Good rubber for improving player

[youngstt]

A newish player at our club wants to change from a pre-made bat to something better. She plays 3 hours a week and has a fair idea of the strokes, but she has reached the limit with her current bat.

She doesn't want to spend much so i am giving a cheapish Yinhe W1 blade (reviewed some years ago by Der Echte as a controlled looping blade) with one sheet of a year old MPX. Normally MPX would be too fast for her but i guess an old rubber will be OK for a while. Then she needs one decent quality rubber but not top of the range. Can anyone compare Vega Europe with Rozena, they are about the same price Vega a bit cheaper in UK. The Vega comes in 1.8 or 2.0. Another possible is Nittaku Fastarc. Any other rubber suggestions of similar price?

Thanks

 

[Michael Zhuang]

I think Vega and Rozena are both good choices. For a beginner like her, I don't think she would notice much of a difference between them.

I would highly recommend Palio AK47 yellow for her. You can get it for around $10 or something, and its pretty much similar to Vega and Rozena.

 

[turbozed]

Here's a bit of my experience as a beginner player in a similar situation to her but with a few months of coaching.

I paid a lot of money for my first setup which was a Nittaku Acoustic and Fastarc rubbers. Had a few months of coaching with it and I thought I was developing well.

After going home for holidays I decided to play local league and discovered I had way better control with a slower setup after trying out different rubbers and an All+ blade. I literally could control a slower bat significantly better within 5 minutes of touching it after months of coached training with my acoustic and Fastarc. I also had more fun using full swings for the first time. I instantly knew I had chosen too fast a setup to start with.

After that I went to try to look for rubbers to slow down my blade. I bought Xiom Vega Intro ($25) and Yinhe Moon ($13) for BH since they are less fast and bouncy control rubbers. I can't tell the difference between the two at my level. On my FH, I went with Yinhe Mercury 2 which is like $6 a sheet. I enjoy it more than playing with Fastarc C1 and feel it's better suited for me learning full body techniques.

Maybe I'll reglue the Fastarc rubbers on my blade when I am more confident in my techniques, but that won't be for a while. I wouldn't recommend any $40 rubbers (especially on an Off carbon blade like W1) for a beginner and especially one where they've stated they want to keep the cost low.
​​​

 

[Michael Zhuang]

Here's a bit of my experience as a beginner player in a similar situation to her but with a few momths of coaching.

I paid a lot of money for my first setup which was a Nittaku Acoustic and Fastarc rubbers. Had a few months of coaching with it and I thought I was developing well.

After going home for holidays I decided to play local league and discovered I had way better control with a slower setup after trying out different rubbers and an All+ blade. I literally could control a slower bat within 5 minutes of touching it after momths of coached training with my acoustic and Fastarc. I also had more fun using full swings for the first time.

After that I went to try to look for rubbers to slow down my blade. I bought Xiom Vega Intro ($25) and Yinhe Moon ($13) for BH since they are less fast and bouncy control rubbers. I can't tell the difference between the two at my level. On my FH, I went with Yinhe Mercury 2 which is like $6 a sheet. I enjoy it more than playing with Fastarc C1 and feel it's better suited for me learning full body techniques.

Maybe I'll reglue the Fastarc rubbers on my blade when I am more confident in my techniques, but that won't be for a while. I wouldn't recommend any $40 rubbers (especially on an Off carbon blade like W1) for a beginner and especially one where they've stated they want to keep the cost low.
​​​

Yes I agree, if not AK47, the Yinhe Moon Speed is also a very good choice for beginners and intermediate players.

 

[turbozed]

One more thing: wouldn't a 9 ply OFF rated carbon blade be way too fast for a beginner? I'm guessing when people say it has good control it's in the context of good players with a lot of experience playing with fast carbon blades, rather than for beginners.

 

[WingTT]

My suggestion is Xiom Vega Intro on both sides. Assuming that turbozed's setup is Yasaka Sweden Extra with XVI and Mercury, I have tried it and think the Mercury is just way too slow and the XIOM Vega Intro is just right. Heya, turbozed if that's you I played with at the local league.

 

[turbozed]

My suggestion is Xiom Vega Intro on both sides. Assuming that turbozed's setup is Yasaka Sweden Extra with XVI and Mercury, I have tried it and think the Mercury is just way too slow and the XIOM Vega Intro is just right. Heya, turbozed if that's you I played with at the local league.

Hey Wing. You're right that's me! I put a max sponge Mercury 2 on my Nittaku Acoustic and it's noticeably faster and spinnier, while being easy to control. I've been playing with that setup recently. The YSE with the 2.0mm sponge was definitely a bit slow.

The Xiom Vega Intro is okay but has developed some nicks in the top sheet despite only using it for a few weeks. I think the Yinhe Moon is almost the same despite being half the cost

 

[Gozo Aruna]

A newish player at our club wants to change from a pre-made bat to something better. She plays 3 hours a week and has a fair idea of the strokes, but she has reached the limit with her current bat.

She doesn't want to spend much so i am giving a cheapish Yinhe W1 blade (reviewed some years ago by Der Echte as a controlled looping blade) with one sheet of a year old MPX. Normally MPX would be too fast for her but i guess an old rubber will be OK for a while. Then she needs one decent quality rubber but not top of the range. Can anyone compare Vega Europe with Rozena, they are about the same price Vega a bit cheaper in UK. The Vega comes in 1.8 or 2.0. Another possible is Nittaku Fastarc. Any other rubber suggestions of similar price?

Thanks

1. Rozena.
2. Vega Europe.
3. Donic Bluefire M2.
4. Donic Baracuda.

 

[youngstt]

Thanks for the comments. I agree good to be able to get used to a longer swing without over hitting that a faster rubber may produce.

