Skyline 2 vs Skyline 3

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I am using Skyline 2 unboosted right now and for pure spin, I prefer it to Hurricane 3. Well the spin is one thing, but the pushes and the control on touch shots and pushes is amazing.

Does anyone know how Skyline 3 compares? I am thinking a bit about looking for something faster for blocking and countering on my backhand and wondering whether Sklyine 3 is more of the same or somewhat different?
 
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I am using Skyline 2 unboosted right now and for pure spin, I prefer it to Hurricane 3. Well the spin is one thing, but the pushes and the control on touch shots and pushes is amazing.

Does anyone know how Skyline 3 compares? I am thinking a bit about looking for something faster for blocking and countering on my backhand and wondering whether Sklyine 3 is more of the same or somewhat different?
I recalled you have knee arthritis and now you are using Skyline, the king of ultra low throw rubber. NL, I didn't know you are into self torture.
 
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TG3 is kind of in-between TG2 and H3. A bit more aggressive than TG2 but definitely has the 'Skyline dna' of being deader and lower/shorter arc than H3. TG2 is definitely the best DHS rubber in terms of sheer spin capacity and short/table game control though
 
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I am using Skyline 2 unboosted right now and for pure spin, I prefer it to Hurricane 3. Well the spin is one thing, but the pushes and the control on touch shots and pushes is amazing.

Does anyone know how Skyline 3 compares? I am thinking a bit about looking for something faster for blocking and countering on my backhand and wondering whether Sklyine 3 is more of the same or somewhat different?

I play with Skyline 2 on both sides of my main setup, with blue sponge black rubber on the forehand. I also prefer it to Hurricane 3. My alternative setup is a Ma Lin Extra Offensive blade with Skyline 3 (blue sponge) FH and Tibhar Hybrid K3 BH.

Skyline 3 definitely has a lower throw angle than Skyline 2. I think it's also really good for creating a lot of spin with a very short stroke. Good for flicking. I think it's equally controlled as Skyline 2 (but qualitatively different) in the short game. Really good for drop shots. When I built the Ma Lin setup I initially intended for Skyline 3 to be the forehand rubber, but I twiddled my racket and am liking it more on the backhand, honestly. (Tibhar Hybrid K3 is pretty nice on the forehand, too.)

My next setup, once these rubbers wear out, will be:
Stiga Dynasty Carbon blade
Red Skyline 2 forehand
Black Skyline 3 (blue sponge) backhand

The Skyline 3 black rubber with blue sponge feels so good on the RPB (and also handshake backhand, I play both). You should give it a try, I really enjoy it. Are you a penholder?
 
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I play with Skyline 2 on both sides of my main setup, with blue sponge black rubber on the forehand. I also prefer it to Hurricane 3. My alternative setup is a Ma Lin Extra Offensive blade with Skyline 3 (blue sponge) FH and Tibhar Hybrid K3 BH.

Skyline 3 definitely has a lower throw angle than Skyline 2. I think it's also really good for creating a lot of spin with a very short stroke. Good for flicking. I think it's equally controlled as Skyline 2 (but qualitatively different) in the short game. Really good for drop shots. When I built the Ma Lin setup I initially intended for Skyline 3 to be the forehand rubber, but I twiddled my racket and am liking it more on the backhand, honestly. (Tibhar Hybrid K3 is pretty nice on the forehand, too.)

My next setup, once these rubbers wear out, will be:
Stiga Dynasty Carbon blade
Red Skyline 2 forehand
Black Skyline 3 (blue sponge) backhand

The Skyline 3 black rubber with blue sponge feels so good on the RPB (and also handshake backhand, I play both). You should give it a try, I really enjoy it. Are you a penholder?
Not a penholder, two winged shakehand looper. I coincidentally just tried my first sheet of blue sponge DHS rubber for Hurricane 3 and all I can say is wow, what a livelier sponge topsheet combination. I am going to start with two sheets of Skyline 3 then I might end up where you are since there doesn't seem to be a Skyline 2 blue sponge. But if there is let me know, very likely I would try that.

