XIOM Vega Europe and Asia DF Rubber Review!

[Dan]

Hey guys,

We have just released our latest review on the Xiom Vega Europe and Asia DF Rubbers.

For a more detailed review on the rubbers visit the TTD review Center below:
Vega Europe DF
Vega Asia DF

Who has tried or uses the new Xiom Vega DF rubbers?

 

[Ilia Minkin]

What a familiar feeling

 

[Dan]

View attachment 10358

What a familiar feeling

To right!

 

[anchorschmidt]

Thank you for the review.

I don't get how soft rubbers give a higher arc and more safety. My trainer has tried on numerous occasions to point me towards softer rubbers because he felt that an intermediate player should get the feeling of playing with softer rubbers. However, I just have no safety and control with them.

I can produce a much better arc and much more spin with harder rubbers. I make much less errors with the Vega Pro on my forehand compared to the Vega Europe DF that I had tried out earlier. They act more dead in short-game, which means I just have to have the correct angle and the rest takes care of itself.

Harder rubbers also give me a more truer stroke compared to the power that I put in. If I put the same power using a softer rubber, the ball with just be catapulted beyond the table.

Whenever I try out a softer rubber, the ball just gets catapulted fowards with my usual stroke and I have a harder time trying to bring the ball back down on the table.

When I'm far back from the table, I agree that a softer rubbers helps if you are playing a stroke from half distance. I can then produce more spin because I'm not that worried that the ball with overshoot the table. I also like using a medium rubbers on my backhand because it's easier to block with and it's easier to engage the sponge for the banana flick. In general, I've found flicking to be easier with softer rubbers.


But everything else (pushing, pushing long, opening up, counters, topspin against topspin) is more difficult for me with softer rubbers.

When I see much better players like Dan and Tom playing with softer rubbers, it seems so logical what they say and their strokes also reflect it but it is just the opposite of my experience. Maybe I'm just too used to using harder stuff. Does anyone else have a similar experience?

 

[Boogar]

Thank you Dan and Tom for the review!

I think i will try out the Europe DF version for my backhand. Uptil now I used to play vega pro on the backhand, but I start to think that the pro rubber is too hard.
I hope the softer sponge will benefit my as I am struggeling to get enough brush onto the ball.
My guess is that I move my eblow while playing a backhand topspin. Need to get some videos as soon as the gym is open again

 

[Imran Sayyed]

Thanks for such a great review Dan and Tom . Keep up your good work, hope to see more reviews in the future. Thinking of trying out the Vega Europe Df for my backhand

Sent from my SM-T815 using Tapatalk

 

[MrSpin]

Thanks! What about the thickness of the rubbers? What did you use and what would you recommend in general?

 

[shinhyun]

Nice review dan and tom, I'm using the Vega Europe df for 1 mouth and it is like your review. I like it. At the beginning I used Vega pro but it is a little bit heavy for me so I changed for the Vega Europe df which is perfect for me : good spin, good speed, good control, good for topspinning a backspin, but sometimes I fell I have to strokes the ball more upwards to pass the net despite of the high arc.
My backhand has improved a lot with the Vega Europe df !

 

[fais]

Thank you for the review.

I don't get how soft rubbers give a higher arc and more safety. My trainer has tried on numerous occasions to point me towards softer rubbers because he felt that an intermediate player should get the feeling of playing with softer rubbers. However, I just have no safety and control with them.

I can produce a much better arc and much more spin with harder rubbers. I make much less errors with the Vega Pro on my forehand compared to the Vega Europe DF that I had tried out earlier. They act more dead in short-game, which means I just have to have the correct angle and the rest takes care of itself.

Harder rubbers also give me a more truer stroke compared to the power that I put in. If I put the same power using a softer rubber, the ball with just be catapulted beyond the table.

Whenever I try out a softer rubber, the ball just gets catapulted fowards with my usual stroke and I have a harder time trying to bring the ball back down on the table.

When I'm far back from the table, I agree that a softer rubbers helps if you are playing a stroke from half distance. I can then produce more spin because I'm not that worried that the ball with overshoot the table. I also like using a medium rubbers on my backhand because it's easier to block with and it's easier to engage the sponge for the banana flick. In general, I've found flicking to be easier with softer rubbers.


But everything else (pushing, pushing long, opening up, counters, topspin against topspin) is more difficult for me with softer rubbers.

When I see much better players like Dan and Tom playing with softer rubbers, it seems so logical what they say and their strokes also reflect it but it is just the opposite of my experience. Maybe I'm just too used to using harder stuff. Does anyone else have a similar experience?

