OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I've used 802-1 with 1.8mm sponge. I bought 802 2.0mm, the topsheet appeared the same as 802-1. Plays well, and I'm happy with it. Finally, I tried 802 with 1.5mm sponge. All were bought from Zeropong.

The 802, 1.5mm looks totally different. It has thinner pips and a blue sponge. Is this normal?

Also, since I'm somewhat new to SP play, I noticed that if I try to hit the ball with any force, the sponge appears to bottom out -- the ball projects downward and flat, instead of going in a straight line trajectory.

Also, when blocking a fast drive, it does the same thing. Is this the nature of 1.5mm or is there some issue with the rubber itself? i.e low quality of 802.

Any help appreciated! Thanks.

My reply is not really a direct answer to your query but just an observation.

I have used 802, 802-1, and 802-40. I have observed that there are slight variations in the manufacture of these products.

Although they are very cheap, having to worry about obtaining a uniform quality in future rubbers is just too much of a headache for me thus my switch to Japanese rubbers such as TSP.

The low price worked for me when I was still transitioning to short pips and was experimenting with spinny vs. less spinny pips. Now that I have found my niche, I settled with more reliable Japanese made rubbers.

i agree with 802 being inconsistent all the time when i bought it from zeropong.

But when i went to china to buy TT equipment, they ask me what quality i want, they have number ranging from 3-10. All this time i didnt know whats the random number was in those little sticker on every friendship rubber, it was their quality control. Their 10 quality topsheet looks like those japanese pips.

also red color tend to have more friction and consistent.

8 out of 10 when i bought the black color from either zeropong or colestt, they have this dull blotches, like some sort if oil get spill when they're manufacturing the rubber. i never encounter this problem with red sheet up to now..

Thanks for the info. I'll stay away from the RITC stuff from now on.