I’ve tried this rubber(2.5mm on FH) on two blades so far: an older TB ALC on last week and an OSP V+ on this week.
On the TB ALC, the rubber felt extremely fast, explosive, zero to non dwell time. Many points ended immediately, either I missed long or I hit a winner. Serves were very heavy, and my clubmate (more drive, less loop player) struggled a lot to open long backspin serves. Opening up backspin was easy if I used thin, tangential contact. As soon as I went a bit flatter and used more sponge, the ball flew very flat and long. It really needs to be played with a brushy contact to keep the ball on the table. I lost the games on 5th set. I was never in control...
On the V+, the rubber became much more playable. The dwell time felt longer, and it was much easier to control the ball(pace, placement and arc), load it with spin and still generate good power. Even though it is more controllable, the arc is crazy high on brushy loops. I needed engaging sponge more to reduce arc. I cannot say I have been successful with engaging sponge. However, I could play longer rallies, including open up long backspins with a reasonable success rate, and even from mid-distance I could rally with a 5-ply wood blade. Finishing the point was still possible, but with more stability than on the carbon blade. Everything was great during the games where I put in effort and focused. My shots became ineffective as the time I started to get tired. I started to hit much agressively and missed the table or couldn't even put pressure to opponent. Exhaustion built up quicker with it then my normal setup Treiber FI - Inferno - D08.
In the short game and receive, I noticed that my returns against empty/no-spin serves were inconsistent if I didn’t flip. Whenever I didn’t brush enough, the ball tended to pop up while pushing. On passive flat touches, the rubber feels quite springy, and it’s hard to keep the ball short, especially when contacting late.
For the opponent, who hasn't never played against Z03 yet, bounce is quite deceptive: they often struggled with the strong kick after the bounce and I was able to put more backspin or sidespin during returns than what they expected. Flips and active brushes against non-backspin or half-long dead balls are very effective. Closing the angle and brushing sends the ball out with surprising speed compared to the effort you put in.
Overall, as written before, Z03 rewards active, committed strokes much more than “half-hearted” topspins you might play safely with Tenergy or Dignics. On slower, all-wood blades it feels significantly more controllable than on carbon, but it still demands good technique.
I should still train playing sponge engaged topspins in order not to miss the table... Plus, the short touches...