OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I'm seriously considering trying this rubber out. I know that this rubber is very good for digging the ball over the table, in a chop push style, its also good for away from the table chopping. I tend to use very similar shots to Gionis, when im at the table, I either dig the ball in a pushing rally to set up an attack, or if the ball is returned long enough, I will loop, either a slow spinny loop or a faster more ripping loop drive.
I like to load up on the spin on my serves and attack 3rd ball quite often too.
When receiving serve, I tend to loop when its long, chop the ball back too, and if I have a short serve given to me I like to flick the ball in an attacking manner.
Away from the table I like to wait for the ball to drop a bit and then chop it back, I also like to counter topspin occasionally, but a shot I do tend to do a bit is fishing the ball back when im away from the table too, placing the ball around the table.

Would this rubber suit my style? I guess its a fairly similar set of shots that Gionis executes on his forehand. I have been playing with 2.0mm Tibhar Evolution MX-S for the last 5 months. Would I be best using 2.0mm on the 401? My blade is Joo Se Hyuk blade. Or do you feel 1.8mm would be better suited to my range of shots?

It is a very good rubber for that! But it is heavy. If you chop more than just a few times per match, you might want to consider 1,8 mm. This is very ggod for chopping but also good for looping. The 2.0 mm version is heavier and gives you more power in attacks but you loose a lot of control for chopping. THe throw is high on this rubber so it is not the most easy one for counters. But control is still good for fishing. I used it on a VKM-blade, not on Joo, so I really don't know if the throw would be very high on Joo, but on VKM I felt it was a bit too high. I changed to DHS Hurricane 3-50 (medium), which is a very nice rubber.

_________________
My blog: Def-attack's attempts to find balance between defence/attack | Serving techniques and strategy section

Is there any significant difference between the red and black sheets of this rubber? Or are they identical?

As with any rubber that's got some tack, the black always has a bit more tack, although with German/Japanese sheets the difference is much less.

_________________
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

I'm wanting to create a second bat where I chop using a double inverted racket. For example Joanna Drinkhall (Paul Drinkhall's wife) uses tenergy 05 on both sides in a 1.7mm and a 1.9mm sponge and she chops and attacks with it.

I want a set up like that to see how i'd get on with it. I'd use a Joo se hyuk blade I think, but I cant decide on the two inverted rubbers. I currently use Evolution MX-S on the FH so wondered about using that on the BH with a thinner sponge. But then I also thought about Tenergy in a thinner sponge for my BH.
Then I looked at the Victas VS 401 for BH chopping and blocking and occasional attack. But couldnt make up my mind at to what thickness of sponge.
But then I also thought about defensive inverted rubbers (stiga chop and drive, donic slice 40, super defence etc etc)

I can't work out what would be the best way to go for choosing a rubber for my BH that is inverted but I still want to chop with!

Any advice appreciated!

The best way is always,

Borrow sample rubber from friends and try it.

And, sorry, off topic,

To "drown" You further to they way of EJ, these known to be great for chopping style. ;p

Gambler Reflectoid
Giant Dragon Submarine
Butterfly Tackiness Chop
Donic Slice 40
Tibhar Super 40 Defense
Juic 999 Elite Defense
Butterfly Tackiness Chop 2
Donic Quattro A'Conda Soft
Stiga Chop & Drive
Andro Backside 2.0D
SpinLord Marder
Butterfly Tackiness Drive
Donic Akkadi Taichi
Palio CJ8000 Biotech 39-41°

Back to topic,

The reviews here remind me of Tackiness Chop 2, in the sense of being hard sponged, grippy, flat ball trajectory. Other than, obviously, speed, how do 401 compare to Tack 2?

Sent from my T1X Plus using Tapatalk

Alex, can you compare 1.5mm VS>401 to TSP Triple Spin Chop in 1.0-1.3?

_________________
Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

my trusted fingerometer says the black sheet has a slightly harder top sheet. It could be that my black sheet is newer than the red sheet. No significant differences otherwise.

_________________
The Dark Side: "Quicker, easier, more seductive" - Yoda

Are you guys still using 401?. I'm playing a little tournament in a couple weeks and only have a 4 year old tg3:P. I built a bat for a guy when 401 first came out and it was amazing so probably go that way unless something more amazing came out since. Will be my (and out entire clubs) first hit of a plastic ball too. We are bringing our best ever team so I hope theres not enough difference to cost us games.

