Yasaka Mark V HPS (soft)

High_Arc wrote: There is very little information about these rubbers available, although it's the renewed version of one of the most classic rubbers ever. I assume that they are overpriced, but since the prices have at least not changed upwards recently, I don't care and I have ordered one sheet of Mark V HPS and one of Mark V HPS soft a few hours ago, both in red and max thickness. Although I will receive them tomorrow and test one of them (don't know which one yet, probably the 'normal' version) tomorrow, I'm still very curious about the opinions of those who have alredy played with it. Thanks for your comments!

Played through a sheet of Mark V HPS Soft on the backhand of a Mizutani blade. Tried out a sheet of regular HPS too.

Thaidog wrote: I'm interested to see what the "Max" thickness is. If it's actually 2.5mm I am very interested! If the topsheets where new or different wouldn't they have to use the new ITTF badge?

They do use a different badge

BMonkey wrote: Played through a sheet of Mark V HPS Soft on the backhand of a Mizutani blade. Tried out a sheet of regular HPS too.   The HPS Soft made for a decent backhand rubber. Not that fast compared to most of the other stuff out there, I'd say only a little faster than baracuda (which I had on FH). Spin was good however and when they said soft, they meant SOFT. Not BTY Solcion soft, but still, I am used to bryce FX (no tuning or anything) and it felt way soft compared to that.   Regular HPS was junk IMO. The best way I could describe it was: if you think of spin and speed each being a numerical value, it's like they took alot of the points out of the spin and put them into the speed. It was faster than regular Mark V but spin wasn't there, at least not in balance with the increased speed. I tried it out for a few days and threw in the towel with it.   I am 90+% sure that the HPS topsheets are not regular Mark V topsheets however. I checked very thoroughly in multiple light conditions and the reds and blacks never quite matched up. Also the HPS topsheet, oxidized in a strange pattern as time went on.

Thanks for your comments!
Just got the two rubbers a few minutes ago and will replace my (almost new) T05FX with the Mark V HPS soft (max). Also on a MJ blade. I'll go out to play with it today in the evening, so initial impressions will follow soon (my initial impression are however usually positive unless I really can't play with it...)

Thaidog wrote: If you can take some pics of the sheets or do your normal video review that would be awesome!

here some pics (not sure about a video review, we'll see):





the rubber is quite light. my blade is 3 gr lighter with the mark v hps soft than with the t05fx (41 gr cut with a bit leftover). the rubber is not as soft as i expected from a previous post, certainly harder than the t05fx, overall the hardness is in the range of the t64, with the mark v top sheet being harder and sponge softer. slower than any of the tenergy's. less dynamic. all impressions when just bouncing the ball.
don't have a regular mark v with me, so i can't compare the top sheet. it looks the same as the regular one in my memories. don't see any difference in the batch or so compared to the normal version.
probably an overpriced rubber. if the durability is fine and there is some significant advantage over the regular version, then it's perhaps worth the money. at least it looks really nice and i like to have a rubber with the mark v logo on my blade.
more to follow.


Edited by High_Arc - 08/03/2010 at 4:12am

so here come some of my first impression... i used the mark v hps soft on my backhand by the way.

first i have to say that although i intended to do a training with some exercises and so on, i only played matches today because nobody else was in the mood to do a serious training (if one does not consider match training as a serious training). so it's harder to get to know the rubber well.

during warm up i thought that the rubber counters really well, and blocks really well. the rubber feels solid, i.e. it is certainly not as soft as the t05fx i used before. sensitivity to incoming spin is much much smaller than e.g. t05. first loops were some kind of a disaster, because the rubber does not bite the ball as much as any of the tenergys. there is some catapult, but certainly not as extreme as for the tenergys. throw is medium high i would say. speed is high, but not extreme. after a few minutes my backhand loops were quite okay, but i felt far from confident.

okay, now how did it behave during the matches. inconspicuous. although this may not sound very impressing, i was deeply impressed. i guess the rubber is nothing special regarding spin, speed or control, but it is an extremely well balanced offensive rubber with a good feel to it. in real matches (unlike the one you see in my current videos, i will perhaps upload a 'real' one with the mark v hps soon, or at least an old one with the t05 again), my backhand style is kind of all out offensive on first attack and mainly blocking if i'm not the one who attacks first. i personally think that one of my strongest points is destroying pushes to my backhand with some sort of loop drive. the mark v hps didn't let me down.

i know that the rubber is very pricey and to be honest i think it's not worth that money. nevertheless i will certainly keep it on my backhand for a few more sessions and most likely it will be my backhand rubber for the coming season (just three more weeks to go, so time for experiments should be over).

i've read somewhere else about this rubber something like 'it will not make you a hero on its own but it will let you do anything you want to do'. i think that's true.






