Stiga Calibra Tour Rubber Review

[Dan]

After a month trying calibra tour m in my FH with a clipper wood, I gave up, I did not feel confortable, my topspin was weak. I replace it for a xiom omega pro, which I knew already, and I have to say that it is a great combination. However I keep calibra tour s in my backhand. It is great, powerfull but with control in the short game. I must say that my current combo is what I have been looking for,,,,for a long time.

Yeah I found Calibra Tour very nice for the backhand side, the soft version gives you a lot of control especially against the backspin balls and to generate power. Thanks for your review buddy.

 

[decoy]

got the M and H today.. only tried the M on my current blade. feels bit soft for a medium hardenss rubber Tour H feels more like a medium rubber..
H even feels softer than 05fx but not by much

anyway with the way the topsheets are made the rubber is definitely good against backspin.

spin generation is fairly easy typycal mechanical spin. so it seems it should be a good rubber to counter heavy topspin as well. not sure what its like to use on Fh, only used it for RPB.

the dwell time on this rubber is very noticeable with the soft topsheet and sponge. the sponge feels like it should be made for soft short pips perhaps.. perhaps someone might wanna try and rip up a sponge and try an SP topsheet on it? disaster?

anyway easy rubber to use .. slower than Mx-P bout the same speed as Omega4 asia but more catapult/spring.

control is ok i suppose you cant be to passive with it. you gotta have a fairly tight grip you will loose a good bit of control with a loose grip.. i suppose that goes for any rubber..

ive also got Omega Tour ( sidenote: after looking at the OT packaging therre are meant to be 3 other versions of it : PRO, Asia , Europe)
Vega Japan : harder than vega asia

 

[Spinandspeed]

My review:
I tested Calibra Tour M now for weeks and I have to say that I'm really convinced that it is the perfect rubber for me. Techniques:
FH - Topspin against Block: I feel comfortable when playing topspin against block because the rubber has a high arc which is really important for me especially when I play from mid-distance
FH - Block against Topspin: Here the Calibra Tour M is very stable. I don't do any easy faults but i don't have the "ultimate" feeling. Just stable.
FH - Topspin against backspin: That is really awesome. You can change the speed or spin of the ball very easy and you don't have to have a perfect contact for playing a good ball. Very easy to play!Love it!
FH - Long push: Good control but nothing special.
FH - Short push: Heavy control. Really awesome for me.
FH - Receive(Sidespin serve): Like short push. Incredible control when pushing and receiving over the table.
FH - Flip: Wasn't the best. Don't know why but I was hitting more balls on the table with my old rubber.

Hope you liked it!

 

[PolishTT]

Sounds really good, but i have to see you game now Spinandspeed xD but did you ever play a Tenergy and felt any resemblance to the Calibra? This would be the best review for me But it really seems to be a great rubber!

 

[decoy]

yup i think the new gen time is here... with the new tibhar stuff and the new calibra. i think they did what tenergy did years ago

 

[Dan]

Hey, I tried calibra lt on my tube carbo for penhold forehand and too hard. What would the new tour version Medium be like on forehand in comparison?

Hey Paul, welcome to the site Yeah there is a noticeable difference actually between the hard and medium. I think if you found the hard version to hard then try out the Medium. If you felt comfortable with the rubber and need it a little softer go for the tour M.

Let us know how it goes

 

[Dan]

Sounds really good, but i have to see you game now Spinandspeed xD but did you ever play a Tenergy and felt any resemblance to the Calibra? This would be the best review for me But it really seems to be a great rubber!

Hey! Yeah it would have been nice to have some more match play, I will include this in upcoming reviews.
Thank you for the feedback buddy

 

[LethalForehand]

I have a question. If the Tour series rely on mechanical spin mostly, how can you generate spin on serves, where you ideally want to use the topsheet only to brush the ball, not the spogne?
thanks

 

[kjanko]

I have a question. If the Tour series rely on mechanical spin mostly, how can you generate spin on serves, where you ideally want to use the topsheet only to brush the ball, not the spogne?
thanks

You throw the ball high and let it sink in the sponge.

 

[Cornerer]

Which means don't serve short or opponents will just keep flicking your serves.

 

[kjanko]

Which means don't serve short or opponents will just keep flicking your serves.

Practice. And you serve short with any rubber.

 

[Cornerer]

Sry for not explaining my statement. I didn't mean it's impossible to serve short but more like u're gonna have trouble of generating enough spin for short serves to prevent opponents from flicking. Fast serves suit Calibras better.


EDIT: same can be said for short games. close-to-net chops are just disasters (not because of control)for this type of rubber. I've also found the Omega IV series to have the same problem

 

[LethalForehand]

haha, thats what I figured. These rubbers are not for tactical serve-based game thats for sure. that said, probably difficult to play at higher levels with it too, because pple loop the crap out of long serves

 

[DenisMarra98]

Fantastic rewiew!