I tried this Globe 889-2 1.8mm 38deg sponge black on a Stiga Energy wood blade:
This is one of the latest rubbers from Globe, supposedly a spinnier version of the Globe 889. Because it's quite new and no top players use it (as far as I know) I could find no information on it.
I speed glued this rubber since I wanted to see how well and fast it would for looping. I used the glass plate method and used 2 layers of Dawei speed glue. Well I was a little surprised when I got a huge dome out of it. When I put in on my blade it had stretched almost 10mm! In hindsight one layer would probably have been enough.
This rubber reminded me very much like Friendship's 802-40, also with wide conical and grippy pimples, with a soft sponge. The sponge is orange and I'm not sure if it's Chinese or Japanese. From feedback from users of the Globe 889 rubber, we found that 1.8mm 38deg sponge was the best combination, so that why the 889-2 was also ordered with the same specs.
I set up the machine for topspin. Blocking was real easy, but I certainly had to adjust the bat angle for the amount of spin...just like inverted.
Driving through the ball was great, coming off fast and I felt I had good control. It made a loud cracking sound too! Taking a step back and trying to counterloop I struggled for consistency a little, not quite sure why. The bat seemed a little sensitive to the angle I was looping it with. Especially when I let the ball drop right down I had some trouble looping it back consistantly. Now this may be my technique since I'm not used to these types of rubber.
Hitting with this rubber was beautiful, coming off fast and with a loud cracking sound...very impressive.
Then I setup the ball machine for deep heavy chop serves to my forehand. Well I could loop it fast with lots of spin, just like an inverted rubber. Since I'm more used to brush looping with a tacky rubber I had to make a slight adjustment and let the ball dig into the sponge a little more, but I was surprised how much this played like an inverted rubber.
Then I tried to hit through the ball instead of loop it, well this was surprisingly REAL easy and consistant, much easier than with inverted. It made a loud cracking sound and came off quite fast.
Pushing the ball back was also very easy, the ball did not grip the rubber much but I could keep the ball very low and I felt I could put it wherever I wanted.
I actually found this rubber a lot easier to use on my backhand, possible because I'm used to playing and attacking with a long pimple rubber, which offer some slight similarities.
I have yet to try it unglued...I should have tried this first but I was just too keen to glue it up!
In conclusion this rubber was a dream to use close to the table, offering good control and speed in all the things I tried. Serves and pushes are very spinny for a short pimple rubber, but not as spinny as the normal tacky rubbers that I use. Away from the table I found this rubber not as good, especially against topspin when you let the ball drop a little. Since I believe these rubber are meant to be used for close to the table play, this is not really an issue. A good choice for players that play close to the table, and have some trouble controlling incoming spin, and like to hit block and counter-hit.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Speed gluing the glass plate method
After the tip from my mate JC, I tried this method of speed gluing with my Tibhar Rapid Clean Delux long lasting glue:
Brush the glue onto the sponge, then stick it onto a glass plate. This ensures that all the vapours go into the sponge and don't evaporate into the air. You can do this for both rubbers if you're gluing both sides. Cover the rubbers with another glass plate to give it some pressure. After about 1 hour, take it off. If you wish to add more layers, repeat the process. Then glue the rubber onto your blade and clamp overnight.
Well I tried it today and there was a very obvious increase in effect. It was definitely a fair bit faster. To be sure I glued up 2 rubbers that I use regularly, and I found the same in both. In fact I found them both to be too fast for my liking, so next time I'll use less glue to get it to the speed that I like. The rubber I used (Globe 999 National version) are already very spinny, so I could not say if there was an increase in spin or not. The sponges certainly felt a little softer than normal as well.
I think this method will work very well for priming the rubber as well. I always found that even after priming, rubber don't peak in performance until the 2nd gluing, so hopefully this method will help there too.
Brush the glue onto the sponge, then stick it onto a glass plate. This ensures that all the vapours go into the sponge and don't evaporate into the air. You can do this for both rubbers if you're gluing both sides. Cover the rubbers with another glass plate to give it some pressure. After about 1 hour, take it off. If you wish to add more layers, repeat the process. Then glue the rubber onto your blade and clamp overnight.
Well I tried it today and there was a very obvious increase in effect. It was definitely a fair bit faster. To be sure I glued up 2 rubbers that I use regularly, and I found the same in both. In fact I found them both to be too fast for my liking, so next time I'll use less glue to get it to the speed that I like. The rubber I used (Globe 999 National version) are already very spinny, so I could not say if there was an increase in spin or not. The sponges certainly felt a little softer than normal as well.
I think this method will work very well for priming the rubber as well. I always found that even after priming, rubber don't peak in performance until the 2nd gluing, so hopefully this method will help there too.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Red or black on your forehand?
Red versus Black table tennis rubbers – does it really matter?
These days a question commonly asked is why certain players, or even whole teams, always use one colour rubber on the forehand, and the other on the backhand. Are red and black rubbers, even identical brand and type, inherently different?
Well the consensus is that they ARE different, but for some rubbers it’s much harder to tell than others… For Chinese tacky rubbers the difference is usually most obvious; the red rubber is a little less tacky, and the black is a little softer and tackier. The tacky surface slows the ball down a little, so this also makes the red a little faster than black. So you would chose the one that suits you better on the forehand.