Edited by High_Arc - 08/03/2010 at 4:49pm

Thaidog wrote: Can you  say that it resembles speed glued mark v at all?

i certainly need another few training with the rubber to be sure about its characteristics.

however, due to the top sheet it certainly has some mark v feel to it. while it certainly doesn't play like a heavily glued up rubber, it plays notably faster, with more spin and kick than the regular mark v. although i have not noticed some 'speed glue sound', i would say it plays like a lightly glued mark v.

so far i think that the only really special thing about the rubber is that there is nothing bad. but of course i might be wrong...

more to follow.

speaquinox wrote: HPS soft was quite a dissappointment for me. Lacks the dynamics of most new gen rubbers. It's fastish but plays too flat.

fully understand what you mean, but i only agree to some extent.

i was quite eager to have some more hits with the new rubber. so i took an extended lunch break and went to play a bit with a ball machine.

i still thought that the rubber feels solid, not really soft. when i press the rubber, the sponge is certainly harder than the one of the t05fx, while it feels softer than a t64. however, the rubber somehow feels a bit harder than the t64 for countering and blocking. it has not very much catapult at slower strokes. you can produce reasonable spin at pushes and first loops against bottom spin (which turned out to be a dream for me with the mark v hps soft), though certainly not as extreme as with a t05. it reminds me somewhat of the donic coppa platin, but has a higher throw (and doesn't wear down when you just look at it).

the rubber has some sort of a dead feel (reading little catapult) when you don't do very much, it doesn't react heavily towards incoming spin. i feel that this might make it an easy handling rubber towards all kind of incoming weirdness.

however, the rubber has some non linearity in between strokes which employ little power and those which employ more power. the rubber gets really lively when you hit a bit harder. very nice catapult (still not as extreme as t05 and t64), very nice arc.

i really enjoyed blocking and looping with this rubber against the machine today. my loops are getting more consistent i feel than they were with the tenergys (except perhaps t05fx), though maybe with a little less spin and speed. backhand counter loops were amazing. i rarely do it in a match simply because i'm not good at it, but it felt very solid today.

i have found a rubber i can live with on my backhand again. distinctively different feel than the tenergys (not such an extreme bite and such a huge dwell) but very very well balanced. certainly a very solid choice under the assumption that it lasts somewhere as long as the original mark v. there is some hope since they share they same wonderful top sheet.

edit: i personally think that i have a very strong first backhand loop in particular against bottom spin but also against flicks. i think my backhand is not particularly good when it comes to looping several times in a row close to the table, i almost always have to go one step back. for me, the smaller speed and catapult at less hard strokes helps me to get backhand rallies going i assume, while there is enough kick for my 'killing loops'.


Edited by High_Arc - 08/04/2010 at 9:43am

AMonteiro wrote: Judging by pictures, this rubber (topsheet) looks like Nianmor. Unfortunately Nianmor topsheet oxidizes very fast, after 2-3 weeks. If you can, keep us update about this issue. Best regards

ok, i'll keep you updated about durability of the rubber and in particular the top sheet.

however, i think it is the same good old mark v top sheet which is known for it tremendous durability.

hbelton wrote: I is the Mark V top sheet mated to a new sponge which brings with it the same advantages and disadvantages.

i must admit that i don't fully understand the question. if the question is whether the top sheet and the sponge harmonize well, then i would say yes. but again, the dynamics of the rubber are much less notable than for other new generation rubbers.

High_Arc wrote: Thaidog wrote: If you can take some pics of the sheets or do your normal video review that would be awesome! here some pics (not sure about a video review, we'll see): the rubber is quite light. my blade is 3 gr lighter with the mark v hps soft than with the t05fx (41 gr cut with a bit leftover). the rubber is not as soft as i expected from a previous post, certainly harder than the t05fx, overall the hardness is in the range of the t64, with the mark v top sheet being harder and sponge softer. slower than any of the tenergy's. less dynamic. all impressions when just bouncing the ball. don't have a regular mark v with me, so i can't compare the top sheet. it looks the same as the regular one in my memories. don't see any difference in the batch or so compared to the normal version. probably an overpriced rubber. if the durability is fine and there is some significant advantage over the regular version, then it's perhaps worth the money. at least it looks really nice and i like to have a rubber with the mark v logo on my blade. more to follow.

Will do.  I forgot to mention that HPS Soft has a considerable reverse dome (topsheet bigger than sponge) out of the package.  But it flattens out nicely.