OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Butterfly Tenergy 80 Review – part 1

With a big Thank You to Butterfly Australia, I’ve been lent a new (sample) sheet of Tenergy 80, so that I can test and review it! They've not asked me for a review, nor for anything in return, so I'm expressing my honest and personal opinions here.

I got pretty excited reviewing this, so I've included quite a lot of detail. I’ll start of with a visual inspection and lots of picture, comparing the Tenergy 80 (T80) to the original Tenergy 05 (T05). Click on the pictures to zoom in for more detail. I've also reviewed it on my reviews site here, but it's mostly the same as the stuff below.


Visual Inspection – General

Both the T80 and T05 have only a very mild chemical smell, unlike some of the other latest generation sheets which can have a strong chemical small indicating potential strong boosting effect. I doubt that ‘airing’ these sheets is really necessary, but it’s probably good practice regardless if you’re going to play in any tournament or ITTF events.

The sheet has a very slight oily feel on contact, so wiping with a tissue/cloth before gluing is always recommended, as this can stop good adhesion.

Neither the T80 or T05 have any sort of significant dome, which tends to make it easier to glue and handle.

Visual Inspection – the topsheet

The T80 rubber sheet looks of very high quality, as we’ve come to expect from Butterfly. It looks very similar to the T05 sheet, apart from the obvious labels.


The colour of the topsheet is virtually identical, although the T05 sheet seems to have just a little more shine. The print is very distinct and sharp, which is often how you can tell it apart from fake sheets.




The rubber is already ITTF approved, so as soon as it hits the market early next year, it’s ready to go.

Visual Inspection – the Sponge

The sponge of the Tenergy 80 also looks very similar that of the Tenergy 05, apart from a slightly lighter tint as you can see.


Looking a little closer, you can see that the Tenergy 80 has quite large pores, which also seem of similar size that that of the T05.



Both have some (presumably laser etched) text on them, which, apart from the sponge thickness of 2.1mm, does not mean a lot to me, but here is the picture for those that might be interested:



By looking at the cut edge of the rubber, we can see that the pips appear to be of similar length, but the T80 do seem just a little wider. which will contribute considerably to it’s performance. Generally longer pips add more dwell time and spin, whereas shorter and wider pips add more stability and accuracy.





As soon as I’ve cut the sheet, I’ll peel off the top-sheet from an off-cut, so that we can see the pimples in more detail. I’ll insert the picture here, so please check back later.

Pimple Details

I’ve tried to peel off the sponge of a cut-off from both the T80 and T05… with limited success LOL! The top-sheet and sponge are glued extremely well together, which is very good of course, from a player’s perspective. Here is a closeup of both (click to zoom in):



Although a lot of the pips were broken during the seperation, it appear that the T80 have just a slightly wider base, but taper near the ends. Pip height seem the same, although I’d need proper measuring tools to be sure. Topsheet thickness also seems very similar.

What does indicate that the rubber composition is different is that when hold both pieces to the light, the colours seems distinctly different. Since the topsheet thickness is so similar, the difference is likely due to different rubber mix, which no doubt will affect performance.


Sponge and top-sheet hardness

With my durometer I measured (take about 10 readings, average the result) the sponge hardness of both the T80 and T05, and not surprisingly both came out virtually identical at 49degrees. Check in the Sponge Hardness Table to see how this compares to other rubbers.

Although it’s hard to measure the top-sheet independently, I thought I’d measure these as well as it does give some indication of how ‘soft’ the rubber feels on ball contact. Again both measured the same value of about 52degrees.


Rubber sheet weight

For those that were hoping the T80 would be significantly lighter, you’ll be only slightly happy, as the uncut sheet was only 2 grams lighter.

T80 – 68g (179mm x 166mm)

T05 – 70g (179mm x 167mm)

Check the Rubber Sheet Mass table to see how this compares to other rubbers.

Although Tenergy 80 on the heavy side, in fairness virtually all latest generation sheets appear to be on the heavier side, which obviously contributes to their performance, so we can’t really hold this against Butterfly.

The full playing review to come shortly…

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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

Butterfly Tenergy 80 Review – part 2

Test Setup

I looked around through my collection of blade, for something that should work well with Tenergy-like rubbers. I decided on a Donic Burn ALL+ blade, which is not too fast so I can get a good feel of the speed of this rubber, and the harder outer plies tends to make it work very well with these types of rubber, as I've experienced before.

I turned the house upside-down to find my slightly used used sheet of T05 which I was going to put on the other side for comparison, but could not find it... must have lent it to someone... Since I didn't have a new sheet of T05 lying around either, I decided to put on a sheet or Donic Baracuda just so that I could have something on the other side for reference.

