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Euro / Jap Rubber trends - low vs high throw |
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Clarence247
Silver Member Joined: 02/11/2014 Location: Malta Status: Offline Points: 557 |
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Posted: 06/09/2014 at 5:56am |
The purpose of this thread is to discuss trends in preferences of Euro / Jap rubber characteristics - particularly the low throw, fast, excellent flat hitting type (Mendo MP, Bryce, Hammond Pro Beta) vs the high throw, high arc, spinnier type - (Tenergy) - for purposes of this discussion, we have to assume each rubber is playing to it's full potential (ie Speed glue era rubbers are assumed to be speed glued) this is to investigate a pattern which seems to be present in table tennis.
My analysis is as follows: Stage 1: In the past - when Mark V and Sriver came out - they represented the Tenergy of that time - they had a higher throw and were spinnier with a higher arc than any other rubbers available at their time. They were fast, but even more emphasis was on the fact that they were balanced and spinny. They quickly took dominance, and the top spin / loop took dominance with them - giving loopers an advantage over hitters (which were a lot more popular before Sriver and Mark V) Stage 2: However, in the 90's some rubbers became available which were able to satisfy a more aggressive player. A risk taker who favoured speed and power over high arc safety over the net. These rubbers were the famous Bryce (and variants FX and Hard) and Stiga Mendo MP. As time went by - attacking players started to adopt these rubbers as their FH choice. The low throw, and sheer power they were able to produce favoured hard, flat hitting. They just had enough spin to bring the ball down on the table. Players using these rubbers did not seek a lot of safety over the net, but rather wanted to seek the shortest trajectory with the fastest ball possible - making it very hard for the opponent to respond effectively. Slowly we saw the more controlled loops of Mark V and Sriver, being hit back with force by Bryce and Mendo MP - players were now able to just hit through the spinny loops rather than have to loop them back. Of course these new low-throw rubbers were also very spinny when speed increased. They were very capable of looping, but produced a lower arc loop, which also bounced lower when hitting the opponent's side of the table. On BH - the shift was less seen because Sriver did satisfy BH needs - it blocked great, hit great etc... but even on BH Bryce Hard and Bryce FX for example became a popular choices. Stage 3: with the turn of the millennium, and the Speed Glue ban - Tenergy has become the most popular rubber - it has a high arc, spinny loop. This means the focus has now shifted back to spin, high throw, over the net safety (with of course enough speed but not necessarily the fastest). The difference here is that given that the rubbers have to work well without glue - they are inherently faster, they are more bouncy, heavier, and have more grip / spin (out of the package). This means that they are more spin sensitive, not as linear and less controlled for the short game, but give all attacking options of earlier speed glued rubbers. So now the emphasis is back on high arc spinny loops rather than low arc fast ones. There are a few modern rubbers which are more suited for low arc fast shots - Stiga Calibra series and especially Hammond Pro Beta come to mind. However, it seems that the preference lies with high throw rubbers. Anyone who could add his thoughts on this subject? Why did players move away from the low throw, fast rubber type? Of course, the older rubbers of this type are not usable at high level any more without Speed glue - they would hit the net often, they would be less spinny and have difficulty in attacking underspin and are not actually fast under current rules. This could have been the catalyst for the shift back to high throw - but there are new generation low throw rubbers - for example Hammond Pro Beta - why is it that such rubbers are now not favoured over Tenergy type? Is it that these new low throw Bryce / Mendo MP type rubbers have not quite yet reached the levels of their predecessors (for example it does not seem that Bryce Speed has filled the gap) whereas Tenergy has satisfied the needs for the looping style? Let's see some forum opinions!
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MX-P (Max) Mantra M (Max) Backup: Yasaka Extra Offensive, Nittaku H3 Prov 729-802 SP |
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TSuBaSa
Gold Member Joined: 10/01/2003 Location: Turkey Status: Offline Points: 1147 |
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Mendo MP = bluefire m1. (Mx-p is very similar too)
Bryce= t64. |
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Nittaku Tenaly Acoustic Inner Carbon
Joola Rhyzer Pro 50 & 45 |
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viktorovich
Super Member Joined: 04/08/2009 Status: Offline Points: 294 |
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You wrote ... " they would hit the net often." It is one of the reasons.
Tenergy - another in this sense.Plus spin and dynamism.
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Clarence247
Silver Member Joined: 02/11/2014 Location: Malta Status: Offline Points: 557 |
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but there are new generation low throw rubbers - for example Hammond Pro Beta - why is it that such rubbers are now not favoured over Tenergy type? Is it that these new low throw Bryce / Mendo MP type rubbers have not quite yet reached the levels of their predecessors (for example it does not seem that Bryce Speed has filled the gap) whereas Tenergy has satisfied the needs for the looping style?
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MX-P (Max) Mantra M (Max) Backup: Yasaka Extra Offensive, Nittaku H3 Prov 729-802 SP |
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