We have a new Yinhe supplier in the UK
( http://www.ttequipment.co.uk/" rel="nofollow - http://www.ttequipment.co.uk/ ) and they had a few bits and pieces in stock
that I'd been wanting to try for a while now.
With the gradually increasing price of equipment across the board for
eurojap rubbers (and with my EJing getting curtailed after a recent house
move), I thought this would be a good opportunity to try a few bits out, so
I've been using these for the past month or so. Apollo 5 (Red, 38 degrees)
I tried the original Apollo many moons ago, and it was
notable for its enormous level of tackiness.
It was tackiness from a bygone era really - flypaper tacky like older
DHS and 729 rubbers used to be. You
don't see so much of that these days. I
skipped a few generations but wanted to give this new one a run out. Visually, it looks like the same kind of topsheet as the
original - very short pips being the stand out.
It's tacky, but not as tacky as the original Apollo I had and can lift a
ball for about 1-2 seconds. The sponge
has very small pores. It feels quite
hard and looks totally different to the original sponge (from memory). In play, it's really quite insane and hard to describe! Basic drives, it feels a little slow. The arc comes out very low and I needed to
make some adjustments. The feel is quite
hard and there's some lack of feel in comparison with softer eurojap
rubbers. Apart from the lack of catapult
and low arc, it's very easy to keep the ball on the table but it needs more
effort (forward motion) when you try to increase the pace yourself. Short game is incredible. The low arc, low catapult, but massive
grip/tack gives huge scope for variation in returns and spin. It's spin sensitive in passive situations, but
you have to play more actively because the low-gear speed is very sedate so it
doesn't become an issue very often. The
spin on serves and sharp pushes is the highest I've seen for as long as I can
remember (certainly the highest with the 40+ ball). Looping is a challenge for me with this one. Basic topspin shots come out slow and low,
adding brush action increases the speed and spin but the throw never really
gets very high. So from distance, this
rubber asks a lot from you (and would need a very fast blade). Where this rubber shines is attacking from
close-in, right over the table. Brush
looping with a fast action against short balls (or taking longer balls early)
results in a really nasty ball - low with very high spin. It's very hard for the opponent to read the
spin levels because the arc stays very similar throughout a range of loops, and
the short and low nature of the shot gives access to unusually acute
angles. In this respect, it reminds me a
lot of DHS H2. It rewards early, heavy
spin attacks from close-in. In the
celluloid days it would be a great 3rd ball attack rubber, but with the bigger
ball and reduced spin it might even become a 2nd ball attack rubber - attacking
service receives with odd angles and extreme spin variation is an interesting
option these days perhaps. It has a very narrow focus on what it does well, so it's a
rubber that won't suit everyone. It has
extreme properties and some of the shots I pulled off with it brought a lot of
laughs out at the table. And some very
surprised reactions! I suppose it's
aimed at people who want that H2-type experience, which may be a very small
target market.
Jupiter 2 (Black, Medium) If Apollo 5 is Yinhe's extreme tacky rubber, Jupiter 2 is
more of a prototypical modern Chinese tacky rubber and is easier to
pigeonhole. The tack level is about the
same (can pick a ball up for 1-2 seconds), the pips are still pretty short, but
the topsheet is a lot softer and the sponge pores are slightly bigger.
Basic drives the speed is good - a little slower/softer
than H3N, but faster than the majority of cheaper Chinese rubbers (thinking
KTL, 729 here), faster than H3-50. The
arc is much more natural and familiar than the extreme nastiness of Apollo 5. Not as fast as common eurojap rubbers, or other hybrids like Big Dipper or Tibhar K1.
Short game is good - solid, predictable. Tacky rubbers can bring advantages to this
aspect of play, and you are either looking for this or you aren't. There's reasonable catapult and it isn't
quite as linear as H3N but handling is still very steady.
Looping is very good for a rubber of this type. There is just enough catapult available to
make it less focussed than something like H3N, which makes it easier to use in
a wide range of situations. Maybe DHS
Skyline is the better comparison in fact.
Or perhaps the better analogy would be - the sponge hardness and
topsheet softness puts it squarely in the middle of H3N and H3-50 for
looping. More catapult and slower than
H3N, faster and lower catapult than H3-50, with the same kind of
tackiness. Less traditional than a "classic"
Chinese tacky rubber, but more than a modern hybrid. A half-hybrid.
