OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I regularly read things like "Hurricane 3 has a stronger topsheet than H 3 Neo" or "Provincial H3 is less tacky than commercial H3".

Let's agree on some basics. ITTF only approves the topsheet of a given rubber. There are talks about manufactures having to get every sponge - topsheet combination approved separately in the future, but as of today only the topsheet is certified. There is only one entry in the LARC for Hurricane 3. And while there are orange sponges, blue sponges etc, every H3 rubber out there, whether commercial, provincial, national, original or Neo - must have the same topsheet in order to be compliant.

Now I'm assuming there is some variance in the fabrication process. I will also say that the ITTF are probably not the biggest fans of CNT. So if the topsheets were truly different and it was public knowledge, wouldn't ITTF take action?

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You would think so. Anecdotally I have read somewhere that some ITTF approved rubber came in tacky and non-tacky versions. I can't remember the manufacturer let alone the actual rubber name. Yet apparently (publicly) no action was seen to be taken.

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They do. Check out the Kokutaku 868 line for instance - you can get ultra-tacky, tacky, slightly tacky and non-tacky variants, with various colorful packagings. At one time I was going to buy a variety of them and try them out, but now I'm not even interested.. Sanwei once sold something called "A+", it came in tacky and non-tacky variants.

From what's been posted, tackiness isn't something that falls within the purview of the topsheet characterization process when it comes to certification of rubbers. (Neither does the topsheet chemistry or composition, or even rubber hardness, IIRC.) Probably because, for many sheets, it's so variable from sample to sample, and changes drastically over time, with use. They do care (very much) about thickness, pips geometry and surface roughness and are VERY strict about them.

I have, for a long time, suspected that the tackiness of most rubbers (with the possible exception of 999 and 729 Bloom) is added to the rubber by applying an adhesive to its surface. I believe that that "protective sheet" tacky sheets come with is actually a carrier - when you peel it off, the glue gets left behind. That's why the tackiness goes away with use - the adhesive gets rubbed off. If this is the case then it's not technically illegal to sell rubber with different levels of tackiness - the tackiness is not something built into the topsheet and not part of its specifications, so you can use different adhesives to add different degrees of tackiness to the final product.

Iskandar

I read somewhere that they add tackifiers to the rubber mix,the amount of tack can be varied depending on the percentage added,these give the surface of the rubber the stickiness,I find that these type of rubbers need cleaning more often or the tack fades,however it always comes back

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Tsp Black Balsa 3.0 Tenergy 05 1.9 388d ox black