Note: just realized there is a Skyline 2 blue sponge, man too much stuff to test. But I will test Blue sponge of Skyline 2 and 3 at some point in the future and I suspect I will be Skyline 2 forehand, Skyline 3 blue sponge backhand since I like red on forehand and I also like more spin in my backhand rubber ans more control in my forehand rubber.
 
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there doesn't seem to be a Skyline 2 blue sponge

There is a Skyline 2 blue sponge, but it's harder to find. You can get it on prott.vip . Blue sponge only comes with black rubber -- there's no red rubber with a blue sponge. So if you want to have a legal racket, you can only use blue sponge on one side. Typically, the Chinese players will use blue sponge on the forehand. I'm starting to think that blue sponge works better on the backhand -- but I am a backhand-dominant player so this influences my perspective. I also plan on trying blue sponge Skyline 2 on my backhand after Skyline 3.

Side note: not sure if you've tried the new Xuperman rubber. I found it very nice on the forehand but didn't think it was amazing on the backhand.
 
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There is a Skyline 2 blue sponge, but it's harder to find. You can get it on prott.vip . Blue sponge only comes with black rubber -- there's no red rubber with a blue sponge. So if you want to have a legal racket, you can only use blue sponge on one side. Typically, the Chinese players will use blue sponge on the forehand. I'm starting to think that blue sponge works better on the backhand -- but I am a backhand-dominant player so this influences my perspective. I also plan on trying blue sponge Skyline 2 on my backhand after Skyline 3.

Side note: not sure if you've tried the new Xuperman rubber. I found it very nice on the forehand but didn't think it was amazing on the backhand.
Haven't tried that much stuff, still working out a few things. Unboostef DHS stuff is still new, but for my attack first playing style it makes sense, there is work to be done for the countering but I will give it a run for a while.
 
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There is a Skyline 2 blue sponge, but it's harder to find. You can get it on prott.vip . Blue sponge only comes with black rubber -- there's no red rubber with a blue sponge. So if you want to have a legal racket, you can only use blue sponge on one side. Typically, the Chinese players will use blue sponge on the forehand. I'm starting to think that blue sponge works better on the backhand -- but I am a backhand-dominant player so this influences my perspective. I also plan on trying blue sponge Skyline 2 on my backhand after Skyline 3.

Side note: not sure if you've tried the new Xuperman rubber. I found it very nice on the forehand but didn't think it was amazing on the backhand.
How do you effectively block with pace with Skyline 2? Is Skyline 3 better for this?
 
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How do you effectively block with pace with Skyline 2? Is Skyline 3 better for this?
I think Skyline 3 is slightly better for blocking. It's a bit faster, but the throw angle is a bit lower, meaning that you can block with a more open racket.

I think it's also easier to counterattack with Skyline 3, especially against heavy topspin. You need to be careful not to close your racket too much, but if you're counterattacking heavy topspin you can angle down a bit and it feels very controlled to put the ball back on the table.
 
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Not a penholder, two winged shakehand looper. I coincidentally just tried my first sheet of blue sponge DHS rubber for Hurricane 3 and all I can say is wow, what a livelier sponge topsheet combination. I am going to start with two sheets of Skyline 3 then I might end up where you are since there doesn't seem to be a Skyline 2 blue sponge. But if there is let me know, very likely I would try that.

Note: just realized there is a Skyline 2 blue sponge, man too much stuff to test. But I will test Blue sponge of Skyline 2 and 3 at some point in the future and I suspect I will be Skyline 2 forehand, Skyline 3 blue sponge backhand since I like red on forehand and I also like more spin in my backhand rubber ans more control in my forehand rubber.

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/dhs-fans-unite.28518/post-412704
I hit with someone's Skyline 2 in the club yesterday. Very interesting rubber. Really tempted to try it.

DHS:
QF8pvX3.jpg
 
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Going to take more than one day to be sure, but so far, Skyline 3 is exactly what I need. Tempted to go to it on both sides but I did well with it on either forehand and backhand with Hurricane 3 blue sponge on the other side. The main thing they both did reasonable well, the Skyline 3 better, was to allow me to block and not let the ball feel as of the opponent had forever to return the ball, which was my experience with Skyline 2. With Skyline 2, I never missed the block, but my opponent just had too much time to pressure me. With this, the opponent has just a bit less time, which I can accept even if it isn't ideal. But the other stuff (countering, looping) is just tight as well, might miss some openings but I know how to fix that (or compensate) with technique.
 
