Nittaku Hurricane 8-80 Power Review: Not What I Expected

[golden_son]

Only hit with it for an hour at most of BH loop practice, but my impression so far is that it feels remarkably similar to the Moon 12 Blue M- I just replaced on the same blade. Like if you handed both to me blindfolded I probably couldn't tell the difference. It was shockingly slower than I expected for having "Power" in the name. Maaaybe a little more pace on stronger shots than M12B, and I think a higher throw for sure, but the sponge hardness and spin level feel about the same.

I don't have a durometer, but a super-scientific finger squeeze test felt slightly softer than the 47.5°ESN Omega V Tour I have on the FH side, so I think it really is about 45 ESN, though much less lively than an ESN rubber. I'll probably keep it on that blade for a more controlled setup, but for a similar rubber I'd just spend $15 on Moon 12 Blue instead.

Anyway, I should have time to play some matches with it tomorrow so we'll see if my opinion changes any.

 

[victormanriquey]

I don't like it with or without a boost. High throw, mediocre grip, fragile sponge with limited range of gears. G09C is similar but much better.

Agreed on that!! I ll do a review of it soon, I guess of you are on a budget and look for a controlled chinese hybrid then is not bad

 

[victormanriquey]

I think i will definitely try this on forehand first, even though the soft sponge would not be something that i like there.
What i did notice at the robot was that there was significantly less speed/acceleration needed to loop the underspin ball, so a lazy swing was enough. I don't think that i would need that on the forehand though. With the forehand i go rather gung ho and have a developed a nice feeling for looping either soft or hard with different trajectories when using RZEH.

was even suprised that i was easily able to switch to the w968 with NH3TB from one training match to the other and did not need to consciously adjust my swing path for loops to land properly. Of course there was a little less height on the loops, but iirc they all cleared the net properly.

I am not really searching for a backhand rubber, but if the power type really "helps" me with my more lazy backhand, perhaps its gonna end up in there, but i can only test that in 2 weeks time, because my last match of the league is going to be in about 10 days, after that i can test around without fear of adjusting to a too different material.

Thanks for sharing again

And yeah, it feels more like a forehand rubber to me as well, there it was fineish, kinda like a Hurricane 8 boosted with a slightly softer feel. And indeed its fast haha

When you do the backhand testing let me know, I suspect you may not like it as much haha

 

[victormanriquey]

Only hit with it for an hour at most of BH loop practice, but my impression so far is that it feels remarkably similar to the Moon 12 Blue M- I just replaced on the same blade. Like if you handed both to me blindfolded I probably couldn't tell the difference. It was shockingly slower than I expected for having "Power" in the name. Maaaybe a little more pace on stronger shots than M12B, and I think a higher throw for sure, but the sponge hardness and spin level feel about the same.

I don't have a durometer, but a super-scientific finger squeeze test felt slightly softer than the 47.5°ESN Omega V Tour I have on the FH side, so I think it really is about 45 ESN, though much less lively than an ESN rubber. I'll probably keep it on that blade for a more controlled setup, but for a similar rubber I'd just spend $15 on Moon 12 Blue instead.

Anyway, I should have time to play some matches with it tomorrow so we'll see if my opinion changes any.

Now this is surprising, on what blade did you tested it? On my WCQ it feels considerably faster than the normal 8-80 at full swing

Also interesting to hear about Moon 12, I have not tried Moon 12 so much that I can say here, but then indeed, for the price of moon 12 better just do that haha

Yeah let us know after the games! Im curious how you feel the dwell and low throw in difficult match situations!

 

[jk1980]

after another session with the robot and the three rubbers RZEH, H8-80 '39, Nittaku H8-80 PowerType the results were somewhat to be expected.
In serves the H8-80 '39 and H8-80 Power Type fared nearly identical, but a hint lower in spin than my Rakza Z EH.
When performing a power loop against a nearly empty ball (probably somethign you would get back if you serve long float to a long pips blocker) the spin with both Hurricane 8-80 were similar and higher (123 rps) than what i achieved with Rakza Z EH (120rps), now the big difference was in end power. SPinsight measures the best power loop from the RZEH to have 48 km/h, while both H 8-80 reached only 42 and 43 respectively. For the power rating spinsight estimated the H8-80 '39 to have highscored with 95, H8-80 PowerType 94 and the RZEH only 92.
These power loops were all taken approximately half a meter away from the table on net hight (not higher), so without spin application it would go over the table.

To me these findings indicate that the power type might be an easier to activate H8-80 '39 (which would destine it to be a BH rubber). Unfortunately i can't test it as backhand rubber in matches, because on the other side of that racket is the '37 H8-80 which would be even worse on forehand

 

[Tiz]

Have you tried H8 37? If yes, how's the throw angle?

