Choosing a rubber amongst the ones I just received

Hello there, table tennis enthusiasts!

First of all allow me to introduce myself, I'm Martin, a 23 y/o from Spain.
I got back into this wonderful sport after a long hiatus (Moving, college, work and what not) with more passion than ever. I used to play at a good level when I was a kid and kept playing from time to time these long 6 years. Fortunately I haven't completely lost my forehand and I have a better understanding of the game now (Probably because I'm just older).

Thing is, I bought some new equipment after a month-long extensive market study, and now I need some advice on which rubber I should try out first on my forehand, given my circumstances, which are the following:

-I've always played with euro/jap rubbers, no tensors though. 
-I play shakehand.
-I wanted to try a chinese rubber on my forehand. 
-Next month I'm on holidays and I'll be staying at a friend's place with an indoor table (Not such a common thing here in Spain), so I'll have plenty of time to practice and adjust my technique.
-My commercial Hurricane 3 Neo and Hurricane 8 just got here today, along with a Joola Rossi Emotion and Samba+ (For my backhand, which is still way more unconsistent than my FH)

Which one should I try first?
I don't have a good booster, nor have I ordered one yet. Should I try the H3N unboosted first? Or the H8?

Please note I have a decent forehand, and somewhat solid footwork. I could only attend two weeks to the club I've joined, before they closed, (summer break until september) but I can consistently loop from close-mid distance and underspin aswell.
EDIT: ^These I did with a spare All+ Blade with Yasaka Mark V's on both sides my coach had.

Would starting with the Hurricane 8 and then getting a booster for the H3N be a good approach?

Cheers, and apologies for my more than likely flawed language,

menesS




Edited by menesSz - 07/20/2016 at 7:15am

Fresh out of the package, Hurricane 3 Neo is fine to play without boosting.  For your case, I would say start with 8 to get yourself familiar with tacky rubber.

Thank you for the insight gentlemen!

I will try the H8 first, and roll with it until september at least, then I'll try the H3N with some booster. Falco Tempo Long booster seems like a good choice, but wouldn't it be better to get some of that Seamoon, Tianchi or Kailin? I've read those are more typically used with these kind of rubbers.

taczkid wrote: If you are used to Euro/Jap Rubbers you should simply stay with such type. Don't spend all the money trying stuff. Get yourself Tenergy 05 on both sides in 1.9 and you be good to go. There is no reason to try to adjust (what u already had) to new technique. Without constant boosting and cleaning/replacing Chinese rubbers are really slow and for most Euro/Jap rubber users they simply Suck.  But hey if you want to try with them go for H3N if you think that is slow and feels weird, toss it and get Euro/Jap rubber (Tenergy is one of the best) despite its cost it will last you for over a year where are you will go thru 5 Chinese rubbers as the ones available to use are dead without constant boosting etc also they attract all the dust you can imagine, so you will be cleaning your rubber between every point...lol Good luck

I'll only speak for the rubbers I've personally used, but Hurricane 3 Neo and Hurricane 8 absolutely do not need boosting to be playable. These techniques may be relevant for the very high echelons of players, or be fun to experiment with but for the huge majority of us they are not needed. You must be willing to use your own power, not rely only on the rubber to catapult your shots.

Hurricane 8 is interesting as it definitely overall feels softer and has more catapult than H3N. But I actually think it might have a harder sponge, just coupled with a softer top sheet. For me, something made it feel more jarring and harsh than H3N. (On an Infinity VPS V blade) It's also significantly heavier, cut to my blade Hurricane 8 weighs 10g more than H3N!

jonyer1980 wrote: I´ve been playing TT since i was 14y.o.  so i considered myselft a quite advanced player. During all these years i could try lots of stuff. I was playing H3 Prov this last weeks but i feel that i need to comeback to ESN/Japanese style rubbers. I had experienced same situation before a few times, but i always forget it at the end.  Whenever i switch to a chinese rubber,  i´m very excited at first sessions about the spin/control at the table  and low arc of this rubbers, but sooner or later i finally always turn back to my well know rubbers. Why? chinese are in fact deadlier, and sharper on services and loops,  but they require/demand to be always on position, with quick footwook and a proper  technique.  If you´re not built into a chinese technique, not fitted enought or simply you´re not a young enough, then it´s really hard to get used to chinese stuff, since you have to activate your blocks and contact angles are quite different from Euro ESN.     Since i cant train any longer and my legs are the same as i was on my 20´s,  i´d rather prefer to land a few for ball over the net and playing with more variation rather than being creeping like a snail trying to reach ball for one side to another.

Yesterday I had a two hour long training session with different multiball drills with one of my coaches, and man, aren't you right! 
I found myself exhausted after just 40 minutes, and we had to take a break and move on to softer drills (service receive, touch play and backhand stroke) before moving back to 3 point-forehands and what not.
The services (even tho that's probably my weakest point right now, due to lack of practice) were noticeably better in spin and also much shorter, and I had a pretty good control on the touch play, but damn, those loops were demanding!

I noticed that whenever I executed my strokes properly, (getting into position in time with my feet, acquiring the right stance, doing a full-body motion, with hips, arm and weight change) the FH loops were amazing: Loaded with spin, fast as hell, and with a very low arc, but that happened less often as I got more and more tired, I would end up doing half-motions or just reaching, with resulted in nets or just poor shots.

I am definitely not used to this heavy workout yet!  Quickly recovering after putting what seemed to me like every muscle of my body into a shot sure is hard! 

I'm undecided yet on wether I'll stick to Euro/Jap or Chinese rubbers, but I'll definitely wear out this one I've put on (H8) this august. I intended to have at least 14h of training/week with a friend, (that's just 2h/day), but I'm now  uncertain if I'll be able too keep up with the physical effort required, surely not hahaha but since I'll be feeding balls to him I'll also have time to rest .
Anyway, at least I'll get in better shape for sure, and at the end of the holidays have a better knowledge of how both types of rubbers play out to take a final decision. 

On a side note, my backhand loop improved a lot during that session! I'm not sure if it's placebo or actually useful, but keeping a straight left arm that would accompany my right hand arm whenever I did the stroke helped me a lot to improve consistency. 



Edited by menesSz - 07/23/2016 at 10:58am

manraid wrote: JediJesseS wrote: I'll only speak for the rubbers I've personally used, but Hurricane 3 Neo and Hurricane 8 absolutely do not need boosting to be playable. +1 agreed