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Let me start with a story again, since nothing can kill a good story. (or how was it in GoT?) Christmas was here so my girlfriend wanted to give me a gift. In the past, I was kinda torn to get a W968 provincial but in the end, it never materialized. Now she insisted that she will get me one, and actually now I was probably the most against it due to several reasons. One is that I was pleased with my Joola ZQ S-ALC blade and didn't particularly believe a W968 would be much better.
I had a Fang Bo 2 carbon and still have a Fang Bo 2X, I know how they play so I was a bit worried about my BH, to be honest. The Fang Bo blades are not particularly crisp, especially since the normal FB2 vibrates a lot. I actually liked them quite a bit since I like DHS blade quality, their headshape is better for me than BTY, I actually quite liked the Fang Bo handles, normally I wouldn't since it's thin and flat, but I really liked them. Anyways both blades' backhand side is kinda meh, not crisp, kinda slow, and holds the ball back a lot. I used them with Vega Asia on the BH in the past, which was a good combo with them.
Anyway, my girlfriend got in touch with Gan and asked to buy one W968 provincial and in the end, she bought 4 since I told her I can probably shift the other 3 in Europe this way the shipping cost per blade is better too.
More pics of my blade
When I received the blades at first glance they don't look much different from commercial blades. My normal Fang Bo 2 by look had a nicer-looking top limba ply, while the FB2X a worse. But then I noticed that the handle is very different from other DHS blades, it's much fatter. I like it fatter. On even closer inspection I thought my blade doesn't even have an ayous core. Ayous has very visible holes in it. I guess these are some water channels for the tree. But the core of these W968 has very small holes and the number of holes is much fewer than on other blades with ayous core. The 2nd layer is also ayous, which has on all blades a normal amount of holes. Really these are the only differences I saw by looking.
If you expect the W968 pro to have perfectly sanded/milled/sawed carbon at the edge of the blade you better chase away this dream, they literally look like the cheap DHS blades and you can see some strands hanging out. I don't particularly care about this tho, since it doesn't impact the performance.
Some forum members have asked me to write my opinion of the blade. I appreciate the interest, dare I say someone valuing my opinions/ramblings.
It's really hard to be objective about something that I like, and as much as I try I think I mostly fail miserably. (in my opinion)
Let's start with backhand:
Oh, Zwill is mad? Talking about a W968's backhand from the start when it is said that it's not for BH-oriented players, more like for FH pivoters? If you want BH use Viscaria like every sane person!!1!
LIARS! Well, liars if they used real W968 and not just HL5 or Fang Bo carbon blades. Actually, I can't really remember how HL5 feels like since I only tried one briefly.
But, I will say the backhand was the most impressive thing about this blade as my first impression. On my first try, I glued a blue V15 Extra on BH. Now I quite like the V15 extra for BH, I used it before on my ZQ S-ALC but not the blue. I don't like the blue one, it's hard, deadish, not as grippy as the black, doesn't bite the ball as much, and has much less catapult. It's also significantly heavier. 53g for the blue while 49g for the black cut to the same size.
Anyways I used this since I didn't wanna take of the MX-S from the ZQ SALC.
W968 is fast on BH, and shockingly crisp. I was kinda like a deer staring at the headlights on my first hits and just couldn't understand what is happening. I had expectations due to the Fang Bo blades (and to some extent due to the Innerforce ZLC I used before) and my expectations were dismissed immediately.
W968 has a fair amount of catapult built in the blade and I can only "blame" the very dense core it has. Once the ball hits down to the core the blade is just so nice. It is not particularly hard to hit down on the core either, the blade wants that, and it invites me to do it as much as possible.
This made me change the blue V15 extra to my MX-S since the blue V15 is not a very good rubber. MX-S has a shorter and more curvy trajectory compared to V15 extra. It's more spinny, but it's a bit more difficult to handle, I mean you can't do half-assed hits with it. If you do that the topsheet won't grip the ball well and the ball will fall into the net. MX-S on FH where giving enough momentum is normally not an issue is very like a T05, probably the most T05-like rubber from ESN, however on BH where giving enough momentum is not always trivial can act like a D80, it feels harder. Anyways I got the hang of MX-S tonight (2nd training with it) and it's good, however due to the short trajectory and high arc of the rubber I think it is not very suitable for W968.
W968 has a catapult effect, but also naturally makes the ball arc more than a Viscaria type blade. My ZQ S-ALC shoots the ball more forward it doesn't lift or arc the ball nearly as much as W968, and with that blade the MX-S makes more sense.
