Soft Sticky?

[golden_son]

I have a friend who is a low-rated allround type player. He's currently using a Yasaka Sweden Extra with H3 Provincial 38' on FH and 8-80 37' on BH but claims he wants something softer, for "more control." I was a little confounded by this request at first since these rubbers already have excellent control, but I think ultimately what he's looking for is a better middle gear without having to loop-drive everything deeper than half-long, and more consistent blocking, even at the expense of top-end speed. He's hooked on the idea of "sticky" rubber though (hence the current sheets).

I think switching 8-80 37' to the FH could work for him, and I've encouraged him to try this out with his current setup, but based on playing with him I do think he'd benefit from a softer BH. Are there any tacky Chinese rubbers (or hybrids, I suppose) in the ESN 42° range? (DHS 36' I'd guess?) Bonus points if I can tell him "it's the stickiest rubber on the market, bro." 😂

Boosting also would probably but I'm basically his "equipment guy" and I ain't got time to be boosting someone else's rubbers 😆.

 

[Snek]

Victas Triple Regular 42,5 esn degree, sticky(can lift ball) and not tensor(not a pure chinese rubber either). Good allround rubber.

 

[mocker88]

Pimplepark - Epos is quite tacky and softer. Around 36-40deg. Mild catapult.
729 - Phoenix is soft, tacky and easy to play with.
Giant Dragon - Storm Soft is really tacky, not that fast and really not that soft either.
Yinhe - Mars III Euro is semi tacky and a soft rubber with some nice bounce.
Yinhe - Big Dipper 38deg. Semi tacky and not that bouncy as H8-80.

If he doesn't have the best backhand technique, I don't think that tacky should be a must. I think he could check out these as well.

729 - Focus III Snipe 42/44deg. Soft and grippy, light weight. High control.
Yinhe - Moon 12 Green/Blue. Super control, block and grip. Green is slower than Blue, and four different hardnesses in both.

I played with Big Dipper for 3-4 years BH and when I found Moon 12 Blue and Green, I played about two years with these. I feel that they suited me better on BH. Experimenting with others now over summer, but I might go back to my green and blue rubbers again

 

[golden_son]

Pimplepark - Epos is quite tacky and softer. Around 36-40deg. Mild catapult.
729 - Phoenix is soft, tacky and easy to play with.
Giant Dragon - Storm Soft is really tacky, not that fast and really not that soft either.
Yinhe - Mars III Euro is semi tacky and a soft rubber with some nice bounce.
Yinhe - Big Dipper 38deg. Semi tacky and not that bouncy as H8-80.

If he doesn't have the best backhand technique, I don't think that tacky should be a must. I think he could check out these as well.

729 - Focus III Snipe 42/44deg. Soft and grippy, light weight. High control.
Yinhe - Moon 12 Green/Blue. Super control, block and grip. Green is slower than Blue, and four different hardnesses in both.

I played with Big Dipper for 3-4 years BH and when I found Moon 12 Blue and Green, I played about two years with these. I feel that they suited me better on BH. Experimenting with others now over summer, but I might go back to my green and blue rubbers again

I've seen Moon 12 mentioned a handful of times across various forums recently. Is the green/blue a rubber color, or a difference in sponge?

Seeing the Yinhe recommendations made me think... Maybe I ought to just slap a Mercury II on one side and Mercury II Soft on the other and see what he says. For ~$10 total it'd either be valuetown or no big loss.

 

[Sherpa]

Rakza Z is sticky, durable and has plenty of control

 

[greenbeanmachine]

Skyline 3-60 comes in DHS 35 degrees, and I think Hurricane 3-50 does too.

 

[FaguoLong]

KTL Pro XP or Pro XT

 

[mocker88]

I've seen Moon 12 mentioned a handful of times across various forums recently. Is the green/blue a rubber color, or a difference in sponge?

Seeing the Yinhe recommendations made me think... Maybe I ought to just slap a Mercury II on one side and Mercury II Soft on the other and see what he says. For ~$10 total it'd either be valuetown or no big loss.

The green/blue is the color of the rubber. The sponge has the same white/yellow color in all variants.
Mercury II is really nice and much rubber for the money. It's like a slower Big Dipper with really good spin and tackiness.

 

[Angerer]

I have a friend who is a low-rated allround type player. He's currently using a Yasaka Sweden Extra with H3 Provincial 38' on FH and 8-80 37' on BH but claims he wants something softer, for "more control." I was a little confounded by this request at first since these rubbers already have excellent control, but I think ultimately what he's looking for is a better middle gear without having to loop-drive everything deeper than half-long, and more consistent blocking, even at the expense of top-end speed. He's hooked on the idea of "sticky" rubber though (hence the current sheets).

I think switching 8-80 37' to the FH could work for him, and I've encouraged him to try this out with his current setup, but based on playing with him I do think he'd benefit from a softer BH. Are there any tacky Chinese rubbers (or hybrids, I suppose) in the ESN 42° range? (DHS 36' I'd guess?) Bonus points if I can tell him "it's the stickiest rubber on the market, bro." 😂

Boosting also would probably but I'm basically his "equipment guy" and I ain't got time to be boosting someone else's rubbers 😆.

Rasanter R37 the G.O.A.T.

 

[tzifos]

There is also Yasaka Bolo Dragon in medium hardness that may suit you. Very tacky!

 

[golden_son]

Rakza Z is sticky, durable and has plenty of control

Good rubber, too hard for him.

KTL Pro XP or Pro XT

Wow, what a throwback. My first custom bat was LKT Pro XT + Sriver EL on a Butterfly VSG21-4000. (I still have the blade...on a shelf.) That's definitely a celluloid-era rubber but I do remember it being quite tacky. Hmm...

Skyline 3-60 comes in DHS 35 degrees, and I think Hurricane 3-50 does too.

How does Skyline differ from the Hurricane line, generally? I take it the H3-50 is the same H3 topsheet but with softer sponge options?

Rasanter R37 the G.O.A.T.

I love R42, but it's a grippy rubber, not tacky. Honestly these are probably great options. Not sure if I can get my friend off the "sticky" train, though. And Chinese rubbers are so cheap, it's easier to experiment...

 

[boretennis]

I take it the H3-50 is the same H3 topsheet but with softer sponge options?

yes, H3 topsheet with softer sponge, a bit softer & more porous than 8-80 sponge, and a bit less dynamic, so this might be something for your friends BH.

 

[Ultravisitor]

+1 for yinhe mercury. Tacky and faster mid gear

 

[golden_son]

I'm seeing Mercury II is actually 41' - I had no idea it was that hard. That's 3 degrees harder than his current H3. Does it play that hard? I always thought M2 was softer for some reason, but I haven't used it.

 

[Ultravisitor]

I'm seeing Mercury II is actually 41' - I had no idea it was that hard. That's 3 degrees harder than his current H3. Does it play that hard? I always thought M2 was softer for some reason, but I haven't used it.

I think its another (European?) scale. Mercury 2 soft is very soft and mid hard still softer than h3 37 or around the same.

 

[golden_son]

Ended up going with Mercury II on both sides (med FH, soft BH). I can tell his shots aren't producing as much lethal topspin, but fewer balls are going long, especially on block. That's what he wanted, so I'd call it a mitigated success...and at less than $20 USD!

 

[rbtitco]

I've never played it but could v15 sticky soft work? Anyone here play that?