OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Well, you're looking at softer Tensors, so Rakza 7 is one of them. What I'm saying is that there are probably 2-3 dozen similar rubbers that will be as good as any other. FX-S, EL-S, Donic Baracuda, Rakza 7, Rasant Beat, maybe 2 dozen others will be similar enough that it won't make much difference. Just get what's cheapest, the same thing will happen (i.e. you'll use it for a couple months and have good luck with it, and then it will shrink and die.. )

Incidentally, if you're still looking at Tibhar, they've got this whole range of "Hybrid" rubbers out now (K1*, K2, etc.), and they seem to be aiming these at beginners and intermediate players:

viewtopic.php?f=44&t=35874

Not exactly sure what "hybrid" means in this context. Again, I suspect most of these would work as well.

What I'm saying is that rubber choice doesn't matter nearly as much as some people make it out to be, and it's possible to over-think the problem. Blade choice, though.. I think that matters a lot more. Even so, there's going to be dozens of blades that will work as well as any other, but I've found that blades take a lot more getting used to than rubbers do. Overly fast blades can really hurt your game, especially if you're just beginning.

Iskamdar

Just trying to avoid dramatic changes where they may not be necessary. The alternatives suggested are already similar or softer as well as slower than what you’ve been using but no reason at all why you shouldn’t try the softer versions if you think they would suit your game. They are not necessarily spinnier, it depends on your game style. Soft rubbers are great for close to the table looping and blocking if that is your style. I personally don’t like rubbers as soft as Aurus Sound though. Don’t like their bounciness on passive strokes. I’ve tried Aurus Soft and liked it.

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