OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Haggisv was kind enough to include me in the review list of this rubber. I received a red rubber in 48 degrees hardness. The thickness was 2.0 mm.
This review will at least for a month, so don't expect a verdict from me to soon.

When I opened the package I had the urge to run away, what a smell indeed. I suggest airing this out for a day if you have an official tournament.
The sheet and sponge look like it is quality stuff. I couldn't see the pips through the topsheet, so the topsheet is quite thick.
The sponge is a little bit porous, but it's nothing like Tenergy or the latest tensors. It has the same colour as Tenergy by the way. The sheet didn't curl up, but stayed flat, so gluing shouldn't be a problem at all.
I think the production date is etched onto the sponge: 2012 01 13. So It's not even a month old yet

The left over rubbers didn't made me as happy. When stretching the sponge held it's ground without any problems. The topsheet didn't. It was torn off very quickly. If you hit a table edge with this rubber you have a serious problem.

I will glue it onto a Viscaria and I'll have a hit with it tonight. I will give a short review here, and maybe even compare it with Tenergy 64.

_________________
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same

My sheet of black Superspin G4 H48 arrived today. It's stamped 2.0 on the back of the sponge but it looks more like 2.2+. Feels heavy but I'll do a proper weighing later. Very flexible which is unusual for a Chinese inverted with hard thick sponge. The playing surface is also unusual looking, being very smooth but not at all shiny. The odor others noted is only noticeable to me when my nose is close to the rubber.

Protective paper lightly adhered to topsheet bearing standard warnings about how to properly clean it, but also this intriguing line: "The higher the friction efficiency is, the more delicate the surface is." Hmmm..

I should be able to get it mounted and take some hits with it at my local club before our weekly RR begins this evening.

Later I hope to include in my reviews comparisons to the various DHS rubbers I've tested, including H2 Neo, H3 Neo, TG2 Neo, TG3 Neo, Tinarc, and Tinarc 3. Of those, I used TG3 Neo the longest though sharp eyes will note my recent defection back to T25.

_________________
BBC ULTRA Blue Streak, Haifu Blue Whale II, KTL Stranger Attack 1.2mm

Played with it for about 30 minutes, and I have hopes for a good rubber. Although it stills needs to break in I can give small description of this rubber.
First of all the hardness: it's a bit harder than Tenergy 64, but that's ok. Tenergy 64 is medium soft, it wouldn't be to far of with Tenergy 05. However, it weighs a ton!
Absolutely best thing of this rubber: blocking. Just effortless against players who play in the second highest division, something I have trouble doing with T64. This rubber isn't as sensitive against spin from the opponent and it shows.

Control: good, just good. Return a short serve back with a soft contact to make sure it stays low and short have no trouble at all.

Speed: slower than T64, but it still needs to be broken in.
Spin: let me start with saying this first: it won't spin as easy as Tenergy.
Why? The topsheet is harder and thicker, so it's more difficult to engage the sponge at a slower contact. Once you engage the sponge it will loop just fine.

In this aspect it's more like Bryce. On blocks, serve, return of serve and flicks it's easy to use because of the hard topsheet. The downside is brush looping. That's more difficult to do, but it's fine.
When you start to loop harder the balls stay low, throw is medium-low. Spin is fine, and the ball penetrates well.

I will continue using this rubber, and maybe even use it for the rest of the season. Let's give it a bit more time.

_________________
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same

Initial impressions:

Cut sheet is 53g where same size cut sheet of Tenergy 25 2.1mm is 47g. I was pulling apart the leftover portion of my sheet to see the pips when the topsheet unexpectedly tore on a jagged line; a harbinger, perhaps, of this rubber's durability. The ominous warning on the protective paper I noted earlier, it turns out, appears on all GD rubbers, including their long pips, so it clearly wasn't intended solely for G4.

In play, G4 H48 is a fairly quiet rubber. Feels substantial. Fast, but not quite as fast as T25. Low throw. Solid contact needed on topspin drives or the ball nets low. Was feeling less consistent doing FH topspin drives on my robot than my T25. Good hook down. A real monster at flat hitting.. the ball just rockets with minimal input. Practiced with it briefly last night against regular hitting partner and nothing remarkable noted, except for the fact that I was too inconsistent in our drills so I set it aside for a rubber I was more familiar with.

More to come Sunday after club practice day.

_________________
BBC ULTRA Blue Streak, Haifu Blue Whale II, KTL Stranger Attack 1.2mm

Just back from Sunday's practice session at the TT club where I and three others tested Giant Dragon G4 H48.

For my own part, I had much better results with this rubber today than I did on the first day. Control was good and speed was significant. It was still taking a solid stroke to get G4 to properly engage -- and much of this may have to do with the blade I've had it on which is probably a poor match -- but once I had the feel of it I was driving some very nice shots indeed. G4 H48 has many gears above where I'm comfortable stroking it courtesy of its dense powerful sponge. In this way, I'd say it compares to DHS Tinarc 3 which also have a very dense hard sponge.

Tester #2 was a 1500-1600 all-around player who currently plays TG3 Neo but played T05 until recently. He was hitting nice FH drives with it straight away (at speeds well above his own bat) and commented that my paddles were always so easy to play with.

