OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I've made this switch recently and beforehand I was struggling to find many on-line comparisons. So I thought I'd share my findings. Short preamble...I'm closer to a classic defender than modern defender and have being playing LP for many years to a decent standard. Gone from DrN FLP to DTEcs (8-10yrs) to Curl 1.0 (3yrs) and now to Feint 3 1.0, and periodically must have tried almost everything inbetween!

Comparisons are: both rubbers in red, both 1.0mm sponge, and both mounted on a Joola Chen Medium blade.

Why look to change in the first place? What's wrong with P1r?

There's nothing wrong with P1r, it's a fantastic rubber with many superb qualities. But there are issues which I can't seem to iron out even with a lot of practice on technique over a prolonged period. These are:

1. Safety / effectiveness of service return
2. Amount of backspin generated on opening chop to low spin loop
3. Ball popping up when pushing
4. Off the bounce bump attack very low success rate
5. Creating a float ball from a strong loop
6. Keeping a low trajectory on push and chop numbers 3 and 4
7. Occasional behaviour giving it a life of it's own

Sounds like a long list and that a lot more practice is requried. Maybe so. But if you're practicing twice a week and also playing matches that doesn't leave much time for more practice. Hence looking for an alternative. Most LP players will EJ a lot I suggest and every rubber tried seems to have additional qualities that are traded off against ones lost. I guess you can train your game to suit one particular rubber or find the rubber that suits your game the best. One of the reasons for this review is that in Feint 3, aside from one small feature, is better for my game in all other areas.

Here are some specifics:

Trajectory - The ball doesn't have that strange flutter effect that Curl does, but it is lower and does not seem to pop up on pushes or on chops 3/4 etc

Serve receive - Additional to the lower trajectory, service returns are much easier and safer. Long fast low spin serve receive on the BH is a weak point gone.

Speed - The Feint is slower, I'd say about three-quarters of the Curl pace, which means you can chop it harder and block shorter. Also bump attack from incoming push goes on

Float balls - Easy to create on purpose, but seems to create them inadvertantly through slight differences in the contact point on the face of the blade. Very nice when it happens

Chop - Easy to get the ball back, easy to change placement, much heavier chop possible with standard stroke (Joo and Chen really jab on contact with the Curl whereas others don't, they plays for a smoother contact). The jabbing is really hard to bring into your game without making huge misjudgements on shots.

'Strawberry' - Much easier to perform, goes on, keeps the spin (Curl seems to take it off and it floats so then goes long)

No spin balls - easy to give a nasty skiddy flat return without popping the ball up

Strangeness - The fluttering of Curl gets to a lot of opponenets and the Feint doesn't have that. But what it does seem to do is sit up or shoot on after bouncing, which is very tricky for the receiver

Consistency - Feint is way more consistent. Never underestimate the value of 'just' getting the ball on the table and reducing unforced errors. Enables the defender to build pressure on the opponent.

Twiddling - shot technique for Feint is extremely close to inverted, so twiddling becomes much easier. Simplifies your game. Curl you need to be very attentive.

Attack - because Feint is closer to an inverted technique you can virtually play the same backhand loop drive as you would with the other side. Punches very well and I've already mentioned the bump attack off the bounce.

Spin manipulation - Way easier with Feint

Distance - Feint equally effective both at the table and at distance, Curl is difficult closer in

Push - Easy to push to push, hardly any pop up balls, easy to change from spin push to float push

Block - You could almost play an old style FLP blocking game with Feint. It takes the speed out of a hit and you can block spin low and short. There are much better rubbers available for a blocking game, but you do need to be able to block effectively in all game styles, and that's hard with Curl.

Drop shot - fantastic. Proper dead short dying balls

Placement - Very easy to move the ball around and keep it low and safe

Worry - I'm always a little worried about what the Curl is going to do in various circumstances. I'm not with the Feint, I know what it's going to do. And that, along with the above makes for a lot of confidence when you're using it.

Fishing - Curl is better, possibly because it’s slightly faster.



Conclusion

Aside from the really small element of fishing I'm really struggling to see where Curl trumps Feint. It's one of those rubbers that I think gets overlooked because it's not cheap to try out, maybe players go to FL2, or it's possibly seen as old technology. I know that I've not tried it before and I've tried a lot of different rubbers. All the above increases my competitiveness and results have certainly improved without much adjustment at all.

Hope it helps for anyone thinking of switching either to or from Feint Long 3.


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TSP Toccata
Omega V
CWX
More Classic than Modern Defender

+1.I am seriousy considering switching over to either P1R or FL 3 in 0.5.I don't have enough training sessions to have a strong opinion about it but FL 3 is easier to use than P1 R for sure.You have to decide on the consistency you get from FL 3 or more spin generated by P1 R. With P1R there will be far more errors , with FL 3 more balls on the table.

It is a quetion of consistency versus different kind of spins generated.If you are able to be consistent with P1R, then,P1R is much better , if you can only train 2/3 times per week, then, the most sensible thing to do is to choose FL 3

I have played with just about all of the popular chopping/blocking LP, SP and Anti rubbers in the past 4 years and while I am currently playing with Globe 889-2 with a super soft Air Zero in 2.0mm sponge from Colestt on a Defplay Senso, I always seem to end up back with Feint Long3. I have it in red and black and every sponge thickness from .5mm to 1.3mm. It is the most versatile LP that I have used. You can do all of the LP strokes and then when you want to you can do flat SP hits and punches and then be 8 or 10 feet back with a ball below the table and can counter loop if you want. Yes it is slow but if you need speed put it on a faster blade and you can still chop hard spinny loops. It is plenty fast when you need it to be and since it's control is amazing you can swing hard and the ball will go where you want it too. It is definitely overshadowed by P1R and Grass D.TecS but not because it is inferior. I think that the players that use FL3 (Ruwen Filus is my favorite player) just aren't as respected as the players that use the the other two. I wouldn't use it in OX. That seems to defeat the purpose of the super slow and soft sponge.

There is only one blade that I have played with that I don't like FL3 on and that is the Defplay. I think that this blade needs a firmer sponge or top sheet and that is why I am playing it with the 889-2. The sponge might be plenty soft but the firmness of the pips adds a crispness that you can't get with FL3. I probably will try IliusB on the Defplay soon because the sponge is twice as hard as FL3 to see how it feels on this blade.

But FL3 is a do it all rubber and it does it well. Very little compromise and very little need to use a slow blade if you mostly attack on the forehand side. My training partner just recently switched from FL3 to IliusB both in 1.3mm and uses a Nittaku Myabi one ply. Chopping is effortless and you can smash or loop backspin and topspin. It's not inverted but that's what twiddling is for.