OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Finally took mine out and played with it.

Mostly agree with what has been said. I found the reversal a little LESS than insider. That probably has to do with blade(Defence II) and maybe the fact that I chop my blocks pretty aggressively with Insider.

What I liked least is that underspin balls fall into the net unless very deliberately played 'up'. AS isnt going to help with my trouble reading serves as much as I could hope. I also noticed this sensitivity to underspin with Gorilla

I also couldn't hit against no-spin with this as I can with Insider or Phoenix.

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coming back after 2 years off
don't freaking know what I'm using from day to day!

Hi,

I cant help but think that some of the lack of Antispin comes from the fact that even the 1.2 sponge is allowing too much surface area of the rubber to contact the surface of the ball...so I was wondering if the sponge could be removed fro the AS rubber and a .6mm sponge could be used and using a dead slow blade to keep the speed slow...

The .6 mm sponge would allow less surface area of the rubber to contact the ball...

and of course there may be a dead slow .5 or .6 sponge available that I don't know about...or even use a layer of Tony Hold foil and a .6 sponge..

I dont really know the legalities or finer points of the foil...so not sure if it could be used...I will practice heating an off-cut from the Dr N AS to see if it is possible to remove the sponge...

This option may have already been mentioned elsewhere so sorry if it has..

fosss

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SETUP
Blade: HM Balsa.
FH = Transcend SP on a MAX Big Slam sponge.
BH = Bomb Talent OX

Gorilla just pulled off the sponge easily. I think my off cuts of AS did also. Gorilla was a write-off stock so I didnt mind reckless experimentation. Amazingly Gorilla was hyper fast even ox!! AS is vey usable as-is so I'm much more hesitant to pull it apart. I wish somebody would make a paper thin token legal sponge.

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coming back after 2 years off
don't freaking know what I'm using from day to day!

Well, I have done it (removed the sponge, that is) and put .6mm sponge from the back of an old Super Block that I had...and there does appear to be a difference between before and after as far as spin bounce on inverted... then hit straight upwards with AS ...then back on inverted, where it pings off sideways indicating good flow through of the spin...

Because of limitations of not being able to compare the before and after together, I was not able to say without doubt that more spin was passed through with the thinner dead sponge, but the thinner sponge certainly passed a lot of spin straight through...I won't be able to tell about game play for a while due to a hospital visit, but it would be good if it would take out of the equation those unexplained balls into the net and off the end of the table...

Maybe someone else has some SB or Inferno .6mm sponge they could try with the AS and report, because at the moment with the 1.2 sponge, something is somehow inconsistent and is causing those unexplained shots...and many folk will be disillusioned and put the rubber in a drawer and forget about it when a thinner sponge might be a solution.

I should add that apart from those aforementioned dodgy shots out of the blue...the AS rubber is really very good, but no Inferno...and to solve some of the problems, a bit more practice is in order...or who knows, the thin SB sponge might do the trick.

fosss

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==========================================
SETUP
Blade: HM Balsa.
FH = Transcend SP on a MAX Big Slam sponge.
BH = Bomb Talent OX

just had an experimental session with the new as rubber from the doc on various blades.
there was no doubt that the harder the blade the better the rubber works i have the 1.2 version, there was more reversal on the harder blades.
what we need is a combi bat were the backhand side is very hard with a normal forehand side.
i am looking round for some thin hardwood veneer to use on my backhand side,meanwhile i am going to use a very old 70s bat with a hard surface albeit too fast on my forehand but will prove a point to myself in the next league match i play.