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Long term user of TG2, until the recent removal of tack by DHS.

TG3 has significantly longer and thinner pimple structure vs TG2.

TG3 is good for speed and is very linear.

TG2 might feel dead with low to medium impact. But that can turn into your advantage in short game. Once hit through, TG3 produces superior spin and speed
 
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Long term user of TG2, until the recent removal of tack by DHS.

TG3 has significantly longer and thinner pimple structure vs TG2.

TG3 is good for speed and is very linear.

TG2 might feel dead with low to medium impact. But that can turn into your advantage in short game. Once hit through, TG3 produces superior spin and speed
What did you replace your TG2 with? Everything is still tacky just not extremely so...
 
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The non-neo version of TG2 is still pretty tacky.

TG3 is really nice on the backhand but I'm not sure I'd go for it on the forehand. Like SFF_lib says, TG2 can be advantageous in the short game because you can hit very slowly and close to the net. I think TG2 also has higher speed when you're hitting as hard as you can. In my experience, TG3 doesn't have that same speed at the top end -- you can't really do Ma Lin's signature "loop-kill" with it. You can get a fast hit with medium effort, but it just doesn't have the same explosive pop at the high end.

This might just be my experience as a penholder, though. Maybe handshake grip is different?
 
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The non-neo version of TG2 is still pretty tacky.

TG3 is really nice on the backhand but I'm not sure I'd go for it on the forehand. Like SFF_lib says, TG2 can be advantageous in the short game because you can hit very slowly and close to the net. I think TG2 also has higher speed when you're hitting as hard as you can. In my experience, TG3 doesn't have that same speed at the top end -- you can't really do Ma Lin's signature "loop-kill" with it. You can get a fast hit with medium effort, but it just doesn't have the same explosive pop at the high end.

This might just be my experience as a penholder, though. Maybe handshake grip is different?
I am still in the honeymoon phase. I have two blades with Skyline 3 on BH. I had H3 BS on the forehand of one and just replaced the Skyline 2 on both sides with one side on Skyline 3. I intend to play a bit with the Skyline 2/3 combination and twiddle. While I don't twiddle during points, I think Skyline 2 has the advantage of been very reliable when blocking, the problem is that it just pops up the ball. I also suspect, though I might be wrong, that counterlooping is easier with Skyline 3 for many balls. But the experiments will continue and I will form my opinion. I have been playing with the H3 BS and Skyline 3 combo during my last two practices, but I am yet to play opposition at a level that forces me to see what happens against really heavy topspin. But in general again, the blocking of the Skyline 3 is a major improvement and while I am generally a spin based player, if I can consistently attack with the Skyline 3, I don't think the loopkill third ball is everything, countering players who bring my balls back is equally important. But I am using a really thick ALC blade.

The best part of my current setup is the weight. Because I don't boost, the setups are fairly light relative to what I usually use and are in the 180-190g range. That's not going to change any time soon until I get frustrated again, but I would argue I just have to expand my style since I have a lot of control with the rubbers. And one of the best parts of the Skyline 3 is that I still get ridiculous backhand spin with lower arc so I am IMHO drawing more errors on the block.
 
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this thread tempted me to come back to my favorite rubber 10 years ago - TG3 neo market

View attachment 30296

i used skyline 3 (non-neo commercial) back when i played jpen

im very happy at the moment with my reactor thunder but now im tempted to revisit skyline 3 bc of this thread too :ROFLMAO:

maybe try skyline 2 as well
 
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i used skyline 3 (non-neo commercial) back when i played jpen

im very happy at the moment with my reactor thunder but now im tempted to revisit skyline 3 bc of this thread too :ROFLMAO:

maybe try skyline 2 as well
I played a session with the TG3 neo market today, gotta ditch it now because the orange sponge on FH is very lacking in power :cry:
 
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