OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Actually.. well, there's a reason for this. The chemicals used to mix with the rubber to produce red and black sheets has an effect on the properties. Manufacturers would like to have both colors behave the same, but it usually turns out that black sheets are a little more flexible and soft, and this is most evident in Chinese rubbers (especially H3). This is why they're favored to be used on the forehand. As for "thicker sponge" - no. The sponge thickness is the same - there's a maximum thickness of 4mm for the entire sandwich, that's the limiting factor. Both red and black sheets come with the same thickness of sponge. As to color - there's this myth that says blue sponges are magically better than other colors of sponge. Indeed, you'll see that all the top Chinese players use some variation of H3 with blue sponge and black topsheet on the forehand. This is the fabled "National H3" - whether the sheets the actual Chinese National Team actually use are the same ones you can buy from AliExpress retailers (for several times the price for "normal" H3) or not is another issue. In the case of H3, it may actually be true that the blue sponge is better than other colors - then again, when you find red sheets of H3 "National" the sponge is orange. Why? Because blue sponge under a transparent-ish red topsheet will result in a sort of purplish color, which is against regulations. Does the "blue sponge is better" rule apply to other brands of rubber? I seriously doubt it, but a lot of other manufacturers intentionally use blue sponge for their premium product lines because a lot of people are convinced that it is, and they'd sell more sheets that way.

So should you use black on the forehand? Sure, why not? All you have to do is flip the bat around, after all, and since CJ8000 is a (cheap) Chinese rubber there probably is a difference in topsheet hardness between black and red.

Iskandar

Thank you! Like I previously mentioned: I am a beginner level player who is serious about improving my skills, so I will be practicing several hours a day. I am excited to be receiving the Sanwei M8 with the Friendship 729 General rubber in 2 days! Should I exchange this rubber for another, or stay with this combo?

Stay with it for the next 2-3 months at least.

Iskandar