I think with W968 T64 type of rubbers on BH are the way to go. Now I know that is not a very popular type of rubber and so not many clones exist.
V15 extra is not a clone but close enough, MX-P is probably a good option, Rakza 9??? I never tried, but that should be a T64 clone as well.
When I started to play with Chinese gear a Chinese coach told me a good setup is HL5 blade, H3N39 OS and Vega Asia. So I have Vega Asia incoming for my BH which is also a T64 clone. Vega Asia is light too, like 46-7g cut if I remember well, that is 3-4g lighter than the previously mentioned rubbers.
This way the blade has a natural ball lifting ability and Vega Asia is easy to handle since the top rubber sheet is softer than T05 clones, and Vega Asia is quite fast too. I suppose no wonder Chinese are using H3 on the backhand which also has a flat trajectory.
Blocking is so stable guys, like I said it's crisp and just stable as hell. Can't wish for more.
Okay, forehand:
Yeah, it's good. Do I need more explanation? I only tried it with a Young Shine Dingtian rubber at 40deg. (Falco boosted) Basically, this rubber is very similar to a H3 blue sponge. Not as tacky, not as spinny, but faster and possibly has a higher lift than H3.
As I mentioned before the blades loves it when the ball is hit down or through the core. On FH this is super apparent. It makes a fantastic cracking sound, and I think the Dingtian rubber also helps in this a lot. It's very catapulty in this setup.
On strong hits, the core strength is clear it's apparent how the blade is lifting the ball naturally. Of course, I am mostly comparing this lifting capability to the ZQ S-ALC blade.
There might be other blades that do this better than the W968, I just don't know which ones.
But W968 is pretty fast too I don't notice a speed downgrade compared to the ZQ S-ALC, and that is basically a Super Viscaria type of blade which should be faster on paper. 1360hz vs 1510hz what I measured for the two blades, so W968 should be noticeably slower, I notice the opposite so I am baffled.
I honestly can't say much more about the FH, it's just great and everyone has mentioned that before me many times.
I can't stress enough how strong the core feels and the ball lifting capability, this is not something I noticed in other blades.
Blocking is just as nice and stable as on BH.
If one doesn't want to use Chinese rubbers on FH, I think good options are stuff like Bluegrip C2, Tibhar K3, V>20, Omega Chinas, D09c...
And probably Tibhar K2 would be veeeeery suitable since that rubber is such a good boosted Chinese rubber copy and the dense sponge probably helps to hit down the core.
Over the table play:
Funnily this is where I had some trouble. It has this catapult effect on small touches too. I need to get used to it. This is very uncharacteristic of an inner construction blade, but here it is.
Another few things worth mentioning:
Dingtian + W968 + V15extra blue = 197g, that is a chunky boy. I know there are some mad lads here who play with 200g+ blades, and I don't wanna be called a wimp but 197g is a bit much for me normally. Funnily enough, it didn't feel heavy. I "blame" the good handle for not feeling heavy.
Dingtian + W968 + MX-S = 194g, still not light so I think I will very welcome the Vega Asia and I hope I will be kissing the 190g psychological barrier.
A guy bought one of my blades and he tried it yesterday and he called me today that he's very much considering getting another one just as a spare since he likes it so much. He has a shit ton of BTY blades and used an OSP before but he says nothing is like this.
I was one who didn't understand why WCQ, LJK switched to W968 since both have pretty excellent backhands, I kinda get it now. It matches with low arc, tacky, hard rubbers, and it is more stable than VIS. I think it's easier to use than VIS with high arc rubbers and because low arc rubbers tend to have a long trajectory it helps to push your opponent off the table and engage in rally. I mean this is Ma Long's game pretty much.
EDIT: 16/01/2023
I'm gonna add this to the first post as an update.
So regarding the backhand side I've been experimenting a bit.
Initially I tried V15 Extra which is pretty suitable in my opinion. It's one of the better ESN rubbers too, fast, crisp, not too spin sensitive, quite spinny and tolerates hard hits. It's good rubber and I guess it's no wonder Jang Woojin used this it on his W968. The only thing about the V15 Extra is which I mentioned before, maybe I got a not so great blue sheet... The black is great tho, not sure about the red one. The blue one for me is 53g which is a lot, the black is 49g and that is normal.
It's very good for banana flicks and blocking, I can see why so many high ranked pros chose this rubber.