_________________
Donic defplay senso
Haifu whale soft (grips-euro)
Nittaku pimplemini 1.0mm

I'm still using the 401 (in 1.8mm black).


The TSP is more tacky and also considerably slower.

_________________
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

I tried the 401 2.0 briefly with Joola CWX blade. Some have said that it's very spinny, others say, it's not spinny at all. For me it felt too slow compared to T05 - the speed difference is big. It might work better with balsa or other faster or bouncier blades. It felt ok to play with, but I was not at home with many shots.

I propably try it with JSH blade later.

Spin was ok, but less than T05.

After a few years with the VS401 1.5mm on the BH, i switched to a Nittaku Fastarc G-1 1.4mm. Main reason for the switch: the weight and a new blade 12g heavier than my previous blade. The G-1 is a little bit softer and has more bounce, but i still can do my aggressive pushes with heavy backspin. Maybe a little bit less spin, but enough for most opponents (unless playing with the G40+ ball ). And the topspin is a little bit easier.

_________________
Main Setup
Butterfly Impartial XS, 1.7mm
Gewo Königsklasse Karbon Sieben
Nittaku Fastarc G-1, 1.4mm

Backup
Butterfly Impartial XS, 1.7mm
Gewo Königsklasse Karbon Sieben
Nittaku Fastarc G-1, 1.8mm

Butterfly Tenergy 25FX, 1.7mm
Arbalest Bogen, ST
Victas VS 401, 1.5mm

I have a question about the speed of Victas VS > 401.

For curiosity, I put a two year old sheet of this rubber (1.8mm) on one of Joo blades. Even though the sheet was two years old, I used it very little, perhaps for just 4 or 5 practices. The rubber felt surprisingly soft. When I performed a simple bounce test, it was just slightly slower than a one-year old sheet of Tenergy 80-FX on another Joo blade. In other words, the rubber was rather fast.

Since I liked the Victas VS > 401 for chopping on my Joo blade, I order a new sheet, also 1.8mm. This surprised me too, as the new sheet of Victas VS > 401 was so much slower, being only slight faster (using the same bounce test) than my backhand rubber, i.e., TSP Curl P1R, 1.4-1.7mm. I am curious if anyone else has seen such a large difference between the speed of old and new sheets of Victas VS > 401. The softening of the rubber I did expect, based on a post by haggisv, but the change in speed was a big surprise to me.

Steven

_________________
Butterfly Joo Se Hyuk
Butterfly Tenergy 80-FX 1.9mm
TSP Curl P1R 1.4-1.7mm
--------------
Returned to table tennis September 2011
Canada National Team Member, 1973-1975
--------------
1972-1987
Brickell Balsa/Birch 3-ply Blade
Yasaka Mark V 1.5mm
Joola Toni Hold AntiTopspin 2.5mm

I've been using this rubber for several years now, and don't experience that much difference in speed at all. There IS however a lot of difference in speed depending on how much you engage the sponge on your loop. The rubber is indeed quite slow when you only engage the topsheet (like in your bounce test and other shots that only brush the ball), but as you engage the sponge it's got good speed, just a little below something like Tenergy 05, but more than traditional rubbers like Sriver, Mark V, etc.
A bounce test on a new sheet always feels really slow, as the tack takes off all the speed, but if you loop harder with it you get the speed.

_________________
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

haggisv,

Thanks also for this helpful post. For me, the difference was huge for both the old and new sheets at very low speeds. However, at high speeds, when looping I could not tell the difference in speed. My practice partners said the same thing.

The Victas VS > 401 sure is a very nice rubber. For chopping, my favourite aspect to this rubber is that it is easier for me to perform heavy chops, compared to my Tenergy 80-FX. In terms of the level of backspin, one of my practice partners said that I generate more backspin with the Tenergy, and two other couldn't tell the difference. My practice partners didn't notice any difference in consistency between my chops, and one said that my chops are lower with the Victas VS > 401, and the other two said there was no difference. Also, my impression is that I can control the placement of my chops a little better with the Victas VS > 401. I still like the feel of the Tenergy a little more, and of course my loops are faster with the Tenergy.

Thanks again.

Steven

_________________
Butterfly Joo Se Hyuk
Butterfly Tenergy 80-FX 1.9mm
TSP Curl P1R 1.4-1.7mm
--------------
Returned to table tennis September 2011
Canada National Team Member, 1973-1975
--------------
1972-1987
Brickell Balsa/Birch 3-ply Blade
Yasaka Mark V 1.5mm
Joola Toni Hold AntiTopspin 2.5mm