New Stiga Mantra Pro

[Scarfed Garchomp]

I recently bought a sheet of Mantra Pro and found it had a reverse curl. Should I have boosted it lightly once to make it flat? Or this is normal and won't affect the performance? I already glued it onto my blade by the way.

View attachment 33613

This is how they come. Just beware of shrinking if you take the rubber off after some usage

 

[po-stit]

Background

I've been playing since i was 9years old (I'm 35) with some pauses in between during college and early work. I've had a very traditional coach who taught me how to brush loop the first ball and "kill" the second ball even if that means going forehand on all the table. It's not unusual to score the point on the open loop because of spin. So considering all this my backhand is not the best. So, after the glue ban I've been struggling to find a decent backhand rubber that fits my game. Previously i was using sriver Fx and Bryce fx on the backhand with speed glue. Currently with my not so perfect backhand i struggled with receives and even blocks mid game. I was craving for a softish, low spin sensitivity and decent grip rubber but couldn't find anything that fit the bill. Ultimately I chose the Tenergy 80fx because it was the closest to my requirements. Backhand top spin and blocks were better but service receive was still a nightmare. The Tenergy 80fx sometimes felt too soft, too spin sensitive and with lower grip that i wanted.

I've tried many others including Rakza Z that i felt gave me some security and stability to my backhand on receives and touch play, however the high arc and the sudden "explosivity" of the rubber when i accelerate the ball didnt give me confidence. I was overshooting the table too many times.

I had this Mantra Pro M i ordered from aliexpress because of the low price and decided to give it a try. Oh my, why didnt i give it a shot before, this rubber is all i was asking and more. This is the first time after the glue ban that i've ever felt comfortable on my backhand again and even had fun.

"Review"

The rubber itself is not soft but plays like its a soft rubber with the benefits of a hard rubber. Im not sure why, maybe because the topsheet is soft but it definitely doesn't feel like a hard rubber. It has the stability of a hard sponge but have the dwell of a soft rubbers so the feeling with this rubber is nothing like i ever experienced, it's like the rubber grabs the ball and throws it in the right direction everytime, its unreal. Also it's not spin sensitive, i feel i can flick almost every shot. I think someone mentioned that the rubber is "supple" and i think it describes the feeling perfectly. In my opinion it's not a speed demon nor is the most spinny rubber ever but i do think the feeling, safety and the spin insensitivity gives me so much confidence that i can be more agressive.
The arch is medium low, at least is definitely lower than 09c and rakza z but i've never had any problem on placing the ball on the table. Lastly but not least, when i play a little bit harder the rubber as an amazing "clicky" sound. Not sure if thats the sponge bottoming out but i dont notice a drop in speed, at least for me.

For the price paid i think its the best rubber around, and to be honest if this rubber had another brand imprinted on it (Big B) im sure people will be using it more and giving raving reviews despite the "high price" in Europe. Don't get me wrong, im still using Tenergy 80/Dignics 80 and love it on forehand but im more curious to try the Hard or XH version of the Mantra Pro and see how it compares.

For reference i was using the Mantra M on a Harimoto SALC.

 

[doppelmoral]

I bought a sheet of Mantra Pro H during Aliexpress springsale for 27€ and tested it on the backhand side of my trusted AJH TMXi Pro.

Without going into much detail, this is one of the best if not the best rubber in terms of price-performance. It does everything very well without excelling in any department. It is just very balanced, good speed, good spin, easy to block, easy to receive. No wear of the topsheet after a few sessions.

If you are tired of EJ‘ing and just want to settle on a cheap rubber that has good performance, mantra pro H is perfect. It costs around 50€ in most shops in Europe, just saying

 

[tzifos]

I was a G-1 guy for years. I liked it (I still like it very much) but after trying Mantra Pro M 2.0mm I stuck with it. I can find it cheaper than G1, it lasts as long as G1 did, as fast as G1 in my VKM blade, spin about the same if not better than G1, and with lower throw than G1. It suits better my game and I can FH-chop better than with G1. Now I am a MantraProM guy

 

[doppelmoral]

Has anyone used both mantra pro m and etika 47 (both daiki rubbers) and can make a comparison?

 

[victorwei]

I have tried Pro H on my backhand of Stiga Danasty carbon Chinese penhold it feels soft. I have used the non-pro version of Mantra H it feels great. Anyway, I am a Chinese penholder with reverse backhand techniques.

 

[BlueInGreen]

I bought a sheet of Mantra Pro H during Aliexpress springsale for 27€ and tested it on the backhand side of my trusted AJH TMXi Pro.

Without going into much detail, this is one of the best if not the best rubber in terms of price-performance. It does everything very well without excelling in any department. It is just very balanced, good speed, good spin, easy to block, easy to receive. No wear of the topsheet after a few sessions.

If you are tired of EJ‘ing and just want to settle on a cheap rubber that has good performance, mantra pro H is perfect. It costs around 50€ in most shops in Europe, just saying

I have recently put on a sheet of Mantra Pro H (Violet) on my AJH TMXi Pro, and can confirm all of your descriptions.

Some background: the backhand has always been my weaker side, and I have never quite found a BH rubber that I'm fully confident in like I am with H3 on FH, especially on limba inner-carbon blades that I'm so fond of. Viscaria-type blades, in my personal experience, are far more comfortable on the BH side, making the set of viable BH rubbers for them much larger. Inner blades, though, tend to be more picky with rubbers. In the last 6 months I have experimented with Rasanter C53, Prov H3N 38° (boosted), H8-80 (both unboosted and boosted), and Sanwet Target National (soft 37° version for BH) and neither felt like a perfect fit. ESN-made rubbers can act too unpredictably for my taste and their durability tends to be iffy; H3 has superb spin and control, feels wonderful on perfectly-executed full swings, but I'm not good enough to be able to exploit that all the time, especially during match play. H8-80 felt like a compromise, allowing for easier access to speed, but its sponge didn't have the top-end power of H3 and the topsheet was much less tackier than H3, which didn't help with control. STN 37°, for the lack of a better word, was a rather weird rubber; It wasn't super tacky (couldn't really hold the ball in the air), but it was surprisingly spinny and in many shots it would feel very slow. Then it would sometimes become surprisingly quick (usually on loops), but not in the predictable way DHS rubbers tend to act — controlled on less powerful shots, powerful as you add more of your own power while adding spin.

So that journey led me to give another try to non-tacky BH rubbers, and so far (3 sessions in) it has gone pretty well. Mantra Pro H feels softer than 50°, is much easier to play and has sufficient power, nice feedback and a pleasant clicky sound on powerful hits, good control and stability, while being surprisingly linear for a grippy high-tension rubber. As expected, compared to Chinese tacky rubbers it requires more attention and a lighter touch in the serve/receive game to keep the ball tight, though it is manageable. The only shot that I am struggling with is the BH flick on short balls, as I'm more used to the feeling of a tacky rubber grabbing the ball for me and creating a safe arc. So far I have a tendency to overshoot on those shots, but I suspect that will eventually fix itself as I adapt more to Mantra Pro and adjust my technique to engage the sponge further on BH flicks.