Best Rubbers for Fan Zhendong ALC

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Hi everyone!

I am an advanced beginner/low int player who just switched from a Korbel blade (with Rozena rubbers) to the Fan Zhendong ALC (also playing with Rozena). I find the Rozena to be a bit slow/heavy. I am trying to be a more offensive aggressive player but am not sure which rubbers would work best for the blade, also considering my level. Looking for lighter rubbers; my BH is slower than my FH. Please let me know if you have any recommendations. Thank you.
 
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I don't think Rozena is especially heavy considering the weight of latest hard offensive rubbers today. Did you specify the weight range of your FZD ALC when you bought it? If more offensive capabilities was what you wanted, perhaps the better option was to keep using your Korbel and upgrading to a real offensive rubber like in the Tenergy series or one of the popular ESN medium hard rubbers than the "control oriented" Rozena. Korbel is still using his blade and is playing at quite high levels for an old dude(Joola tournament).
 
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dignics 09c, it's like this blade is made especially for dignics 09c,T05 is too soft, D05 is ok but felt weird, but 09c is good on both backhand and forehand.
 
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How does this blade compare to the Timo Boll ALC?

I use both blades. Actually I find them to be quite different. Both are 87g.FZD + black 09c and reD05 plays super slow compared to TBALC. TBALC feels rock solid on contact, firm.FZDALC is really soft in comparison. It is easier to loop tho. Furthermore, FZD has some really strange vibrations.In conclusion, I would pick TBALC any day and twice on Sunday 🙂 FZDALC is unlike any ALC-based blade I have tried. I do not like it at all.

 
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I use both blades. Actually I find them to be quite different. Both are 87g.FZD + black 09c and reD05 plays super slow compared to TBALC. TBALC feels rock solid on contact, firm.FZDALC is really soft in comparison. It is easier to loop tho. Furthermore, FZD has some really strange vibrations.In conclusion, I would pick TBALC any day and twice on Sunday 🙂 FZDALC is unlike any ALC-based blade I have tried. I do not like it at all.

Funny - of all my outer ALC blades the FZD is the one I like the best, and find to be the best balance of speed, spin and control. I also like the handle a lot..(currently still have Viscaria and LGY but have had Boll and Jike too)

 
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Funny - of all my outer ALC blades the FZD is the one I like the best, and find to be the best balance of speed, spin and control. I also like the handle a lot..(currently still have Viscaria and LGY but have had Boll and Jike too)

Yep I agree about the handle - it is great.
As an aside note - it is amazing what Butterfly can do with (on paper) the same veneers structure. I do not know for sure but I assume that they treat TBALC surface with UV light or something because in comparison to FZDALC it feels super-crispy. It is also amazing that some people don't feel the difference while others do. I certainly feel the difference between Vis, TBALC, FZDALC.

 
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Yep I agree about the handle - it is great.
As an aside note - it is amazing what Butterfly can do with (on paper) the same veneers structure. I do not know for sure but I assume that they treat TBALC surface with UV light or something because in comparison to FZDALC it feels super-crispy. It is also amazing that some people don't feel the difference while others do. I certainly feel the difference between Vis, TBALC, FZDALC.

Yes, Boll is by far the crispest and hardest feeling - I liked it for blocking but wasn’t quite good enough to control it unless I was playing super well.

 
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Yep I agree about the handle - it is great.
As an aside note - it is amazing what Butterfly can do with (on paper) the same veneers structure. I do not know for sure but I assume that they treat TBALC surface with UV light or something because in comparison to FZDALC it feels super-crispy. It is also amazing that some people don't feel the difference while others do. I certainly feel the difference between Vis, TBALC, FZDALC.

Can you describe the difference between the vis and FZDALC?

 
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Gunna be honest and blunt here.

At your level, even the "best" rubber on your ALC or Korbel in not going to make much of an immediate difference other than making you "feel better" about your purchase and give you "show and tell" points.