Afterwards I tried MX-S which I found a bit hard to use. The topsheet is pretty hard for BH side, one needs constant wrist action otherwise the topsheet just doesn't bite. The ball just skids off the sheet and that is unwanted. On the other hand if you can create the friction it releases a very high quality ball.
I guess the best thing about MX-S is that it's very good with pushes. If it bites the ball during a push that is also very high quality underspin and fast.
It's pretty hard to do banana flicks with it since it doesn't bite that well, I always feel like it's a risky shot with this rubber.
It's a bit heavy rubber at 50-51g. I can imagine it being really good on FH for someone who prefers spin-tension rubbers over sticky. I think on FH MX-P is a mistake lol, MX-S is much better. BH I would probably choose MX-P since it's easier to use.
Xiom Vega Asia, so I borrowed one. I thought I will like it. I didn't. After playing with V15 and MX-S for a long time Vega Asia felt like it's made for kids. It is very stable and easy to use, it grips the ball automatically unlike the MX-S, which is a really positive point, but it lacks the stretch and "snap strength" of V15 and MX-S. The topsheet is soft and lazy. Now that being said if someone prefers the feeling that they are creating the spin and not some catapulty-stretchy rubber wizardry then I would totally recommend it. It's not slow either, on blocks and flat hits it's pretty bouncy. You can access the bounce effortlessly, but on hard swings I feel the rubber just "rolls off" like subwoofer over 150hz lol. I feel the max grip of the topsheet is much less than the previous 2 rubber. Now this actually opens a few possibilities I noticed. If you get spin loaded slow opening loops on your backhand from the Vega Asia the ball just slips off. It makes that hiss sound and the ball just slips if you touch the spinny ball very very softly. This can be abused since your opponent will step back and expect a high ball as a return, but you can just drop the ball right behind the net. It's like an anti rubber if you can use it this way.
Also I guess it has this mushy feeling which I don't love, but I can see the appeal of it actually.
It's pretty light at 46g too, so it has some things going for it, but it's just not for me I think.
And today I tried a Fastarc G-1. Well I have to admit I think this is the first time I played with a G-1. I got it used to test it out. Actually the topsheet is in pretty good nick for being used. So I can get why people say it is very durable. I think before I tried a P-1 just on someone else's racket, it left me with not much impression. But the G-1, damn I get why it's popular. Honestly speaking the topsheet is very grippy, I can't recall a non-sticky rubber that is more grippy than G-1. It's not a speed monster by default but I think it has a decent amount of catapult if one has the technique. I feel like it imparts more spin and speed on the ball if you try to hit down on the blade. In a way this resembles what Chinese rubbers are doing so no wonder it would work well with W968 too.
Since in EU there is a bit of an energy crisis the gyms are not heated properly, I actually play nowadays in ski underclothes which I bought in Aldi. (actually those would deserve a review how great they are for 10EUR lol)
Back on topic while V15 extra and especially MX-S topsheet gets harder below 18degrees it is a testament to G-1 how even in cold it has super grip and suppleness while V15 and MX-S is a struggle.
It is not a speed monster, but like... during blocking I did some flat punching. It is very spin insensitive and I didn't really have to punch hard to make the ball fast. I wouldn't say it's a slow rubber, just not as extreme as the above 3. Well since mine is used and all it shrank like most ESN rubbers (and maybe it was cut to a small head blade too) so when I glued it on the 968 it looks like a pen FH rubber. Well I just glued a piece of red rubber cutoff in the "empty" area. Yeah it's very ghetto. So without cut and some glue layers it was 47g, I predict it will be like 49g new fully cut to the W968. Oh I got it in superthick, which is 2.0mm. My friend said it's better in 2.0mm than in MAX. I believe him since you really need to hit down with it on the blade to make it work the best.
Yeah, I really like it, I like that it gives me stroke options. Hit hard, or just try to do a slow spinny BH open, banana flick should not be an issue with this level of grip.
TL;DR for backhand use:
Opening loops G-1>MX-S>=V15>Vega Asia
Fast attack V15>G-1>MX-S>Vega Asia
Underspin pushes MX-S>>G-1>Vega Asia>V15
Blocking V15>G-1>Vega Asia>MX-S
Countering MX-S>G-1>=V15>Vega Asia
Max Spin MX-S>G-1>V15>Vega Asia
Ease of rotation G-1>V15>Vega Asia>MX-S
Arc height MX-S>G-1>V15>Vega Asia
Speed Vega Asia>V15>MX-S>G-1
PS. If BH is your very weak side and you mainly push and block I suggest to try Tibhar Aurus Select, Joola Rhyzen CMD or Vega Asia and abuse the crap out of the soft touch slippage of Vega Asia. I am not joking that will totally mess with your opponent's brain!
