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Can some one compare Barracuda vs. Genius+ Optimum

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MindTrip View Drop Down
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    Posted: 05/23/2010 at 12:15pm
These 2 rubbers seem very intriguing to me and a good alternative to T05 in terms of spin. I can find plenty of comparisons between T05 and Barracuda/Hexer through forum search, but information on the newer supposedly "spinnier" Genius+ Optimum is difficult to come by.(spinnier than reg genius) If anyone has tried both Barracuda and Genius Opt. could you please give a short comparison in looping, short game and most importantly SPIN? Or a comparison to T05, if one has not tried Barracuda? I am currently "riding the fence" so to speak, on which rubber to purchase(Barr or GenOpt).  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BMonkey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/23/2010 at 12:46pm
I nominate you to do this comparison Wink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote anubhav1984 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/23/2010 at 2:36pm
Originally posted by MindTrip MindTrip wrote:

These 2 rubbers seem very intriguing to me and a good alternative to T05 in terms of spin. I can find plenty of comparisons between T05 and Barracuda/Hexer through forum search, but information on the newer supposedly "spinnier" Genius+ Optimum is difficult to come by.(spinnier than reg genius) If anyone has tried both Barracuda and Genius Opt. could you please give a short comparison in looping, short game and most importantly SPIN? Or a comparison to T05, if one has not tried Barracuda? I am currently "riding the fence" so to speak, on which rubber to purchase(Barr or GenOpt).  


I am dead sure that Genius Opt+ is going to be much faster than Barracuda. Barracuda, as i hear, is a slow spinny rubber. I have Barracuda and have played fairly long enough with T05 as well. Sadly enough, i have not yet got the opportunity to play with Barracuda.
As and when i do, i will update my findings in my thread (Comparing 8 new generation rubbers).
I have Genius and have been playing with it for the last 4-5 days. Believe me, it is faster than T05. It does not have the same kind of catapult effect that T05 has but it certainly has got some catapult effect which i find missing in the tensor rubbers.

That said, Genius Opt+ is definitely either a faster or a spinnier Genius. Either which ways, it is going to be faster than Barracuda for sure. I have heard people saying that Barracuda is slower than Sonex JP Gold too. That means it really is slow.

Tibhar rubbers (the non tacky ones) have always had the reputation of being the fastest rubbers in the market. Having played a couple of their rubbers, i can confirm this fact. It really is very fast.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote walleyeguy7 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/23/2010 at 5:29pm
yeah i hear nianmor is about the fastest japanese rubber out there as well
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MindTrip Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/23/2010 at 10:30pm
Thank you for your replies.

@ BMonkey- I believe I am going to have to accept your nomination. Genius Optimum is apparently such a new rubber that few have played with it. And those who have(other forums) fail to give a decent review. Seriously, "its a good rubber" does not qualify as a review. Actually its a waste of server space. I found that Dandoy has both rubbers in question in stock and at a price($68 shipped) to where I can get both for about the same price as the Genius+ alone from PaddlePalace($60+shipping).

@ anubhav1984- I have been following your thread on the next gen rubber reviews. It must be very time consuming to do such a task. To elaborate on each rubber, their similarities, differences, characteristics. Thank you for what you are doing.
The Genius+ Optimum is said to be the same sponge as regular Genius. The top sheet was changed to a different pip structure to allow more generation of spin. (from description on back of packaging) Thank you for your input on regular Genius. I wasn't aware that it was faster than TN05. I am looking for something slower than T05, but with the same loop spin. With Genius being faster than t05 already, I could infer that the Gen+Opt is going to be as fast or faster, knowing that it uses the same sponge as the regular. This is not what I am after. Sounds to me that Barracuda may be what I am needing. Speed isn't a problem to produce. Rubbers which lack the ability to spin are a problem. From the other reviews I have read of Barracuda, the spin is the same as t05, but slower speed. Also some have said it to be a little lighter also. I myself am a huge fan of Tibhar rubbers. Having played sinus, nimbus sound, sinus sound and nimbus vip I was hoping the Genius would fit the bill. I going to go ahead and order both rubbers from Dandoy given the price is so cheap right now. I'll just have to wait 2 weeks to a month for them to arrive.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MindTrip Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06/07/2010 at 4:04am
I finally received the Baracuda and Optimum rubbers. I have been playing with them both for the past week. I glued Barac on one side of my Nittaku Septear and the Genius+ on the other, twiddling while doing some daily drills.
Service. Baracuda was the easiest for me to serve with. It has a harder, larger pore sponge which made it simple for me to graze the ball to complete a strong back spin service. The softer Genius+ can create heavy service spin also, but requires a bit more effort. I assume because of the need to dig the ball into the sponge during the point of contact and also the bounciness of the tensor. Serving with Baracuda required no change in my stroke at all, while with + I needed to concentrate more just to get the ball over the net. Once I got used to it, I could keep serves very short with high spin.

Hitting/Pushing. Both rubbers were a pleasure to hit with. They are very consistent and have good feeling. The Genius had a trampoline like effect when hitting, not too outrageous, as it was easily controllable. Pushing, flipping and drop shots are hands down where Baracuda excels over Gen+. Each short game shot seemed so effortless with Bcuda. I could flip and push backspin serves and land them within 1 foot of the net on my practice partner's side. Gen+ was a much more difficult to play with. Its some what bouncy and if I push with lots of bottom spin, the ball would catapult off and land deep on the opposing side. So pushing should be left to a soft neutralizing stroke with Gen+. Flipping was some what tricky too. When I could lift the back spin over the net, the ball would be loaded with my top spin flip, but it would land somewhat deep nearly every time.

Loop. Both rubbers loop with loads of spin. Bcuda does it with topsheet and a little sponge, while Gen+ loops more with a thin rubbery catapult effect. Either way, both get the job done. Bcuda has a little higher throw angle than Gen+, but neither were near as high as Ten05. Bcuda required a little more energy from further back away from the table.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Conan the Greek Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06/07/2010 at 10:17am
I'm using Barracuda on my backhand. These comments are spot on. Barracuda is the best backhand rubber I've ever used. For my game it would be OK for forehand but lacks the hardness I like in a rubber. I'm currently using Platin 2.0 for fh. It's more to my liking but still not quite there.
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