Thanks in advance :)

T05 is very reactive to spin if you use it passively, so you need a well-developed short game and spin reading skills to avoid simple errors.  High level players tend to have this stuff locked in anyway.

 

At lower levels, you have the obvious glamour value of using a "pro" setup.  Also, T05 has the ability to generate a lot of spin with short, wristy strokes, so you get plenty of low-level league players (like me) pulling off dramatic winners with it.  A T05 match might contain 4 big topspin winners and 6 poor service returns at a low level, so even if you lose the match you could feel happy with the memory of "that" amazing shot you pulled off.   It's a feel-good rubber, even if it demands a high level of skill which the owner might not have.

 

The new tensors seem to offer a more muted short game feel.  I've tried Bluefire JP, Tenzone Ultra, Rasant Turbo/Powersponge and they all seem to have a low-bounce response at low speeds.  They are more secure at the table for mortals, but less effective than Tenergy if you're aggressive.  I rally better with Tenzone Ultra, but win the point earlier (and make more errors) with Tenergy.

 I find it difficult to control, it plays closer to T64 than T05. 

Behind their backs I call them "the lazy ones", but on the table I don't have much of a chance against their tricky serves,smashes, blocks, deadly pushes, etc.......Just try to explain to Samsonov, or Ma Long, or Zhank J, or even to Wang Hao that T05 is the best rubber in the world 

 

Me too.  I lose some spin around the edges of my game with T80 - a little in slow loops, a bit at the to end of looping.  But I gain a lot more stability in the short game and service return, so I'm far more effective in a game situation with T80.  It all comes down to how it fits with your own personal needs.

So the guys with 729-SuperFX, but I strongly believe that this is not the strength of the T05

Are you saying that T64 is for lazy players?

 

I meant T05 isn't for lazy players

I am rethinking my entire opinion about dwell time too. U don't need it. Makes the exchange slower. If you engage the ball properly instead of sissy brushing you dont need spiny or dwelly rubber. 

linear - The rubber puts out what you put in. A soft, light stroke will produce a slow ball. A drop shot will land softly. But when you put your entire body into it then the speed will increase proportionally with effort. Linear is often used to describe Chinese rubbers.

An example of non-linear would be if there is a sudden, very noticeable, increase in ball speed at a certain effort level. Usually this isn't desirable as it leads to a feeling of unpredictability.

Bouncy - This is usually used to describe the behavior of the rubber on softer shots. Usually means that it's difficult to perform drop shots since the ball bounces high off your rubber. It's usually not a positive term.

Lively - This is similar to bouncy but is usually used to describe how the rubber allows for very fast active shots when you want them (e.g high effort strokes).

That's the jist of it anyways, it's hard to define these terms because..they are vague by nature and everyone has their own take on what they mean.

 I agree, Tenergy feels different, and the sponge IS different, it plays nearer to speed glue when re-looping than any other untuned rubber IMO. 

 but I don't spend vast fortunes trying to improve my game via my equipment , my definition of an equipment junkie. 

 

+1. IMHO latest generation tensors are closing the gap in terms of speed, spin and trajectory. Also lots of them have even surpassed the Tenergy's speed and durability. But unfortunately these improvements were not enough for the pros to switch allegiance.

 I missed this one, absolutely spot on IMO

 This is what I have always felt, after the sp/glue ban attempts, at replicating the speed glue feeling just resulted in extremely fast rubbers, T05 has lots of control, but a huge 'gear' up in speed when activated by incoming topspin, this allows a slower arm when re-looping giving increased consistency over its competitors. Its very personal though, the last rubber I tried on recommendation was Xeom Vega pro about two seasons ago, and it was just too one paced for me and I struggled with consistency.

I totally agree with this! 

Recently, I got both of my cousins into TT, both are in their 30's. I started them off with slow tacky rubber, and they could hit the ball pretty hard and confidently. I then gave them a racket with T05, they suddenly turned into scared cats. They could no longer hit the ball!! They were baby brushing/cripple stroking. In one second, the stroke totally changed!

It's a dangerous rubber without a coach/garlic. A coach will correct you instantly and shield you from going down a cripple path/crap stroking. I told my cousin exactly what he was doing, and switched him back and forth between tacky and T05. I would not recommend anyone use T05, without coach supervision. Unless, you are 2000++ usatt or have been coached in the past or you have a good coach watching you. I've seen some coaches stay silent, while their student was using extremely bad technique. Slow equipment ftw.

sarcasm?

Really, I'm too cheap to go for a Tenergy - but what kind of sandwich? That might be in my price range!

However, the Tenergy 05 rubber has a distinct feeling when you use it. I was very skeptical about before trying it. But I did try it, and I did like it. I guess the important thing about this is that you should just try it. If you don't like it, nobody is gonna look at you funny. Just get a used sheet from a friend or something.

Inexplicably, this post reminded me of the greatest vampire scifi flick -  "Lifeforce" (1985) 

In my defence, I was a young and impressionable teenager at the time :-) Sorry for the off-topic posts.

 

On the contrary, I would say that Tenergy is more forgiving and has more margin for error than Evolution.  This is another example of people ascribing some sorts of magical properties to Tenergy that don't really exist.  By design, Evolutio is an imitation of Tenergy, but they made it a littler faster and lower.  Going from Tenergy to H3 requires such major changes in technique that it is really not an option.

The part about DHS rubbers generating more spin but not being sensitive to incoming spin doesn't make sense.  The rubber isn't smart enough to know when to stretch and when not to.

There is no intelligence to rubbers.   I get the same laugh when people say rubbers are faster away from the table than closer or vise versa.  Rubbers don't know where they are.

Too many people attribute too much to the rubber.  There is a normal and tangential coefficient of restitution.  The coefficient of restitution will vary by impact speed but that is all there is too it.  The rest is in the mind ( imagination ) of the players.

BTW,  I like the DHS neo series even when unboosted or speed glued.

I always thought of it as desirable. Higher friction will give me the truest reaction to a spin, and I can more easily use it or counter it. You can feel it. Generating spin is what's actually important. Just my 2c I guess.