OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi, I'm just getting back into the game after a long absence. After a few months of practice my form is slowly returning but I think I should replace my 20 year old rubbers. The safe option is to replace with the same rubbers but I thought that now might be a good time to consider alternatives. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

My FH is mostly offensive and versatile and I use Yasaka Mark V (since the 70's). I find it very reliable and controllable for everything from looping to heavy chop and everything in between. I know that many players are now using more modern and faster high tension rubbers but I'm not looking to make any major changes at this stage. I don't want to sacrifice too much control for speed. But perhaps something that generates more spin would be worth considering. After browsing here and elsewhere I came across Spinlord Marder II. Is that a good option? Also came across Victas 402 DE, but not sure if that would be too much of a challenge.

My BH is completely defensive. I use Yasaka Anti-Power for blocking, pushing and chopping. I rarely attack with it. Again, after lots of browsing, I was tempted to try one of the newer slick anti's. But I decided that I don't want to change my game too much (at this stage) so might stick to classic anti for now. However I might change to Nittaku Best Anti, since I do tend to move back and chop a bit and I read on here that it's very good at aided spin reversal.

Thanks for such a great forum, there's some really good info on here!

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2. S&T Black & White / Armstrong SH-I 1.8 / TSP Curl P3 Alpha R OX

If you are happy with Mark V and your blade is sound then why not just get the same. A new sheet will after all give noticeably more spin and speed than a 20 year old sheet. Similar rubbers are Sriver, Xiom Musa, and possibly spinlord tiger which is good value as is Musa.

You can also try the new Chinese rubbers that are marketed as replacements for modern rubbers.
These are actually as fast as Mask Vs, Srivers and other mid speed Japan, Euro beginner rubbers but they last forever so you don't have to keep changing rubbers every 3 months.

Try Dawei Inspirit (Ultralight Version), Yinhe Moon, Yinhe Mars II, Sanwei T88

If you haven't played for 20 years the biggest change you will notice won't be the rubbers, it will be the ball. There have been two ball changes since 1997, they are bigger, slower and more controllable so people have compensated by using thicker sponge, etc. So back then people generally stopped with 2.0mm sponge, these days even beginners will go with 2.2mm or Max sponge. These newfangled rubbers aren't really all that much faster or harder to control, they were developed because speed glue was banned. They aren't any faster than the old rubbers​were when speed glued. You might at some point want to try one but like me I suspect you will find them underwhelming, AND expensive. As far as Chinese rubbers go it's a huge mess - or a candy shop, depending on your point of view. In the end there really isn't much to choose between them - some are a little faster, some a little slower, some are tacky, some are not - but in the end you will find they end up playing about the same. Even the $5 ones like 729 and Yinhe 9000. There's far more difference between blades. A bit of a review of what's out there:

viewtopic.php?f=44&t=25211

Iskandar

Yeah my father is a veteran and he's kept me updated with the changes over the years. I don't mind the new ball, possibly because I have started afresh with it. Still prefer the old scoring system. Anyway thanks for the suggestions. I've decided to just replace my existing rubbers. But I might also buy a second blade and experiment with some other rubbers. Cheers!

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2. S&T Black & White / Armstrong SH-I 1.8 / TSP Curl P3 Alpha R OX