OOAK Table Tennis Forum

What information/factors are important to you when you decide whether or not to buy an inverted/reverse table tennis rubber?

This isn't about who you buy from eg OOAK Table Tennis Shop, or postage and shipping charges, it's about what qualities / factors / information you consider when buying an inverted (reverse) table tennis rubber eg when you tried the rubber yourself, what was it that made you want to go and buy that rubber. Please select all that apply to you (you can select up to 10 items from the list)

It would be really helpful if you could also post why those factors are important to you.

For me it's sponge hardness, mechanical grip and feel which are the important ones. As feel is something which means I need to try the rubber first, I'll add price as a final factor because sometimes I'll take a risk on a rubbers "feel" based on what I know about the first two factors I've listed and reading some reviews of the rubber.

Thanks

Ed: weight now added

For me, the highest ability to generate spin is the most important factor. This goes hand in hand with a (slightly) tacky surface and a high throw, because these types of rubbers generate the highest spin for my strokes. I would judge this by reviews from other people who's opinion I trust, and of course my own experience if I've tried them.
Speed would be next, as it needs to be fast enough to loop it past people, yet not too fast that I cannot control it.
The higher the price, the more I would need to be convinced that it will suit me before I bought it.

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

I tend to be a contrarian at times so i like to have something a bit different. If every one at the club uses hexer, I'll go with bluefire. Also good value is important, i like to buy that sneaky good rubber for the price. Characteristic wise, i probably just dont want something rock hard. Good reviews also important.

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

I agree with everything Haggisv said except that I like both tacky rubbers and mechanical grip rubbers for different things.

I hate blocking with tacky rubbers. If I'm going to block more (Aka my backhand) then I'm going to prefer insenstive tensors or classic rubbers with some speed. On the FH, I have no issues with speed, for me it's spin generation and serving ability.

For chopping, I actually like both...and cant' really decide which I like more, but I do tend to favor thin rubbers.

So really, it depends on the stroke. I just ordered the new XIOM Musa 3 as suggested by someone...it's a classical rubber, non-tacky with lots of mechanical grip. I'm, told this is nice for chopping in larger sponge sizes and loops nicely with control, spin and not too much speed. So I'm hoping it suits both chopping, blocking, and looping for my Modern D setup. Looping with thin sponge is difficult, but I'm getting better with it on my classic D setup....which currently is my main competition setup.

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For me, the main reason to buy a rubber sheet is curiosity. I read something online and want to see what the heck the writer is talking about. That and the funny language used in product descriptions. So here I am, my stack of (as yet unused ) rubber stands at maybe two feet tall now (divide that by 4mm.. yegads..). And what did I find? It's mostly hype. Most of the time I can't tell the difference between sheets, and even if I can the difference doesn't make me play any differently.. Blades on the other hand.. I find blades DO differ from each other. A lot. If I decide to play with my Stiga Allround Classic I play differently than when I'm playing with my N11. Different shots - I try softer shots, block more, go for more drop shots, pick-hit a great deal less. Some blades I really don't like to play with, most rubbers (assuming they're inverted, max sponge) I can handle. (I do find I dislike very hard sponge - 44 degrees and the like - and certain non-tacky Chinese sheets, e.g. Yinhe Mars. Other turn-offs - heavy sheets, expensive sheets.)

Iskandar

Price, sponge hardness and ability to create spin the top three so far. I expected price to be up there and maybe spin but I'm surprised sponge hardness is such a key factor especially as manufacturers don't always share what the sponge hardness is for the products they make.

True, so for me sponge hardness tends to be either about repurchase or purchasing a rubber I tried at least. These days I pretty much stick with vanilla-flavoured Rasant for the FH rubber.Of course the thing you have missed in this survey (or perhaps it should be re-titled ) is factors in buying pip rubbers and the like. Things like reversal, friction level, dampening effect...you know, all the really Important stuff

And ok, I grant that you did put it in the Inverted rubber section....but still...it should be in just rubbers with those important things included

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
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I think that's probably not a true reflection of the players at the clubs, but more that of players here, who are generally well informed and already have a good idea of what they want, and they look for something with the similar sponge hardness.
I did tick sponge hardness, but it was low on my list.

