Why is booster results so unpredictable?

[Michael Zhuang]

I recently boosted a underperforming rubber without much expectations, and the result was incredible. I had a sheet of 729 Aurora Max in medium-hard. This rubber was my least favorite rubber of all the rubbers I own, as it was quite slow, quite soft, and had no catapult. It just wasn't very responsive at all.

I put it away for several weeks, and yesterday decided to just apply one and half layers of seamoon to it. I didn't really expect much because the sponge was already quite soft and not very dynamic or bouncy. The result was tremendous, as the catapult and rebound is now even more than MXP. Other times I have boosted rubbers with very poor results.

I boosted a sheet of Evolution EL-P, and there was not a big change. What is going on? Why are the boosting results seemingly so random?

 

[allfj]

It might be because Evolution EL-P is a tensor rubber, wheer something like 729, DHS, and Yinhe are chinese brands with harder sponges and tackier surfaces

 

[Michael Zhuang]

It might be because Evolution EL-P is a tensor rubber, wheer something like 729, DHS, and Yinhe are chinese brands with harder sponges and tackier surfaces

but as I explained, in this situation, the rubber I boosted is not hard sponge, is not tacky. And even when you boost a hard sponge like H3, it doesn't become bouncier than MXP.

But this result was extreme.

 

[lodro]

but as I explained, in this situation, the rubber I boosted is not hard sponge, is not tacky. And even when you boost a hard sponge like H3, it doesn't become bouncier than MXP.

But this result was extreme.

Why are the boosting results seemingly so random? They are not random, every rubber is different and so are the boosting results.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Certain kinds of sponge respond well to boosters and others do not.

 

[Michael Zhuang]

Certain kinds of sponge respond well to boosters and others do not.

Makes me wonder what other of my past rubbers actually respond tremendously well to booster

 

[Michael Zhuang]

Certain kinds of sponge respond well to boosters and others do not.

I wonder if this sheet of rubber is already at the high point. If I keep boosting it will the catapult increase or am I already at the point of negative incremental return

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I wonder if this sheet of rubber is already at the high point. If I keep boosting it will the catapult increase or am I already at the point of negative incremental return

If it plays well, is there a reason to mess around?

 

[Michael Zhuang]

If it plays well, is there a reason to mess around?

Well I probably won't mess with it more than this, because its very bouncy right now. But I'm just curious about how these things actually work.

 

[lodro]

Well I probably won't mess with it more than this, because its very bouncy right now. But I'm just curious about how these things actually work.

well, buy a little notebook and keep meticulous record of what you do to every rubber.
I have to give you a heads up though, I found that even """identical rubbers"""" will react different

 

[Short_Pimple]

To make it even more complicated, different boosters are also leading to different results.

Seamoon wasn't as good on ESN or Spring Sponge Rubbers as Falco Tempo or Dymax Maximizer, but outperformed those easily on Chinese Rubbers.

Then there is always a difference in the amount of booster you apply, the sponge of your rubber may be .5 Degrees harder / softer or anything else.

Boosting a Rubber will never feel the same and the results wont be forever - they can change quite quickly.

 

[Michael Zhuang]

Well I played more with this stunning boosted rubber. It was literally a $9 rubber I got from PrinceTT, and it was pretty slow and unspinny and bad out of the package. I played a couple users of Fastarc G1 and Tenergy so I tested the bounce against those. Not just a little, but by a fair amount the $9 boosted rubber is faster and bouncier. It also seems to spin very well now. I was blasting powerful backhands all day today. It's remarkable how powerful it is now.

Blocking loops feels amazing with this rubber. The rebound is strong, but it still feels controlled.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

Well I played more with this stunning boosted rubber. It was literally a $9 rubber I got from PrinceTT, and it was pretty slow and unspinny and bad out of the package. I played a couple users of Fastarc G1 and Tenergy so I tested the bounce against those. Not just a little, but by a fair amount the $9 boosted rubber is faster and bouncier. It also seems to spin very well now. I was blasting powerful backhands all day today. It's remarkable how powerful it is now.

Blocking loops feels amazing with this rubber. The rebound is strong, but it still feels controlled.

Have you ever used speed glue?

 

[Michael Zhuang]

Have you ever used speed glue?

Never speed glued before.

 

[Michael Zhuang]

One other thing that is really confusing about boosting, is that not only does every sponge respond differently to booster, but each sponge responds differently to each booster.

So even if one sponge doesn't respond to Dianchi for example, it might respond well to Seamoon or Lidu or something else. So there are literally millions of possibilities (rubber, booster type, booster layers). It's impossible to test every single scenario to know how the true potential of each rubber.

 

[Airoc]

So there are literally millions of possibilities (rubber, booster type, booster layers). It's impossible to test every single scenario to know how the true potential of each rubber.

In my opinion the reason why for so long t05 was and for many still is the rubber of choice - stick to what you know. Everybody found out how much of which booster to apply to "individualize" the rubber with reliable results. So when new rubbers came along instead of starting the experiment from scratch, people thought "Why bother". Guess it is a similar story with H3, they just know what makes it work.

 

[Airoc]

Seamoon wasn't as good on ESN or Spring Sponge Rubbers as Falco Tempo or Dymax Maximizer, but outperformed those easily on Chinese Rubbers.

And vice versa, I think.

 

[lodro]

In my opinion the reason why for so long t05 was and for many still is the rubber of choice - stick to what you know. Everybody found out how much of which booster to apply to "individualize" the rubber with reliable results. So when new rubbers came along instead of starting the experiment from scratch, people thought "Why bother". Guess it is a similar story with H3, they just know what makes it work.

I think what you are saying is perfectly valid BUT maybe only for expensive high quality rubbers like, for example T05.
Cheaper rubbers on the other hand are a complete lottery, their hardness, their stickiness, ,tackiness etc, are different for every batch,
And so is the response to boosting.
In the end the only thing that remains constant are the ITTF approval numbers. 😁

For recreational players this does not matter too much of course we just adapt a bit and live with it. For the professional players
this would be an impossible situation and it is why I think for them top quality rubbers are a MUST.

 

[Draycott old man]

I used to use eucalyptus oil , brilliant booster and a natural product,plus I use to love the smell lol 🤣🤣🤣

 

[lodro]

I used to use eucalyptus oil , brilliant booster and a natural product,plus I use to love the smell lol 🤣🤣🤣

oil of wintergreen is my poison 🤣🤣🤣