This difference is believed to come from the manufacturing process. The raw rubber used to make the rubber topsheets, is naturally tacky and black. The dye needed to make the rubbers red, makes it lose some of its tacky characteristics and softness. For some rubbers, the different characteristics are quite obvious. For example the black 729 Geospin tacky is a lot tackier than the same rubber in red.
However for most Euro or Japanese rubbers, most of which are inherently non-tacky (but grippy), the differences usually hardly noticeable…
These days a question commonly asked is why certain players, or even whole teams, always use one colour rubber on the forehand, and the other on the backhand. Are red and black rubbers, even identical brand and type, inherently different?
Well the consensus is that they ARE different, but for some rubbers it’s much harder to tell than others… For Chinese tacky rubbers the difference is usually most obvious; the red rubber is a little less tacky, and the black is a little softer and tackier. The tacky surface slows the ball down a little, so this also makes the red a little faster than black. So you would chose the one that suits you better on the forehand.
This difference is believed to come from the manufacturing process. The raw rubber used to make the rubber topsheets, is naturally tacky and black. The dye needed to make the rubbers red, makes it lose some of its tacky characteristics and softness. For some rubbers, the different characteristics are quite obvious. For example the black 729 Geospin tacky is a lot tackier than the same rubber in red.
However for most Euro or Japanese rubbers, most of which are inherently non-tacky (but grippy), the differences usually hardly noticeable…
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Review of LKT Toxic 5 blade
I got hold of one of these blades since someone had cracked one, and so required a new one. It was only cracked in the direction of the fibres, so once I got some glue in there and clamped it, it stuck back together beautifully and was as new....BONUS!
This blade is oversize and very BIG! I could not fit any of my used rubbers on there since there were not even close to fitting! So I managed to locate some rubbers I had put aside for evaluation, but had not got around to it yet. I was a Friendship 755 faster long pimple rubber 0.8mm and a Gambler 4 kings 2.0mm.
Well it took me while to get used to this combination, and to figure out what it would be suitable for. This blade is real slow, probably around ALL, and really takes the pace out of the ball. For blocking and counterhitting with the Gambler rubber the ball came back real slow, and even for driving and looping it was hard to get real good pace. But for brush looping, which is mainly dependant on the rubber not the blade, it came off quite fast. This provided quite a contrast...
With the 755 faster blocking and counterhitting was really nice. Since the blade has such great dwell time, I had great control on all my shots. Normally this rubber is too fast for me, being one of the fastest long pimpled rubber around, but this blade made it very manageble, even for chopping away from the table.
When I started playing a more passive game away from the table, I realised where this blade excels. I had great control with ALL my shots, and the great dwell time of the blade made it real easy to manipulate spin. I could float the ball and return very heavy backspin with ease. With the Gambler rubber this combination does not have enough power to hit winners from medium to far distance, but with a fast glued up rubber this would still be an option.
I think this blade suits modern type defender, with either 2 control type rubbers or a combination of a slower long pimpled rubber and a control rubber on the other side. It has enough power to put the ball away when you come in closer, but from mid-far distance you'll have to rely on strategy and spin manipulation to win points...
The LKT Toxic 3 blade looks very similar to this one, but is quite a bit slower. It is easily the slowest blade I've even seen. It just seems to suck ALL the energy out of the ball!
This blade is oversize and very BIG! I could not fit any of my used rubbers on there since there were not even close to fitting! So I managed to locate some rubbers I had put aside for evaluation, but had not got around to it yet. I was a Friendship 755 faster long pimple rubber 0.8mm and a Gambler 4 kings 2.0mm.
Well it took me while to get used to this combination, and to figure out what it would be suitable for. This blade is real slow, probably around ALL, and really takes the pace out of the ball. For blocking and counterhitting with the Gambler rubber the ball came back real slow, and even for driving and looping it was hard to get real good pace. But for brush looping, which is mainly dependant on the rubber not the blade, it came off quite fast. This provided quite a contrast...
With the 755 faster blocking and counterhitting was really nice. Since the blade has such great dwell time, I had great control on all my shots. Normally this rubber is too fast for me, being one of the fastest long pimpled rubber around, but this blade made it very manageble, even for chopping away from the table.
When I started playing a more passive game away from the table, I realised where this blade excels. I had great control with ALL my shots, and the great dwell time of the blade made it real easy to manipulate spin. I could float the ball and return very heavy backspin with ease. With the Gambler rubber this combination does not have enough power to hit winners from medium to far distance, but with a fast glued up rubber this would still be an option.
I think this blade suits modern type defender, with either 2 control type rubbers or a combination of a slower long pimpled rubber and a control rubber on the other side. It has enough power to put the ball away when you come in closer, but from mid-far distance you'll have to rely on strategy and spin manipulation to win points...
The LKT Toxic 3 blade looks very similar to this one, but is quite a bit slower. It is easily the slowest blade I've even seen. It just seems to suck ALL the energy out of the ball!
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Dawei Saviga V Long pimples rubbers
I've just had a try against the Dawei Saviga V Long pimples rubbers, it's a real nice one, one of my favourites. I don't think it's all that different to the Dawei 388D-1 rubber though, visually I could not tell the difference. Above are some close up pictures of both rubbers, the Saviga V on the left, the slighly different angle and lighting make it seem more different than it really is. The sponges looked the same, and they are too thin for me to judge if they were any different.
