|
|
Soft rubber VS Hard rubber |
Post Reply |
Author | ||
popperlocker
Gold Member Joined: 03/24/2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1753 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Posted: 05/27/2008 at 7:27am |
|
I've used hard, medium, and soft rubber. And I'm still trying to decide which will benefit me the most.
This is what I've concluded so far, correct me or add info please. Hard Rubber: *usually* more power, easier to block, easier long distance attacking, harder short distance attacking, less spin/harder to serve, Soft Rubber: *usually* less power, harder to block, harder long distance attacking, easier short distance attacking/short&low loops, more spin/easier to serve Medium Rubber: -in between Hard and Soft So far I'm leaning towards Soft Rubber, I like the extra consistency when attacking, because the ball loops more down to the table/hits the table more :) Also, I'm more of a close to table, and occasionally mid range player What rubber hardness to you guys like and why? |
||
Sponsored Links | ||
melarimsa
Premier Member Joined: 06/22/2006 Location: North East US Status: Offline Points: 5618 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
I like more medium to haRD SPONGES, BUT IF YOU LIKE BETTER SOFT THAN STICK WITH IT IF BENEFIT YOU
|
||
inetevo
Super Member Joined: 05/08/2008 Status: Offline Points: 135 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
i agree with some parts and disagree with some...
Harder rubbers easier to block and return with power... but I find harder rubber not so bouncy and good for chops, spins and serve... Harder rubbers are suitable for players with quick attack and close to table style. Softer rubbers are good for feel and looping... & good for mid distance looping play. |
||
theman
Premier Member Joined: 09/22/2006 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 7234 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
i like soft to medium soft, good for a beginner like me to feel the ball sink in
|
||
sbd1
Super Member Joined: 08/14/2006 Status: Offline Points: 137 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
theman is correct.......
Most of the players like the soft rubber .Soft rubber is user friendly . Long "Dwell time" , ball sinks in to it and than it is catapulted out .Sometimes you can feel the blade on the ball. Hardness is 39deg . or less.I like and use the hard rubber.More power but harder to play the ball will blast of fast from the racket short "Dwell time" harder to get used to. Hardness is 40 deg. or more. Each have its pluses and minuses.Boils down to personal preference and what YOU feel most comfortable with. Either one - Practice more. Regards, Borko&Son ***Power is Nothing Without Control*** |
||
pongcrazy
Gold Member Joined: 07/07/2007 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 1055 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
I find that I have more control at the table with medium-hard sponges than with softer ones. For me soft sponges pop the ball up more on pushes and, I often I feel like I have less control with soft sponges because of the catapult effect. I find harder sponged rubbers tend to have more gears and play more dynamic which makes it easier to control the pace of the ball. I may be backwards from most, but like it was said before, it's all what you get used to. Put a soft rubber on my BH and I'm a mess - just the opposite of how most players set up their paddles.
|
||
Viscaria, H3 Neo, Coppa X1 Gold
7p2a-7t, TG2 Neo, Acuda S2 |
||
Flicker
Silver Member Joined: 10/02/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 634 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Don't forget that the blade plays a significant role regarding what kind of rubbers you are going to choose. Soft rubber + Hard/stiff blade will give you a different playing impression compare to let say Soft rubber + Soft/flex blade. I am playing with a Darker 5P-2A right now which is relatively Hard and Stiff, I found that a softer rubber like F3 was a good match given my level and style of play.
|
||
dalamchops
Platinum Member Joined: 11/30/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2272 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
soft rubber + soft blade = mush
|
||
Stiga Titanium 5.4 Cpen
Andro Hexer Pips 2.1 Donic Acuda S2 Max |
||
doraemon
Gold Member Joined: 05/14/2007 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 1738 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Yeah, I have been playing with medium hard rubbers lately and I like it better. After awhile, Sriver EL feels too mushy. I guess it's just what you are used to. At first, using medium hard rubbers made me lose some of the control, but it's alright now. I think right now, instead of combining soft rubbers + stiff blade or hard rubbers + soft blade, I like medium rubbers + medium blade. Just feel averaging the good things.
|
||
yogi_bear
Forum Moderator Joined: 11/25/2004 Location: Philippines Status: Offline Points: 7219 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
hard rubber + donic black devil = bad idea
|
||
Independent online TT Product reviewer of XIOM, STIGA, JOOLA, SANWEI, GEWO, AIR, ITC, APEX, YASAKA and ABROS
ITTF Level 1 Coaching Course Conductor, ITTF Level 1 Coach |
||
isolator
Member Joined: 05/29/2008 Status: Offline Points: 8 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
I have played both H3 and Sriver on my Mid-Hard blade.