I got lucky when I arrived at the club... my friend strongpong was there, who is not only a great person to help me test and review this rubber, but he also happened to have a M. Maze ALC blade with a T05 on one side. I was grateful that he was more than happy to rip the rubber off the other side, so that we could test the T80 and T05 side by side! Thanks strongpong!

Note: The T05 sheet used for comparison was not brand new and has had a little use. However it was still in very good condition and felt near-new in playing performance.

Service:
I could get plenty of work on the service, very similar to T05. The top-sheet felt just a little stiffer so I needed to dig the ball in a little more, but it really did not take much effort to get very good spin. The T80 also felt less bouncy, so it was actually easier to generate shorter balls with heavy spin. Although I feel I can still get heavier spin with my tacky 999 Turbo, for a non-tacky rubber this rubber is very spinny, and in the same league as T05, Bluefire, etc.

The short game
This is where the T80 surprised and impressed me most, and the higher level players will appreciate the importance of this. The T05 is not really bouncy for the short game, and is significantly better than the T64 in this respect, but the T80 is significantly better again. I was impressed that with a soft touch I could return a short ball very low and short. It seemed to have a little firmer and 'deader' feel compared to the T05, making it easier to control the spin and pace. I could quite easily return a heavy backspin serve short, with no spin. Dig the ball in just slightly and I could get good spin and place it short or deep.


Looping / counter-looping
In a nut-shell; very easy and forgiving with plenty of punch and spin!

Although the T80 does not quite have the same high arc of the T05, it's close and still very spinny. I found the feel of the T80 just a little harder than that of the T05, and it also felt just a little faster. Away from the table it really felt quite similar to the T05, and it required no adjustment in stroke to get the ball on.

The T05 is quite sensitive to spin, which was always one of the reasons I felt it was more suitable for higher level players who practice regularly. The T80 is significantly less sensitive to spin, without really sacrifising it's other good abilities, so I think it will appeal to a wider range of players.

I felt with the T05, when you loop it right, you feel a unique and sharp bite of the ball, and you know it's going back fast and spinny. The T80 still has this feel too, so it's not lost anything there.

On the Burn All+ blade, looping felt very easy and forgiving, and even with poor technique you get good spin to make the ball land. I was impressed how much pace I could get with this ALL+ blade. It was an absolute pleasure to play with on this blade, and I felt that when looping I could not miss.

The T80 on the Maze ALC, being a faster and stiffer blade, made it more powerful and not quite a forgiving, but it was still a easy setup to loop with.


Blocking:
Blocking with the T80 was also very good, and once again the reduced sensitivity to spin compared to the T05 made it easier and more forgiving. Against power loops a firm block with an almost open bat face return the balls back fast and low. The T05 would always tend to pop up the spinnier ones, so the T80 made this significantly easier to play and place. Punch it a little harder and you can block it for a winner... well against most players anyway


Lifting backspin
Although the slightly higher throw of the T05 makes just a little easier, the T80 performed very well in this, either for short flips or deep loops.

Things I forgot to test:
In the excitement of testing a new rubber, you always forget to test a few things, and although I probably played some of the shots listed below, I did not really take note of how well it performed, nor how it compared to other rubbers, so I feel I'll need another session to check out these properties:

1. Hitting high spinny balls
2. Counterloop close to the table
3. Chopping away from the table

I'll test these next session...

source: http://tabletennis-reviews.com/butterfl ... iew-part-2

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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

Because you're someone with very good skills (touch/technique), I'll be very interested in what you think about the rubbers' performance in the real word of strokes. How does it feel? Is it spinny? Is it better for driving or looping? Does it affect the way you expect the ball to behave?

Thanks for the review so far!

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Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
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Blog: A Naked Bear

What is Tenergy 80 designed for? If I remember right T05 is for close to the table and T64 is for off the table while it seems like no one uses Tenergy 25. Is T80 for behind the barriers?

The interest builds and what better man for the task than DeHaggis? Only he and Peter Moo can can stand up to the big industry and tell it like it is.

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I've been swapping back and forth between T05 and T64 for years. For me, T64 is ALMOST the perfect rubber. I thoroughly enjoy the way it blocks, counter loops, side spins, plays opening loops, and it's throw angle. The only negatives for me are the bouncy short game and I prefer the extra bite of the T05 top sheet on full blooded loop drives.

Early reports were hinting that the T80 is somewhere inbetween T05 and T64 which piqued my interest. When haggisv rocked up at the club with a sheet, needless to say, I was keen to try it out.