If you want a light BH rubber, V11 extra or 2.1mm Tibhar Aurus Select. Both are sub 45g and very good.
Okay let's make a small detour for forehand too. (this is gonna be a love song)
Young Shine Dingtian... I have not touched that rubber since I glued it on. It is truly an amazing rubber. I think I actually like it more than H3N national blue sponge. There was a small learning curve with it but this rubber needs to be hyped to no end. Sure I'm sure W968 is a huge factor but this combo is really insane.
This combo with the right technique literally has "unlimited" power. Before with Rakza Z EH, Bluegrip C2, or H3N orange or be it H8-80 or even D09c on faster blades I used 80% of my power to impart good spin and speed on the ball. Of course, all of these are pretty hard rubbers so to achieve sponge compression and blade support I need a lot of force. But with W968 and the Dingtian I can just use 40% of my power and achieve more than with previously mentioned rubbers. W968 isn't a speed monster either, I played with faster blades before with those rubbers but like lol. Not even the same ballpark.
I can play so loosey-goosey on my FH now, I know with loose 40% power I can put away balls because they are so fast.
And guys make no mistake, the best hit is what your opponent cannot react or reach! Speed wins over spin!
I have been saying it before in some posts that I really don't feel how Chinese rubbers like H3N BS or even hybrids like Rakza Z create the spin. I still vouch for this, I don't know when or where it happens. With spin tension rubbers like V15 or MX-S or G-1 I can feel the topsheet stretching, but not with Chinese sticky rubbers. Normally with spin-tension rubbers you hit the ball tangentially and the topsheet stretches more and then it snaps back and the spin is generated. It is very simple and I can feel it happening in the process.
With sticky Chinese rubbers like H3N BS or especially the Dingtian I have to be very aware to just leave the bladeface totally vertical! If I hit the ball fully dead center and my arm is going upwards and my wrist is loose and moving upwars too this generates so much spin that is insane. And since it feels like I am basically smashing the ball it has incredible speed too. If course I am using my legs and hips, turn of my torso too this is why I can just use 40% of my power and the ball flies super fast. I remember H3N BS did this too, pretty well but I think Dingtian is even better. I hit my partner on the nail with a 80% power shot and he had to sit down since he was so much in pain.
This isn't convincing enough? I have more. I have booster the Dingtian with 2 light layers of FTL, like 5-6 weeks ago. I am not a boosting expert but just looking at some online comments around the 8 week mark FTL should start to wear off. I'm not there yet ofc, but the Dingtian's boosting effect has not gotten any worse in fact it might be better? I remember I used this rubber in the summer once without boosting it was dead and slow as f.ck. It reacts to FTL extremely well. This should be pretty good news to you if you don't live in China since Seamoon is a bit hard to get over here, but FTL is easy to get and the price is on par with Seamoon.
Fast attack with Dingtian with open bladeface... guys, it's insane. It hits trough the topsheet, sponge and right on to the W968 and it feels so satisfying. 60% power is more than enough, it is not returnable and even if by some miracle it gets returned recovering from a 60% shot is easy peasy. Before with Rakza Z or C2 I was doing full balls to the wall, yolo hits and they came back sometimes. I have seen the face of my partners so much how they looked back on the table after one fast attach from the Dingtian. It's the look of disbelief and utter despair?
Hey, ok Zwill it plays pretty well, but does it last a week without bubbles? Well I have to say so far yeah. After 5-6 weeks of absolute abuse, it is holding up super well. Sure no bubbles, but that is again not the whole picture. If you have played with H3 topsheed for an extended time you know that the bottom part of the rubber that is close to your body gets a bit dull and then in the middle, there will be a bit of discoloring from all the contacts and dust etc. I would say H3 topsheet is more of the durable ones on the market. If it doesn't bubbles up it can last years. I can proudly say that the Dingtian has only dullness where I rest my thumb in the middle. No bottom side nor middle discolorization.
I think I mentioned it before but the topsheed looks like it has a different sticky layer than H3N, much more thin, and the rubber under feels like the Dingtian has much more artificial rubber/plastic compound than H3N. But I don't give a damn since it's so durable and good.
