OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I just spotted this rubber is now available from Hallmark. I know somebody who has this on order so once it arrives and we have the chance to test it out, I'll let you know what we make of it. I have high hopes for Hallmark here.

Cool, cheers dingwol2!

You might be the first on the net to try it

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Just when I thought I had my EJ-ing under control, I then went and ordered it myself. Will report back when have had a chance to try it.

I've also ordered Snabb (SP) after reading Andrew's solid reviews. As a current Tango Ultra player that's confused about potential ban, I thought I would give this a go.

Both will be glued conventionally onto my second Combination Ultra blade.

OK, it has now arrived. I haven't had a chance to attach it to my blade but on taking it out of the packet I'm staggered by the sticky feel it has. When I closed the packagaing again, then opened it, the card sheet was stuck to the end of the pips. A bit like drying strawberry jam - it sticks to your fingers. I'm not convinced this is going to be great for spin reversal - would expect a lively bite on any spin.

Should get to use this in practice on Monday - more to follow then.

Wow, that sounds like Yasaka Phantom 009, which has tacky pips...

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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

Both one of my club members and I had our first go with this tonight. We both played a strong spin player - loop and chop - and after some smallish adjustments came away thinking that this rubber had some real potential. The other guy trying it out played a quick match at the end of the night and beat our opponent easily - no different to his usual result (he normally plays Hallmark Original).

If you rub a ball over the surface, there is a little grip. If you compare it to Scalpel, the difference is noticeable. But then compare it to 955 and the grip is far less.

The ball does grip on the pips far more than a typical frictionless rubber. But not too much and a small adjustment to the blade angle against heavy top was allowing me to return the ball under control, with quite a lot of reversal - not so much as, say, scalpel, but still with enough effect to be tricky. The bat angle was not closed by any means - probably more vertical as opposed to the slightly open angle we would usually have to play. Also, a fast vertical chop block was very effective up at the table.

I found back from the table chopping was easier with this rubber. Bags of control and the ball kept very low. Particularly liked it twiddled on to the forehand for big chop.

I tried it first on my usual combination ultra blade but found it too fast to control easily. The I moved it to the defensive side of an aurora blade, which is when I started to use it more effectively. It was definitely easier to adjust to it with a slower blade (and when I got home I transfered it to the slow Dr N Barricade to try next time).

Attacking against chop seems quite easy to do too. This rubber seems to have good attacking options when compared to the typical frictionless.

Long live the drop shot - it's not quite so easy with this and requires a little more touch, but I could still do it instinctively.

Basically my first impression is that anyone worrying about next year's ban would be worth buying one of these now to give it a try. It may not be the best on the market by this time next year, but as a first attempt this is most reassuring. Reversal is strong - better than anti. Basically, I go towards next season with no major worries now (I just need tango ultra to be passed cos I tried Snabb tonight and hated it!)

I'm going to continue trying this out in practice. I went back to Scalpel for the last 30 minutes and this does show up a distinct difference in reversal, but overall I would still rate Supernova reversal at 75%. Given time to learn more and gain control, this will be a useful rubber for the awkward squad.

I also think this rubber will lose friction over time as it picks up dust and debris. The middle pips already seem to have lost some of their tacky feel.

I will report more in due course.

Thanks a lot dingwol2!

What was the sponge like, and how thick was it?

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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

Hi Dingwol2,

If Tango Ultra SP is banned, then try Friendship 802 SP or 804 Soft Sponge SP. You will find that these two rubbers are even better than Tango Ultra.

Thanks for the information about Super Nova LP.

You moved the sheet around this much at the club without destroying it???

Is it sturdier than most hallmark stuff or are you a magician?

Sounds similar to Friction special which it should.

It came with a glue sheet attached so was very easy to remove and stick to another blade.

From what I've read about Friction Special, I think it's almost the same - I guess they just upped the friction a little to make sure it passed.

Sorry, should have said I played this in Ox.

I had a practice last night against a team mate who is around the same ability as me, or maybe a little better. He's a top spin attacker, and a very shrewd one at that. I played against him with the Supernova, now on the very slow Barricade blade, for around 30 minutes and I have to confess to being a little less enthused about this rubber for the way I want to play with pips.

Yes, it was still great back from the table, chopping. We had a session of pushing for a few minutes and I could play a conventional top spin flick shot (rather than a frictionless 'scoop') with a lot of pace against this, although it would clearly take some time to pull it off with consistency.

But my main problem was that the rubber is just too fast, even on this slow blade. I want to play up at the table and against lesser players this will still be OK - the spin reversal is enough to catch them out I think and it's not so fast that I can't return it, but it's the length of the return which bothers me. I'm used to returning a loop which bounces twice and even if not, it's short enough to put doubts into the opponents mind. Supernova was returning long enough for my partner to loop again, and again, and again.....I tried really hard to get the touch to keep it short, and it is possible, but I couldn't pull it off enough to make me satisfied.

I will keep perservering. But going back to Scalpel for a competitive match at the end of the night really highlighted where Supernova is deficient for me, ie too fast. However, I think a lot of you guys who want a bit of both friction and frictionless traits, will love this rubber. However, it's still a good first step and I'm confident our friend the Doctor can dish up something a little slower for us next year - as maybe Hallmark will also do before then.

What was more promising was Joola Snabb short pips - I'll comment on the SP forum.....

Dingwol2

I did the trial last night with the university table tennis club players and still be able to beat them same as when I used the frictionless long pip. I need to change my stroke a bit to be more active and I got more points from the attacking with this long pip.The blocking is a bit difficult but after a few games I could adjust and make the blocking short even my blade is a bit fast (Hallmark Integral - custom design blade). The good thing of this rubber is I can vary the spin by changing the stroke. When I lightly touch the top spin ball , the returned ball became some amount of backspin (not heavy as super block but it's close to Scalpel). When put more force while blocking , it became no spin return. When you drive the ball back , you could get lightly top spin return. Chopping the ball is excellent since ball can be varied as well. The common stroke to use this rubber is the 'CHOP BLOCK' which always made some difficulty to my opponent to return the ball.

I think you may need to be a bit more patient with this SuperNova rubber. As you could see the pip look like some 'sprayed glue' on the top of the pip. I confident this glue will be gone overtime and then the friction will be reduce for sure. I also believe that the long distance for the returned ball is coming from the friction impact than the rubber speed itself. Then when you play more and more with this rubber , you will feel more convenience once the friction decrease.



Just one comment , new ITTF rule can't eliminate the treated rubber since the new Hallmark Super Nova is also treated rubber but only treated with sprayed glue vs the old treated rubber that make the friction go low.

Nice post pimple lover!

Can you compare it to any other grippy LP that you have used?

That's a good point too about the ITTF... that's really rubbing their noses in it... making it obvious that it's treated, but nothing they can do about it

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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

Perhaps rubbing the pips with a rag soaked with some sort of VOC based solvent like white spirits or thinners might remove the glue from the rubber tips making them more frictionless, or speed the way to reduced fricion...if that is the desired outcome....
Or perhaps give it a squirt of Mr. Sheen, or some teflon based lubricant such as the Nulon spray lube....just kidding...lol

White spirits can dissolve remnants of VOC based and some non VOC based glues

fosss

Was really interested to read your comments pimple lover. I had previously said I thought that this would lose grip over time, so am pleased to see you also believe this to be true.

I will keep trying with this in practice. I'm tempted to put it back the Hallmark Aurora as at least this still allows me a quicker forehand than the Barricade.