After a brief hit with the T80 on a Donic Burn ALL+ blade we glued it on to my M.Maze ALC blade with a T05 on the other side to get a direct comparison.


Serving
Serving required a slightly different technique than with the T05. I had to swing a bit faster to generate the same amount of spin, but, it did not throw the ball out as far. The control over length was better than T05. The resulting serves were identical as far as I could tell, just a larger motion required on the T80 than the T05 to get the same spin. I found it easier to keep the ball short and low with the T80.

Recieving
The ease of returning serve with T80 was apparent straight away. Haggisv and I were serving heaving back spin and sidespin to each other and for both of us the returns were easy to control and place. T80 is much less sensitive to incoming spin than T05.

Blocking
Again, the less sentivity to incoming spin made blocking much easier than with T05. I found it easier to get speed from punch blocking as well. The topsheet felt more solid and 'meaty' for punching through spin. The throw is lower than T05 making it easier block aggresively, similar throw to T64.

Openings
Haggisv fed me some back spin with inverted rubber and some float balls with the long pimples. Opening loops against backspin and float balls were both consistent and easy to place with good spin. It didn't react much differently at all to spin/no-spin. I felt confident attacking with it straight away.

Lifting Heavy Backspin
The throw is similar to T64 here and required a more upward motion than T05. This produced a lower throw with a low dipping bounce. Twiddling back to T05 the difference was surprising. T05 lifted the ball much higher giving more arc and and longer trajectory. I felt like I could drive through the ball more with the T05. Alternatively, I could play a short and low brush loop very easliy with the T80.

Looping
T80 has less arc than T05 and more forward momentum. I found the spin to be slightly less than T05, very similar to T64. It feels more firm in the topsheet than both and less reactive to incoming spin, everyone commented on how tolerant and easy to control it was on looping.

Sometimes it felt slower than T05 (and T64) because the T05 would react so much to incoming spin which would add to the speed of the return shot. Hence you had to add your speed a bit more, which adds to the control. When hitting hard the T80 had plenty of oomph, similar to other tenergies.

Flat Hit/Smash
Easier than both T64 and T05 with it's less sensitivity to incoming spin.


Summary
It plays as it is advertised and that is to be an all-round do-all rubber. Nothing stood out as an extreme characteristic and it showed no weakness in any area of play. It had the best balance of power, spin, and control of the tenergy series. The spacing of the pips being between T05 and T64 gives the balance between speed and spin. In addition, the conical shape of the pips by being splayed at the top reduce the sensitivitiy to spin adding a lot of control. I suspect this works by not allowing the top sheet to deform as easily on passive shots with more pimple mass at the top. However, when playing an active shot the ball sunk into the rubber enough to get good friction and let you add your own spin with ease. The conical shape also adds a more solid feel to the rubber.

I wasn't WOWed by this rubber, but it gave a feeling of satisfaction of being able to do everything I asked of it with no surprises. I will definately be trying it out in competition play when it is available.

Thanks to haggisv for getting a sample and posting such detailed information.

Thanks a lot strongpong! I'm still writing my part of the review, which I should have ready by tonight.

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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

Second part of my review added above.

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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

Thanks alot! I am eager to hear how it works for chopping
And I wonder if Joo will use this one... Sounds like a perfect match for him.

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If I read your review correctly T80 behaves more like Sriver yet giving almost the same performance as T05. Do I interpret your review correctly or not?

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Not really.... it still has that catapult and glue feel of the Tenergy, and also the extra bite. It's much closer to to T05 than Sriver.

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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

Thanks Alex for the review. The information and the pictures are very clear. I can't see the difference without your detailed description

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Enjoy the game. It is a never ending learning experience once you play and keep the ball on that 45 sq ft of space or should I say half of that space.

Haggisv your review has inspired me to do something I'd been meaning to do for ages but never got around to....try T05 on my Gergely. I had a sheet of T05 that FattChoi sent me to try many years ago on my Donic Enforce, but I stopped using that blade almost as long ago So there sat the T05. I always meant to give it a go on the Gergely, so today I transferred it. The rubber is old, sure, but not that old in playing hours. Going to go in early to the club tonight and see how its longevity really is lol.

It also occurred to me in this process how so often we (or perhaps just me ) use a rubber and decide its not for us without necessarily trying it out on all the setups we have (or giving it the time to really know the rubber on the blade). This is especially true for pips we try I think. So I have also transferred my CK351A Palio onto the Gergely, which was on the Enforce.

Sorry to go off topic on the T80, but its kinda related and its about the closest I'm going to get to T80 in a while I think!

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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!
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S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
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The scariest thing about trying the T05, or the T80 for that matter, is that you'll really like 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