OOAK Table Tennis Forum

When you were looking for suitable rubbers for your bat, what is the most important factor in your choice?

Would you look for the best rubber only within your price range?
Would you pick the rubber that gives you best performance no matter what the price?
Do you weigh up the cost & durability to see if the rubber is good value?

Personally I used to always look for good value first, looking within the cheaper price range for a gem that would give me both a cheap price and good performance. These days I put performance first and would be willing to pay more if it gives me better performance.

How do you choose?

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I try to get the best performance for my style, but I also have one rule that must be met: I want my expensive rubber to last at least a month. Other than that a price is not an issue, unless it would become totally unreasonable like 100 for a sheet.

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Setups (click on writings to read reviews):
1) Defence III / TSP P4 (0,5) / M3 (2,0)
2) Defence II / Joola Octopus (0,5) / M3 (2,0)
3) Ross Leidy "White Shadow" / P1R (1,3) / Hexer PS (1,7)

85% performance 15% price. Looking for performance, that being said price doesnt always mean better performance. Last couple of weeks I have been doing a fair amount of experimenting and have had my first go with Chinese rubbers, the control is on another level.

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VKM
Tenergy 05 2.1
Feint Long III .5

Very similar to Justas except I prefer mine to last at least 6 months! Fortunately I've never had to change my short pips due to a due to a dip in performance and I do tolerate a performance dip in my inverted rubber up to the point I feel spin has dropped too much compared to when it was about 3 or 4 weeks old.

In the past I've tried cheaper rubbers and when I add up the cost of doing that - constantly changing - compared to how happy I am now with my more expensive forehand rubber and it proves to be a false economy searching for cheaper alternatives. However, if I was lucky enough to find one, I'd switch - "best peformance for style" is a good way of describing it.

When you work for peanuts, price is an issue.
In the middle of Europe I work for 400 $ a month so TT budget is pretty tight.
I use cheap stuff and try to find the best value for my money. That means Galaxy or Yasaka blades and Friendship rubbers. There is no problem because I really don't need anything better for now.

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Blade: Yinhe (Galaxy) W-6 (flared)
FH: Friendship Cream Transcend (2.0 mm)
BH: Friendship Cream Transcend (2.0 mm)

I'm playing with $30 worth of rubbers, soon to be $20 worth. Still I play with good enough cheap rubber that it doesn't compromise my level much, yes its much easier to play with a soft tensor but I've go some kind of fetish for knowing I can rate a little higher at anytime by using an "easier" rubber. Knowing the extra is there comforting enough that I don't need to use it.

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Donic defplay senso
Haifu whale soft (grips-euro)
Nittaku pimplemini 1.0mm

If I could find "my magic bullet" I would mortgage the family cow in a New York minute.
tOD

Performance off rubber first and durability second for me.As far price range always try to find $50 or less per sheet if possible.

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Blade:
F/H:
B/H:

100% price and durability; if someone like Reisman could be successful with the exact same paddle and rubbers he used as a youth into his old age, then it casts some level of doubt on the kind of importance people place on getting better, different, or pricier stuff.

I think TT is 90% skill and perhaps 10% equipment. It's possible to get used to and be successful with pretty much any setup over time if you stick with it, and I certainly wouldn't be purchasing new rubbers every month over it.

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Custom Blade 'Hard Justice' w/ Yasaka Cobalt a
Tatco Hornet w/ ATP Leland Era

I am a bit conservative (more with change than cost). That said I do experiment with a second set-up. I tend not to meddle with my main set-up. I find Chinese rubbers work well in performance for me. I have two blades Stiga All-round (main) and LKT Instinct (Experiment). If cared for and looked after, the Chinese rubbers can last a long while too.

Performance is paramount within your budget. As Debater said, its false economy to search cheap equipment constantly and throw it after a few hits if there is a more expensive rubber that will last and suit better. I went through the EJ stage and spent a fair amount on cheaper blades and rubbers. When I bit the bullet and bought my first Gergely and tensors I knew I wasn't going back to cheaper stuff. The feel was chalk and cheese. I did however stick with chinese pips for a long time until I realised how much more deadly Dtecs is in m game. A mate gave me my first sheet after he tried it and found it not for him, and I really hoped I wouldn't love it given its cost. At first I didn't like it. Months after that though on second try, I was hooked and no looking back now. Given I have had 18 months or more from my first sheet of Rasant and it is still going strong, I wouldn't bother using anything else. And as for the Dtecs, well, pips last so long for me that its going to be double the life of the Rasant for a sheet I think.

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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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Performance! If you think about the time and cost of travelling to pennants, training, tournaments.... the cost of the rubber is relatively insignificant!

For me, performance comes first. No point torturing myself with stuff that don't quite work for me when there is something better out there. Fortunately for me, I found my BH rubber in the Dtecs. I have so far not broken any pips so they are very lasting which is good. FH rubber, I find I like a few like M1, M2 and Omega V so can use any of them. Again thankfully, I find they do last many months making them economical.

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Main Setup: There is NO such thing
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When I first started (basement level with BBQ & beer), I bought myself what I thought was a decent bat from one of the sport stores. Joining a club, I soon mingled with more serious players and their advice was always to start out cheap. As I progressed as a player and proved that I had some natural talent for the game, I started to fine-tune my set up. This eventually meant moving from Asian blades and rubbers (Dawei/Friendship) to European ones (Andro).

I think it's been said many times on this forum that this performance/cost issue is dependant on not only your ability, but also the kind of player you aim to be (oh, and your cash level). Unfortunately there is no 'fairy godmother of a coach' who can tell you exactly how much you need to spend to give your game the best possible chance at success. If it's a case of trial and error, then better to start on a strict budget, because - as we all know - you'll end up spending more down the track.

So my answer is

But I certainly stay away from gear that is too

Can we ever be truly ?

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Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
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