OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Mmm, Double Happiness Memo.
This one was on an Acoustic rather than the mizutani I've been using before, so keep that in mind...


Brand: Double Happiness
Model: Memo
ITTF: 24-008 (i think)
Colours: B
Thickness: 2.2
Sponge: DHS #18
Marked Hardness: n/a
Estimated Hardness: 36
Uncut weight:
Blade: Acoustic

Memo is one of the newer rubbers from DHS and it seems that they are starting to go in a new direction, compared to the classic sticky topsheet/hard sponge type rubbers they have always made. Memo is marked "Strong Spin & Stickiness", compared to Memo 2 "Spin & Speed" and Memo 3 "Strong Spin". These latter two rubbers will be commented on later however I have all three sheets sitting here in front of me.

All three sheets use a No. 18 sponge, which is a softer whiteish sponge. This sponge differs from the tuner No.19 sponge as it has a denser feel and is more springy. Compared to the common No.20 sponge it feels more rubbery and is significantly softer. I don't have a No.21 sponge available to comment on at the moment. I am unsure on what sponge the Neo versions of H3 uses, but the feel is somewhat the same, minus the tuner glue layer and the 3 or so degrees softer. The topsheet separates from the sponge very easily (way too easily! beware!) and on inspection the pips are straight up from the topsheet (ie, no slight bevel around the base) and are maybe 0,7mm tall by about 1.2mm diameter. Total topsheet thickness is about 1.7 or 1.8mm. Note: not done with calipers. Will redo with calipers at a later date. Surface feels medium to low stickiness. Less than Hurricane 3. Compared to Memo2 and Memo3 this one is the most sticky.

I had an interesting time playing with this rubber at first. It felt very low throw and sort of vague at first, however it almost seemed like it needed to be hammered in a bit as it started behaving itself after a bit. Flat hits tended to dive rapidly which confused the hell out of me as when I tried to spin it, the topsheet grabbed it and threw it up fairly easily. Short game was comfortable. The sponge felt dense enough to allow for dig-in serving and the topsheet grippy enough for topsheet serving. The sponge had a decent amount of catapult, compared to the typical dead Chinese sticky rubbers we are all used to. Short game speed was a bit below average, probably due to the topsheet, however considerably faster than its Hurricane and Skyline brothers. Spin here was above average.

When looping, as mentioned before the rubber tends to grab and throw at a mediumish sort of angle. This was interesting, considering during the hitup I had I felt the rubber threw very low. I'd have to play a bit more with it to figure out what exactly was going on here. Spin loops carried average speed and above average spin, while speed loops had a reasonably high top end and the spin still remained around above average. Top end speed was comparable to, say, Juic Nanospin, but it did not have the top end that its harder sponged brethren (ie, Hurricane/Skyline) has. It was slower than the AOne, Air rubbers, T64, H3prov. The arc on these were slightly above medium but without too much stretch. It leaves a bit to be desired speedwise at mid distance, however is certainly usable from there.

If I had to describe Memo in a single word, I'd call it "comfortable". It's a much more user friendly rubber than the Hurricanes/Skylines since it plays a bit faster with a slow arm stroke, plays a bit more controlled with a fast arm stroke, has a softer, more comfortable, controlled feel. A great rubber for most players, beginner to intermediate. Hard hitters or players with fast action should perhaps look elsewhere though, unless they require a control oriented rubber.



Next up: A backhand interlude: Haifu Shark Training edition

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Chasse Patate

It sounds a bit like G555 to me...

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
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Mmm. I never tried that one. Nor 666 and 777. And I had the briefest of hits with an old sheet of 888...

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Chasse Patate

The G555 has a softer and springier sponge (probably Japanese) and it's only mildly tacky. It's not that fast and recommended as we BH rubber. G666 is like a milder version of Hurricane 3, less tacky, softer topsheet, slower. G777 I've never used (do it exist?), and the G888 is a super tacky super hard rubber.

