Booster does tend to reduce rubbers' longevity, but it's quite mild as far as methods for stretching the rubbers go.
I agree with everything OhWell has said. I just want to add a qualifier to this statement I quoted.
It is true. But leaving a rubber in a closet for a year so that oxygen can break down the rubber molecules and reduce the elasticity of the topsheet and sponge may be a larger factor.
Booster allows a rubber to play better in the short term and causes the rubber to degrade faster in the long run.
But leaving a rubber sitting idle for a year causes the rubber to play significantly worse than it would have played if it had not been left sitting idle for that year.
To say it more clearly, let’s take 4 T05s.
1) straight from the factory just after production and directly onto your racket.
2) sitting on a warehouse shelf for 1 year in the packaging and then directly onto your racket.
3) straight from the factory just after production and then you open the package and leave it on a shelf for a year before you put it on your racket.
4) sitting on a shelf in a warehouse for a year, then you open the packaging and put it on a shelf for a year before you put it on your racket.
#1 will play the best BY FAR because there will be the least amount of oxygen exposure to cause the degradation of the rubber molecules and their elasticity.
#2 will Play second best and most of use would be able to tell a clear difference between the two. And most of us, this is what we are getting when we buy a “new” Tenergy. But if you ever feel one straight off the press you will know the difference.
#3 will Play a little worse than #2 but not as much worse as one might think. This is because the packaging for the rubber is not fully air tight so the rubber is still subject to oxidation and number #2 and #3 are out of the factory and off the press for just about the same amount of time.
#4 will Play significantly worse than #2 and #3 because it has been off the press for at least twice as long and has had much more time for the rubber to become less elastic.
For this reason I can never quite understand why people would even think of buying rubbers that someone else, bought, cut and used.
It is even more strange to me when the rubber is a rubber like MXP which starts out boosted where the boost effect only last for a few weeks.
But when you are using old rubbers to save money, I get that. And that is one of the times when boosting can make a lot of sense.
Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy