OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Dear,

My skill level is intermediate. To make this more clear, about 40% of all players registered in my country are better than me.
At this moment my equipment is:
Blade: OSP Expert+ (http://www.tabletennisdb.com/blade/osp-expert-all-plus.html)
FH: Adidas P7, 1.8mm, red (http://www.tabletennisdb.com/rubber/adidas-p7.html)
BH: Butterfly Tackiness C2, 1.7mm, black (http://www.tabletennisdb.com/rubber/butterfly-tackiness-chop-2.html)
I have an allround playstyle, more defensively with BH, more offensively/topspin oriented wtih FH. I like to build up the point with pushes/blocks, to attack as soon as I get the chance with topspin (mostly with FH).

I was/am very happy with Adidas P7. The rubber combined lots of spin with very good control, but also flat hits and pushes were easy to execute. Unfortunately, Adidas quit their table tennis equipment, so I have to look for a new FH rubber.
Do you know any alternatives for Adidas P7? if so, also an indication of the thickness would be nice.

From experience, I can block balls from my opponent less well when he's playing with rubbers with a catapult effect. It's appealing to try this kind of rubber (maybe it influences my game positively?). Ofcourse there is the Tenergy series. But I don't know if the combination of my OSP Expert+ blade with e.g. Tenergy 05-fx would be a good fit. Tenergy isn't cheap so I keep asking myself this question.
2. Will Tenergy 05(-fx) be a good fit with my OSP Expert+ blade?
3. What thickness should I buy Tenergy 05(-fx) in: 1.9mm or 2.1mm?
4. Will Tenergy 05-fx be a better fit than Tenergy 05?
5. Will another one of the Tenergy series be a better gradually change from Adidas P7?

To finish, another less important question.. I see many professional players playing with FH black and BH red. Generally, at my (lower) level, FH is usually red..
6. Is there any difference between red and black rubbers. If so, if I would choose Tenergy is FH, should I buy it black/red?

Thanks in advance for your time,
Bert.

Welcome to the forum Bert.

From doing some reading someone else has suggested Donic Baracuda and also Tibhar Aurus. It is also mentioned on here that Baracuda is like Andro Hexer. If the Adidas rubber is indeed like any one of these you can probably save yourself $50 and not go the Tenergy path. I'd expect that at your level there are plenty of cheaper rubbers that can do the job just as well.

If you are looking for a bit extra speed, maybe try 2.0mm or Max.

Nice blade you have there.

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

Thanks Cobalt!

I'm spending way too much time reading forums to find an appropriate alternative for Adidas P7, since I really want a replacement that doesn't make me have to change my playstyle too much.
Based on this review (http://blog.tabletennis11.com/xiom-omeg ... ur-reviews) it seems that the Xiom Omega V tour/asia come quite close. Do you have an opinion on these rubbers?

Also.. Tibhar Evolution MX-P and MX-S are also options..
A player in another thread also mentionned Nittaku Fastarc G-1...

I probably make it way too difficult to choose, but man, i loved Adidas P7

Its still hard to comment without really knowing your playing level. I'm thinking that maybe you are the same as me give or take (you can check out my blog Transition to Loop) so am making comment on that basis. Should you be a much better player then my thoughts may be invalid.

I've not used the Xiom Omega Series. The only Xiom Rubber I've used is my current Xiom Vega Europe DF. I'd put it in the same category as the ones above. Good speed and spin but not too bouncy. I've used MX-P in max sponge and I couldn't control it. Was the first rubber where I found that I just couldn't use. Was far too bouncy and I couldn't block or loop with it as everything went long. 1.9mm might be ok but for me I wouldn't risk it. I've used EL-P in 1.9mm and that seemed a lot better and very usable.

Have not used Fastarc.

What other rubbers have you tried? Did you use lots of other rubbers before finding P7 or did you just happen to buy that one and loved it. Perhaps you would have loved any number of other rubbers the same if broadly in the same category. What rubber did you last have prior to P7?

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

From the clips i've seen, I think i'm at your level. Maybe I play with a bit more power already. But let's assume I'm at your level.


Last prior to P7, I used Mendo Energy. Didn't really choose that one myself, was just something to start with (to have something what better than what you buy in a toyshop..). I had the opportunity to play with the OSP Expert blade with Adidas P7 on FH (and Tackiness C2 on BH) from another player and fell in love with it. Probably, mainly because it was such an improvement! I believe it was a perfect fit for my playstyle at that time. I use P7 for 2.5 years now. I'm so used to it, might sound stupid but it scares me to try something else.. What if it isn't what I'm looking for. If you have to pay your sheets yourself, that's an expensive joke.