They did seem to play a little different, but not a great deal. When i took the Saviga V 0.5mm Red out of the packet, it scrolled up a little, which reminded me immediately of the Dawei Sprungfeders, although it didn't scorll up nearly as much. So there may be some tension on this rubber, although the cover does not mention this (as if the covers are ever any use!).
I found it very nice for both chopping and blocking/attacking, although it's a little slow for attack (not always a bad thing!). The fact that the surface is rought, but had very little friction, whereas the edges and sides of the pimples are quit soft and grippy, alweays makes it a great rubber for deception, since the spin that comes back depends so much on how you brush the ball. Calling it frictionless (as stated on the cover) is not true though, it's got a fair bit more grip than something like the Dr Neubauer long pimples rubber. However it's much more versatile than Dr Neubauer frictionless long pimples rubbers, as you can change the spin creating good deception, instead of just reversing the spin.
I have a more detailed review of this rubber here:
Review of Dawei Saviga V long pimples rubber
All in all it a very nice long pimples rubber, not that hard to control, produces good wobble balls, highly deceptive. Very suitable for the modern type defender. Works best with a slower control type blade.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Review of 729 Higher III vs Faster III
Another excellent review/article by LawOCG comparing 2 of the latest and relatively unknown rubbers by Friendship; 729 Higher III versus Faster III (aka Higher 3 vs Faster 3)
Review of 729 Higher III
Review of 729 Higher III
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Dawei rubbers are ITTF approved again!
It sounds like Dawei is no longer on the ITTF blacklist, and the ITTF approval status have been restored.
It is interesting though that the range of 388A-2 rubbers, which were taken off the list about 6 months ago, are still NOT back on the list. This means that technically the 388A-2, Sprungfeder 388A-2 and Sprungfeder G3 388A-2 are still not ITTF approved.
Dawei had made assurances previously that these rubber would be approved again in the first half of 2007 approval list.
This is a shame, since these are real nice rubbers, the The sprungfeder 388A-2 is the best I've tried from Dawei so far. Hopefully this is just another mistake...
Have no doubts...this little fight with the ITTF have cost Dawei big time!!!
It is interesting though that the range of 388A-2 rubbers, which were taken off the list about 6 months ago, are still NOT back on the list. This means that technically the 388A-2, Sprungfeder 388A-2 and Sprungfeder G3 388A-2 are still not ITTF approved.
Dawei had made assurances previously that these rubber would be approved again in the first half of 2007 approval list.
This is a shame, since these are real nice rubbers, the The sprungfeder 388A-2 is the best I've tried from Dawei so far. Hopefully this is just another mistake...
Have no doubts...this little fight with the ITTF have cost Dawei big time!!!
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Sports directory
I've started a new sports internet directory, with a database of links to various websites, with the emphasis on table tennis. I'll put a lot of table tennis related catagories in there:
Niche sports directory
I plan to do a lot of website promotion for this directory to give it a high page ranking (PR) with search engines. This will boost the page rank of any websites listed in there, and should also speed up the time it takes to get your website indexed.
Feel free to submit a link to your website in there, and if you can put a link to the directory on your website, even better, as it will boost the PR of the directory. Submitting is free of charge!
Niche sports directory
I plan to do a lot of website promotion for this directory to give it a high page ranking (PR) with search engines. This will boost the page rank of any websites listed in there, and should also speed up the time it takes to get your website indexed.
Feel free to submit a link to your website in there, and if you can put a link to the directory on your website, even better, as it will boost the PR of the directory. Submitting is free of charge!
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Galaxy 896 (aka Yin-he 896)
This is one of the cheaper Galaxy blades, but by NO means a poor quality blade. I think this blade is a bit of a hidden gem, not well known since it does not have a catchy name or fancy looking graphics on the blade, but it has some outstanding properties.
This blade has a very good feel, and the feel is very soft. It has very good touch and is quite effective in the short game.
It is also quite flexible, giving it good power at mid-distance. You can really feel the flex when you hit harder, giving that real catapult feel. I would rate the speed around OFF- to OFF.
This blade really shines when you loop, with the emphasis on spin. It has VERY good dwell time (caused by both the soft feel and the flex), allowing to really 'wind up' and generate huge spin.
It's OK for hitting/driving/blocking as well, but it's not special there.
Probably works best with a medium - hard sponged rubber. The handle is fairly basic, nothing wrong with it, but nothing special either. If you plan to change the rubbers on this bat often, ti would pay to put a light varnish on the face, to protect the soft out fibres that give it it's unique properties...
For those that like to loop with more emphasis on spin and control than speed, I would highly recommend this, especially with the cheap pricetag. It should work real well with medium hardness chinese rubbers, such as 729 higher, cream MRS and many other that fall in this general catagory.
This blade has a very good feel, and the feel is very soft. It has very good touch and is quite effective in the short game.
It is also quite flexible, giving it good power at mid-distance. You can really feel the flex when you hit harder, giving that real catapult feel. I would rate the speed around OFF- to OFF.
This blade really shines when you loop, with the emphasis on spin. It has VERY good dwell time (caused by both the soft feel and the flex), allowing to really 'wind up' and generate huge spin.
It's OK for hitting/driving/blocking as well, but it's not special there.
