Soft vs Hard Rubbers – Which One Gives Better Blade Feeling?

[PoppaChubby]

OP's question makes no sense: the thickness of the rubber plays an important role. If you put a Barna SP OX Original Legend Classic on an xyz blade, of course you'll get a more direct feeling of the blade, no question.

Now that being said, why do you think you increase the hardness AND the thickness of the sponge when your skills are getting better? simple: soft + 0.5 to 1.5 mm thickness rubbers give more feedback than harder + 2.0 to max rubbers, why do you think kids learn that way ? There's way less dampening effect in a soft sponge, ask my Fender Precision with flat strings she'll tell ya: when I put a harder foam under the strings at the bridge, it kills the sound, If I decrease the hardness, the vibrations come back and I start to ear the fundamentals of each note, what I need for vintage Motown sounds (like James Jamerson with Stevie Wonder) but not the harmonics. if I decrease more and more, the harmonics come back (for a given note you get its fundamental + its harmonics sequence).

 

[PoppaChubby]

Science, always trust science

"(3)Increasing the density and thickness of the PU foam stand-off layer within a certain range can improve the vibration suppression performance of the stand-off free layer damping cantilever beam and enhance the overall stiffness of the cantilever beam in the meanwhile, making the modal frequency get higher." making the modal frequency get higher, now you know why hard and thick sponges sound more "cliky" with a higher pitch than soft and less thicker sponges.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/2020/8871562

 

[PoppaChubby]

No,
harder rubbers = you have to hit harder to feel the rubber.

Che
L-zr

Edit: should be blade not rubber…

THIS, and it's common sense + science folks.

 

[BlotOnPaper]

Yes indeed. But it's a bit strange. I prefer soft rubbers, then I feel the ball better as it goes "deeper" into the rubber. With harder rubbers, the ball does not go as far into the rubber, jumps away faster and the feeling is gone with me.

I like blades with harder outer ply(koto my beloved). Soft rubbers tend to feel "mushy". The ball goes deep into the rubber on most shots, so there is not that much difference. With hard rubbers you feel when you make harder or softer shots much easier and for me it's just better feeling.

This is the reason i absolutely hate tenergy series(except T05 Hard). They all feel like a soft pillow without any meaningful feedback. I much prefere something like 09c(or other 52-53 degree rubber) on backhand and some chinese stuff on forehand. They give me much better feel than any soft tensor rubbers. Though I can play 50 degrees on backhand, but not any softer.

 

[Lazer]

THIS, and it's common sense + science folks.

Common sense seem to be a lacking feature at sone places…

Cheers
L-zr

 

[r0b3rt0]

OP's question makes no sense: the thickness of the rubber plays an important role. If you put a Barna SP OX Original Legend Classic on an xyz blade, of course you'll get a more direct feeling of the blade, no question.

Now that being said, why do you think you increase the hardness AND the thickness of the sponge when your skills are getting better? simple: soft + 0.5 to 1.5 mm thickness rubbers give more feedback than harder + 2.0 to max rubbers, why do you think kids learn that way ? There's way less dampening effect in a soft sponge, ask my Fender Precision with flat strings she'll tell ya: when I put a harder foam under the strings at the bridge, it kills the sound, If I decrease the hardness, the vibrations come back and I start to ear the fundamentals of each note, what I need for vintage Motown sounds (like James Jamerson with Stevie Wonder) but not the harmonics. if I decrease more and more, the harmonics come back (for a given note you get its fundamental + its harmonics sequence).

I disagree, I do think that my question makes sense. I wasn't asking about OX rubbers or sponge thickness, but the softness of the sponge and how it affects blade feeling this is too different.

I’m genuinely curious how other players perceive the feedback differences between soft and hard sponged rubbers of the same thickness. In my experience, softer sponges can sometimes dampen the sensation too much, making it harder to feel the contact quality, which is exactly the kind of feedback I’m referring to.

 

[r0b3rt0]

ur just an ignorant little kid. u must try harder to troll us.

Hi there! I saw that you're using a Virtuoso OFF- with two Tenergy 05 FX, and I wanted to ask: how do you feel about the feedback and vibrations with that setup?

Have you also had a chance to try the Nittaku Acoustic G-Revision? I’m asking because I’m currently waiting for my own Virtuoso OFF- to arrive, and I’m trying to decide between Tenergy 05 and 05 FX for it.

The reason behind my question is that I’m really looking for more feeling and control in my setup, and I’d love to hear your experience.

Thanks in advance.

 

[TTFrenzy]

Hi there! I saw that you're using a Virtuoso OFF- with two Tenergy 05 FX, and I wanted to ask: how do you feel about the feedback and vibrations with that setup?

Have you also had a chance to try the Nittaku Acoustic G-Revision? I’m asking because I’m currently waiting for my own Virtuoso OFF- to arrive, and I’m trying to decide between Tenergy 05 and 05 FX for it.

The reason behind my question is that I’m really looking for more feeling and control in my setup, and I’d love to hear your experience.

Thanks in advance.

virtuoso works excellent with tenergies, and u will have more feedback with the softer rubbers, with the normal 05's the feeling is probably the same but once you learn to accelerate on contact u will see no difference. Once you solidify your technique with the 05 fx you can go for the harder ones

I have also played with the nittaku acoustic yes, it has also great feeling and it is faster than the virtuoso. The handle has an amazing feel, it does not feel "harsh" at all. Most of the new commercial blade we play have this "harsh" feeling on the handle, the nittaku's feel more comfortable to the palm and fingers

 

[r0b3rt0]

virtuoso works excellent with tenergies, and u will have more feedback with the softer rubbers, with the normal 05's the feeling is probably the same but once you learn to accelerate on contact u will see no difference. Once you solidify your technique with the 05 fx you can go for the harder ones

I have also played with the nittaku acoustic yes, it has also great feeling and it is faster than the virtuoso. The handle has an amazing feel, it does not feel "harsh" at all. Most of the new commercial blade we play have this "harsh" feeling on the handle, the nittaku's feel more comfortable to the palm and fingers

Thanks a lot for your answer.

I recently did a quick test with a Calibra LT Sound Max (2.2 mm), and I definitely felt way less vibration compared to something like a Nittaku Hurricane 8-80. During matches, I also noticed that I don’t feel the ball as clearly with the Calibra, and sometimes my shots go long.

Out of curiosity: which sponge thickness are you using, 2.1 mm or 1.9 mm?

Since I'm currently prioritizing control a bit more, I’m leaning towards going with 1.9 mm rubbers, I assume the feeling would be better as well.