NEW Gold Arc 9

[enoxzr]

Just glued my sheet of GA9 so thought I give some numbers.

I have a black sheet of GA9 37 hardness in 2.1 thickness. The bat I glued it too is a Dr. Neubauer Matador Texa Carbon, replacing a Friendship Bloom Power 45 as FH rubber, BH is a Yinhe Super Kim 1.1.

Full bat weight (no edge tape) was 166 with the Bloom Power and 165 grams with the GA9
GA9 sheet uncut weighed 66 grams, Bloom Power cut weight is 44 grams, so my guess is that the GA9 cut weighs 42~43 grams.

Overall feel compared with the Bloom Power, BP feels a bit firmer, mostly from the sponge, but they are quite close.
Topsheet of GA9 is thicker but seems quite soft/elastic.

Eager to try it out, kinda feels like I maybe need the 38 hardness for now!

 

[TTAntiPlayer]

Just glued my sheet of GA9 so thought I give some numbers.

I have a black sheet of GA9 37 hardness in 2.1 thickness. The bat I glued it too is a Dr. Neubauer Matador Texa Carbon, replacing a Friendship Bloom Power 45 as FH rubber, BH is a Yinhe Super Kim 1.1.

Full bat weight (no edge tape) was 166 with the Bloom Power and 165 grams with the GA9
GA9 sheet uncut weighed 66 grams, Bloom Power cut weight is 44 grams, so my guess is that the GA9 cut weighs 42~43 grams.

Overall feel compared with the Bloom Power, BP feels a bit firmer, mostly from the sponge, but they are quite close.
Topsheet of GA9 is thicker but seems quite soft/elastic.

Eager to try it out, kinda feels like I maybe need the 38 hardness for now!

I'm curious how you find it compared to BP. While waiting for my GA9 sheet to arrive, I threw the BP on my FH just for fun, but I liked it so much that I didn’t even want to switch to GA9.

 

[enoxzr]

I'm curious how you find it compared to BP. While waiting for my GA9 sheet to arrive, I threw the BP on my FH just for fun, but I liked it so much that I didn’t even want to switch to GA9.

Just played my first session with it and tbh I was unimpressed.

Played it FH and as expected compared against Bloom Power (and other tacky rubbers in general) the GA9 had less control over the table. Adjustment was okay on pushes, however I had great trouble adjusting on flips and other attacking strokes over the table. Also serves I was quick to adjust, but spin level was lower than BP, as expected. Fast serves, especially flat and deep, where a breeze.

The GA9 has a noticeable higher base speed, but does have a lot of top end speed. I feel like on bigger strokes BP can reach similar speed and something like a Battle 3 is definately faster.

What disappointed me most is that it lacked some fun playing with the rubber. Flat smashes are the only stroke I really got some joy from, other strokes were very mundane/okay.

I do see this rubber have a place for someone looking for a controlled BH rubber, as it doesn't have noticeable catapult, however your flip and flick technique should be on point, as the rubber doesn't help a lot in that regard.

I will be switching back to the BP as I have far more control over the table and foremost is an overall far more enjoyable rubber to play with.

 

[mr_rage]

Just played my first session with it and tbh I was unimpressed.

Played it FH and as expected compared against Bloom Power (and other tacky rubbers in general) the GA9 had less control over the table. Adjustment was okay on pushes, however I had great trouble adjusting on flips and other attacking strokes over the table. Also serves I was quick to adjust, but spin level was lower than BP, as expected. Fast serves, especially flat and deep, where a breeze.

The GA9 has a noticeable higher base speed, but does have a lot of top end speed. I feel like on bigger strokes BP can reach similar speed and something like a Battle 3 is definately faster.

What disappointed me most is that it lacked some fun playing with the rubber. Flat smashes are the only stroke I really got some joy from, other strokes were very mundane/okay.

I do see this rubber have a place for someone looking for a controlled BH rubber, as it doesn't have noticeable catapult, however your flip and flick technique should be on point, as the rubber doesn't help a lot in that regard.

I will be switching back to the BP as I have far more control over the table and foremost is an overall far more enjoyable rubber to play with.

Can you please rate it speed/rebound with some popular controlled BH rubber like Rozena, G1, Moon 12 ?