Probably works best with a medium - hard sponged rubber. The handle is fairly basic, nothing wrong with it, but nothing special either. If you plan to change the rubbers on this bat often, ti would pay to put a light varnish on the face, to protect the soft out fibres that give it it's unique properties...
For those that like to loop with more emphasis on spin and control than speed, I would highly recommend this, especially with the cheap pricetag. It should work real well with medium hardness chinese rubbers, such as 729 higher, cream MRS and many other that fall in this general catagory.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Review of Goldway 968 Stinger Pt 1
I finally had a chance to give this rubber a try. I had tried the cheap chinese version before, but the quality was so poor, and we had so many sheets with some faults, that it was not worth considering. These sheets are the ones specified by Zeropong, and made with a different mould, and are supposed to be much more consistent and better quality.
Well when I took the sheet out of the packet, the quality looked decent, but still not the best I've seen out of China. The plastic protection sheet on top of the rubber had a few folds in it, which can leave a line on the rubber (often only temporary), but this does not affect play so I don't think it's a big issue. I think it happens when rubbers are highly tensioned, and they shrink a little after they're put in the packet. I also noticed the topsheet overhangs the sponge by a few mm on all sides, but this is normal for this rubber.
I tested the rubber on a Dawei Navigator blade, which is a fairly fast blade (OFF to OFF+). The Goldway 968 Stinger was red on a 2.0mm sponge.
Well the rubber is virtually non-tacky, but very grippy. I could get a good amount of spin on my serves, but not as much as tacky chinese rubbers. Looping and driving was quite fast, very fast for a chinese unglued rubber. The tensioning is probably what gives it the speed, and this is very effective.
The throw on loops was quite high, more than what I'm used to, so I had to adjust as to not hit too many over the table. It generated a lot of spin when looped of backspin, and made the ball dip real fast...quite impressive, and it didn't require a lot of effort. Against topspin it did not seem to generate as much spin, but came of fast and the control was quite good. Because the topsheet is virtually non-tacky, it was much less sensitve against incoming spin than my normal tacky rubbers, which made it easier to counter-loop.
Driving hard against fast loops it felt like it might be bottoming out a little, which is not that surprising since the sponge is quite soft, and is only 2.0mm thick. I need to change the bat angle a little and brush more to compensate.
Because I tested this mainly against aggressive loopers in games, I need to have a another go with this rubber to see how it performs in the short game and against choppers.
Not a bad rubber at all, but very euro style which does not suit my personal game...I miss the extra spin I can get on serves with my tacky rubber, but like they way it is less sensitive to incoming spin...
More later....
Well when I took the sheet out of the packet, the quality looked decent, but still not the best I've seen out of China. The plastic protection sheet on top of the rubber had a few folds in it, which can leave a line on the rubber (often only temporary), but this does not affect play so I don't think it's a big issue. I think it happens when rubbers are highly tensioned, and they shrink a little after they're put in the packet. I also noticed the topsheet overhangs the sponge by a few mm on all sides, but this is normal for this rubber.
I tested the rubber on a Dawei Navigator blade, which is a fairly fast blade (OFF to OFF+). The Goldway 968 Stinger was red on a 2.0mm sponge.
Well the rubber is virtually non-tacky, but very grippy. I could get a good amount of spin on my serves, but not as much as tacky chinese rubbers. Looping and driving was quite fast, very fast for a chinese unglued rubber. The tensioning is probably what gives it the speed, and this is very effective.
The throw on loops was quite high, more than what I'm used to, so I had to adjust as to not hit too many over the table. It generated a lot of spin when looped of backspin, and made the ball dip real fast...quite impressive, and it didn't require a lot of effort. Against topspin it did not seem to generate as much spin, but came of fast and the control was quite good. Because the topsheet is virtually non-tacky, it was much less sensitve against incoming spin than my normal tacky rubbers, which made it easier to counter-loop.
Driving hard against fast loops it felt like it might be bottoming out a little, which is not that surprising since the sponge is quite soft, and is only 2.0mm thick. I need to change the bat angle a little and brush more to compensate.
Because I tested this mainly against aggressive loopers in games, I need to have a another go with this rubber to see how it performs in the short game and against choppers.
Not a bad rubber at all, but very euro style which does not suit my personal game...I miss the extra spin I can get on serves with my tacky rubber, but like they way it is less sensitive to incoming spin...
More later....
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Reviews of Faster III and Focus II
Got some new information from a friend who was happy to write up a proper review of the 729 rubbers Faster III and the new FOCUS II. They both sound like very impressive rubbers, fast, spinny and respond well to speed glue. Instead of repeating it here, I'll post the links to the reviews:
Review of Friendship 729 Faster III rubber
Review of Friendship 729 FOCUS II rubber
Review of Friendship 729 Faster III rubber
Review of Friendship 729 FOCUS II rubber
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Yasaka New Era and Yasaka Zap
This is not exactly a review, but rather some information on these rubbers as a lot of people ask me questions on them.
These rubbers have been around for about a year or so, and only available from China. Some sellers have brought them in from China and are trying to sell them in other markets.
I've tried a few of these, they're not bad, but not all that special either, although I know of a few people that really like them.
The big selling point seemed to be Yasaka Rubber at the price tag of a chinese rubber. Well I'm almost certain that these rubbers are made in China by the Palio factory, and are NOT endorsed or made by Yasaka. Not endorsed would explain why these version are only released in the chinese market, since only China does not appear to have copyright laws. They are NOT of the same quality and consistancy as the other Yasaka rubbers, like Mark V.