 

[jk1980]

i only tried it on backhand in a few training matches and can't say too much yet.

 

[golden_son]

Played a few matches with it today. For reference, the blade is a Donic Skachkov Carbon; Viscaria structure but a little softer feeling and slower, due to a difference in the carbon (aramid vs arylate). Funnily enough I found this thread  after my testing: https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/donic-skachkov-carbon.27795/

(I had G-1 on the FH until recently, as well!)

My conclusions are largely the same as yesterday's. I don't find the rubber fast at all, but it does have a decent spring to it with a more drive-y stroke. I think like most Chinese rubbers it's meant to be hit through, even with the softer sponge. On firm strokes it produces the same cracking sound as a tensioned rubber, but it just doesn't have the expected velocity. The lack of top speed I'm thinking I must attribute to the blade! I switched my FH to Xiom Omega V Tour, an older but by no means slow tensor, one I've had overshooting issues with on outer-carbon blades in the past, and it's a tame puppy on this blade. I'm beginning to think the Skachkov Carbon was developed to offer a softer, controlled foundation for the most offensive modern rubbers.

Short game is  excellent, as one would expect from a tacky rubber. The sponge doesn't pop the ball up at all, but it does make longer pushes easy. It's solid enough on BH flicks. Banana flicks and lifting underspin is harder, though to be honest I think some of that is due to the weight of the setup; at over 201g, I wasn't able to move my wrist as quickly. This affected topspin, too -- I often found shots going straight instead of crosscourt, and with less spin than intended.

To be honest I think I'd probably like it more on a harder blade, but it's also too heavy for my taste. I still think Moon 12 Blue performs similarly - maybe a little less deadly in the short game - but is cheaper and lighter.

 

[victormanriquey]

after another session with the robot and the three rubbers RZEH, H8-80 '39, Nittaku H8-80 PowerType the results were somewhat to be expected.
In serves the H8-80 '39 and H8-80 Power Type fared nearly identical, but a hint lower in spin than my Rakza Z EH.
When performing a power loop against a nearly empty ball (probably somethign you would get back if you serve long float to a long pips blocker) the spin with both Hurricane 8-80 were similar and higher (123 rps) than what i achieved with Rakza Z EH (120rps), now the big difference was in end power. SPinsight measures the best power loop from the RZEH to have 48 km/h, while both H 8-80 reached only 42 and 43 respectively. For the power rating spinsight estimated the H8-80 '39 to have highscored with 95, H8-80 PowerType 94 and the RZEH only 92.
These power loops were all taken approximately half a meter away from the table on net hight (not higher), so without spin application it would go over the table.

To me these findings indicate that the power type might be an easier to activate H8-80 '39 (which would destine it to be a BH rubber). Unfortunately i can't test it as backhand rubber in matches, because on the other side of that racket is the '37 H8-80 which would be even worse on forehand

Ah great info, this makes sense indeed, and then I do think, is it really a good BH rubber if the throw is so low, dwell is short, and hardness is on the higher side? That's why I wonder for who this rubber is for haha Maybe for advanced players who like hurricane 8 on their BH but want a bit more forgiving, but still I struggle to see it on BH.

 

[victormanriquey]

Have you tried H8 37? If yes, how's the throw angle?

Also pretty low like H8, it doesn't change radically. That's the main thing that is nice about H8 on FH but BH is a tough one to play with

 

[victormanriquey]

Short game is  excellent, as one would expect from a tacky rubber. The sponge doesn't pop the ball up at all, but it does make longer pushes easy. It's solid enough on BH flicks. Banana flicks and lifting underspin is harder

Yep this is my same feeling as well And indeed is quite heavy so that may put some players off.

 

[jk1980]

coming back from a "training" session with a few training matches where i only played two matches with the PowerType (on the forehand) it boils down to it being a very safe spin rubber. If i ever wanted to have a more controlled rubber that i can create good spin with and land a lot of shots onto the table without outpowering the opponent, then this would be a good enough rubber i guess. When warming up i twiddled the racked and played a few loops with the power type (instead of the 37° H8-80 that is on the BH on that blade) and the power type fellt a little firmer and nicer for the backhand.

Iirc my success rate looping with the '37 H8-80 with quite a bit higher than with the '39 H-8-80 that i got on my main blade. i am thinking about putting the '37 H8-80 onto my backhand on my main blade (unfortunately the PowerType has the wrong colour to be a fit there), but i will review my training footage first to confirm what i remember from the training was actually what was happening

 

[victormanriquey]

coming back from a "training" session with a few training matches where i only played two matches with the PowerType (on the forehand) it boils down to it being a very safe spin rubber. If i ever wanted to have a more controlled rubber that i can create good spin with and land a lot of shots onto the table without outpowering the opponent, then this would be a good enough rubber i guess. When warming up i twiddled the racked and played a few loops with the power type (instead of the 37° H8-80 that is on the BH on that blade) and the power type fellt a little firmer and nicer for the backhand.