 

[enoxzr]

Can you please rate it speed/rebound with some popular controlled BH rubber like Rozena, G1, Moon 12 ?

I have some brief experience with Rozena and bit more with Moon 12 M- and M+.

Rozena is definately faster, most catapult of all three. I also think the least controlled of all three.

Moon 12 M- is a blocking monster, but lacks speed for an attacking BH. GA9 37 is faster and at least as controlled in all strokes except blocking.

Moon 12 M+ would be my pick out of all of them. Slightly more speed than GA9 37 I'd say, but it's close. Moon 12 M+ is a bit bouncier, but not in a bad way. Definately more fun to play than the GA9 37, with no large downsides to the GA9 37 in my eyes.

 

[mr_rage]

I have some brief experience with Rozena and bit more with Moon 12 M- and M+.

Rozena is definately faster, most catapult of all three. I also think the least controlled of all three.

Moon 12 M- is a blocking monster, but lacks speed for an attacking BH. GA9 37 is faster and at least as controlled in all strokes except blocking.

Moon 12 M+ would be my pick out of all of them. Slightly more speed than GA9 37 I'd say, but it's close. Moon 12 M+ is a bit bouncier, but not in a bad way. Definately more fun to play than the GA9 37, with no large downsides to the GA9 37 in my eyes.

Thank you for your reply,

I already use Moon 12 M- and correct as you told it's a blocking monster when defending power topspin, but the downside is need of more effort in normal drive or medium/long range blocking.

I think Moon 12 M+ is the better p/p than GA9 in considering same speed to compensate for the M-.

 

[TTAntiPlayer]

Just played my first session with it and tbh I was unimpressed.

Played it FH and as expected compared against Bloom Power (and other tacky rubbers in general) the GA9 had less control over the table. Adjustment was okay on pushes, however I had great trouble adjusting on flips and other attacking strokes over the table. Also serves I was quick to adjust, but spin level was lower than BP, as expected. Fast serves, especially flat and deep, where a breeze.

The GA9 has a noticeable higher base speed, but does have a lot of top end speed. I feel like on bigger strokes BP can reach similar speed and something like a Battle 3 is definately faster.

What disappointed me most is that it lacked some fun playing with the rubber. Flat smashes are the only stroke I really got some joy from, other strokes were very mundane/okay.

I do see this rubber have a place for someone looking for a controlled BH rubber, as it doesn't have noticeable catapult, however your flip and flick technique should be on point, as the rubber doesn't help a lot in that regard.

I will be switching back to the BP as I have far more control over the table and foremost is an overall far more enjoyable rubber to play with.

After spending a few hours playing with it (2.1mm 38), I’ve come to a similar conclusion as you. This rubber really should have been named GoldArc 6 It's slightly better than GoldArc 5 in terms of spin and grip, with maybe similar speed, but GoldArc 8 is on a whole different level. I feel like this rubber would suit lower-intermediate players better.

 

[TTAntiPlayer]

I’ve had the chance to spend more time with this rubber on my FH, paired with my stiff ZLC blade. After a couple of hours of play, it softened up a bit, and my impressions improved compared to the initial experience.
For me, it performs much better on a stiff ZLC blade than on the BSS1, which I used for the first testing.
In terms of speed and spin, it sits somewhere between GA 8 47 Mid and GA 8 47 Max. The throw angle is slightly higher, but the travel path is shorter, making it feel safer for my close to the table style.
Blocking is good, active blocks work better than passive ones. Serves are decent; I can generate good spin, but nothing extraordinary. Where this rubber really shines is smashing, it is really deadly.
Overall, this rubber can work well for close-to-table players who base their game on, solid blocking, fast drives and deadly smashes & occasional 3rd ball attacks. Away from the table it can lack power.

 

[TTAntiPlayer]

I had another short test session with this rubber, this time on my new Yinhe V-14 Pro. The goal was actually to test the blade, but it might be useful to share a few impressions in case someone finds it helpful.
Compared to when I used the rubber on the Nobilis ZLC blade, the performance in terms of speed and spin felt around 15– 20% lower on the V-14 Pro. The overall feeling was also a bit odd, not bad, but just didn’t feel quite right. This rubber really works best with stiffer blades. (or maybe I somehow got a fake V-14 Pro form Aliexpress )