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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

Random though:

Following along on the 'calling a push a chop' line, I notice a significant portion of people putting LP on and then calling themselves choppers. When I see their videos they are basically just pushblocking with the LP. Their chops wouldn't cut butter.

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Chasse Patate

Yes, I have noticed the same thing also. They tend to have a pushblocker tactical approach to their game and when they do actually chop their timing and balance isn't quite there.

therein lies the source of why the majority of pip reviews are useless unless you try it yourself

Many like to call chop blocking, "Blocking". They are two seperate strokes with different effects.

Brand: Haifu
Model: Shark II TRAINING EDITION
ITTF: 90-002
Colours: R
Thickness: 2.2
Sponge: 35
Marked Hardness: 35
Estimated Hardness: 35
Uncut weight:
Blade: Acoustic

Stuck this on my backhand (RPB) when I was testing the Memo. Unfortunately I didn't have the same bat ready with Memo2 yesterday so I didn't get to have another hit with the shark before impressions.

This version was sold as a training version, because, more or less, the topsheet was damaged. This one just had a small slice (3mm) in the topsheet through to the sponge, although the sponge was undamaged. Unfortunately the point was just to the left and slightly up of the centre of the rubber, still basically within the hitting zone. Anyway, it was cheap.

The rubber is slightly tacky but does not hold a ball. This isn't my usual preference on RPB rubbers since for some reason the tackiness feels terrible and bothers me. I managed to ignore it for the duration of this test anyway . Topsheet is translucent and bright red. Slightly tacky out of the packet and after a couple of sessions the tack is gone but the tacky gummy feel still remains. I guess if I used this further I'd be putting a little sticker over where my fingers go. Rubber came with a glue backing, tuned I guess. Weight was a touch above medium, but no Whale2 or similar.

Short game speed was average to slightly above average. Spin here was good and was quite easy to either topsheet spin it over or sponge-spin. Reasonably easy to vary between long pushes and short drops from anywhere on the table, although needed a bit of adjustment from T64. Serving was fine, better than the usual non-tacky rubbers I use such as T64, HPB or Sonex JP but perhaps not as good as the tacky FH rubbers I use.

I tend to do close to the table RPB short counterlooping and blocking, and here I felt the Shark2 was excellent. Slow enough to not lose control when controlling hard loops and spinny and fast enough to do short fast action counter-brushloops against loops. Good feel when brushing the top of the ball, 35 seems about right for RPB; not too hard nor too soft. Stepping away from the table, the Shark2 was underpowered compared to T64 but still had just enough pace. Spin made up for most of the speed, easily more than T64 for slow to medium shots, about the same for medium to high speed shots. This was especially evident when putting a bit of sidespin on the RPB. Overall throw was a touch above medium, but lower than T64. Used on the FH the rubber was easy to use, but lacked the top end and overall spin of H3. Compared to Spinart it was slower in all speeds, though with only about the same amount of spin. Accuracy on both FH and BH felt slightly lower than T64, H3 and Spinart; however I expect this to increase with usage.

This rubber seems to saddle both sticky Chinese and high grip Japanese rubbers. I could comfortably use it as an RPB or FH rubber, albeit without the spin and speed of T64, Spinart or even H3. This rubber felt easily spinnier than the previously used Memo, AOne, etc, with more speed. I would almost say it's a slower, tackier version of Spinart.

Next up: Spinart Revisited.

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Chasse Patate

I broke my spinart. But before I managed to do that, I noticed mounted on an Acoustic it was far more controllable and ... generally better than the last blade I had it on (rutis).

Then I hurt my shoulder, went away for work for 2 weeks.

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Chasse Patate

Brand: Galaxy
Model: Sun Pro edition
ITTF: 49-002
Colours: B
Thickness: 2.2
Sponge: ?
Marked Hardness: ?
Estimated Hardness: 40
Uncut weight:
Blade: Mizutani

So I'm sure that most, if not all of you know about Sun/Moon/whatever and how they are supposed to be Tenergy copies or replacements or whatever. I've always thought this was a load of bs considering Galaxy's track record, although this impression was usually perpetrated by overzealous idiots and vendors with agendas. Thus, you'll all be glad to know that this is not a T25 replacement. I think.

