My first review
Been waiting for my stock of Big Dipper to arrive for ages, as I am looking for an alternative for the H3 on my forehand.
One of the things that caught my eyes was the blue sponge on the black rubbers (red rubbers has yellowish orange sponge).
The packaging:
The packaging is of high quality. Something totally different to previous Yinhe rubbers.
Comes in a clear wrapping, followed by the white covers - much better quality than other Yinhe rubbers:
After taking out the rubber from the clear package and white cover, the rubber itself also came with a seperate clear package.
The topsheet has another film (as per normal Tacky rubbers), and the sponge has another film (just like previous Yinhe Maxtense rubbers). This rubber also comes with a rubber protection film (just like previous Maxtense rubbers)
The top sheet quality is very good, the print of the label is better and clearer than previous Yinhe Maxtense rubbers (moon, sun)
The blue sponge is similar in colour to the DHS blue sponge.
I notice the Big Dipper (black) and Moon Speed (black) has the exact same blue Maxtense sponge. So the only differences is the hardness level.
Maxtense is supposedly be a Tensor like sponge.
It was difficult to take the correct colour of the blue sponge due to lighting, the bottom one is the best I could get to and near perfect
The Rubber
I glued the rubber onto a Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive blade (Cpen)
Some specs of the rubber:
Yinhe Blue Dipper, Black, 39 Deg, Max (it is available in 38, 39 and 40 Degrees)
68grams uncut
Blue Maxtense sponge (factory tuned)
RRP from Yinhe is USD$25
The topsheet is not as tacky as the commercial H3/TG3.
It can only hold the ball for a split second.
The top sheet is extremely grippy (due to the tack) but not sticky tacky. The feeling is like a provincial version H3 rubber. Which means the stickiness (or rather lack of) does not stop the acceleration of the ball
The bounce test is similar to any other hard sponge Chinese tacky rubber - few bounces and the ball is on the rubber.
Doing a spin test, I could get great grip into the sponge and produce great spin.
I'm sure I can do great ghost serves and all kinds of controlled spinny serves with this rubber.
Testing Review:
Equipment
Blade: Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive (Cpen) - 94 grams
FH: Yinhe Big Dipper, Black, Max - 39 Deg sponge - 44 grams (cpen cut with 1.5cm gap)
BH: Andro Hexer+ (old rubber), Red, 2.1mm - 38grams (cpen cut with 1.5cm gap)
Total weight - 178grams
Warm up and first impression
My first impression was - huge catapult effect - It didn't feel like a Chinese tacky rubber.
It took me around 5 balls before getting the ball onto the table. First five balls, my first touch made the ball go 1meter off the table (I normally use H3 or TG3 on the forehand).
I had doubts that this is a 39 deg sponge, feels more like 36 deg. Maybe it got to do with the factory tuned sponge.
FH Top spin
After gettting used to the pace of the rubber, I was able to generate powerful top spin forehand shots - having high spin and power behind the ball.
As per my previous review above, there isn't a lot of tack in the top sheet (I will explain further), but with a power shot, I was able to grip deep into the sponge and release the ball with extreme precision and spin. The feeling of this sponge is similar to DHS Provincial and more leaning towards National sponge! I'm sure the pretune effect is making it so great, so I actually want to test one without the tune, so I will need to wait a couple of weeks and remove the layer at the bottom and test again.
Yinhe told me, they will be making "provincial" version of this rubber, I can't wait for that.
FH Arc
During warmup, the arc was huge - because I wasn't able to control the rubber yet.
But once I was able to control the rubber slighty better , I could generate low arc and high arc - depending on my bat angle and contact point (of the ball arc)
This feeling is the same with a boosted H3 commercial or provincial H3, just below national H3.
It is very easy to use (a bit too fast and powerful for my students though)
BH Cpen Traditional block
I didn't try a SH backhand, or Cpen RPB (Didn't have enough time as I was doing all this in a coaching session)
The traditional block (passive) arc was quite high, but with a power added traditional block, the arc can get pretty low and more tricky for the opponent.
Again the same feeling as a boosted H3 commerical or prov and just below nat H3 rubber.
I do believe this rubber can work for RPB or normal shakehand play.
Service
I wasn't used to the big catapult effect, as most of my serves was eating too much into the sponge, thus pushing the ball long.
My spin was not as powerful as my H3, but I have to say, service is the most difficult part of the game to master, so I do believe if I had more time to use this rubber, I am able to control it fully.
At the moment, I can only control it 50% and able to do ghost serves, down the line on the white line and side spin onto the base white line and off the right hand side of the table.
Long serve was very easy to do, but overall my service quality, placement etc was not good.
There is plenty of spin, so I don't have doubt that the rubber is good for service, I just need more time to train myself with it.
Short Balls/Chops
Getting the ball on the bounce (short balls), I manage to use only the tack of the topsheet and only using the sponge when required. So this is like 2 gears - soft sponge and hard sponge basically. My placement was great, and few times my opponent only got there after the second bounce (wide fh short). Placement - great, spin - almost great.
Chops.
I did some underspin feeding to my students. Extreme spinny. I can use only the top sheet tack or also can eat deap into the sponge. If I go deep into the sponge, my students will net the ball with a top spin shot (didn't adjust in my change of action). I did notice that my deep into the sponge feed, to shoot out faster and longer - same as a Tensor rubber
So I think I need to serve with this "2 gear" action - Topsheet with little sponge, or with lots of sponge.
But so far for both chop and service - I do wish for a bit less catapult effect.
Conclusion.
I think the sponge is too soft for a rating of 39 Deg. I actually want to try 40 or 41 Dec, or 39 with no tune.
The top sheet is just perfect - not too tacky and feels like a provincial H3 top sheet. It also has great grip due to a pretty elastic top sheet - what makes this nice is that one can use the tack when required (short movement or just contact the top sheet), or go further into the sponge and grip the ball like a Tensor rubber and when doing that, you have a best of both worlds (slight tack + tensor like sponge)
I think this rubber is great for players who want tacky rubber but on a softer sponge, or Tensor like sponge. Or Euro style game, but want a Chinese like forehand or play. Best of both worlds and I didn't even know such rubber exists.
The marketing of this rubber states this is a forehand rubber, but due to the soft feel, I would say, this can work on the backhand too. Also the rubber is not heavy compared to a H3 (50grams vs Big Dipper of 44 grams cpen cut). My rating of the soft feel is medium - medium hard, or around 36deg - same as Tenergy 05 +/-.
Also note, this is designed for the new ball. And I have notice much more spin from a topspin game than that of a regular H3 boosted (all other new poly rubber state more spin....I haven't tested other rubbers yet, so maybe if true, this is a pattern).
For example on the more spin, my student uses a TG3 Neo, and tried out my setup. I was choping with a TSP P4 Curl on a TSP Balsa 3.5 (Def+) and with the TG3 he was netting 50% of the balls. With the Big Dipper, he net less than 20% of the ball. I'm sure he will buy a Big Dipper tomorrow
Few things to note:
- I glued up the rubber on Friday, tested out today (Monday), so the rubber did "air" a bit.
- This rubber is factory tuned, so the feeling will change once the tune weighs out.
-The black rubber has blue sponge, red rubber is orange. I'm not sure if the red rubber is similar at this stage.
- I am a seller of Yinhe, so some may think I might be biased. I have to say, this rubber really surprise me and I will give it a few more tries and comment once I can control 80% of the rubber. I have a feeling I can move over from H3 to Big Dipper.
- Oh, and the blue sponge is just way too cool
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too bad I forgot to take a photo of that part of catalogue along with the new rubber when I was at the distributor's house 
