OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Had my first session last night with Firestorm Soft on my forehand, drilling with a friend who is a long pips blocker. I'm relatively new to short pips on the forehand, so I don't have a ton of experience, but compared to others I've used (Waran, Spinpips Red, 802-40) it was clearly the most spinny short pip I've ever tried. Comparing it to the Spinpips Red, I definitely felt like I got more spin, and thanks to the soft sponge, it felt more controllable for me as well. That being said, I also thought for such a soft sponge it still hit pretty well. The extra control I felt like it granted me allowed me to take a bit of a harder swing. And I really liked the short game control when pushing and doing a soft flip. It was hard to believe I was using a short pip, the spin (to me) was similar to some inverted rubbers I'd used. Tonight I'm going to play at the club against other players who will spin the ball and attack me, so I will get an idea of how I like aspects of it like serve return and blocking. But I have to say, after this first session, I'm excited about the possibilities.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

What sponge thickness are you using? Did you get a feeling of the rubber bottoming out on every shot?

Here's my first impression of the FS: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=33955&p=367102#p367102

Unless you have it with thick e.g 2mm sponge If you get a chance please could you also try it on the backhand to see if it blocks well with some disruption.

Hi chasfox, I do have it in 2.0 mm sponge, but I can give it a try tonight.

Hi ziv, maybe the reason it works so well for me is because I do tend to have more of a brush stroke. Coming from inverted on my forehand (about 2 months of using short pips now), I still feel like I don't hit through the ball enough. It's something I'm working to change, but 25 years of "serious" playing with a brush loop stroke doesn't change overnight. Didn't really notice it bottoming out on me, again, that could be due to my stroke not being a true short pip stroke yet. I'm looking forward to getting some practice tonight with players that have spinny rubbers so I have more perspective.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Had a session with this at the club last night, playing against players rated in the 1600-2000 USATT level. Overall, it was very positive, I think that short pips on the spinny side like Spinpips Red and this rubber really suit where my game is at right now.

A player that I have played against many times told me he thought my shots with Firestorm Soft were faster than with Waran. When hitting, it makes a loud cracking sound, a couple of players noted the sound of the rubber. Blocking was controlled against loops, any errors were due to me rather than the rubber. With the soft sponge, it was good for controlling the ball and gave a low, difficult to return ball to my opponents. Players were also surprised at how spinny I could make my shots, and the spin on my serves as well. When hitting hard or blocking a hard shot, yes, I could feel the ball "bottoming out" a little, but that didn't bother me. With my blade, I thought it had good enough feel. I didn't have any trouble lifting heavy under spin, and in the short game it felt good. I did try it on my backhand during counter hitting drills. I would say that this is more of a forehand oriented rubber because of the softness and spin.

Think I'll continue to compare how things go with this vs. Spinpips Red, which is definitely a harder sponge and I think faster rubber. Maybe down the line I'll give a try to Victas VO>102 also, as it sounds like it might be the type of rubber that would work on my forehand. But for now, the Waran is put on the back burner and I will be using these.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

I have been playing with the Firestorm Soft on a different blade for a few days and I'm feeling I must give an update to my initial review above.

My new blade is Sanwei Fextra which some say has the same composition as the Clipper (limba-ayous-ayous-ayous-ayous-ayous-limba) and some say doesn't. But regardless of the composition, it feels much softer than my old blade (Magical Touch) which, to my surprise, helps to play with the FS a lot (for some reason, I've believed that harder wood is much better for SP than softer types).
With Fextra, my SP attacks have become much more controllable; the "bottoming out" feeling is still there to some extent but is now much less disturbing. I'm not feeling that I'm hitting the ball with the blade instead of the rubber anymore, and that adds great confidence to my strokes.

I haven't tried the Waran which used to be my main SP choice on the new blade yet, but I'm very happy with the FS so far.

Quick update now that I've played a lot more with the Firestorm Soft. For my game, it has made a world of difference. Coming from inverted, and still working on my more traditional short pip style forehand strokes, the Firestorm Soft has proven to be the ideal transition rubber. Having the ability to spin the ball and use an inverted-style stroke when I am out of position has made a world of difference in my game, and the soft sponge gives me excellent control on any shot, including the short game. My opponents are always surprised at the amount of spin I can generate on the serves, and I can also give a fast, deep serve that gives them trouble because I switch between spinny and dead balls. It's definitely not the fastest for hitting, but when I get a high ball to clean up, it takes care of its business well. I've had many club players who know my game tell me it's perfect for me, as long as I choose to play short pips on the forehand. I think I will continue to do so, as it really helps me on serve return, and looping against heavy under spin.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Sounds great! How is it on looping/hitting against back spin? Looping back low pushes, is that safe?