MAYBE you will like how the impact feels and like how the ball goes out faster... but after so many days or a week, you will realize that you miss so many shots, then realization sets in - the disappointment of missing the shots will override how good the impact felt and how good it felt seeing the ball move out faster. Then you will think it is the rubber and go looking for another.

WHY am I saying this? Maybe I have seen this play out a thousand or more times.

The rubber you had on either blade (Rosena) is perfectly appropriate for use in training to improve fundamentals with structured help. Perfectly in the middle of the zone of appropriateness.

If you are not getting competent help frequently enough, it really doesn't matter, you will not improve enough soon enough for any of the "best" rubbers to really matter to a large degree.

If this is the case, buy whatever you feel you want, feel good about it without any reservations, and call it a day. If you want to improve under the assistance of competent help, then get something appropriate for development... which is WHAT YOU ALREADY HAD.
 
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Yep. If you want to EJ, have fun EJing. If you want to improve, train, find training partners and train, get a coach.

Trying new stuff is fun. That is fine. But it won't help you improve. Often it can do the opposite.

TT is a technical sport/game/skill; it takes a lot of training to start realizing just how much training it takes to make even marginal improvements. To get better you really have to do the work. And there are so many good blades and rubbers and any offensive rubber works well on any blade that is All, All+, Off-, Off, Off+......So the idea that there are better rubbers for certain blades is placebo effect.
 
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Just to add to the chorus up there of people singing about the virtues of practice and the devil of looking in equipment for what you need to find in the practice hall:

If you are trying to play offensively (and who isn't, even the most ardent of push-blockers is looking for that high ball to hit past you and the choppiest of choppers will still be training their loops every time they play), then there is nothing better than a set up like a Korbel with some Rozena.

I am yet to meet an adult beginner who wasn't perfectly served by their 5ply all wood blade. Everyone thinks they need the Carbonz but 9 out of 10 times this results in less spin, shorter rallies and a few flat hit rockets.
 
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Can you describe the difference between the vis and FZDALC?

Of course I can.
FZD is definitely softer than Vis. Without a doubt it's easier to spin with FZD than vis let alone TBALC. I'm saying all this from the point of view of an average player, which includes me. Of course, technically advanced players can spin appropriately with any racket. Furthermore, the shape of the handle is certainly different and there is no dilemma for me - I like the handle on the FZD much more. Smash is easier with the Vis. FZD is really unique blade.
I would also add that there really is no best rubber for a particular racket. Of course, there are combinations or racket types that I wouldn't recommend with certain rubbers, but that's another story. And let me make a small digression, while I was in tennis for a couple of decades, I must have tried 50 rackets and as many different strings. Call it EJ or not, I've identified exactly what works for me and what doesn't, what stiffness, mass, balance, head size, string type and tension.
I have a similar approach here, I've found what works for me and what doesn't. And I enjoyed every second of that process. The racket must be balanced towards the shaft, standard size 150x157 no bigger, FL handle, off - to off, carbon layer, good feeling, no koto, limba is ok, and I like hinoki. Of course, it is not that simple, it also depends on the construction, specific implementation, etc. But generally these are my preferences.

Back to the topic and OP, Rosena is a really good rubber. I understand how you have the impression that it is kind of slow or dead on contact. I would rather say controlled, without the trampoline and catapult effect. But I would say it's good for you (as well as me).
I suggest you stay on that setup. FZD is soft, as the man above said, softer than LGY and that characteristic combined with Rosena gives that feeling. Good luck!

 
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Funny - of all my outer ALC blades the FZD is the one I like the best, and find to be the best balance of speed, spin and control. I also like the handle a lot..(currently still have Viscaria and LGY but have had Boll and Jike too)

How does FZD compare to the LGY ALC? LGY is a soft feeling blade with great balance of control, speed, dwell time, which I love how does FZD compare.

 
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How does FZD compare to the LGY ALC? LGY is a soft feeling blade with great balance of control, speed, dwell time, which I love how does FZD compare.

I think they’re very similar, possibly the FZD feels a little more control and the handle gives it a chunkier feel to me. I like both.

 
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