PSS.: If you like boosted sticky Chinese rubbers I urge you to get a Dingtian! Not sure who makes it, I really hope it's some 80 year old Chinese grandma doing it on the base of Tibet with all the fresh air and clean mountain water, and I can even accept if she used Dodo bird feathers and T-Rex blood in the formula!
I had a Fang Bo 2 carbon and still have a Fang Bo 2X, I know how they play so I was a bit worried about my BH, to be honest. The Fang Bo blades are not particularly crisp, especially since the normal FB2 vibrates a lot. I actually liked them quite a bit since I like DHS blade quality, their headshape is better for me than BTY, I actually quite liked the Fang Bo handles, normally I wouldn't since it's thin and flat, but I really liked them. Anyways both blades' backhand side is kinda meh, not crisp, kinda slow, and holds the ball back a lot. I used them with Vega Asia on the BH in the past, which was a good combo with them.
Anyway, my girlfriend got in touch with Gan and asked to buy one W968 provincial and in the end, she bought 4 since I told her I can probably shift the other 3 in Europe this way the shipping cost per blade is better too.
More pics of my blade
When I received the blades at first glance they don't look much different from commercial blades. My normal Fang Bo 2 by look had a nicer-looking top limba ply, while the FB2X a worse. But then I noticed that the handle is very different from other DHS blades, it's much fatter. I like it fatter. On even closer inspection I thought my blade doesn't even have an ayous core. Ayous has very visible holes in it. I guess these are some water channels for the tree. But the core of these W968 has very small holes and the number of holes is much fewer than on other blades with ayous core. The 2nd layer is also ayous, which has on all blades a normal amount of holes. Really these are the only differences I saw by looking.
If you expect the W968 pro to have perfectly sanded/milled/sawed carbon at the edge of the blade you better chase away this dream, they literally look like the cheap DHS blades and you can see some strands hanging out. I don't particularly care about this tho, since it doesn't impact the performance.
Some forum members have asked me to write my opinion of the blade. I appreciate the interest, dare I say someone valuing my opinions/ramblings.
It's really hard to be objective about something that I like, and as much as I try I think I mostly fail miserably. (in my opinion)
Let's start with backhand:
Oh, Zwill is mad? Talking about a W968's backhand from the start when it is said that it's not for BH-oriented players, more like for FH pivoters? If you want BH use Viscaria like every sane person!!1!
LIARS! Well, liars if they used real W968 and not just HL5 or Fang Bo carbon blades. Actually, I can't really remember how HL5 feels like since I only tried one briefly.
But, I will say the backhand was the most impressive thing about this blade as my first impression. On my first try, I glued a blue V15 Extra on BH. Now I quite like the V15 extra for BH, I used it before on my ZQ S-ALC but not the blue. I don't like the blue one, it's hard, deadish, not as grippy as the black, doesn't bite the ball as much, and has much less catapult. It's also significantly heavier. 53g for the blue while 49g for the black cut to the same size.
Anyways I used this since I didn't wanna take of the MX-S from the ZQ SALC.
W968 is fast on BH, and shockingly crisp. I was kinda like a deer staring at the headlights on my first hits and just couldn't understand what is happening. I had expectations due to the Fang Bo blades (and to some extent due to the Innerforce ZLC I used before) and my expectations were dismissed immediately.
W968 has a fair amount of catapult built in the blade and I can only "blame" the very dense core it has. Once the ball hits down to the core the blade is just so nice. It is not particularly hard to hit down on the core either, the blade wants that, and it invites me to do it as much as possible.
This made me change the blue V15 extra to my MX-S since the blue V15 is not a very good rubber. MX-S has a shorter and more curvy trajectory compared to V15 extra. It's more spinny, but it's a bit more difficult to handle, I mean you can't do half-assed hits with it. If you do that the topsheet won't grip the ball well and the ball will fall into the net. MX-S on FH where giving enough momentum is normally not an issue is very like a T05, probably the most T05-like rubber from ESN, however on BH where giving enough momentum is not always trivial can act like a D80, it feels harder. Anyways I got the hang of MX-S tonight (2nd training with it) and it's good, however due to the short trajectory and high arc of the rubber I think it is not very suitable for W968.
W968 has a catapult effect, but also naturally makes the ball arc more than a Viscaria type blade. My ZQ S-ALC shoots the ball more forward it doesn't lift or arc the ball nearly as much as W968, and with that blade the MX-S makes more sense.
I think with W968 T64 type of rubbers on BH are the way to go. Now I know that is not a very popular type of rubber and so not many clones exist.
