Hi everyone
Ive decided to write a review on the Neptune. Ive already read the main review on the review section, but I decided I want to add my own one as it may provide more insight as to how effective the rubber is.
Initial inspection
Out of the packet the Neptune looks like any regular Chinese long pips to me. The pips are fairly skinny and stiff with rough textured tops (Despite this they still seem to bend fairly easily). The sides are smooth and chalky in appearance. This would suggest that it would provide some decent spin variation depending on how you hit the ball. The pips are horizontally aligned. The Peach colored sponge looks very nice on inspection. It seemed to be the same hardness of 42ish degree's consistently over the whole sponge. The sponge is glued extremely well to the top sheet. Just as good as any Japanese pimple on the market (even better).
At the table: Pushing/Blocking/Scooping/Hitting
For pushing the Neptune seemed to excel regardless of the opponents incoming spin. If the opponent was to give you a extremely heavy chop, you can easily and aggressively push it back very fast and low with a lot of topspin or give it a knuckle ball. If your pushing action is very fast a knuckle ball(floater) will be given in return. If your action is fast at the point of contact, the pips will fluctuate and kill off your opponents spin leaving the ball almost dead with no rotation. Against floaters and topspin you can still push fairly aggressively but the racket angle has to be right and you cannot over do it as it will launch off the table. Placing the ball short and making it double bounce is fairly easy against slow balls. But against faster attacks it gets progressively harder.
Blocking with the Neptune seemed to give mixed impressions. I got my practice partner to loop as consistently (spin wise) as he could. I could block the ball very consistently. The moment he added a slight volume in spin, my racket angle would have to change dramatically or else the ball would just shoot off. Overall the Neptune blocks very well provided you have the touch and racket angle. The depth of the block can be controlled extremely well with the Neptune. Double bounce blocks are easy to do as well as very fast dead floater blocks. Chop blocking is fairly easy as well as long as your action isn't too big, the smaller your stroke the more consistent the chop block. The reason why I got mixed impressions with blocking is because of the spin reversal. The spin reversal I got with the 1.0mm at the table blocking wasn't enough to make my opponent hesitate. Even spot on chop blocks against full blooded loops produced moderate reversal at best. The opponent would be thrown off more by the change in rhythm then the spin reversal.
Scooping seemed to work easily against Backspin. This would be the safest and most effective shot with the Neptune. Against backspin you can easily scoop upwards or produce a side spin scoop with great effect. The ball would displace and wobble even from my point of view. Against good servers that serve heavy side back, this absolutely wrecks havoc on them. I would 9/10 times see the scooped ball corkscrewing off the opponents side of the table leaving him baffled. The best thing is that all of this can be done with a great level of control and consistency. Lifting against oncoming topspin is fairly consistent as well. Although you naturally cannot do this shot fast, the ball seems to float back consistently heavy.
Hitting with the Neptune is where I was surprised. I just couldn't believe how consistent I could hit with it. In a backhand to backhand warm up with a inverted player, I could hit 10 or more backhands easily. Although the player had no troubles with my ball, I was amazed at the fact that I was able to create that much topspin to hit consistently. This also works against topspin as well. The harder the incoming loop, the harder you will have to accelerate upwards. The trade off.... a short pimple like flat hit is returned to your opponent. Hitting against backspin is fairly hard as the angle has to be spot on. I would say it comes down to my technique in this area so the better players out there can hit backspin much easier then I can.
Chopping: Mid distance and Long distance
This a Major area of my game as I chop fairly frequently. With chopping I only feel there are two categories. Safe chopping and Aggressive chopping, So accordingly I will adjust my opinions in regards to that. For safe chopping, The Neptune is able to chop fairly consistently. You can keep the ball low easily through your control in the racket angle. There is a huge range in the volume of spin you can produce with the Neptune. A light chop with little wrist will produce a fairly dead ball where as a light chop with a lot of wrist can really load up the spin. A spot on chop with fast racket acceleration with a fast wrist action will produce a Extremely! heavy backspin ball. But with safety chopping where your goal is to put the ball back on the table. I don't think it would be as effective as you would limit your racket speed to prevent errors and this is a big disadvantage for the rubber.
Aggressive chopping in my opinion is much better then safe chopping when using the Neptune. The wide ranges of spin you can get from the rubber really shine when you chop faster. When chopping aggressively instead of floating the ball back, your directing it back on the table with more speed and huge amounts of backspin. Of course when aggressively chopping you can vary the spin easily with a slight change in your stroke.
Overall as a chopping rubber the Neptune does fairly well. The directional control is pretty good and the depth of the chops can be controlled quite easily as well. The spin reversal is a very subjective matter as it depends on your skill level. The faster your racket speed on the chop, the larger volume of backspin will be produced. This is extremely hard as you have to have the touch to take all the pace off the ball in order to do that. I would describe the Neptune as a very stable chopping rubber. Very rarely would I chop a ball that would soar off the table or fly into the net or have a mind of its own.
Conclusion
First off I have been playing with the Neptune 1.0mm on a Allround CR for the last 3 weeks pretty much everyday. AND the answer is no....The allround CR doesnt help control the long pips any better than any other blade. I wrote this review as Unbiased as I can. Ive tried the neptune on a Energy Wood and Joo Se Hyuk which both would be off- rated. Everything I can do on the Allround, I can also do on the other 2 blades but at a slightly faster speed. Keep in mind that the Joo Se Hyuk blade is considerably faster then the energy wood. In my opinion the neptune would work well on any All+/off- blade. If you go any faster, its a matter of whether your level can keep up with it.
For those who are asking what it compares to... I cant really say much as I havnt tried that many long pips. Ive used the Stiga Destroyer 1.0mm for a while now as well. I can say that the Neptune is almost better in every respect. For those of you who have read Dean Stretton's reviews... He claims that the destroyer is the best chopping rubber out there. I strongly disagree. The destroyer is pretty much a DHS C8 with a different label. The quality of the destroyer is extremely shabby as well.
Well back on track
The Neptune is a excellent allround Long pip. It has a nice solid feel to it. Its nether springy or dead, in my opinion just right. For those of you out there who are looking for a long pip that can do it all, the Neptune is it. For those who play on the extremes and use pips like Dr Neubauer...look elsewhere.
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