Iirc my success rate looping with the '37 H8-80 with quite a bit higher than with the '39 H-8-80 that i got on my main blade. i am thinking about putting the '37 H8-80 onto my backhand on my main blade (unfortunately the PowerType has the wrong colour to be a fit there), but i will review my training footage first to confirm what i remember from the training was actually what was happening

Nice to hear man, so basically you enjoyed it on the forehand more (but can it replace a well boosted H3N is the question haha), but landed more shots on the BH with the 37 8-80, which is similar to what I experienced

Are you gonna keep the Power on any blade or more like it was fun but it will go away? haha

 

[jk1980]

reviewing 3 of the matches with the H8-80 '39 on the backhand (which i thought from memory to be the matches where i would fail more looping with the backhand) i saw that i actually was playing better with the '39 version of H8-80 than with the '37 version. So the thought of changing backhand rubbers on my main blade is canceled. Again, the power type was a "save" spinny rubber with a lower throw and lower speed than Rakza Z EH, but i don't even think that there might be that much of a difference between the '37 and the power type. Even the sponge colours are the same. What i don't remember is if the '37 sponge has this ripple pattern on the sponge. i saw it on one of the H8-80 but dont know which one. The Power Type does not have that pattern.

 

[victormanriquey]

reviewing 3 of the matches with the H8-80 '39 on the backhand (which i thought from memory to be the matches where i would fail more looping with the backhand) i saw that i actually was playing better with the '39 version of H8-80 than with the '37 version. So the thought of changing backhand rubbers on my main blade is canceled. Again, the power type was a "save" spinny rubber with a lower throw and lower speed than Rakza Z EH, but i don't even think that there might be that much of a difference between the '37 and the power type. Even the sponge colours are the same. What i don't remember is if the '37 sponge has this ripple pattern on the sponge. i saw it on one of the H8-80 but dont know which one. The Power Type does not have that pattern.

Interesting! Funny how always in TT there are so many nuances and different preferences haha it can perfectly be that for your blade and style the power fits better!

I ll check for the ripple sponge, i have them both without glueing in a cupboard

 

[Denso]

Thanks for the review, Victor. I have been waiting for this one since I hoped that it could be a replacement for my D09c on BH.

I love the D09c, but in the recent months, I have had some trouble with a tennis elbow and I am now looking for a BH rubber which is a bit more dynamic than the 09C to allow for a shorter arm movement. Ideally, the rubber should have a bit more speed at low impact while still having a high control for short ball exchanges due to a higher stickiness (which rules out the D05) - at the expense of top speed at high impact. Initially, the Nittaku 8-80 characteristics seemed to fit this description, but based on your review I guess that the characteristics (e.g. low throw) will be too different from the 09c...

 

[victormanriquey]

Thanks for the review, Victor. I have been waiting for this one since I hoped that it could be a replacement for my D09c on BH.

I love the D09c, but in the recent months, I have had some trouble with a tennis elbow and I am now looking for a BH rubber which is a bit more dynamic than the 09C to allow for a shorter arm movement. Ideally, the rubber should have a bit more speed at low impact while still having a high control for short ball exchanges due to a higher stickiness (which rules out the D05) - at the expense of top speed at high impact. Initially, the Nittaku 8-80 characteristics seemed to fit this description, but based on your review I guess that the characteristics (e.g. low throw) will be too different from the 09c...

Thanks @Denso ! Yeah I would not go that way here

What you are saying makes me think of a european tensor like bluegrip or nuzn, but if you want tacky, then something like jupiter asia 3 ( or, wildcard, loki arthur china boosted), they may surprise you as they are budget rubbers but perform well! Will be very different than D09c but share similarities!

It'd be better if I see a video of you playing because maybe technique has to change too, likely this is the case

 

[Denso]

Thanks @Denso ! Yeah I would not go that way here

What you are saying makes me think of a european tensor like bluegrip or nuzn, but if you want tacky, then something like jupiter asia 3 ( or, wildcard, loki arthur china boosted), they may surprise you as they are budget rubbers but perform well! Will be very different than D09c but share similarities!

It'd be better if I see a video of you playing because maybe technique has to change too, likely this is the case

Thanks for the tips. I'm still in the recovery phase, so no videos anytime soon. :-(
I already played the LAC for some time, but did not like it too much. Besides, I'd like to avoid boosting. I suspect that going the tensor route might be the way to go. As far as technique is concerned, adapting to tensors in the serve-receive and short game will be the biggest challenge.