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

I just ticked 6 of the options...

spin - this has to be max
weight - cannot be too heavy ideally no more than 50 grams cut
sponge hardness - FH 45-47.5 degree BH 42.5-45 degree
quality - being able to take glue of the sponge without it crumbling - tinarc sponge highlighted this. Plus the topsheet should keep it's new look & be resistant to chipping / crumbling on the edges.
durability - has to last at least about 6 months keeping 70% of its performance playing 3-4 times a week
thrown height - has to be high for the FH and medium high for the BH

didn't tick Speed but the blade can compensate for this
Throw height was ticked because I've ended up going back to a slightly stiff blade for precision - found the XVP too flexy (in flared) and the XVE lacked that little extra.

Like to say Price is a factor but slowly going back to Tenergy 05 is a contradiction.

Patience Mr Reb Pimples and inverted have different playing characteristics and different requirements to inverted / reverse so to combine all rubbers in to one section would corrupt the data. If there's enough interest in selecting options in this "survey" I'll add other similar threads (with some different options which you note above) in to the "other" equipment threads including blades/bats. For now though I'll see what the response is here.



Very true, but as discussed, they aren't the intended market audience based on the results/information obtained here I'm occasionally asked to recommend rubbers to players at our club and the over riding factors they consider seem to be:

Youngsters / novices - what their peers use
Older players - something similar to what they are using now and is cheap and will last a life time
Serious / competitive players - don't ask, they know what they like and will have already experimented to find something that suits them

The most fun I have is when a novice comes down to a social session, uses the premade bats we loan out to people who don't have their own stuff and then asks to use the bat of someone who plays league play. They generally really like it finding it fast and spinny and great for "whacking" the ball. Then you serve a spinny serve to them and the ball flies anywhere except on the table. You can see the realisation dawning that maybe this "proper" fast attacking rubber comes with some draw backs and they hand the bat back to me. That and the shock on their face when you tell them how much that little sheet of rubber costs.

Availability. I do not pay attention to rare and obscure brands.

Consistency (not quit equal to quality). I hate custom made sponge-topsheet combinations and chemical tuners.

For me I'd say price or better value for money and second curiosity. I played with bluefire for 2 years because there was a buy 1 get 1 free promotion for a while. Then I got a good deal on genius+optimum sound and played with that for a long time(still playing with that). I got a lot of rubbers in Thailand, great value for money and lots of rubbers I would not have bought full price. For the last year or so I've mostly used light soft rubbers before hard/heavy so things vary a bit. There are hardly any bad rubbers, but not all rubbers are suited for all styles of play.

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Competition bats:
Win-tec power def Tibhar 5Q sound Power Update 1.8 * Spinlord Agenda ox
TSP Balsa 3.5 Tibhar Genius+Optimium sound 1.8 * Grass D-tecs ox

Put to rest:
Galaxy T10 Bluefire M2 2.0 Palio Ck531a ox
Victas Koji Matsushita Tibhar Genius+Optimium sound MAX * Spinlord Dornenglanz ox
Donic Defplay Senso Tibhar Aurus Sound Black max * Grass D-tecs ox

Check out my quest for my new blade here: http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=23241
Current standings:
Butterfly Matshushita powerdefence * Joola Chen Weixing * Nittaku KVU * Nittaku Shake defense* Tibhar stratus power defense * Victas Koji Matsushita * Yasaka Sweeper * Win-Tec power defence

The answer,

That I know the params, reviews, and price beforehand [FACE SAVOURING DELICIOUS FOOD]

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What is interesting here, is how many people are affected by:
Pro's use the rubber
Brand Name purchase (trendy/chic)
Advertising literature

I wonder how that compares to the general TT community?

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

You have to ask - when ordering from Eacheng, ask what sponge hardnesses are available for the sheet you want to buy. Sometimes there is a choice, sometimes not. Sometimes they just say "Medium" or "Medium hard".

Iskandar