Hi Synapse,
there have been excellent answers already by
@UpSideDownCarl and
@NextLevel, but I still would like to share my advice with you.
When I picked up table tennis again a few years ago, I used to think like you. Not wanting the easy way, but the proper way, learning with h3 and getting great fundamentals that will bring long term benefit. I did not really have a coach except like once per month so I played with h3 for about 18 months and taught myself by asking other players in my facility or by watching youtube videos etc.
I dont know your playing level but you sound like you are a beginner who is still mastering basic techniques. Let me tell you, h3 is a very demanding rubber that is meant to be boosted. Without boosting, you cannot even experience the true potential of the rubber, and everyone who plays on a higher level is boosting. Boosting is also very annoying because you have to do it quite often, and its not easy to get the same results everytime.
Now, in table tennis, it is difficult to learn the proper movements, footwork and stroke mechanics, especially if you dont start at a young age. People like me who relearned the game in their 20s need alot of time to figure the details out, and it is very easy to do things the wrong way and form bad habits. That is why having a coach or good players around you is very important. If I look back at my journey, I did improve alot with h3 and it also taught me how to really impact the ball properly. However, now thinking back, I dont think its a wise decision at all to start your journey with these rubbers.
The thing is, for most players that I know (including me), it is VERY difficult to bring out the maximum potential of h3. You need a really good acceleration and a strong impact + great brushing motion to create the truly dangerous balls. For example, when I play 60-70% or lower effort shots with h3 the quality in terms of spin/speed is inferior in comparison with the best tensor rubbers. We still use h3 because it is so damn good in serve-receive and that is probably the most important aspect of table tennis. Once you actually master how to properly impact + brush, you quickly realize that looping with h3 close to the table is so much work because you need this crazy acceleration or the feedback from the sponge is just crap, while the spin is truly mediocre.
What I am trying to say is, especially without coaches, it will take a long time to just learn the fundamentals of the game. h3 does not help to learn the fundamentals faster but kind creates bad habits at times because new players really fight the ball to somehow get it over the net. I would recommend to use normal tensor rubbers that are popular like fastarc g1, get a coach and go from there. There is an argument to make that you will improve faster with tensor rubbers because you can focus more on learning the fundamentals while the rubber supports you doing that instead of working against you. Once I got better and felt confident in my skills and techniques, I realized that h3 is nothing special unless you boost alot (then its the best, but such a nuisance). If you really insist on h3, boost on fh but use a tensor rubber on the backhand side.
I know a bunch of higher rated amateurs that practise really hard, and they boost their h3s ALOT. In my case, I also often practise 4-5 times per week, and outside of serve-receive I am theoretically much better off with another rubber because it is just not easy to make it work. I already struggled to put third ball attacks behind my opponent because I was not fast enough the get into perfect position to make a very fast ball.
Basically, I dont want to discourage you from using h3 but atleast I wanted to offer you another perspective on it. For most amateurs, it is not a magical rubber that you will create insane spin with if you just practise hard enough.
