I'm considering this rubber as my new BH rubber. Quick background: Compact BH stroke because I'm used to traditional Chinese rubbers like TG2 and PF4-1, but I struggled with BH looping. Changed to Flextra at the end of last year which is nice, but BH opening loop is still not great. I'm not looking for a rubber to fix my technical problems, but one that will suit my natural stroke and I can develop my BH looping with.

(if you want to read more:  http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=70967&PID=866813" rel="nofollow - http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=70967&PID=866813 )

My qs are

> How is Zalt for developing/learning strokes?
> How much of a difference is it from Flextra - will it be too fast or lack control?
> What kind of an arc does it produce? I'm not keen on low arc BH rubbers. (answered)
> Is it durable?
> Is it a non-tensor rubber?
> How does it perform on serves and touch shots?

> How is Zalt for developing/learning strokes?

Great!  It isn't too fast, is quite soft, and the topsheet has an unusual quality of being insensitive to spin unless you use a fast stroke action, so it's very forgiving.

> Is it durable?

Yes, pretty good.
> Is it a non-tensor rubber?

Yes, non-tensor.  It's made in China (more on that below).
> How does it perform on serves and touch shots?

Really well during service return.  It doesn't have a hugely grippy topsheet so it isn't the best when serving yourself.

So, this is made in China and since my original post above I'm 90% sure it's made by 729, simply because it's really similar to 729 Battle 1.  Battle 1 has a grippier topsheet on an almost identical sponge, and is cheaper too.  If you're prepared to go one small step further up the rubber performance chain away from Flextra (more grip, slightly faster than Zalt), you should give Battle 1 a try.

+1 to Andy's answer. It really has a very high throw. Higher than my musa's.

My red sheet ("super thick", heh) is 38.75g cut to 158x152, which is a tad bigger than standard.

Yup, it's quite light compared to most modern rubbers.

It's a bit slower than any tensor really, which is where the comparison to Musa comes in.  It has some of the elastic snap and loose feel of a tensor but without the speed.  Even though it throws quite high, it does lack spin.  This makes it really easy to use and to develop a BH loop with, but when playing at a reasonably high level it's hard to generate threatening levels of spin with it.  The topsheet is really something - the thinnest I can remember seeing.

Battle 1 is similar in feel but with a grippier topsheet, and is very close to something like Acuda S2/S3, but maybe 80% of the top speed and more linear.

Bit heavier - 44.36g for the same cut size.

Thanks AndySmith and CipheR!

I got Zalt today for a nice price and I'll try it out when I hit in a few days time  Maybe in the future when my BH is more developed I'll try Battle 1.

Sure 

I haven't done a review before and I'm not too sure what to write, so I'll just put my impressions and hope it adds to this thread.

I got 2.0mm in red for my backhand. This was labelled as "Super Thick" on the package (I do wonder what they would call a 2.2mm version... ultra super duper thick?). Compared to a very old tenergy 05 I have which came on the old DHS blade I've been restoring this past week (sanding down bits of sponge, filling cracks and sealing the blade) I have agree with AndySmith on the general appearance. It does have a lovely looking topsheet that's really thin and impressive.

When playing, the first thing I noticed was the higher throw, much higher than I'm used to coming from PF4, TG3 and Flextra. When a drive a high ball or hit through high top spin, my blade almost finishes horizontal to the ground. I really have to follow through properly on my bigger strokes.

It does feel a tad faster than Flextra, which was the main reason for changing, so when I hit the ball with my natural stroke it lands ~10cm from the opposite table edge rather than in the middle when using Flextra. The ball travels further in a shorter time. Surprisingly it does make a very satisfying 'click' when I hit at full power which reminds me of tensor rubbers I've tried on friends' blades. But, there is barely any catapult effect on normal strokes.

During BH loop drills, I feel like I've made a good choice. I don't have to hit 'forward' as much just to get the ball to land deep. It has a really nice arc too, maybe because of the higher throw, that brings it down on the table. It makes opening loops and flicks a lot more easier. Also, maybe because of my stroke, I get some side spin on my loops. Not a lot, but enough to curve the ball from my opponents sweet spot to the handle if I'm looping to his FH. I also have no idea how to control this side spin as it's something I didn't get with previous rubbers.

Yeh, overall I find it a very nice rubber to play with. It suits my game a lot more than any thing else I've tried and the only issue that I have is that sometimes when I (passive) block the ball just falls into the net. Probably due to sloppy technique than equipment - I'm too used to just sticking my bat out and letting hard tacky rubbers do their thing. I didn't passive block too well with Flextra either 

EDIT: I twiddled and used it on my FH last week. Similar feeling when looping, higher throw with nice arc and pace. The 'click' noise was louder too which sounded great, but I still prefer TG3 for its low vicious arcs when looping. 

Mark V and zalt cost just about the same at tt-japan.net (for some reason my computer won't let me type a capital z)

Is RH harder than Zalt? Topsheet harder? Sponge Harder? Is it tackier?

Driving: Very easy on backhand, I can hit through a lot of top spin shots I get as long as I remember to follow through a bit and keep my bat closed. Plenty of speed for me, and a lot of control. I'm hitting the lines a lot more than I used to.

Looping: I use a lot of wrist when I loop and at first it took me a while to figure out to use the sponge effectively. I like the high throw a lot because the majority of my opening loops against backspin clear the net by a good margin, and there is enough top spin to bring the ball down quickly. 

Flicking: With the old cell ball, I get a lovely banana curve and good kick when it hits the table. I've been told a couple times that my backhand rubber is very spinny because of this. With the poly ball, the curve is less and the kick is much less, but there is still good spin. I can now flick the majority of serves (if I read them right lol) which was something I never used to be able to do

Pushing/blocking: This is where I've had to adjust the most, because I was too used to relying on tack to push. I can dig the ball into the sponge and get a fast spinny attacking push, but short pushes off the bounce are still hard for me as they often pop up. Same for blocking if I don't close my bat enough when blocking top spin, the ball pops out and goes long.

Serving: Same thing, literally no tack now so I've been working on using the sponge a lot more for backhand serving. It's getting there, but again taking some getting used to coming from tacky rubbers. Plenty of spin though, when I get it right.

Durability: two and a bit months in, it's looking good.  The only sign of wear are my sweat marks from my fingers. The sheet is still just as fast as when I got it and when I block a heavy loop or drive the ball with power a couple metres from the table the lovely 'tock' sound is still there!

Thoroughly recommend this rubber to anyone looking for an alternative to sriver or mark v or other classic rubbers 

Probably doesn't answer your question in enough detail, but when I first attached Zalt I had to use speed glue as it was the only one I could borrow. 2-3 layers on the sponge and 1 on the blade. I remember thinking how good it was compared to the flextra I just took off, and the next day when I went to play again it didn't feel as good.

There was a difference and it was because of the glue, but I can't say exactly how much better it played in terms of like percent or points won, as I haven't re-glued it with speed glue (nor do I intend to as it is fast enough for me).

I haven't used Musa before so I can't comment on that sorry