The New era has a mildly tacky topsheet, with a range of different sponges, whick are mostly quite firm. They are supposed to have some tension, but I can't really feel it. The different models are basically the same rubbers with different hardness sponges. The Zap is non-tacky (but grippy), also with a range of sponges but in a softer range.
I also found some of the New Era sheets came with the plastic protection firm quite loose, and not attached in some areas. As I mentioned it's not that bad a rubber, but don't expect normal Yasaka quality control. There were also significant differences between different batches, so it's not good in terms of consistancy. I think there are many better chinese rubbers out there personally.
NOTE There is one official version of New Era, which looks very different, and seems to be only available in a few countries, like Germany. This has a cartoon style cover.
Hope this helps...
These rubbers have been around for about a year or so, and only available from China. Some sellers have brought them in from China and are trying to sell them in other markets.
I've tried a few of these, they're not bad, but not all that special either, although I know of a few people that really like them.
The big selling point seemed to be Yasaka Rubber at the price tag of a chinese rubber. Well I'm almost certain that these rubbers are made in China by the Palio factory, and are NOT endorsed or made by Yasaka. Not endorsed would explain why these version are only released in the chinese market, since only China does not appear to have copyright laws. They are NOT of the same quality and consistancy as the other Yasaka rubbers, like Mark V.
The New era has a mildly tacky topsheet, with a range of different sponges, whick are mostly quite firm. They are supposed to have some tension, but I can't really feel it. The different models are basically the same rubbers with different hardness sponges. The Zap is non-tacky (but grippy), also with a range of sponges but in a softer range.
I also found some of the New Era sheets came with the plastic protection firm quite loose, and not attached in some areas. As I mentioned it's not that bad a rubber, but don't expect normal Yasaka quality control. There were also significant differences between different batches, so it's not good in terms of consistancy. I think there are many better chinese rubbers out there personally.
NOTE There is one official version of New Era, which looks very different, and seems to be only available in a few countries, like Germany. This has a cartoon style cover.
Hope this helps...
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
DHS Cloud & Fog 3 Long Pimple rubber review
Well I've had a hit with this one before, and was again quite impressed. The pimples are very soft, quite long, and well spaced out. They are also very grippy. The sponge (1.0mm) is also quite soft.
These parameters is pretty much ideal for long pimple effect such as whobble, since the pimples bend so much.
Blocking again almost any type of spin produced good whobble balls, and cause many opponents to mis-hit the ball. The balls appeared to be floaters with a small degree of spin. Blocking against loops was quite easy and consistant, an open bat face with a slight forward movement produces best results. For heavy topspin the blade needs to be closed a little more.
Chopping away from the table gave good control, but only average spin reversal. Since this is grippy pimple rubber this is to be expected. This long pimpled rubber is fairly fast, so there is some trade- off between control and speed. The 1.0mm sponge would make it faster than the more commonly used 0.5/0.6mm as well.
Attack against backspin was easy and very effective. Chopping with a sidespin action produce very awkward results, once again very effective. Hitting was quite good too, since the grippy surface at leats offered some grip, which allowed you to produce a bit of topspin, providing some control.
Pushing against backspin still allows you to keep the ball if you brush the ball, since the sides of the pimples offer decent grip for some spin.
In conclusion, the is a high quality long pimple rubber, and if you have the skill to control it's VERY effective both for attack and defence. It is certainly not the easiest to control, but if you've tried a few long pimpled rubber and have gained some good experience, and are after something with more of the 'long pimpled' effects, this is worth a try, especially with the cheaper price tag than the japanese / euro options. I probably suits attacking/blocking style players more than defenders/choppers, but it's quite effective for both styles.
NOTE: I used this on an LKT XF balsa blade, which is around OFF and fairly rigid.
These parameters is pretty much ideal for long pimple effect such as whobble, since the pimples bend so much.
Blocking again almost any type of spin produced good whobble balls, and cause many opponents to mis-hit the ball. The balls appeared to be floaters with a small degree of spin. Blocking against loops was quite easy and consistant, an open bat face with a slight forward movement produces best results. For heavy topspin the blade needs to be closed a little more.
Chopping away from the table gave good control, but only average spin reversal. Since this is grippy pimple rubber this is to be expected. This long pimpled rubber is fairly fast, so there is some trade- off between control and speed. The 1.0mm sponge would make it faster than the more commonly used 0.5/0.6mm as well.
Attack against backspin was easy and very effective. Chopping with a sidespin action produce very awkward results, once again very effective. Hitting was quite good too, since the grippy surface at leats offered some grip, which allowed you to produce a bit of topspin, providing some control.
Pushing against backspin still allows you to keep the ball if you brush the ball, since the sides of the pimples offer decent grip for some spin.
In conclusion, the is a high quality long pimple rubber, and if you have the skill to control it's VERY effective both for attack and defence. It is certainly not the easiest to control, but if you've tried a few long pimpled rubber and have gained some good experience, and are after something with more of the 'long pimpled' effects, this is worth a try, especially with the cheaper price tag than the japanese / euro options. I probably suits attacking/blocking style players more than defenders/choppers, but it's quite effective for both styles.