V15 extra is not a clone but close enough, MX-P is probably a good option, Rakza 9??? I never tried, but that should be a T64 clone as well.
When I started to play with Chinese gear a Chinese coach told me a good setup is HL5 blade, H3N39 OS and Vega Asia. So I have Vega Asia incoming for my BH which is also a T64 clone. Vega Asia is light too, like 46-7g cut if I remember well, that is 3-4g lighter than the previously mentioned rubbers.
This way the blade has a natural ball lifting ability and Vega Asia is easy to handle since the top rubber sheet is softer than T05 clones, and Vega Asia is quite fast too. I suppose no wonder Chinese are using H3 on the backhand which also has a flat trajectory.
Blocking is so stable guys, like I said it's crisp and just stable as hell. Can't wish for more.
Okay, forehand:
Yeah, it's good. Do I need more explanation? I only tried it with a Young Shine Dingtian rubber at 40deg. (Falco boosted) Basically, this rubber is very similar to a H3 blue sponge. Not as tacky, not as spinny, but faster and possibly has a higher lift than H3.
As I mentioned before the blades loves it when the ball is hit down or through the core. On FH this is super apparent. It makes a fantastic cracking sound, and I think the Dingtian rubber also helps in this a lot. It's very catapulty in this setup.
On strong hits, the core strength is clear it's apparent how the blade is lifting the ball naturally. Of course, I am mostly comparing this lifting capability to the ZQ S-ALC blade.
There might be other blades that do this better than the W968, I just don't know which ones.
But W968 is pretty fast too I don't notice a speed downgrade compared to the ZQ S-ALC, and that is basically a Super Viscaria type of blade which should be faster on paper. 1360hz vs 1510hz what I measured for the two blades, so W968 should be noticeably slower, I notice the opposite so I am baffled.
I honestly can't say much more about the FH, it's just great and everyone has mentioned that before me many times.
I can't stress enough how strong the core feels and the ball lifting capability, this is not something I noticed in other blades.
Blocking is just as nice and stable as on BH.
If one doesn't want to use Chinese rubbers on FH, I think good options are stuff like Bluegrip C2, Tibhar K3, V>20, Omega Chinas, D09c...
And probably Tibhar K2 would be veeeeery suitable since that rubber is such a good boosted Chinese rubber copy and the dense sponge probably helps to hit down the core.
Over the table play:
Funnily this is where I had some trouble. It has this catapult effect on small touches too. I need to get used to it. This is very uncharacteristic of an inner construction blade, but here it is.
Another few things worth mentioning:
Dingtian + W968 + V15extra blue = 197g, that is a chunky boy. I know there are some mad lads here who play with 200g+ blades, and I don't wanna be called a wimp but 197g is a bit much for me normally. Funnily enough, it didn't feel heavy. I "blame" the good handle for not feeling heavy.
Dingtian + W968 + MX-S = 194g, still not light so I think I will very welcome the Vega Asia and I hope I will be kissing the 190g psychological barrier.
A guy bought one of my blades and he tried it yesterday and he called me today that he's very much considering getting another one just as a spare since he likes it so much. He has a shit ton of BTY blades and used an OSP before but he says nothing is like this.
I was one who didn't understand why WCQ, LJK switched to W968 since both have pretty excellent backhands, I kinda get it now. It matches with low arc, tacky, hard rubbers, and it is more stable than VIS. I think it's easier to use than VIS with high arc rubbers and because low arc rubbers tend to have a long trajectory it helps to push your opponent off the table and engage in rally. I mean this is Ma Long's game pretty much.
EDIT: 16/01/2023
I'm gonna add this to the first post as an update.
So regarding the backhand side I've been experimenting a bit.
Initially I tried V15 Extra which is pretty suitable in my opinion. It's one of the better ESN rubbers too, fast, crisp, not too spin sensitive, quite spinny and tolerates hard hits. It's good rubber and I guess it's no wonder Jang Woojin used this it on his W968. The only thing about the V15 Extra is which I mentioned before, maybe I got a not so great blue sheet... The black is great tho, not sure about the red one. The blue one for me is 53g which is a lot, the black is 49g and that is normal.
It's very good for banana flicks and blocking, I can see why so many high ranked pros chose this rubber.
Afterwards I tried MX-S which I found a bit hard to use. The topsheet is pretty hard for BH side, one needs constant wrist action otherwise the topsheet just doesn't bite. The ball just skids off the sheet and that is unwanted. On the other hand if you can create the friction it releases a very high quality ball.
