Pro versions of rubber vs commercial versions

[Bz26]

Hello,
It's pretty much a given that a pro gets to choose his preferred weight and thickness of a rubber, but other than that are their any other differences or enhancements for either the topsheet or the sponge (and if yes in what way) compared to the corresponding commercial version of the rubber.

Yes yes i know most non professional players woudn't need them anyway, but it woul be very interesting to find out about this topic regardless, any info would be very much aprreciated.

Thank you.
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[Der_Echte]

Oh No !! Look out !! Carl gunna need to duck the Goon Squad again when these kind of threads pop up.

 

[BobFL]

Weight, thickness yes but do not forget the hardness. They are perfectly matched, red and black. If you buy them off the shelf they can easily be 4 degrees apart which is a big deal.
Top pro players can have matched sponge and top sheet. For example Aruna used to have matched very hard sponge with maxxx-p top sheet.
And finally they can print anything on the rubber if they want to market that particular product i.e. Dignics rebranded Tenergy rubber etc.

 

[brokenball]

Or you could do what ThePushBlocker would do. He would buy up to 10 sheets of Long Pips and chose one to play with. This didn't make sense to me though.
I seriously doubt the pros get something special. There are already so many variations of rubber as it is.
I still want to know what spin or speed that one rubber can generate than another can't. No one has attempted to answer this question in many years.

 

[brokenball]

Is that a trick question; as in it’s not the rubber that generates the spin but rather the player? If it’s not such a trick question then give Ma Long a blade with Long Pips on both sides and let’s see him loop with those rubbers as well as he does with his normal blade.

OK, I should have specified normal inverted. Obviously "frictionless" anti can't loop or chop.

 

[igorponger]

[size=+2] Just weigh it all [/size]

It is a common knowledge with all the advanced players -- sameness of weights on rubber sheets will always imply sameness of rubber hardness and thickness. Timo Boll's sponsoring agreement with @Tamasu Butterfly has a provision that the sponsor should invariably supply rubbers of 84 grammes each in factory pack.

Be happy/

 

[SFF_lib]

I can only speak for the H3 variants which I have used for more than 10 years.

You are correct that professionals get to choose or even customise their rubbers down to 0.5 in hardness.

The professional rubber has the highest quality costing >$100

The next level down is the National H3 costing $70. This rubber is amazing and can easily last for 52 sessions of 3 hours.

The next level is provincial H3. This is good enough for all amateurs. Can easily last for 36 sessions.

All the above versions are very very close to the indicated sponge hardness.

The bottom level is the commercial H3. Sponge hardness is within + and - 2 degrees of the indicated hardness

 

[Michael Zhuang]

I can only speak for the H3 variants which I have used for more than 10 years.

You are correct that professionals get to choose or even customise their rubbers down to 0.5 in hardness.

The professional rubber has the highest quality costing >$100

The next level down is the National H3 costing $70. This rubber is amazing and can easily last for 52 sessions of 3 hours.

The next level is provincial H3. This is good enough for all amateurs. Can easily last for 36 sessions.

All the above versions are very very close to the indicated sponge hardness.

The bottom level is the commercial H3. Sponge hardness is within + and - 2 degrees of the indicated hardness

haha. Couldn't DHS charge 10% more for the commercial H3 to have a bare minimum QC guy to make sure the hardness is mostly accurate?

 

[Der_Echte]

Somewhere in New York City, some TTD Admin with a seriously advanced spyphone just sent out an alert for some random people to do some random things right at a certain point... someone deposits what looks like a pile of used rubbers in front of some steps somewhere in Brooklyn... an attractive young lady scantily clad is rummaging on the ground behind a pile of unauthorized National and pro version rubbers to attract the Goon Squad... somewhere on the 3rd floor of an obscure apartment called krackhouse 13, Carl has a full audio/video surveillance system going and his finger on the button to activate the trap door when the Goonies are just in the right place to slide them down the chute into the dark deep basement septic tank for a week stay with the London sewer rats.

WHY did I say all of that ??? Search and read the Pro and National rubber threads from 2013-2015 and read all about it.

 

[lodro]

Somewhere in New York City, some TTD Admin with a seriously advanced spyphone just sent out an alert for some random people to do some random things right at a certain point... someone deposits what looks like a pile of used rubbers in front of some steps somewhere in Brooklyn... an attractive young lady scantily clad is rummaging on the ground behind a pile of unauthorized National and pro version rubbers to attract the Goon Squad... somewhere on the 3rd floor of an obscure apartment called krackhouse 13, Carl has a full audio/video surveillance system going and his finger on the button to activate the trap door when the Goonies are just in the right place to slide them down the chute into the dark deep basement septic tank for a week stay with the London sewer rats.

WHY did I say all of that ??? Search and read the Pro and National rubber threads from 2013-2015 and read all about it.

Great story, and i noticed you are using the same system of all great writers.
Which reminds me of a story by the late great Frank Zappa who said " Just to make it more interesting , a succulent young lady with the taste for the bizarre

 

[latej]

an attractive young lady scantily clad is rummaging on the ground behind a pile of unauthorized National

S... Did you say National?

 

[brokenball]

Even if we’re only talking about normal inverted, there would still be blades that Ma Ling couldn’t generate the same speed and spin with because of the rubbers...though the difference would be much less of course. Imagine giving Ma Long a blade with two sheets of Sriver attached. He’d still be able to play exceptionally well with it, but it would lack the speed and spin of his normal set-up.

How much extra spin and speed? Is that extra spin and speed important? If so why not make even faster rubbers and blades? Have you ever played with a Joola R1*. It is the fastest paddle I have played with. It is fast. too fast for me. Read the reviews. Why don't the pros use it if the speed at the margins is so important?
For normal play the ball is not moving at 30+m/s or the spin is not 150 rev/sec. Getting the two at the same time is impossible given limitations of arm speed.
Do the pros have good control when swinging the fastest they can? There is such a thing as too fast.

There is a "goldilocks" zone for speed and spin. The same goes for too hard or too soft.

 

[lodro]

S... Did you say National?

No silly, pay attention please, he said " Scantily clad attractive young lady " 🤣

 

[lodro]

How much extra spin and speed? Is that extra spin and speed important? If so why not make even faster rubbers and blades? Have you ever played with a Joola R1*. It is the fastest paddle I have played with. It is fast. too fast for me. Read the reviews. Why don't the pros use it if the speed at the margins is so important?
For normal play the ball is not moving at 30+m/s or the spin is not 150 rev/sec. Getting the two at the same time is impossible given limitations of arm speed.
Do the pros have good control when swinging the fastest they can? There is such a thing as too fast.

There is a "goldilocks" zone for speed and spin. The same goes for too hard or too soft.

agreed. and that is why so many pros have moved to " Inner-layers"