NOTE: I used this on an LKT XF balsa blade, which is around OFF and fairly rigid.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Gambler Aces and Peace Keeper Review
I just tried the new Gambler Aces rubber, and it reminds me of LKT XT (and also Giant Dragon superspin), although a lot tackier and firmer sponge than the XT. I found it a decent control rubber unglued, quite spinny, but not all that fast.
I glued it up with a thick layer of tibhar RCD, and after an hour I got a huge dome! Although this made it a fair bit faster, it still didn't have the same click or feel as a glued up XT.
Not a bad rubber from Gambler...
I also tried the peace keeper on 1.0mm, which is like a medium pimple. I find it hard to review this, since I struggle playing with attack style pimpled rubber, I only play with long pimples.
With the 1.0mm it was quite good for chopping, although a little fast, but with some spin reversal when chopped lightly. Blocking was good and easy, producing short dead balls for open faced blocks, and some topspin when you come over the ball a little...very effective. Hitting was very much like a short pimple that's not too grippy, also quite effecive.
Again not a bad effort, I'm sure it would suit some.
I glued it up with a thick layer of tibhar RCD, and after an hour I got a huge dome! Although this made it a fair bit faster, it still didn't have the same click or feel as a glued up XT.
Not a bad rubber from Gambler...
I also tried the peace keeper on 1.0mm, which is like a medium pimple. I find it hard to review this, since I struggle playing with attack style pimpled rubber, I only play with long pimples.
With the 1.0mm it was quite good for chopping, although a little fast, but with some spin reversal when chopped lightly. Blocking was good and easy, producing short dead balls for open faced blocks, and some topspin when you come over the ball a little...very effective. Hitting was very much like a short pimple that's not too grippy, also quite effecive.
Again not a bad effort, I'm sure it would suit some.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Review: Globe 888 1.8mm Red Medium pimple
Globe 888 1.8mm Red Medium pimple
A friend was kind enough to lend me this rubber so that I could try it (thanks Alan!)
Medium size grippy pimples on a 38deg fairly soft sponge. Tested on a HAO Shuai Champion carbon blade.
Pushing – great for this, was able to keep the ball low, with a moderate amount of spin. It has very good control in the short game, even on this carbon blade.
Chopping – against loops this gave reasonable control with some spin reversal. A slower wooden blade would no doubt improve this, since the dwell time would have been much better. It certainly does not offer them same control and a long pimple rubber, but it’s a lot better than most short pimples I have tried.
Against backspin – I could loop balls with moderate backspin and get some topspin. For heavier backspin I need to open the blade more. However against backspin it was surprisingly easy to hit the ball, long pimple style. This tell me there is decent spin reversal since the ball was dropping.
Against topspin – This felt a lot like short pimples, able to hit straight through the ball without having to worry about the spin too much. It was quite good for this. Blocking was also surprisingly easy, similar to short pimples.
In conclusion I found it to be a very versatile rubber, with a moderate amount of deception. It’s more of an offensive than defensive rubber, but it has plenty of control for chopping or pushing, and offers some of the deceptive abilities that long pimpled rubbers offer.
A friend was kind enough to lend me this rubber so that I could try it (thanks Alan!)
Medium size grippy pimples on a 38deg fairly soft sponge. Tested on a HAO Shuai Champion carbon blade.
Pushing – great for this, was able to keep the ball low, with a moderate amount of spin. It has very good control in the short game, even on this carbon blade.
Chopping – against loops this gave reasonable control with some spin reversal. A slower wooden blade would no doubt improve this, since the dwell time would have been much better. It certainly does not offer them same control and a long pimple rubber, but it’s a lot better than most short pimples I have tried.
Against backspin – I could loop balls with moderate backspin and get some topspin. For heavier backspin I need to open the blade more. However against backspin it was surprisingly easy to hit the ball, long pimple style. This tell me there is decent spin reversal since the ball was dropping.
Against topspin – This felt a lot like short pimples, able to hit straight through the ball without having to worry about the spin too much. It was quite good for this. Blocking was also surprisingly easy, similar to short pimples.
In conclusion I found it to be a very versatile rubber, with a moderate amount of deception. It’s more of an offensive than defensive rubber, but it has plenty of control for chopping or pushing, and offers some of the deceptive abilities that long pimpled rubbers offer.
Review: HAO Shuai Champion carbon blade
HAO Shuai Champion carbon blade
A friend was kind enough to lend me this blade so that I could try it (thanks Alan!)
This is one of the latest and top blades from Friendship. I found the quality to be very good, and it’s light weight around 80g. The handle is a little thicker than many of their blades, and is very comfortable.
The blade is not as fast as many carbon blades, but it has excellent feel and control. It feel much softer than most carbon blades I have tried, and does not have much vibration.
I found it best for hitting and blocking (as with most carbon blades), but better than most carbon blades for looping, and I could get decent spin. Even chopping was an option, but the reduced dwell time of carbon blades gave it a little less control for this.
In conclusion it’s a very nice light weight carbon blade with a comfortable handle. It has a soft feel for a carbon blade, making it suitable for looping, but it’s best for driving/hitting and blocking style game.
A friend was kind enough to lend me this blade so that I could try it (thanks Alan!)
This is one of the latest and top blades from Friendship. I found the quality to be very good, and it’s light weight around 80g. The handle is a little thicker than many of their blades, and is very comfortable.
