Joola Phenix Rubber

assiduous wrote: i got a mildly used one from a friend. Very easy to play with, loop or block. No need to 'learn' or 'adjust'. THe ball flies the way you expect it to fly. Light. On the downside, dwell time is quite poor compared to the Joola Express and Energy rubbers, that I have tried as well. The so called 'bite' is not there either. It's not like the ball slips, but the bite feeling is just not there. Not good for looping chopped balls.  Throw is med high, speed is quite OK, it's not a cannon but you can loop from mid distance reasonably.  It's OK, but quite frankly if it disapeared nothing would be lost as it doesn't have anything unique.

I disagree on the speed.  It is a cannon.  Whenever I give my TBS + Joola Phenix Max setup to players, they always complain that it is uncontrollable.  The one person who liked it plays with Schlager Carbon + Rakza 7 soft on both sides.

Again, for looping chopped balls/dwell, I agree - it is a spinny rubber but the throw is not med high - it is very low in my experience, but it just means that I have to use extreme angles and rely on the rubber for the length of the stroke and keep my strokes very short.  Because my shoulder is killing me right now, I'm using it.

It is the low throw that makes looping chopped balls hard, but if one just wants to get the ball over the let with speed and attacks the chop rather than trying to loop it with traditional underspin stroke, your evaluation can change really quickly.

For blocks, hits and drive loops, that is where it is at its best.

By the way, Phenix is currently one of Joola's best selling advanced rubber. I would definitely miss it if it left the market. I've now decided to go all in on this rubber given my positive experience and to swallow the high price.

Only when forum is discussing the thing that you ve been using extensively one can elaborate how to treat all the other reviews here. All info is very subjective. Not a fresh point but need to be figured out once. In the end as for me  - Phenix is FAST (if its not, what is?) with average/normal/nothing special spin. When I was thinking where to move from it I dreamt about a little bit softer much grippier rubber with higher arc and more spin. But they did completely reverse  - let out phenix 48 instead of phenix 40-42 :) Phenix 48  could be a great BH rubber  - low arc fast and hard. But for FH it should be a leathally flat and fast. May be like Calibra LT +. While everybody (imo) should choose LT spin. Everytime! :) It's spin that makes TT shine!        

For me it came down to that ESN Tensor rubbers were not for me (bouncy characteristics) and neither were Tenergy rubbers (cost and characteristics). Classic rubbers without boosting were just to tame for me as were the Chinese rubbers that I tried. So I needed something with good mid-court and close to the table speed and performance together with lots of control and feeling. Of all of the rubbers I tried, Killerspin Fortissimo and Joola Phenix were the two that felt right for me. I really disliked the Rakza 7 that I purchased and it would not surprise me that those who love Rakza 7 may dislike Phenix. Everyone has a different game and different tastes. Different ways of playing and making points. Phenix is just right for my game and I am very happy with it and I would miss it as would other players who enjoy the characteristics of this rubber. 

Edited by richrf - 02/05/2012 at 11:06am

sunilid wrote: I have decided to try out 2.0mm Joola Phoenix on BH -- so kudos to richrf for a good review

SmackDAT wrote: How is Joola Phenix on the backhand, especially for looping slightly backspin balls?

great

Will less catapult work on the forehand? I usually use a more bouncy rubber on the backhand.

Does Phenix work on hard thin composite blades. Is phenix medium high throw?

SmackDAT wrote: Does Phenix work on hard thin composite blades. Is phenix medium high throw?

agree!  it keeps chipping around the edges. 

Brainstorm69 wrote: Yeah, that probably equates to 40g or more cut, depending on the space you leave at the bottom of your blade above the end of the handle.

my 2.0 weight is 43gm


Edited by piligrim - 12/03/2013 at 1:44pm

For me, the closest fit was the Stiga Calibra LT - NOT the Tour which is completely different. I think you'll find the Calibra has very similar characteristics, and better. However, it is a counterhitting rubber like the Phenix and lacks spin. You get one of the other but not both.

Hope this helps.