Tacky Rubber That Feels Like Gambler Outlaw?

Is there such a beast?

snappa....howz the experimenting going?  

You might want to give the Reactor Thunder a try, knowing what you like.  Plus Mel is a good guy and he is not far from you. 

Rich215 wrote: snappa....howz the experimenting going?   You might want to give the Reactor Thunder a try, knowing what you like.  Plus Mel is a good guy and he is not far from you.

@snapa: Where are you, in New England somewhere?

JimT wrote: Rich215 wrote: snappa....howz the experimenting going?   You might want to give the Reactor Thunder a try, knowing what you like.  Plus Mel is a good guy and he is not far from you.  @snapa: Where are you, in New England somewhere?

Rhode Island here.

Well I picked up some Thunder SGFX from Mel.  They're glued on right now with Tear Mender and being pressed.  I'll let you guys know my thoughts about them when I get back from class later tonight.

Chopper88 wrote: Hey Snapa, How is that 729-08 ?

I was in love with it before.  Now, it's not even on any of my blades.  To get the full benefit from it, I think you need it on a carbon blade to get that extra power from it.  I had it on my W1, it was really good for over the table looping, and even med to far looping.  Touch shots weren't great but they were serviceable, but it's heavily affected by incoming spin due to it's tackiness. 

It made for a really heavy setup though.  For some reason, I wasn't too consistent with my serves.  It's a tacky rubber with a hard sponge.  I thought that was the formula that I liked, but I've since moved on to Gambler Outlaw on my K6 as my main blade.  I'm still EJin' though to find that perfect pair. 

So basically if you don't mind a heavy paddle and love close to the table looping with heavy spin and medium speed, 729-08 is for you.

I should add that I Goo-goned a sheet and it responded very well to it.  It's still in a U after 2 days.  Probably won't slap it on anything though.

thank you, i do like harder sponge, but don't like heavier set up, I guess its not for me then. thank you again

JimT wrote: It is rather strange that a hard-sponged and tacky rubber is reacting to the incoming spin more than a regular Euro-Jap style rubber - this is exactly a combination which should not react much to spin due to harder sponge and tackiness. Which club are you going to? Perhaps we could swap some rubbers and I will try out your 729-08... I am in Mass. pretty close to RI, and I usually go to Westborough club.

Hey Jim,

I think we've chatted about this already.  I play out of the Manville (Lincoln), RI club.

For some reason, they don't have any this year.  But I know there were a few tournaments last year.

snapa,
Did you prepare it with a layer of normal glue before gluing it to the blade?

I think that's why it probably felt a little hard. The sponge will soften up a little after a few uses.

I am still loving the Outlaw.  The Outlaw is still going strong after about a month.  There is almost zero sign of use on the topsheet and the sponge is still as powerful as ever.  My loops are crazy strong now that I am used to it.  Also, the Outlaw works very well on my backhand.  I mostly use my backhand for pushing, blocking, flat hitting, and looping backspin.  The Outlaw works perfectly in each of these areas.  It is perfect for my backhand.

It feels like I've found the perfect setup.

I forgot to mention, as you just said, the lightness of the Outlaw.  My paddle felt feather-light compared to my old stuff.  I felt like I could swing much faster when using it on both sides.

ppgear wrote: JimT wrote: It is rather strange that a hard-sponged and tacky rubber is reacting to the incoming spin more than a regular Euro-Jap style rubber - this is exactly a combination which should not react much to spin due to harder sponge and tackiness. Actually I thought this is what is expected. A high-throw tacky rubber (whether hard or soft sponge) should react a lot more to incoming spin than a low-throw non-tacky rubber, especially being non-tacky. I think reaction to incoming spin is probably close to proportional with its throw angle (high throw = high reaction). No?

My thinking is that tackiness helps to stop the incoming spin - so the tackier the rubber the less your combo is hurt by the spin. Also, when the rubber is soft the ball penetrates a bit deeper and therefore incoming spin plays more role in the bounce direction. Thus the logical conclusion - and also it is somewhat supported by my own experience of playing with Reactor Tornado and DHS Hurricanes...

Certainly (I myself can vouch for that) tacky hard rubbers help when playing against tricky LP and anti - to such degree that I sometimes playing against LP guys in my club find myself forgetting that the other guy has LP on one side - 'cause my Reactors don't care much about that...

Jim, that's exactly the opposite from my personal experience.  I played a guy with very spin side spins and chops, first with my Butterfly Tackifire C (0-3), then with 729-08's (2-3).  My ball went everywhere, especially on touch shots.  Then I played him with Outlaw and beat him 3-1.  I could control my shots much easier with the softer sponge. 

If you ever want to meet up on Tuesdays at Manville, I'm usually there.  I'm headed there tonight actually.

Thaile, I feel like the Outlaw has a pretty nice touch.  Touch shots and chops are well controlled.