The blade is not as fast as many carbon blades, but it has excellent feel and control. It feel much softer than most carbon blades I have tried, and does not have much vibration.
I found it best for hitting and blocking (as with most carbon blades), but better than most carbon blades for looping, and I could get decent spin. Even chopping was an option, but the reduced dwell time of carbon blades gave it a little less control for this.
In conclusion it’s a very nice light weight carbon blade with a comfortable handle. It has a soft feel for a carbon blade, making it suitable for looping, but it’s best for driving/hitting and blocking style game.
Review: Palio Emperor Dragon rubber
Palio Emperor Dragon rubber.
A friend was kind enough to lend me this rubber so that I could try it (thanks Silver!)
This rubber is quite similar to some of the other Palio rubbers I have tried. It seems Very similar to the Yasaka (not endorced by Yasaka Japan) New Era (42-44deg) or Zap rubbers, which I believe is made in the same Palio factory, and all the markings look the same.
The topsheet is quite thin, and very slightly tacky, which wears off after a few sessions. The sponge is a little firm, probably around 41-42deg, which is what it was marked with.
I found this a pretty decent rubber allround, not all that fast but good control. Good for looping, hitting and pushing, but not really special in any way. I had it glued on with a single thick layer of speed glue, but there did not appear to be much effect there, perhaps it needs a few more layers.
Conclusion - A bit of a euro like rubber which is pretty good alround, but the cheaper pricetag is the main attraction.
A friend was kind enough to lend me this rubber so that I could try it (thanks Silver!)
This rubber is quite similar to some of the other Palio rubbers I have tried. It seems Very similar to the Yasaka (not endorced by Yasaka Japan) New Era (42-44deg) or Zap rubbers, which I believe is made in the same Palio factory, and all the markings look the same.
The topsheet is quite thin, and very slightly tacky, which wears off after a few sessions. The sponge is a little firm, probably around 41-42deg, which is what it was marked with.
I found this a pretty decent rubber allround, not all that fast but good control. Good for looping, hitting and pushing, but not really special in any way. I had it glued on with a single thick layer of speed glue, but there did not appear to be much effect there, perhaps it needs a few more layers.
Conclusion - A bit of a euro like rubber which is pretty good alround, but the cheaper pricetag is the main attraction.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
More new stuff to test... Phew...
Got a bunch of things to try in the next few weeks:
New rubbers but Gambler:
Aces
Four Kings
Peace Keeper (some sort of pip)
Also the new Euro version of the Goldway 916 and 968, aka Destroyer and Stinger
Also some new blades from Xi-Enting. These blade look and sound really impressive. They have laser etched pictures on the blade face which looks great. They also have numerous impressive sounding patented high-tech bits on them, like honey-comb structure, something injected into the handle, some special vibrations control, and also materials like titanium and some sort of ceramic.
I hope to get some feel of them to see if they're anywhere near as impressive as they sound!
New rubbers but Gambler:
Aces
Four Kings
Peace Keeper (some sort of pip)
Also the new Euro version of the Goldway 916 and 968, aka Destroyer and Stinger
Also some new blades from Xi-Enting. These blade look and sound really impressive. They have laser etched pictures on the blade face which looks great. They also have numerous impressive sounding patented high-tech bits on them, like honey-comb structure, something injected into the handle, some special vibrations control, and also materials like titanium and some sort of ceramic.
I hope to get some feel of them to see if they're anywhere near as impressive as they sound!
Globe 999 National version
Luckily I managed to save a sheet of this for myself bef0re they were all sold! I got a black 2.2mm one which I normally use on my FH.
The topsheet was tacky but not ultra tacky like the normal Globe 999. I hear the red topsheet is almost non-tacky, but I have not tried this myself. The spongeof mine is dark blue, and is marked with the special stamp, and marked 38deg (or was it 39?). It felt a fair bit harder than that to me, more like 41-42, but it all depends on what you compare it to and what scale was used.
Since I feel this rubber is usually used speed glued, I decided to try that straight away as well (apart from the fact that I could hardly wait to try it!). I primed it with a few layers of normal speed glue, left it to stretch and shrink back overnight, than glued it up with my Tibhar Rapid Clean Delux. The first thick layer produced almost no dome, but a second thin layer (an hour later) produced a decent dome. I put it on my slow blade (Stiga Energy) since I was afraid it would be too fast on my faster blades. I did not stretch the rubber onto the blade, and the gluing hardly strechted it either.
Well the rubber played VERY nice! I had great control in the short game (where the glued up sponge did not have much impact), and felt awesome on loops. I hit my counter loops (against my ball machine with a moderate amount of topspin set) harder and harder, but they seemed to get spinnier so they still dropped. Hitting/driving felt really nice too, as with most harder sponged rubber.
Against chop I found the throw a little lower than I expected, and had to hit through the ball a little more to get then over. These too produced very good spin.
This rubber has the most gears of any rubber I have tried. A full on hit/drive comes off very fast, but on the other hand I still have enough control to chop with it as well.
The second time I glued it up (almost a week later), it got a good dome with the first thick layer of glue. This time I rolled it onto the blade a little harder, and was surprised to see it streched about 8mm whgich was not my intention! Playing comp that night, it felt a little too fast for me, but toward the end of the night I started to adjust. I think I won't stretch it at all in the future, since it's already plenty fast for me, and I'd rather get a little more control.