I think this would be a nice option for tacky rubber users
who want the feel/catapult of a slightly boosted sponge but don't want to
downgrade the sponge power, overall hardness or tackiness too much by moving to
a hybrid like H3-50 or Big Dipper.
Venus 3 (Black, Medium)
This one seems to be more of an allround eurojap type. The topsheet is soft, very grippy, and only
just barely tacky (if at all) with taller pips.
The sponge is larger-pored than the other rubbers as well, but less
porous than most modern ESN sponges.
Basic drives - what stood out here was
the steady catapult that builds up. The
overall speed was a little too low on my main blade but moving to a
harder/faster blade (Viscaria) for my second session was a much better
combination (I'm used to a higher speed overall). Although the speed isn't incredible, what
stands out is how easy it is to get topspin on the ball from a variety of
situations.
Short game is OK.
The lower-than-average overall speed helps and the topsheet isn't as
sensitive to spin as the others.
Correspondingly, it's harder to add spin during heavy pushes. The moderate catapult and useful grip does
make it a good rubber to flip and flick short balls.
Looping is steady and reliable. There isn't the need to worry about brush
contact that you have with properly tacky rubbers, and it's very forgiving when
lifting backspin or when playing loop-loop. The spin and penetration aren’t
incredible but it's still pretty good, and I was impressed by how often I was
landing technically demanding shots. The
lack of high-gear speed means you can counterloop with a good percentage, even
if the result is safe rather than dangerous.
This one reminds me a lot of DHS Tinarc, although perhaps a
bit slower. For a eurojap comparison I'd
compare it to Xiom Musa. I'd certainly
consider it if I was using a fast enough blade, or for a pure allround player
with a slower blade.
Saturn Pro (Red, 38 degrees)
I've used this one before a few years ago and really liked
it back then in a combo with Big Dipper.
The topsheet is quite thin, reasonably hard and semi-tacky, similar to
Big Dipper. Tackier than Venus, less
than Jupiter and Apollo. It also feels
pretty hard. The sponge has a similar
pore size to Big Dipper as well, although it looks thicker than any of the
others.
Basic drives - topspin strokes are faster and more direct than the others,
including Big Dipper, even with the slight tack. It's a very precise rubber with a sharp feel
on straight shots. The arc is fairly low
but by no means difficult to manage. The
solid and stable behaviour give it an edge when playing hard and flat shots -
hitting through spin, active blocks and punches. And it makes a crazy loud metallic
crrrrrrrack sound on really heavy hits.
Short game - The higher basic speed means the short game isn't quite as
easy-going as the others on this list, but there is still a slight tack so I
found it easier than most eurojaps.
Easier to deal with incoming balls at least, but it doesn't perform as
well when adding spin in comparison with some.
Spin from serves or aggressive pushes isn't the best.
Looping isn't a strength of this rubber. It does fare quite well on brush contacts and
lifting backspin is pretty good, but the stiff, hard topsheet doesn't give
enough assistance and it's hard to generate big arc without sacrificing
speed. It suits driving with power far
more and so probably leans more towards players who don't drift too far away
from the table.
I do struggle to come up with a sensible comparison to make
with Saturn Pro because I'm not sure there's anything else quite like it out
there. With the direct feel, medium
sponge, predictable linearity and excellent drive performance then maybe it's
like a slightly tacky, slower, medium-sponged Joola Rhyzm? But that's too many modifiers to the
description.
Wrap-Up
All four rubbers were of excellent quality and seemed very
well made. I have to admit, trying
Saturn Pro again was a particular highlight and I'm going to give it a few more
weeks to see if I want to make the switch on my BH side. I also remember it lasting for aaaaaages last
time - it just kept going and seemed indestructible. Apollo 5 was just nuts - I'm sure it will be
a total weapon for the right player, but it's focussed like a laser on what it
does best. Quality control is always a
worry with Chinese brands (sponge hardness or topsheet tackiness variations
etc) and I only got one of each rubber so it's hard to comment really, but it's
something to bear in mind.
Dean over at http://www.ttequipment.co.uk/" rel="nofollow - http://www.ttequipment.co.uk/ was kind enough
to include a few Yinhe S40+ seamless balls in my order as well, and they're almost
indistinguishable to our usual Joola Flash balls if anyone is looking for an
alternative (Flash, S40+, etc are a bit harder and less prone to breaking than
the first batch of XSF seamless we used to use IMO)
------------- This was a great signature until I realised it was overrated.
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