OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Lookin for new rubbers that would replace my baracudas eventually...they have fine enough spin, but if possible I would like more spin and way more speed. (They feel very slow)

The traditional answer is Tenergy 05 or Evolution MX-P MX-S or EL-S.

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Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
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"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

You need to develop some muscles... A fellow club member here could blast the ball with it using a defense blade...

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Idk im 85kg lean musclein my 20s, I do physical training 4 times a week. I can hit super hard compared to some of the "seniors" or just normal adults, however some of the other people can hit the ball with way less strength way faster due to my very slow setup. I was thinking about trying out the bluefire series from donic, m2 or m1 turbo maybe.

There is a decent chance they are hitting it faster because of better technique. How long you've been playing TT and what is your current level?

It's pretty much impossible to say for sure without a video - so that would help too. As an aside comment - you don't always need to hit fastest to win a point/match.

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USATT: 1807 | League: 1887

I agree with pgpg, the Shiwen+Barracuda shouldn't be that slow at all and my guess is that the energy of your stroke doesn't really get to the ball or in the hit. Also, not getting enough spin in combination with your strokes makes me guess that there's quite some potential to achieve just by improving the technique.

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Red is blogging here >> http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=30522

Yeah, I would second this, that setup should have plenty of speed and spin. But without seeing you play it is difficult to judge. Unless you are playing at a really high level already this setup should have plenty of what you need. It's similar speed wise to my setup, and I don't suffer any issues with this. I have issues with me not getting into position for the shot, but not with my equipment.

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Donic Waldner World Champion 89 FL; Donic BlueStar A2 (Red) Max; DMS Firestorm (Black) 1.8

I am not sure but I guess there is a reason why good players od not use baracuda after all, speed-wise sure it is somewhat better than what you would get on a premade racket, but it is simply not enough to compete with. The price was fairly acceptable though, so that is I guess a selling point.

Who are you competing against and how long you've been playing?

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USATT: 1807 | League: 1887

What's your playing level? I used Baracuda quite a few times when I beat players at the USATT 2200 level in league matches. I also know players at the USATT 2400 level who use Baracuda. Yes, there might be a reason world class players don't use a rubber but once you start confusing yourself with a world class player, you can get some silly results unless you are on a somewhat similar growth trajectory.

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Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

Baracuda is slower than those rubbers. Not any less spinny. If you want to base your game more on speed and power then use those rubbers. But it's not a miracle thing. I have used a lot of equipment and my level stays fairly similar regardless. If you hit the ball faster the round trip time is faster and you need to adjust to that.

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Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

All about technique good sir. I've been obliterated by a 1900 level player in their mid 50's multiple times. He uses barracuda on his FH, and uses a Donic Defplay blade which is pretty darn slow in comparison. He's taught me a very valuable lesson. It's not how fast you can hit a ball by someone that will win you matches, it's about strategy and placement that will win you games. Barracuda has a crap ton of spin, and tons of control, use the rubber's strengths to your advantage.

pgpg - You use to use Donic Barracuda if I'm not mistaken.

• What did you love about the rubber?

• What did you hate about it?

• Why did you move onto another rubber?

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"When in doubt, chop. If still in doubt, chop again" USATT 1607
I.Tibhar Stratus Power Defense; FH: Victas V > 15 Extra 2.0mm; BH: Giant Dragon Meteorite 0.5mm
II. Butterfly Joo Se Hyuk; FH: Butterfly Tenergy 05 1.9mm; BH:Giant Dragon Meteorite 0.5mm
III. Tibhar Stratus Power Wood; FH: Butterfly Tenergy 05 2.1mm; BH: Victas V > 01 Stiff 2.0mm

If you are talking about me, then I'm 1800 at best . Also, last time we played, you beat me, I think, but that was before you switched to pips...

I originally got Baracuda because everyone was raving about its spin, which it has plenty, plus some people said it chops well. I have not really hated anything in particular, still have it an old sheet on one of my blades. It is somewhat sensitive to spin, if I were to pick something. Moved away from it mostly due to exploration and desire to try something else (also Rasant went on sale, IIRC).

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USATT: 1807 | League: 1887

I know a handful good players that use baracuda both sides or on the forehand and they are all north of 2000 with the highest being 2300. The 2300 (peak was above 2400) player used to play with H3 on his FH, switched to baracuda, and is known for his step around FH power. He is a 2 winged looper from china, coaches, and is a good friend of mine...some on here have played him. He plays with it on a TB ALC. He actually chose baracuda because it was faster than his H3, but slower than his Tenergy. So take that for what it means. He has never played with anything other than Tenergy 05, H3, or Tenergy 64 (typical Chinese junior story from age 6 to now 20).

But the reason that "most" don't play with alternative rubbers manufacturers is because of Butterfly's very successful marketing strategy, or DHS' dominance of the CNT forehand rubber strategy. Most juniors getting coached by a chinese coach will start with Tenergy and/or Hurricane because that's what they are given. And from there they never give equipment a second thought afterwards, and then they become elite. Likely their club is sponsored by Butterfly, and since Tenergy is the zeitgeist or the rubber paradigm for inverted spinny rubbers most of the players use it simply by default.

Essentially what I'm saying is that Baracuda or any Tensor is good enough and has enough speed given the right technique. But, certainly there are a billion tensors out there with more speed, but there will always be trade offs in your game. Speed isn't always "better" or caused by the rubber. In fact there are several pros that play with Tenergy FX rubbers at times (Harimoto, Kreanga) and those were fast enough for them, and T05FX is definitely slower than Baracuda IMO.

For me, I prefer the Baracuda's slightly slower speed over T05 and MX-P on my new Viscaria...I just bought the blade, but this rubber/blade combo certainly has enough speed for my level (1630). And it seems to be good enough for Bojun (2400).
Perhaps you are far above my level, but just adding some perspectives and observations here. Like everyone said, hard to comment without knowing your level, technique, and style.

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I am not from the USA, so I can not tell what my rating would be in that system. Also I think everyone can always improve technique no matter what rating / skill one has. I really just wanted to know if there are objectively seen, from just pure data, better alternatives that would give me a better chance in an actual competition (both spin and speed wise). Also it nice to see that some talented individuals can scrap by with the setup, but that does not really mean that the setup is so good, its more like they are just skilled enough to perform even with substandard equipment.