That's mainly why Tenergy 05 seems so appealing to me. It might be expensive, but it's a rubber many use and are so positive about. However, it will be different than P7, but that's not per se a bad thing. Once I would get used to it, T05 might suit me better than P7, who knows right?

But then again, I made a big jump between last and upcoming season in terms of classification/rank. I really want to prove I'm worth of that new rank. So changing my equipment is something I wouldn't have done if it wasn't necessary (Adidas.. why?). The P7 provided a large amount of spin, good speed for flat hits, pushes/blocks were easy, control was excellent. From what I've read, T05 is a bit faster, provides also a lot of spin, but has a more catapult effect. With that it has lower control. I keep wondering if I'ld be able to play with it.. And honestly, there is no other solution to that than just give it a try, right? If T05 is what I'm looking for, I am happy to give it the extra 5-15€ compared to other rubbers. But it would be a pity to pay so much for a rubber that doesn't really make you play the way you want to..

Tibhar Evolution EL-P in 1.9mm would be my suggestions for your FH (although other suggestions above are good too). The rubber works really well on all-wood blades too, while some of the others (like Tenergy) tend to work better on composite blades.
For these types of rubbers there is no significant different between red or black, so just go with your personal preference.

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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

Tibhar Evolution EL-P doesn't seem like spinny enough (I rate the following review kinda high http://blog.tabletennis11.com/tibhar-evolution-series-table-tennis-rubbers-review).

You're not the first one who said that Tenergy works better on a composite blade than an all wood one. Is Nittaku Fastarc G-1 a good alternative to Tenergy 05 on an all wood blade like mine (OSP Expert)? If so, what thickness would you suggest (options I can find are 1.4, 1.8 and 2.0mm)

Believe me - EL-P is spinny enough. (and in the review from the link it's pointed out that the rubber is "The EL-P is a very popular rubber, finishing 2nd on tabletennis11.com’s 2015 best-selling rubber list.". And there's a reason for that. The rubber is really good)
I wouldn't recommend the Fastarc G-1 if you're searching for something comparable to the Adidas P7. The Fastarc series is quite nice but also specific and not easily comparable to non-japanese rubbers.
Hexer, Baracuda, EL-P - all these are just great rubbers and I think they would be a very good replacement of the Adidas rubber.
About Tenergy.. You know, you can read a lot of great stuff about this rubbers and most of the pros play with it, but if you're not a pro remember this: there's an awful lot of people who don't play with Tenergy What I mean is: if you're so curious about the Tenergy - try it and you'll see if it fits you. But if you're not ready for this expensive experiment - just get one rubber from what was advised in this thread and be happy with how nice it plays

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My ooak blog.

Hi I think 05 will be better than 05 fx.I have bt 550 all+ and 05 fx is too slow on f/h and not direct enough.
I tried 05 in 1.7 and 1.9, both worked ok with better serve return push from 1.7 thickness

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Tsp Black Balsa 3.0 Tenergy 05 1.9 388d ox black

I'd stick with an intermediate level tensor rubber like Xiom Vega Euro, Tibhar FX-S, Donic Barracuda, Butterfly Rozena, etc...

Faster tensors like Tenergy 05 and MX-P will be harder to control and are for advanced players.

Also, I recommend the max thickness sponge on forehand because it's a much more powerful stroke and you want to avoid bottoming out the sponge.

I rate the spin as very high for this rubber, similar to Tenergy, and that's from personal experience. Of course it depends on your strokes (some will get more spin out of certain types of rubbers, somemore from other types), and then you need to make a judgement call on who's advice you trust more.

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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

That is such a nice looking blade!

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

I found somebody who could sell me another Adidas P7 1.8mm. However, I still have to change the rubber sometime so I might as well do it now (but that's not yet decided).

I think I'll go with the Tibhar Evolution series for a replacement. Your suggestion (EL-P 1.9mm) might be the winner

BUT, as I already said a few posts earlier I rate that review on TT11 high, and I quote:
"Accordingly, EL-P comes across as perhaps a little outdated, and I would recommend players who currently use EL-P to try out the EL-S instead."
or "However, in my opinion, the EL-S represents an improved alternative for EL-P."

So, might EL-S 1.9mm even be a better alternative?

And since I have to pay for the sheets myself, I like them to last long. So what about the durability of EL-P/EL-S?

I forgot the name, help me please,

Who the spiritual successor of Adidas rubber?

I'd recommend FX-S in max thickness instead. Good blend of control, spin, and speed. And you would be using the more recent "S Series" topsheet.