Yasaka Tornado vintage rubber

Well This rubber was perhaps the most famous rubber of the 70's and 80's especialy for brush loopers, So for the older guys, here's some memories :)

 

 

Still in excellent new condition, you don't want to know how tempting it is to use it (if it wasn't the 1mm version I probably would have :P)

 

 

Yasaka's old shool sponge, I would think the original Mark V's share the same sponge

 

 

Front Cover

 

 

The back cover (worth a read)

 

 

 

 

 

I played with 1.5 Yasaka Tornado orange for maybe 15 years.  It hasn't been available in orange in over 30 years as far as I know because it was discontinued with the red/black color requirement.  I think there was some red and black for a short while if I remember but it didn't play the same.

Tornado was definitely slower than Mark V but as spinney if not a little more spinney. The magic of Tornado was that it gave you quite a bit more control than Mark V.  When I tried to switch after it was discontiued, I couldn't use Mark V with as little as I was playing in those latter years.  Just too fast.  I couldn't block with my backhand like with Tornado.  My thought at the time was that Mark V was a quality rubber that was almost useable for me on my forehand but definitely not on my backhand.  The ball would just leap off the paddle and was quite annoying. 

Another way of thinking of Tornado vs Mark V was that with Tornado you had to do more work to loop but the results were more consistent than Mark V and if I remember, you got more lift (i.e. higher off the table).  With Mark V the rubber did more work for you but you lost touch with your stroke because it did it too fast.  By the way, I was using a fairly slow blade too which no longer exists.  I am thinking of trying a Stiga Allaround but without the CR or any speed enhancements so I can keep the blade slower. 

Since I was only using 1.5, I didn't characterize my loops as "brush looping" (less sponge to hold onto the ball longer than 2.0) but I clearly was.  I was pretty strong and athletic back then so I think I appeared better than my 1850 rating (sometimes played closer to 1900-2000 at the clubs but never rated that high).

Does anyone have any suggestions about the equivalent rubber but updated to work with the new plastic balls.  I'm guessing it would have to be at least 1.8, 1.9 or 2.0 but until I start experimenting I won't know.  With the insane price of rubber these days, I can't afford to jump around.

Thanks

Mike