Review: ITC Powercell and Premier - Test concluded

The recently established Korean brand ITC has graciously made two composite blades and two rubbers available for testing, more specifically the Premier XF and Premier XR blades, and the Powercell RS and Powercell MP rubbers. The blades come with a ST handle, while the rubbers are black 2.1 mm. You only have to pay for the shipping (in order to send the blades/rubbers to the next tester on the list).

Please send me a PM if you are interested in testing any of these blades and rubbers. This test will be restricted to US- and Canada-based members in order to avoid mailing delays. Lists of testers will be posted below.    

Conditions for testing: 1) post an honest a review on this thread within a week of receiving the test blades/rubbers, including a brief description of your playing style, regular setup and (estimated) USATT rating to provide contextual background for your review; specify the blade/rubber that you are testing as a headline in bold font, 2) keep your testing below 2.5 hours in order to allow as many forum members as possible to test the rubbers in near-new conditions, 3) you shall not boost the rubbers or sand or lacquer/seal the blades, 4) use only easily-removable non-VOC glue to attach the rubbers (i.e., no vulcanization liquid, speed glue, or Elmer’s rubber cement, 5) after complete testing, please wrap the rubbers using stretch-tite or plastic wraps to preserve the quality of the topsheet and place the blades in their original box, and send it to the next person on the list (or to me, if you were the last one on the list).

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LIST OF TESTERS

Premier XF blade

patrickhrdlicka - done

ndotson - done

<<< TEST OF BLADE HAS CONCLUDED >>>

Premier XR blade

patrickhrdlicka - done

ndotson - done

<<< TEST OF BLADE HAS CONCLUDED >>>

Powercell RS rubber

patrickhrdlicka - done

ndotson - done

<<< TEST OF RUBBER HAS CONCLUDED >>>

Review: ITC Powercell RS and ITC Powercell MP (black, 2.1)

As a fan of Adidas’ table tennis products – I have played with P7 and Tenzone Ultra SF in my FH, Blaze Spin short pips in my BH, and used the Challenger Force blade – I was disappointed by Adidas’ exit from the sport. Although, I have managed to find reasonable replacement rubbers, I was pleased to read the following comments on the P7 substitute thread by MyTT member yogi_bear: “ITC will be releasing a rubber similar to P7 but with a modified characteristic that you will enjoy… They have not taken over the old Adidas company. It is a new company with the same rubber and racket designer. The designer said the P7 needs a little improvement in terms of hard smashes. So basically, the issues that P7 or Tenzone will be addressed and improved although the quality is not an issue ever since.” The prospect of an updated P7/Tenzone sounded very interesting, so here we are. 

The marketing material describes the Powercell RS as having extreme spin performance and very precise ball control for the spin-offensive or allround-type player, whereas the Powercell MP is described as having balance between very high speed and very high spin performance. In other words, RS is described as being slower, spinnier, and having a harder feel than the MP. In fact, the RS is described as having a feel similar to a Chinese sticky rubber with higher speed, while the MP is a more euro-like rubber with built in catapult. Both rubbers are listed as having a sponge density of 48 degrees.

My initial inspection of the rubbers: The black 2.1 RS and MP weigh 72 and 66 g uncut, respectively (52 and 46 g, respectively, cut to the 157x150 ITC Premier XF blade). Compared to the rubbers from the recent tabletennis11.com test, the RS and MP are the heaviest and lightest rubbers, respectively. Both sponges have tiny pores. The RS feels very hard, significantly harder than the MP. Both of the rubbers dome extensively and smell very ‘rubbery’. The topsheet is shiny, without tack, and just like Stiga’s Airoc Astro series it is profiled. There are ~13 pips per 5 cm of rubber in the horizontal direction, and ~21-22 pips per 5 cm of rubber in the vertical direction.  

Playing impressions: Initially, I tried these rubbers on the ITC Premier XF blade, which I have reviewed in a subsequent post: it is a wonderful 5+2 ply Off- composite blade with a relatively soft feel, unless fully engaged, in which case the composite layers provide additional kick, especially from mid-distance. Frankly, I did not care for the feel of either Powercell rubber on this blade. Both of the rubbers felt blunt and disengaged from the blade, slow and without any kick to them (especially true for the RS). The control in touch play (short serves, short pushes) was great, but topspins were without bite and lifting backspin required a lot of effort that my frame couldn’t muster.

Disappointed by the initial impressions, I decided to put the rubbers on the ITC Premier XR 5+2 ply carbon blade instead (reviewed in subsequent post), which is 1-2 notches faster than the XF and has a substantially harder feel. This made all the difference for me. Touch shots were still great, but now I felt there was a better connection between the blade and the rubber on aggressive shots, with a nice clicking sound. I was able to execute FH topspins with much greater pace and very good control; flat hitting close to the table or from mid-distance was a breeze, especially with the MP, which has a built-in catapult. The throw on the RS is lower than on the MP, which conversely is a little lower than for T05 or Tibhar’s MX-P (similar to Andro’s Rasant Powergrip). In general, I could impart more spin on my serves and 3^rd ball attacks with the MP than the RS, most likely due to the softer overall feel of the MP, allowing for easier penetration into the sponge. Of note: judging by a number of unusual errors on serve returns against my regular training partner, I would say that both rubbers are relatively sensitive to incoming spin on serves.            

I prefer the MP over the RS. The former is faster, spinnier, and easier to control in aggressive play than the RS. I can’t help to think that MP is to RS, what Tibhar’s MX-P is to MX-S, except that the Powercell rubbers are ~10-15% slower than the Evolution series. RS (and MX-S) requires more effort to generate speed and spin, whereas MP (and MX-P) is easier to play with (remember the marketing material?). The MP reminds me of a spinner and more controllable Stiga Airoc Astro M, whereas the RS might be more suitable for those players wishing to transition from hard Chinese rubbers to more Euro/Jap-styles. In my opinion, both Powercell rubbers require a fast hard blade in order for the desirable high-control offensive characteristics to become apparent. Finally, neither of the Powercell rubbers have the same ‘easy spin’ and ‘easy lift’ characteristics as the old Adidas P7 – the throw is lower, and the surface less tacky.

Evaluation using the TableTennisDb grading system.

RS: Speed: 8.4, Spin: 8.6, Control: 8.5, Tackiness: 1.0, Throw Angle: 4.0, Weight: 6.5, Sponge Hardness: 7.0, Gears: 8.0

MP: Speed: 8.7, Spin: 8.8, Control: 8.9, Tackiness: 1.0, Throw Angle: 5.0, Weight: 4.0, Sponge Hardness: 5.5, Gears: 8.5

The Powercell rubbers can be purchased directly from ITC.