After initially disregarding AS i tried putting it on 2mm Mirage sponge it was a different animal ! .Still not sure if its what i am looking for but it certainly warrants more practice with now .
Chopping away from table created some back spin but not enogh to trouble good players , slower more deliberate strokes seemed to keep the ball lower.
Attacking back spin was ok a little inconsistent and without much venom, adding a side swipe to the stoke was effective.
Pushing hard with a slightly open blade against back spin seemed to create considerable top spin which was interesting
General control seemed better if you let the ball come to the rubber rather than trying to meet it of the bounce this also created significant reversal at times.
I put it on the off side of an Aurora , im crap at being able to decide what is a hard blade or a stiff blade so can anyone explain the difference in the two sides of the Aurora also is the Andro fibrecomp def blade a hard, stiff, soft, slow type ???

just played a league match with as on an old hard surface bat.i won two matches and lost one without having practised with the set up.
the matches i won were against spinners one being a good looper.my team mate said it was like superblock the reversal i was getting.
the player that beat me gave me nothing to work with but i still took him to 5 sets
the new rubber can be improved on to get better reversal using suttle polishing but be careful, mine now shines like glass.
the hard surface with the 1.2 sponge is ideal.doing my own friction test against th new 40 ox it is the same,so my ideal set up would be th new 40 with the docs 1.2 sponge.
my next trial is with hallmark aurora bat with the as on the fast side but i have put a sheet of walnut veneer on this side .6mm thick ironed on to give me the hardness for the as rubber to work effectively, i was also gettin wobble with the as as well which helps too.
as far as i am concerned i am nearly there with a super block replacement things are looking up for me again, will report on aurora experiment when i get chance to try it.

Anti Special is good for chop?

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Fh > Donic Platin Max ,red.

Bh :Juic Neo Anti 2.0 , black
Blade : Andro

How firm is the 1.2mm sponge that comes with the AS? Is it hard or very soft?

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FH: Joola Express Ultra Max, BH: Giant Dragon Talon OX , Blade: Nexy Hannibal
FH: Tibhar Sinus Alpha Max, BH: Tibhar Sinus Alpha Max , Blade: Nexy Hannibal

the 1.2 sponge that i have on my as rubber is like a high density cardboard it is ideal but cannot be messed about with as it creases easily which causes slight uneveness on the surce of the rubber which causes unpredictable shots.
it does not chop balls in my case as i have it very slippy, but chop returns are easy dealt with. you can float balls from topspin with practice to, but heavy loop is best blocked as they cant return the blocked ball now as it was with super block. you still have to mix the game up against no spin--flat hitters though , twiddle and chop heavy with normal rubber to get openings.
the bat i am using was given to me and is unbranded but is ideal in its hardness for as but too fast for me on forehand side. my trials will continue but the reversal is back big time with my set up.

Thanks bigsam. So you would say the sponge is medium firm? not super soft.

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FH: Joola Express Ultra Max, BH: Giant Dragon Talon OX , Blade: Nexy Hannibal
FH: Tibhar Sinus Alpha Max, BH: Tibhar Sinus Alpha Max , Blade: Nexy Hannibal

the as sponge is very similar to felt with glue on either side,that is the best i can describe it. it works and that is the main thing.

I think this is a futile question. It is 'hard' but very slow like the sponge under super anti. Trying to force it into a category that fits your previous experience would only be misleading. Unless you've used mirage or phoenix.

AS really makes me think it's like if you took a piece of corrugated cardboard from a big box and put it between the blade and rubber. It doesnt feel like sponge and it doesn't feel like ox either.

This really is rubber to replace fricitonless LP. Not to replace other antis. Not to replace friction lp(at least not friction beyond insider)

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coming back after 2 years off
don't freaking know what I'm using from day to day!

Yes I agree... these are quite unique in feel, very different to traditional sponges...

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The FibreComp is a stiff slow blade with lots of control. It uses fibreglass combined with balsa to achieve the stiffness.

MNNB is a big fan of this blade but there are problems attacking with it.

My feeling is that a carbon blade without the acrylate (or whatever it is called to soften the blade) will provide the stiffness. It will make the inverted rubber tough to handle however. Nothing stiffens a blade up better than carbon.

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Tibhar Grass D.techs OX | Donic BigSlam 2.0mm .
Re-Impact Medusa (balsa / 1-ply cherry wood)
Frictionless strokes | Attacking pip strokes | Greggy's advice | Bollsbrother | Sebastian Sauer . . . . . .