OOAK Table Tennis Forum

+1 on the AK47. I've had the Blue and Yellow. Amongst the bouncier Chinese rubbers currently available.

the blue topsheet de-laminated after 3 sessions (I like to think that I hit very hard ).

I’ve had experience with the following rubbers for RPB on 5-ply all wood flexible blades (listed in the order I like them):

1. DHS skyline 3-60
2. DHS Hurricane 3-50
3. DHS Hurricane 3 NEO (39 deg)
(Edit): I forgot to mention Yinhe Mercury 2
4. Yasaka Rakza 7
5. Nittaku FastArc G-1

The Skyline is a great balance between control, spin and speed. Great feel and I think it helps me develop the stroke better than a faster tensor.

The H3-50 has similar characteristics to S3-60, but softer and a notch slower. Not a bad option.

H3 Neo i like because i believe it will get my stroke to where I want it to be faster. It’s just physically exhausting. I think you’re forced to learn body mechanics quickly and also forces you to be responsible for incoming spin reads.

(Edit for Mercury 2): I forgot to mention this rubber. Sort of An in between Chinese to tensor but more on the Chinese side. A bit more forgiving than H3. Speed is somewhere between H3-50 & S3-60. It’s a good rubber with great value!

R7 vs G1, I liked Rakza because it had a more direct feeling. Somewhat more linear than G1. G1 felt a bit slower with more spin but it had an archy characteristic that I didn’t really prefer for my BH shots. The G1 shines in Chiquita flicks though, maybe because of that extra spin safety...

For the blade, I currently use Nittaku Acoustic, but I recommend a slower cheaper alternative to start like Yasaka Sweden Classic or Something within that class. Slow and control are your friends in the early stages of building your fundamental strokes. Probably the blade you have or mentioned will work fine for the basics!



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Ty vm for the help. Just a few questions.

When u say: "also forces you to be responsible for incoming spin reads"
Does that mean that it is harder to play against "spin balls" with a chinese rubber than an "ordinary" one? I mean, let's say someone is serving with lots of spin, with a chinese rubber the returner needs to be more skilled?

Have you used these Asia versions of European rubbers like Omega Asia? Are they somehow similar to chinese rubbers?

I noticed the same with my AK47 Blue, just yesterday ... Seems like the topsheet is beginning separate from the sponge, at the top-edge.. I think, it's been just over 6 months, since I've been playing with it ..

No problem.

In my opinion, Chinese tacky rubbers are more reactive to spin, so you have to respond correctly or else you’ll pay with an unwanted reaction (high return, into the net, off the side, etc...)

In regards to returning a serve with Chinese rubber, I think the potential to generate high spin serves is also great, but I think the responsibility is the same on your end to read the spin. I think once your used to whatever rubber you have, it’s not a huge difference. You just need that adjustment period if you are switching between a soft tensor and and a hard tacky Chinese rubber. In short, all I was saying is that tacky rubbers react stronger to spin and you will be forced to learn how to respond.

Now, that’s not to say you don’t learn anything from a soft tensor. A highly elastic tensor will also teach you soft touch because the response is typically high a higher bounce...


I’ve had a quick hit with omega Asia and omega tour; I liked them. They were a bit harder and grippy. With my stroke, I found them easy to control and more linear than a softer tensor. That’s all I can really say though, I never played a game, just did some looping and blocking on the forehand.

I hope my opinions help you!


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I don't know if tacky rubbers react more to spin than non-tacky ones do. Being very reactive to spin is something people accuse Tenergy 05 of, and it's non-tacky. Trying to find a spinny rubber that's not reactive to spin is, I think, a fool's errand - what makes inverted rubbers spinny is the same property that makes them react to spin. All of them will require you to read incoming spin (especially for serve returns).

If anyone's looking for another (all-wood, moderate speed, GREAT feel) RPB blade... I'd suggest this one:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32768953294.html

It's on sale for $5.76 for another 15 hours.. And that includes shipping. Heck, at that price, order two. Or a half dozen. I ordered a couple myself and I don't even play penhold… You can even specify a weight range if you like - Eacheng's quite accommodating when it comes to that sort of thing.

Iskandar

Which Omega? I found both the Omega 5 Asia and Omega 7 Asia to have very soft topsheets. Hard sponge, very grippy yes, but far from linear and much more soft/supple vs older tensors (you feel the topsheet much more than the sponge).