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D09c = Butterfly Dignics 09c
Z03 = Butterfly Zyre 03
H3 = DHS Hurricane 3
(Currently using H3 41º Orange Sponge Forehand and Dignics 09c Backhand on a Fan Zhendong ALC at a total weight of around 195g)
I enjoy reading this forum as a fit, taller player (182 and growing) with long limbs playing a Chinese playstyle. I can get the most quality in my strokes playing mid distance and really thin brush spinning the ball with Hurricane 3, but its to no avail as shorter players have far quicker footwork and recover faster. I like short arc low throw rubbers as I can control how the opponent responds, but as the videos say it's not so effective anymore (also on the world scene). I try to always put as much quality into the ball as I can and especially a lot of spin, but the longer recovery time due to longer limbs and H3 (and other factors) always is a reason for loss of points. I also enjoy playing aggressive at mid distance and is also very hard. Nowadays I play mostly close to the table and find it is more successful because power wins my points, but with a shorter arc rubber like h3 I struggle to flick and compete with the same speed compared to tensors. I used to use D05 and found it great for mid distance and close to table was also pretty balanced, but it struggled to really kill the ball. Lately its not been worth sacrificing recovery time for shot quality and its more about getting to the next ball and rallying. Quite often I twiddle to D09c on forehand striking a good balance of stability by actually getting the ball over the net when under pressure and just in general being able to spin and power through the ball (although a little bit limited in power). Yes the quality isn't as good as H3 in terms of max performance, but it gives that little bit extra speed over H3 (although I should probably boost more) and the spin difference whichever rubber I use doesn't really bother my opponents. Here the top ranked players all use D09c on both sides. With all that being said I like Z03. I can execute near the same quality on the ball as H3 without putting in as much effort. I dislike the slippage of thin brushing (as much as I love thin brushing I nowadays tend to find myself flat hitting more to be competitive and actually kinda prefer it since it isn't so taxing), but the power generation close to the table on both wings (although I still prefer D09c BH because I can feel the ball easier, how long I send it (sometimes not as is quite fast) and win points with power no matter how far from the table I am. I don't think control isn't that big of an issue other than pushes because it's not so desired anymore and gets refined with skill. (and controversial, but pushes are becoming increasingly less common). I don't say this all as a veteran player cause I'm certainly not and learning everyday, but I like to think I've watched enough TT through various generations and this is my observations from a different perspective. Currently I seek a forehand rubber with 80-90% the speed of Z03 (or even Z03 itself is fine, just a touch too fast), 80-90% the spin of H3 and recovery time of Z03 with a preferably tacky topsheet. The only thing Z03 lacks to be honest is that tacky topsheet, but I'm scared to say it sounds its becoming obsolete and grippy is the new in thing. (can we stop calling grippy topsheet hybrid please, it's so much ragebait). I think it will be tiresome to use lacking recovery, so it will need a lot of research, but with the release of Z03 a market has been created for a rubber in between D09c and Z03. The sweet spot. The closest I think I've heard is the niche YuanJian ZhanTian rubber by Lin Gaoyuan (review link) and I am eager to try it, although cannot yet afford it. It however does not solve the problem of being physically exhausting to use as a rubber that requires constant effort and has a throw angle near H3 alongside that?! Either that or boosted 09c (although I prefer harder rubbers that have longish durability). Or the new Donic Bluegrip D1. I don't know where to draw the line and I don't think there is a rubber that solves this niche problem I have. These rubbers also both have one thing in common, heavy weight. I like heavier rubbers for more power, but again are exhausting to use and sacrifice recovery time. There is also likely some thing I haven't considered with blades, I like my 91g Fan Zhendong ALC, but it can be fast at times, yet also lacking speed depending on the circumstance.
If anyone thinks they can solve my niche problem please let me know, I have done plenty of research and still feel stuck.
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