See, the idea is for you to play with something that isn't easy. The reason you are able to do much more with harder rubbers is because you probably have sound fundamentals and good power. However, as you've mentioned softer/bouncier rubbers are harder for you to control, implying you haven't developed a fine touch yet. I'm the same way as you, and after experimenting with carbon blades and hard chinese rubbers, I realized my progress has plateaued. Switching to an allround blade with good feedback and softer rubbers allow me to focus more on feeling the ball and understanding how to play with softness.

The harder rubbers are almost handicapping you, because while they help you do what you want to do, they won't help you improve. I'm not saying don't stick to what you like, I'm just saying learning to play with something different can help you develop and realize things you normally wouldn't have.

 

[shinhyun]

See, the idea is for you to play with something that isn't easy. The reason you are able to do much more with harder rubbers is because you probably have sound fundamentals and good power. However, as you've mentioned softer/bouncier rubbers are harder for you to control, implying you haven't developed a fine touch yet. I'm the same way as you, and after experimenting with carbon blades and hard chinese rubbers, I realized my progress has plateaued. Switching to an allround blade with good feedback and softer rubbers allow me to focus more on feeling the ball and understanding how to play with softness.

The harder rubbers are almost handicapping you, because while they help you do what you want to do, they won't help you improve. I'm not saying don't stick to what you like, I'm just saying learning to play with something different can help you develop and realize things you normally wouldn't have.

That is exactly me too !

 

[Jacob]

Good Review

 

[psyche23]

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic but what kind of blade would the Europe Df work best on - for a beginner/improver? I have an Appelgren Allplay and was thinking of using this on my backhand- would that be ok? Or would the combination of the soft-ish blade + soft rubbers not be ideal?

Thanks for the review Dan and Tom!

 

[DennyTTLover]

Hi Dan Thanks for another great review! Looks like one great alternative to Tenergy. I'm spin orientated so I think this will suit me. I enjoy doing the ghost serves and I use it in the matches as well. Would you say it's suitable for ghost serves?

 

[phillypong]

Very good review.

But isnt it time to have an objective standardised scientific system to test things like speed, spin, bounciness , throw angle ...

Lets be honest , at this moment all the rubbers coming out are more about marketing than about real differences.

 

[fais]

That is exactly me too !

Funny you should say that. I have to give credit to UpsideDownCarl, DerEtche and NextLevel though. I actually picked up quite a bit from little tidbits they threw around here and there. Reading several of their comments actually made me rethink some things. I still continue to play with harder chinese rubbers/blades as my primary equipment, but I now have a "warm up" blade that I will normally begin playing with to re-familiarize myself with the "touch", especially if I haven't played in a while.

I realize now I like faster blades/harder rubbers because they make what I want to do easier... so I'm not really improving, just getting help. Also, the same equipment makes it harder for me to play the spin/touch game, but softer gear helps with that. So, best of both worlds! Its so funny, because I learned to sense feedback with softer/beginner's gear, I learned to recognize that same touch (although its milder) in the faster/harder gear. Its like, learning to walk before you run.

I've heard some coaches say get a blade and stick to it. IMHO I think that can slow you down your progress.

 

[sarvo4u]

I was using tenergy 05 fx on my backhand on a timo boll alc blade. I've been using this setup for past 1 year and tenergy 05 fx for past 2 and half years. While I could aggressively block with ease with my setup, I was never able to open up underpin balls. I was stuck as I could only do so much. After your review I switched my backhand from tenergy 05 fx to xiom Vega Europe. It's been two weeks now and while I retain my blocking game, I am able to open underpin balls, get more control and play more consistent game.
Wish I had stumbled on this rubber earlier.
To be honest Tenergy 05fx is an excellent rubber but I needed to get my basics right before using it.
Xiom Vega euro is currently helping me a lot in this aspect. I was a bit hesitant knowing that this was a tensor rubber. Now that I've tried it I feel this one of the tensors with excellent control.



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[countrybread]

I tried my first soft rubber (Gambler Six Shooter Soft) and at first I hated it. Every shot kept going into the net. It seemed like a very low throw rubber and so I wanted to abandon it. But one day I didn't have paddle to use so I went back to it, and then a funny thing happened. I realized you could create a really nice spinny loop, with a gorgeous arc, like Dan does in his review videos. I love looping so I was having a blast! Its also great for backhand punch blocks, and its very light. So now I'm in the process of re-thinking my equipment choices. Europe DF is definitely on my list.