The blade was given to me lightly used without rubbers, i was told it wasn't too fast I have no use for it so was passing it on for free as the player doesn't want to spend much money. But i was surprised when you said it was 9 ply. My blade is 5 ply around the head with thick core then carbon then thin outer wood. But the handle has an extra 2 layers of a red wood making 7 ply. I looked on Yinhe site and it is listed as 9 ply, but i found photos online that match my blade with 5 ply. So now a bit confused !

I will find an old sheet of something and give it a hit today to see what it feels like. Then if it seems OK for an improver I will probably go for the Vega and then pass on and see what the player makes of it.

A couple of people mentioned Palio rubbers, but in our area of London i have never seen anyone use them. So will probably go for Vega as its more of a known quantity.

 

[enoxzr]

I'd like to suggest giving the Rasanter R48/R45 a try.
I personally dislike the Rozena's, been struggling with them a lot (but that might also be because of a wrong blade/rubber combination).

 

[mocker88]

From a premade cheap bat, almost everything is better. In my opinion, don't change too much. Go for something like a Sanwei - Accumulator S (Allround+ 5-ply wooden blade) with rubbers like 729 - Focus III Snipe 44deg, Palio - AK47 Yellow or Pimplepark - Epos 1.9mm. Then she'll have a blade that works for some years more and a very controllable and light weight rubber setup for practicing her technique, at a cost of £35-40 somewhere.

Newish? I guess that she's fairly new to the game when she's playing with a premade bat?

 

[Brs]

I vote for Rozena, excellent rubber to start. Vega Europe is okay but I wouldn't choose it over rozena, or even fastarc g1. Of the other rubbers mentioned baracuda is also very easily playable. I'd take the rozena first, baracuda second, fastarc g1, and vega only after that.

I wouldn't suggest chinese rubbers for the player you described.

 

[NextLevel]

Rozena is fine. I would vote for Fastarc C1 (not G1) - Baracuda is a good rubber, but its spin/speed ratio is very different from any rubbers so most people usually put it on a fast blade to compensate - on a slower blade, the compensations angles will be challenging.. C1 is relatively cheap and not as extreme IMHO.

 

[Manto76]

I vote for Rozena, excellent rubber to start. Vega Europe is okay but I wouldn't choose it over rozena, or even fastarc g1. Of the other rubbers mentioned baracuda is also very easily playable. I'd take the rozena first, baracuda second, fastarc g1, and vega only after that.

I'm surprised to see G-1 being mentioned in the same category as Rozena and Vega Euro.

I can't comment on Baracuda (as I've never used it) but the other two are 'easy-play' rubbers, whereas G-1 is a high-performance rubber.

It sounds like something along the lines of Vega Euro, Vega Asia, Fastarc C-1, Rozena, or any of about a dozen others in that category would meet the need.

 

[Manto76]

Seeing as you're in the UK, why not take a look at something like this? https://www.customtabletennis.co.uk...fensive-xiom-vega-asia-df-table-tennis-bat-2/

That's a decent price for that setup, and there are other options available if you look through the "Clearance" section.

 

[BobFL]

If we talk quality and durability than I would strongly suggest Rozena. Xiom Vega Europe is ok but far cry from Rozena quality in any given criteria. Rozena is a great rubber. Initially it is more expensive than other suggestions but it is more than worth it.

 

[Michael Zhuang]

Honestly just save yourself some money and get something like this:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802615394918.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.63.5d8d6d76ECnfDn&algo_pvid=6e67a086-993c-4a7d-9495-fd645be98c74&algo_exp_id=6e67a086-993c-4a7d-9495-fd645be98c74-31&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000022254038881%22%7D&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21USD%2145.98%2143.68%21%21%21%21%21%40211bf2da16727839071897939d0710%2112000022254038881%21sea&curPageLogUid=AhgoyHLtj6nn

or

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804726880076.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.61.5d8d6d76ECnfDn&algo_pvid=6e67a086-993c-4a7d-9495-fd645be98c74&algo_exp_id=6e67a086-993c-4a7d-9495-fd645be98c74-30&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000030997572277%22%7D&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21USD%2142.45%2134.38%21%21%21%21%21%40211bf2da16727839071897939d0710%2112000030997572277%21sea&curPageLogUid=4gidCe3fIHy9

I wouldn't call myself a beginner, I'm something like 1800 USATT but I still find my Palio rubbers to be some of my favorite rubbers to play with. Don't be deceived by the price, these are really really good rubbers.

 

[youngstt]

Thanks but i already have the blade Yinhe W1 and a used but OK sheet of MPX black so not looking for complete bat (but those are good prices). Decided to go for a sheet of red Vega Euro, from what i have heard its a good balance of price/performance.

 

[youngstt]

Seeing as you're in the UK, why not take a look at something like this? https://www.customtabletennis.co.uk...fensive-xiom-vega-asia-df-table-tennis-bat-2/

That's a decent price for that setup, and there are other options available if you look through the "Clearance" section.

Thats a great price. I will bear it in mind for future, but as mentioned i already have a blade and one used but good sheet of rubber, so not looking for complete bat. But it made me think as that bat has Vega Europe DF, is there much difference between that and normal Vega Europe ?

 

[Manto76]

... as that bat has Vega Europe DF, is there much difference between that and normal Vega Europe ?

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the DF ("Dynamic Friction") is the newer version which is supposed to have a grippier topsheet. To be honest, for a beginner player as you've described, I don't think it'll make much difference either way. If anything the regular Vega Euro might be a bit easier to play with if it's a bit less spin sensitive.