OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Have anyone played with this rubber yet?

Apparently the guys in the video did..

Iskandar

Bingo!

The problem, though, is figuring out what makes it different from all the other ESN rubbers.. Even with the video, well, can you tell based on watching it?

Iskandar

Well, for one, it's cheaper than most of ESN tensors out there.
But, basically, this is exactly the reason why I'm asking whether someone has actually played with it.

OK, I watched the video (I saved time by fast forwarding through the playing bits) and took notes:

1. Rubber is spongy and spinny. Good traction for topspin.
2. Speed is sufficient for "speed playing" and play away from the table.
3. Gives good control, but depends on your level of table tennis.
4. Medium hardness, designed for "soft play", good for spinny counterloops away from the table. If you're looking for something to increase spin away from te table this is it.
5. Lightweight category.
6. Easy to change tempo of game.
7. Too soft and spongy for opening loops.
8. Designed for professionals but recommended also for amateurs.
9. Forgiving, can easily adapt to it.
10. He hits really hard on the backhand so he prefers this rubber on the forehand. But others might find this better on the backhand.
11. Easy to play short balls, with lots of spin. Might be problematic for controlling very fast serves.

OK, so is this useful? Sure, you get the idea this is not one of the harder tensors, and it's slow enough for good control of soft shots, can make lots of spin, etc. etc. etc. (In other words, you get an idea of what broad category this rubber belongs to.) However, gee.. how many softer Tensors are there out there? How many other rubbers would also merit the same comments above? How do they compare within the group? Would Rakza 7, perhaps, be better? Or Evolution EL-S? Or, er, Tenergy 05FX? So I've gotten cynical - this type of rubber review - and rubber reviews in general, in my opinion - are of somewhat limited use, since they don't answer the questions we REALLY want to ask, which is, do I buy THIS rubber or THAT one? And in the end - does it really matter which one you choose (aside from how much money you spend), given that there are maybe a dozen rubbers (made by the same company, mind you) with almost identical playing characteristics?

Iskandar

I share your skepticism about rubber review videos and reviews in general.

This rubber has attracted my attention by a few characteristics: relatively slow which means more control, supposedly very high spin, weight, and hardness (48 deg is pretty hard for a tensor).
However, I got confused by the review: why did they call the hardness "medium"? "too soft"? "spongy" - wouldn't that again be a property of a softer rubber, less than say 45 deg?

It seems that the softer/grippier top sheets now being used are making the latest tensor rubbers feel softer than the rating of the sponge would suggest. A good example being Vega Asia df.

I more or less gave up on rubber/blade reviews, especially the video ones. As a rule they have someone in there who is much better than me, executing shots I'm incapable of. If anything it's mostly a demo of reviewer's technique and there is no way to figure out how good it will be in my hands.

More often than not reviewer did not even pay for the rubber and created video to 'monetize' Youtube eyeballs, or perhaps was paid directly by the brand.

If I hear a lot of mentions for a specific rubber/brand and see it in plenty of people signatures, I eventually might try one, especially if cost is manageable.

_________________
USATT: 1807 | League: 1887

Actually... I think they got paid in T-shirts... Don't know who paid for the rubber, though - maybe they had to buy it themselves.

But yeah, this is the main problem with rubbers. No one actually has the equipment and wherewithal to QUANTIFY properties. (Though I suspect ESN and Butterfly do, but they're not posting reviews.) Table tennis shops don't, clubs don't. So this is about the best we can really get. I suppose a large table tennis shop would be able to test large numbers of rubbers back-to-back and probably have several players working for them who can take notes, so the "numbers" they come up with are at least moderately useful, but I think rather than look for a specific rubber, it'd be better just to lump rubbers into categories. Not nearly so interesting when it comes to gabbing about equipment, of course..

Iskandar

Yes watching the table tennis daily video reviews what seems to matter most to high level players is not the brand of the rubber but more like whether it is hard medium or soft i.e. best suits how they hit the ball on FH or BH.