HARD: H3 has more control, less speed. Relatively Soft: Sriver has less control, more speed. The difference is specially trivial under Small Strength Looping. During Strong Lopping, they have similar spin. Yet Sriver has much more speed and also a VERY LOW throwing angle!!! |
||
rokphish
Gold Member Joined: 11/27/2007 Location: Indonesia Status: Offline Points: 1924 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
What rubbers are you replacing the EL with? I'm going through the same thing here.. |
||
instagram: rokphishtt
Member of EJ Anonymous Hurricane Lover |
||
T h e N A M
Silver Member Joined: 09/24/2007 Status: Offline Points: 914 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
h3 and sriver is bad example.. they're totally different types of rubber... compare something like... narucross ex soft with narucross ex hard...
because they're using same top sheet, but different sponges...
|
||
doraemon
Gold Member Joined: 05/14/2007 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 1738 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
I use Rapid X-Press at the moment. In the description from Tibhar, it's a medium hard sponge with grippy top-sheet. I did not really replace EL, I still have EL on my other blade. What I meant was after getting used to Rapid X-Press (firmer sponge), I felt EL too mushy when I play that other blade. Once I removed EL to my current blade and I still felt it's mushy compared to Rapid X-Press. It's just the feeling, I don't say that EL is worse than Rapid X-Press in term of performance (only a bit slower and a bit less spinny). Edit: EL is a bit slower and a bit less spinny when both un-glued. Glued, EL is as good as Rapid X-Press, performance wise. |
||
rokphish
Gold Member Joined: 11/27/2007 Location: Indonesia Status: Offline Points: 1924 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Yeah, I know we're talking about sponge firmness and all. Lately I've been using blades with hinoki top and EL feels to mushy for me. It even feels to mushy for me on Hurricane King. It felt fine on my Korbel....
Funny you said Rapid Xpress. I've been eyeing that particular rubbers for about a couple of months now... It's on my short list of rubbers to try... |
||
instagram: rokphishtt
Member of EJ Anonymous Hurricane Lover |
||
doraemon
Gold Member Joined: 05/14/2007 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 1738 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Rokphish, don't get fooled by the reviews in "Equipment Reviews" section in other forum. It is said that X-Press has sticky top-sheet with medium sponge. Noooo, it's not sticky, but grippy. Grippier than EL and Mark V (benchmark rubbers for me). Play much like Japanese/European rubbers to me. Spin on service, yes, improves with similar grazing motion and similar height of tossing (compared to EL or Mark V), but still less than Chinese ones I guess (compared to Focus I and LKT XT on my H-WL). I read that if you like Chinese top-sheet but hate its sponge hardness, better try Juic Elite Ultima (if I recalled correctly, or other Juic probably??) and Avalox Pronte. They have sticky topsheet but Japanese/European type of sponges. You might want to consider those, I guess. Don't get me wrong, Rapid X-Press is good rubber, it's just not what I expected as I read those reviews. Maybe my techniques just bad!!! |
||
rokphish
Gold Member Joined: 11/27/2007 Location: Indonesia Status: Offline Points: 1924 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Thank you for the heads up. I resolved that so far none of non-chinese rubbers have sticky tops (I'm sure this is argueable by some).
Well, I'm playing with H3 Provincial... So I'm okay with that kind of hardness. I'm playing with Tokyo 2 on BH and I'm okay with that too. Not hard, just a tad harder than EL. But it's expensive. I was using Sriver EL for testing blades (for benchmark) and finding it to be too soft for me. So far I've tried EL on HWL, Wavestone, HK, Korbel, Jonyer, Ignito & Amadeus and only on Korbel & Wavestone that I feel EL not too soft. I like sticky rubber for BH for serves & chops, but using two H3 is kind of too heavy for me. |
||
instagram: rokphishtt
Member of EJ Anonymous Hurricane Lover |
||
doraemon
Gold Member Joined: 05/14/2007 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 1738 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
I believe H3 will be harder than X-Press. The reason I am saying this is because once I tried my friend's blade with Skyline TG2 on it. Boy, it is hard, harder than X-Press. Since Skyline is comparable to Hurricane (some said it is a bit bit softer than Hurricane), I can safely say H3 will be harder than X-Press. Basically, it is easier to adjust to X-Press. When I played with my friend's H3, I needed to always always swing forward when looping (my guess is 10 - 15 degrees angle). Mine is normally like 30 - 40 degrees angle. This is not the exact angle I am swinging, just for illustration only.
|
||
rokphish
Gold Member Joined: 11/27/2007 Location: Indonesia Status: Offline Points: 1924 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Yeah. H3 is hard. Though the provincial version is softer a bit. Is rapid xpress harder/softer than sriver (L)?
|
||
instagram: rokphishtt
Member of EJ Anonymous Hurricane Lover |
||
TT_Freak
Platinum Member Joined: 11/21/2004 Status: Offline Points: 2672 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Hard rubber is usually heavier rubber. There lies the difference. A heavier bat will transfer more force, be more stable and if you don't reweight your bat, shift the balance point towards the head. A lighter bat will be easier to use, and won't need reweighting to get a head light balance.
|
||
Violin
F1 Actor 10g at 3 and 9 10g at 12 20g at the end of handle |
||
yogi_bear
Forum Moderator Joined: 11/25/2004 Location: Philippines Status: Offline Points: 7219 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Juic rubbers are still chinese topsheet rubbers.. because globe manufactures topsheets for juic
|
||
Independent online TT Product reviewer of XIOM, STIGA, JOOLA, SANWEI, GEWO, AIR, ITC, APEX, YASAKA and ABROS
ITTF Level 1 Coaching Course Conductor, ITTF Level 1 Coach |
||
Post Reply | |
Tweet
|
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |
Forum Home | Go to the Forums | Forum Help | Disclaimer
MyTableTennis.NET is the trading name of Alex Table Tennis Ltd. |