Just before reading this post I ordered a sheet of my own, black 2,1 mm . But for now I will focus on finding my way back to Xiom Omega VII after having revisited H3 for a few weeks. I have a competition comming up in 10 days and I need to gain some lost ranking points. After that I will give it a brief try on a spare blade (I will probably do that on Tuesday already) to see if I can change rather smoothly before a big competition late in May or if I need to wait until after that (I should probably wait).

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Def-attack's attempts to find balance between defence/attack | Getting better - health and game |
My Youtube

Yes, I find it is very safe for looping back spin and low pushes. The spin isn't going to blow anyone out of the water, but I do have opponents that mis judge the amount of side spin that I can put on it. And it's very controlled, generally I can put it in an uncomfortable position for them (down the backhand line) that keeps them from attacking it hard. I transitioned from playing Omega V Asia, and it's by far the easiest short pip to use on the forehand for me, so I would think that it would make a good transition for you too if you want to give it a try.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Hey Doug,

What made you decide to switch to SP on your fh? EJing? Or something more serious? I tried it years ago but found I lost too much spin...was only using 802. I still can't see a totally compelling reason except I have seen LP played make the transition to a fh SP with LP BH with some great results. This bring been sounds interesting.

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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!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
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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Hi Reb! At the start of the year, I just felt a little stale with my game and like I needed something to fire me up. I found some videos of players who had short pip forehand and long pip/anti/medium pip on the backhand and it looked like fun, so I started giving it a try. Something to challenge myself to learn, and something to get the excitement back. I tried the more traditional type short pips, but I found that I like having the ability to be able to generate spin on the forehand to contrast with the tricky stuff on the backhand. People are constantly surprised by how much spin I can get on shots with this pip.

I've noticed that it's helped my game noticeably in a couple of areas. One, being able to attack heavy back spin to my forehand. I always had difficulty looping with inverted against those balls, but it is much easier and more consistent for me with the short pips. Second, I always struggled with flat hitting kill shots and blocking really spinny loops to the forehand, and this gives me an improvement in terms of control and consistency in those areas. And lastly, it has improved my serve return quite a bit. With the backhand long pips, players would just keep serving me heavy spin to the forehand that would give me problems, and now it's much easier to return them. Especially in doubles, I've found I'm much more comfortable taking serves in a forehand stance, when I almost always used to go with the backhand.

Plus, I just love the look on some players' faces when I present them with the double pips set up. If they don't like playing pips, it really provides a mental edge.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Today I had a first brief hit with 2,1 mm Firestorm soft on my spare Stiga Carbonado 90 blade using ABS-balls. I had my main set up also to the table and switched back and forth. It is very light in weight and the sponge is very soft.

Firestorm is s really fun rubber to use, very easy and intuative, just play like an inverted and hit the hard whenever you feel like it. When you hit the ball hard there is a loud smacking sound . And the ball goes fast and straight.

You can serve, push and also loop like with an inverted but of course with lesser spin. But still enough spin to trick the opponent with spinny serves. You can brushloop against back spin but perhaps not with the same power as with inverted. And at some point the ball will skid off the pips and fall to the floor. But for being a SP it can do a lot in this area.

I only used it for some 30 minutes with my son as opponent so that is about all I can say for now. I will try it more later, but after the weekend. I am looking forward to it but I have no plans for a permanent change already. But perhaps a few sessions with SP on FH will help me get more confident using FH smashes and FH flicks with my ordinary rubber?

_________________
Def-attack's attempts to find balance between defence/attack | Getting better - health and game |
My Youtube

My impressions are the same as yours Def-Attack. I got a little bit of a laugh when you mentioned the sound on a hard hit ball. It really is a loud SMACK and it definitely gets noticed by the other players as well.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Our german GeblockTT review of FS SOFT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4nDyDPYOks

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GeblockTT - table tennis on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/c/geblocktt

Love to know what they say but I would guess positive and definitely easy to topspin with.

Seems quite effective on the backhand as well.