Tester #3 was a 2000-2100 lefty junior with a two-wing loop drive game who is currently using S1/S2 but played T05 until recently. He had heard of G4 and was eager to try it, and upon blasting a few FH drives proclaimed "this is Tenergy; they made Tenergy!". Clearly, he was hitting the ball way harder than I or tester #2 were hitting it and it was all I could do to block the shots back to him. He thought the throw was high and claimed that he was going to switch to G4 (but maybe the H38 version) since G4 cost so much less than Acuda or Tenergy.

Tester #4 was none other than CW Smith of BBC Table Tennis, an 1800 BH MP hitter/inverted FH loop driver. Charlie was also hitting nice shots with G4 right away but though my Blue Streak blade was too fast for the rubber. His comment was that G4 was "mushy but hard", meaning the topsheet was very pliable while the sponge was quite hard. He thought he'd like the H38 or H32 versions more than the H48, and was interested in how durable the topsheet turned out to be over time.

_________________
BBC ULTRA Blue Streak, Haifu Blue Whale II, KTL Stranger Attack 1.2mm

Some very similar themes coming out from everyone who is reviewing the GD superspin rubbers it seems. I can't see that it is anything like tenergy as your #3 tester seems to suggest Nathanso. Maybe when it properly broken in it may be something of a substitute for it (when considering the price difference), but I can't see it ever being a true substitute. I played for over an hour last night with mine at a friends place and in his restricted area it was very noticeable how much less spin I get than Hexer+.

_________________
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 National Pogo Ox
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs Ox
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 BH Red Dornenglanz Ox
Table tennis directory / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Played with it for 2 hours today, and I'm have some mixed feelings.
First of all: it is defiantly slower than Tenergy 64, and the spin potential is also lower. Not a good start.
The control is better, but that's also it's downfall. The sponge just doesn't engage when it should. It gives good control, but no speed when it's needed.

I am not going to play with it this week, but next week I will do so again. I am in doubt right now. Should I give it 2 layers of PO oil to soften up the sponge, and make it more reactive. Or should I keep the rubber like it is now for this experiment?

_________________
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same

Just back from day 3 at the club testing G4 H48. I moved it to a 5-ply ALL blade to see if CW's hunch was correct. I started the night with it doing cross-court FH counterdrives with a regular sparring partner. His first comment was, "you're not using your Tenergy, are you? Your usual spin is missing." I then switched bats to my T25 bat and he immediately started hitting my balls long, commenting that *now* by balls had spin.

A second player tested the G4 tonight, a 1400 rated control/placement player who usually uses Tackiness Drive. His game sped right up with my G4 bat and the balls were much harder to return. "Low throw, good spin", he commented. He liked G4 and asked how much it was. $20, I replied. "That's a good price!" he said. I told him it also came in 32* and 38* and he said he'd probably prefer the 38.

I'm beginning to think this 48* G4 is best suited for 2000+ players who can consistently put power into each and every stroke for it doesn't respond to bumps, nudges, or half-hearted swings.

Where are the G4 M38 reviews??

_________________
BBC ULTRA Blue Streak, Haifu Blue Whale II, KTL Stranger Attack 1.2mm

RebornTTEvnglist reviewed it, and I compared the H48 with the M38 (and some other rubbers, Apollo/Vega Asia):
H48-M38 comparison

_________________
Link: Mein Youtube-Kanal Link: TV Geislar - BL3 -- VR Position 1, Einzel: 1:3 -- Doppel: 0:2 -- TTR 1700
Material A: BBC 9-10-9, Dornenglanz OX, Apollo Medium 1,9mm, 167g
Material B: BBC 8.5-10-8.5, Dornenglanz OX, Apollo I Medium 2.0mm, 157g

Link: Pimp-My-Blade-Forum

vanjr also got a sheet, although I don't know if he's received it yet.

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Table Tennis Reviews / Articles | Table Guide | Robot Guide
Re-Impact Blades | Avalox Blade Overview | Table Tennis Robots
My setup: Blade: Re-Impact OOAK Dark Knight | BH: Dtecs OX red | FH: JUIC 999 Turbo 2.0mm blk
Check out my huge 'for sale' thread here | My OOAK Interview

Oh yeah, I did read that. That thread's topic should be changed to include the proper "G4 M32" name.

_________________
BBC ULTRA Blue Streak, Haifu Blue Whale II, KTL Stranger Attack 1.2mm

What do you mean Nathanso? It has that name.

_________________
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 National Pogo Ox
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs Ox
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 BH Red Dornenglanz Ox
Table tennis directory / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Thank our ever-present mods. Yesterday I believe it was titled "Review: Giant Dragon Superspin G4 Medium Black 2.0"

_________________
BBC ULTRA Blue Streak, Haifu Blue Whale II, KTL Stranger Attack 1.2mm

It was... I was the sneaky one that renamed it

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Table Tennis Reviews / Articles | Table Guide | Robot Guide
Re-Impact Blades | Avalox Blade Overview | Table Tennis Robots
My setup: Blade: Re-Impact OOAK Dark Knight | BH: Dtecs OX red | FH: JUIC 999 Turbo 2.0mm blk
Check out my huge 'for sale' thread here | My OOAK Interview

Oh damn. Thought I must have named it that way!

Ah well, Medium = M38 anyway

_________________
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 National Pogo Ox
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs Ox
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 BH Red Dornenglanz Ox
Table tennis directory / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.