For starters, it's sticky.

Secondly, it's harder.

On the plus side, it's actually quite springy and fast. For a sticky rubber.

Now interestingly enough, despite it's stickiness I (and a few others) could not get the damn thing to spin anywhere near as much as a more typical sticky rubber. Not to say it's not spinny, it's just not spinny enough. More spin than the Air rubbers. Also reacted to spin a bit too much for a rubber of this level of spin. If you weren't after a super spinny rubber, this should be fine. Overall though, it just remind me of Couga level spin. Maybe a bit more.

Throw. Now that one was interesting. Short form: it's low. Lower than T64 I suspect. For some reason I didn't really A/B with the 64 that was on the back of the same bat... It's not Bryce or H2 low though.

Speed. Pretty good actually. Perhaps not up to the faster rubbers; it's no Calibra, but it's definitely a match for Hammond Pro Beta and the like. Firm corky feel on loops.

Where to use this rubber. One of T25's claims was that it was a close to the table rubber. Sun seems much the same actually. After 20 minutes of confusion, it finally dawned on us that this rubber was surprisingly good at counterlooping close the the table, especially for the FH. If you wanted this for the backhand, you probably need a backhand counterloop like Timo's. Hitting was a bit weird off both sides, the ball sank too fast and netted a lot. Away from the table, I personally felt that the rubber was way out of it's depth. Too much lifting involved and not enough spin resulting from lifting it that much. Couldn't really get it to kick off the table properly. It was decently fast still though, but could have been better.

So... conclusion...

It's ok I guess. Decent spin, good to excellent speed, fairly springy, nice comfortable feel/cork. I don't think it's a T25 replacement. Then again, I don't know anyone who actually uses T25...

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Chasse Patate

Rekorderlig is pretty good.

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Chasse Patate

Make: Stiga
Model: Maplewood V NCT
Handle: Cpen
Weight: 76g

I bought this blade (presports) because I felt like. Also, I like Stiga blades, even though looking back it feels like they've bent me over a table and #$@# me sideways (dodgy off nct (nct coating), dodgy Ebenholz V (nct coating), dodgy rosewood VII (nct coating)).

Luckily, this maplewood has had the first perfect NCT coating i've seen. It's also a lot thicker and smoother than the previous.

The blade is slower overall than my acoustic and my adolescen. I'd put it in the off- category. I was hoping it was faster actually, but after playing a few matches with it it seemed ok with sufficient power. Feel is wonderful, hard outer, softer inner, comfortable feel. Not as sharp as the acoustic, maybe a bit softer than the adolescen.

Then disaster struck; the top ply on my backhand separated from the 2nd ply. I suspect I gave it a light bump on the table sideways as it separated on the bottom backhand edge. I've severely damaged several blades doing this over time (edge damage though, not ply separation), so I wasn't too worried.

Until I noticed just how much had separated.

And the fact that there was no bump mark in the wood.

Also there's a tiny bit of separation on the opposite side of the blade, which had no way of contacting the table.

BLARGH.

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Chasse Patate

Silver, I agree with your assessment of Sun. To me, who plays close to the table, it just didn't work out for me at all. Moon was 100x a better rubber, but nothing replaces T05 from close to mid distance.

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Long time no talk.

After 3 month break I started playing again, this time using something faster, a TBZLF with Hammond Pro Beta both sides. Very different to my last bat (Acoustic/H3/T64), much faster, less spinny.

Arm still giving me twinges every now and again. Rotator cuff injury.

I'm in japan on holiday at the moment. Looking at ~13AUD rockmelons.



And these aren't even the expensive ones! I saw a JPY14000 one! (~180AUD?)

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Chasse Patate