I guess the best thing about MX-S is that it's very good with pushes. If it bites the ball during a push that is also very high quality underspin and fast.
It's pretty hard to do banana flicks with it since it doesn't bite that well, I always feel like it's a risky shot with this rubber.
It's a bit heavy rubber at 50-51g. I can imagine it being really good on FH for someone who prefers spin-tension rubbers over sticky. I think on FH MX-P is a mistake lol, MX-S is much better. BH I would probably choose MX-P since it's easier to use.
Xiom Vega Asia, so I borrowed one. I thought I will like it. I didn't. After playing with V15 and MX-S for a long time Vega Asia felt like it's made for kids. It is very stable and easy to use, it grips the ball automatically unlike the MX-S, which is a really positive point, but it lacks the stretch and "snap strength" of V15 and MX-S. The topsheet is soft and lazy. Now that being said if someone prefers the feeling that they are creating the spin and not some catapulty-stretchy rubber wizardry then I would totally recommend it. It's not slow either, on blocks and flat hits it's pretty bouncy. You can access the bounce effortlessly, but on hard swings I feel the rubber just "rolls off" like subwoofer over 150hz lol. I feel the max grip of the topsheet is much less than the previous 2 rubber. Now this actually opens a few possibilities I noticed. If you get spin loaded slow opening loops on your backhand from the Vega Asia the ball just slips off. It makes that hiss sound and the ball just slips if you touch the spinny ball very very softly. This can be abused since your opponent will step back and expect a high ball as a return, but you can just drop the ball right behind the net. It's like an anti rubber if you can use it this way.
Also I guess it has this mushy feeling which I don't love, but I can see the appeal of it actually.
It's pretty light at 46g too, so it has some things going for it, but it's just not for me I think.
And today I tried a Fastarc G-1. Well I have to admit I think this is the first time I played with a G-1. I got it used to test it out. Actually the topsheet is in pretty good nick for being used. So I can get why people say it is very durable. I think before I tried a P-1 just on someone else's racket, it left me with not much impression. But the G-1, damn I get why it's popular. Honestly speaking the topsheet is very grippy, I can't recall a non-sticky rubber that is more grippy than G-1. It's not a speed monster by default but I think it has a decent amount of catapult if one has the technique. I feel like it imparts more spin and speed on the ball if you try to hit down on the blade. In a way this resembles what Chinese rubbers are doing so no wonder it would work well with W968 too.
Since in EU there is a bit of an energy crisis the gyms are not heated properly, I actually play nowadays in ski underclothes which I bought in Aldi. (actually those would deserve a review how great they are for 10EUR lol)
Back on topic while V15 extra and especially MX-S topsheet gets harder below 18degrees it is a testament to G-1 how even in cold it has super grip and suppleness while V15 and MX-S is a struggle.
It is not a speed monster, but like... during blocking I did some flat punching. It is very spin insensitive and I didn't really have to punch hard to make the ball fast. I wouldn't say it's a slow rubber, just not as extreme as the above 3. Well since mine is used and all it shrank like most ESN rubbers (and maybe it was cut to a small head blade too) so when I glued it on the 968 it looks like a pen FH rubber. Well I just glued a piece of red rubber cutoff in the "empty" area. Yeah it's very ghetto. So without cut and some glue layers it was 47g, I predict it will be like 49g new fully cut to the W968. Oh I got it in superthick, which is 2.0mm. My friend said it's better in 2.0mm than in MAX. I believe him since you really need to hit down with it on the blade to make it work the best.
Yeah, I really like it, I like that it gives me stroke options. Hit hard, or just try to do a slow spinny BH open, banana flick should not be an issue with this level of grip.
TL;DR for backhand use:
Opening loops G-1>MX-S>=V15>Vega Asia
Fast attack V15>G-1>MX-S>Vega Asia
Underspin pushes MX-S>>G-1>Vega Asia>V15
Blocking V15>G-1>Vega Asia>MX-S
Countering MX-S>G-1>=V15>Vega Asia
Max Spin MX-S>G-1>V15>Vega Asia
Ease of rotation G-1>V15>Vega Asia>MX-S
Arc height MX-S>G-1>V15>Vega Asia
Speed Vega Asia>V15>MX-S>G-1
PS. If BH is your very weak side and you mainly push and block I suggest to try Tibhar Aurus Select, Joola Rhyzen CMD or Vega Asia and abuse the crap out of the soft touch slippage of Vega Asia. I am not joking that will totally mess with your opponent's brain!
