OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I understand that there are a lot of reviews and comments on this rubber, but I thought I'd share my opinions anyway...

The reviewer:
I am a young, intermediate modern defender who trains 2-3 hours a week. I chop 90% on my backhand and 50% on my forehand (the rest are loops) and have been using it on a Tibhar Volcano X blade (an allround blade from the premade set up but re rubbered) with Tibhar Grass DtecS.

Physical properties:
I have been using this rubber in red 1.8mm sponge thickness on my forehand. The hardness of the sponge is very soft, 35-38 degrees I believe (mine was orange). The top sheet is of good quality and pretty grippy also quite lively and bouncy. Nothing out of the ordinary to report.

Speed:
I must admit, I did not expect it to be as fast as it is, but it is good for speed.When slow looping, the amount of gears is great, it can really disrupt the timing of the rally as much as my pimples and on chops, the variation is all there - forehand chops can be disturbing fast slices to confusing floats. On loops, it has a lovely pace, as it gives me time to recover for my next shot, whilst often being fast enough to trouble my opponent. I found it a bit slow counterlooping to be honest, but my technique for counterattack is not the best by a long shot. On drives and smashes, the speed is good, but I have to really use my arm as the rubber will not provide me with the power that other tensors would (perhaps due to the sponge bottoming out).

Spin:
The spin I can get from my topspins is unbelievable at times! The kick on the otherside of the table is so lively! All distances it never fails to perform, but mid distance is the best for looping I find. On chops, the variation is all there: No spin, Light to heavy backspin and sidespin, very confusing for my practice partner and often causes errors from him. Serving is also an effective weapon in terms of spin, like chopping, variation is possible and right there at your disposal, pushing however, lacks enough spin to do anything to my opponent, other than an easy loop.

Control:
When blocking, I can put the ball cross court fairly effectively, but I do have issues controlling blocks all together. Loop placement is okay, but again, it's more of a: "get it to land on the table roughly where you want" thing. No complete accuracy. When in defence, control is pretty good, but as a fast rubber, it does sacrifice a fair bit of control. Short game I find to be pretty bad if honest. No control to decisively finish a rally early on.

Other:
The throw angle is quite low, but not as low as many chinese rubbers, similar to Donic Desto F1 perhaps. The sound on this rubber is so loud, especially on hard loops or smashes, I love it, the crisp sound of a tensor rubber! Durability: A lot of people say it isn't very good. I've had the same sheet for 4 months. A couple of tiny chips on the edge, but nothing major. Still plays like it did out of the packet, albiet a bit less spin, but this is expected.

Conclusion:
Overall then, Joola Green Power Energy Xtra is a fast, grippy tensor, with good speed and excellent spin, but lacking in control but with good playing properties and durability. For an aggressive player, I would use it as a backhand rubber, for it lacks the firepower of other tensors, but for a "loopy" chopper like me, it's great. Comparable to the Desto F1.

Thanks

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Tibhar CO-S-3
Yinhe Mars v2 2.0mm
Yinhe 955 0.8mm

Great review, thanks Phazit!

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I have been using this rubber in red for about a month.

It's soft but not too soft. Can be surprisingly fast.

Much faster than its 8.5 rating from the rubber database.

Have it on my forehand with a Gergely blade,Tenergy 64 on the backhand.

It doesn't produce a loopy arc,much lower than the 64.

Much,much better at flat hitting though. Faster on flat drives than the 64 no question.

Light to very light. Spin is average but dwell time is very good. Works well in humid conditions due to being on the soft side.

Has a very good feel when paired with a hard blade.