German Bundesliga who do not play max rubbers.

this for sure does not mean, that it’s always the case that every player would be better of with 1,9/2,0 , but it definitely means, that there’s no point in choosing max for everyone

 

[P1ngP0ng3r]

I agree with Creek on this matter. Besides the weight, max rubbers feel numb to me as well.
Many amateur players choose max thickness by default, without actually understanding the true pro and cons. If one actually understands these pro and cons, I'm convinced many players would actually choose non-max rubbers.

 

[kapahoo]

Very soft rubbers benefit from max thickness but hard rubbers...? The weird thing is that modern hard rubbers are really hard to find in below 2.0 mm thickness. Most of us never engage the whole sponge in a 53 degree rubber, why not make them in 1.5 or something like that?
Besides Nittaku Z2, are there any thinner hard sponged modern rubbers out there?

 

[latej]

Very soft rubbers benefit from max thickness but hard rubbers...? The weird thing is that modern hard rubbers are really hard to find in below 2.0 mm thickness. Most of us never engage the whole sponge in a 53 degree rubber, why not make them in 1.5 or something like that?
Besides Nittaku Z2, are there any thinner hard sponged modern rubbers out there?

I've seen Nittaku Hurricane Pro 3 Turbo Blue in 1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 2.0. But mostly in 2.0. The hardness in Shore O cca 55, in Shore A cca 43. Maybe it is not very modern though. (the 53 degree in the scale you use is cca 41 in Shore A, but feels more like 40).

 

[Fedex78]

Premises: Forehand, sponge hardness defined, attacker style.

In my early TT years I've been very cautios and avoided to use max thickness.

Yes the pros of non max rubbers are those listed above, weight, balance of the racket, control etc...

BUT there is one big pro for max rubbers: the speed and spin of correctly executed attacks are higher and that rise big the probability of scoring points against good defenders / blockers / attackers in defensive mode.

I've experienced that against some good defenders I know: with 2.0 rubbers I made big efforts to score a point attacking, getting tired quickly and having troubles during each game. With max rubbers I could score a point more easily when attacking.

Training properly you can control very well max rubbers, thus I suggest max thickness on FH for attackers.

 

[OldUser]

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