If you want a light BH rubber, V11 extra or 2.1mm Tibhar Aurus Select. Both are sub 45g and very good.
Okay let's make a small detour for forehand too. (this is gonna be a love song)
Young Shine Dingtian... I have not touched that rubber since I glued it on. It is truly an amazing rubber. I think I actually like it more than H3N national blue sponge. There was a small learning curve with it but this rubber needs to be hyped to no end. Sure I'm sure W968 is a huge factor but this combo is really insane.
This combo with the right technique literally has "unlimited" power. Before with Rakza Z EH, Bluegrip C2, or H3N orange or be it H8-80 or even D09c on faster blades I used 80% of my power to impart good spin and speed on the ball. Of course, all of these are pretty hard rubbers so to achieve sponge compression and blade support I need a lot of force. But with W968 and the Dingtian I can just use 40% of my power and achieve more than with previously mentioned rubbers. W968 isn't a speed monster either, I played with faster blades before with those rubbers but like lol. Not even the same ballpark.
I can play so loosey-goosey on my FH now, I know with loose 40% power I can put away balls because they are so fast.
And guys make no mistake, the best hit is what your opponent cannot react or reach! Speed wins over spin!
I have been saying it before in some posts that I really don't feel how Chinese rubbers like H3N BS or even hybrids like Rakza Z create the spin. I still vouch for this, I don't know when or where it happens. With spin tension rubbers like V15 or MX-S or G-1 I can feel the topsheet stretching, but not with Chinese sticky rubbers. Normally with spin-tension rubbers you hit the ball tangentially and the topsheet stretches more and then it snaps back and the spin is generated. It is very simple and I can feel it happening in the process.
With sticky Chinese rubbers like H3N BS or especially the Dingtian I have to be very aware to just leave the bladeface totally vertical! If I hit the ball fully dead center and my arm is going upwards and my wrist is loose and moving upwars too this generates so much spin that is insane. And since it feels like I am basically smashing the ball it has incredible speed too. If course I am using my legs and hips, turn of my torso too this is why I can just use 40% of my power and the ball flies super fast. I remember H3N BS did this too, pretty well but I think Dingtian is even better. I hit my partner on the nail with a 80% power shot and he had to sit down since he was so much in pain.
This isn't convincing enough? I have more. I have booster the Dingtian with 2 light layers of FTL, like 5-6 weeks ago. I am not a boosting expert but just looking at some online comments around the 8 week mark FTL should start to wear off. I'm not there yet ofc, but the Dingtian's boosting effect has not gotten any worse in fact it might be better? I remember I used this rubber in the summer once without boosting it was dead and slow as f.ck. It reacts to FTL extremely well. This should be pretty good news to you if you don't live in China since Seamoon is a bit hard to get over here, but FTL is easy to get and the price is on par with Seamoon.
Fast attack with Dingtian with open bladeface... guys, it's insane. It hits trough the topsheet, sponge and right on to the W968 and it feels so satisfying. 60% power is more than enough, it is not returnable and even if by some miracle it gets returned recovering from a 60% shot is easy peasy. Before with Rakza Z or C2 I was doing full balls to the wall, yolo hits and they came back sometimes. I have seen the face of my partners so much how they looked back on the table after one fast attach from the Dingtian. It's the look of disbelief and utter despair?
Hey, ok Zwill it plays pretty well, but does it last a week without bubbles? Well I have to say so far yeah. After 5-6 weeks of absolute abuse, it is holding up super well. Sure no bubbles, but that is again not the whole picture. If you have played with H3 topsheed for an extended time you know that the bottom part of the rubber that is close to your body gets a bit dull and then in the middle, there will be a bit of discoloring from all the contacts and dust etc. I would say H3 topsheet is more of the durable ones on the market. If it doesn't bubbles up it can last years. I can proudly say that the Dingtian has only dullness where I rest my thumb in the middle. No bottom side nor middle discolorization.
I think I mentioned it before but the topsheed looks like it has a different sticky layer than H3N, much more thin, and the rubber under feels like the Dingtian has much more artificial rubber/plastic compound than H3N. But I don't give a damn since it's so durable and good.
PSS.: If you like boosted sticky Chinese rubbers I urge you to get a Dingtian! Not sure who makes it, I really hope it's some 80 year old Chinese grandma doing it on the base of Tibet with all the fresh air and clean mountain water, and I can even accept if she used Dodo bird feathers and T-Rex blood in the formula!
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