No doubt I'm a little excited with this rubber, and may make it sound a little better than it really is. I will continue using it to see if I can find any weaknesses, and hope to adjust to it even better. I think this rubber will prove a great success for Globe.
The topsheet was tacky but not ultra tacky like the normal Globe 999. I hear the red topsheet is almost non-tacky, but I have not tried this myself. The spongeof mine is dark blue, and is marked with the special stamp, and marked 38deg (or was it 39?). It felt a fair bit harder than that to me, more like 41-42, but it all depends on what you compare it to and what scale was used.
Since I feel this rubber is usually used speed glued, I decided to try that straight away as well (apart from the fact that I could hardly wait to try it!). I primed it with a few layers of normal speed glue, left it to stretch and shrink back overnight, than glued it up with my Tibhar Rapid Clean Delux. The first thick layer produced almost no dome, but a second thin layer (an hour later) produced a decent dome. I put it on my slow blade (Stiga Energy) since I was afraid it would be too fast on my faster blades. I did not stretch the rubber onto the blade, and the gluing hardly strechted it either.
Well the rubber played VERY nice! I had great control in the short game (where the glued up sponge did not have much impact), and felt awesome on loops. I hit my counter loops (against my ball machine with a moderate amount of topspin set) harder and harder, but they seemed to get spinnier so they still dropped. Hitting/driving felt really nice too, as with most harder sponged rubber.
Against chop I found the throw a little lower than I expected, and had to hit through the ball a little more to get then over. These too produced very good spin.
This rubber has the most gears of any rubber I have tried. A full on hit/drive comes off very fast, but on the other hand I still have enough control to chop with it as well.
The second time I glued it up (almost a week later), it got a good dome with the first thick layer of glue. This time I rolled it onto the blade a little harder, and was surprised to see it streched about 8mm whgich was not my intention! Playing comp that night, it felt a little too fast for me, but toward the end of the night I started to adjust. I think I won't stretch it at all in the future, since it's already plenty fast for me, and I'd rather get a little more control.
No doubt I'm a little excited with this rubber, and may make it sound a little better than it really is. I will continue using it to see if I can find any weaknesses, and hope to adjust to it even better. I think this rubber will prove a great success for Globe.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Avalox 989D Ball machine Pt 2
Well I've finally found some time to muck around with the ball machine, and I'm quite happy with it! The manual could certainly have a lot more information though!
The head with the 2 spinning wheels can rotate 90deg, so you can do topspin, chop, pure sidespin and a combination of them. To get topspin I just pointed the head over the net, put the bottom wheel to 0 and the top wheel to about 4. This gave pretty decent topspin, great for practice. Higher setting I'll play with later, since I would need to adjust the head a little to keep the ball on the table.
It took me a while to work out how to get backspin. You need to point the head down onto the table on the machine's side, then make it bounch over the net. the top wheel need to be set to 0, and the bottom wheel anywhere between about 3-9. It produce a lot of backspin on higher settings, and even on lower settings it had enough backspin to give me trouble to loop them over the net.
The head can move from side to side, either spitting out ball to fixed or random positions. This seem to work quite well too. I had a good practice session against topspin, really moving me around.
The spin and height of the balls is not exactly the same everytime (but close), which is actually good since it makes me watch the ball better.
I have not yet tried no-spin balls, but I'm sure it can do this quite easily. Being a long pimple player this feature is alos important.
I have not yet tried to move the head post up or down, and I'm not sure if it's meant to be adjustable, but I'll try that next time.
I'm really happy with the machine now, since it can do the main things tht i want it to do. I'll have to experiment more to see what else it can do.
The head with the 2 spinning wheels can rotate 90deg, so you can do topspin, chop, pure sidespin and a combination of them. To get topspin I just pointed the head over the net, put the bottom wheel to 0 and the top wheel to about 4. This gave pretty decent topspin, great for practice. Higher setting I'll play with later, since I would need to adjust the head a little to keep the ball on the table.
It took me a while to work out how to get backspin. You need to point the head down onto the table on the machine's side, then make it bounch over the net. the top wheel need to be set to 0, and the bottom wheel anywhere between about 3-9. It produce a lot of backspin on higher settings, and even on lower settings it had enough backspin to give me trouble to loop them over the net.
The head can move from side to side, either spitting out ball to fixed or random positions. This seem to work quite well too. I had a good practice session against topspin, really moving me around.
The spin and height of the balls is not exactly the same everytime (but close), which is actually good since it makes me watch the ball better.
I have not yet tried no-spin balls, but I'm sure it can do this quite easily. Being a long pimple player this feature is alos important.
I have not yet tried to move the head post up or down, and I'm not sure if it's meant to be adjustable, but I'll try that next time.
I'm really happy with the machine now, since it can do the main things tht i want it to do. I'll have to experiment more to see what else it can do.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Ball Machine
Finally got a ball machine, picked it up when I was on Holidays in Taiwan. It's an Avalox 989D. It's got all the basic features, but also since it's got 2 spinning wheels, it can do 'no-spin' balls and should be able to create spin relatively independent of speed (and vice versa).
It was a big box to bring back on the plane, weighed 22kg. Lucky there was 4 of us, or we would have been well over our weight limit.
Hope this beat will help me practice some shots that I've been working on, and the net system will be good for practicing serves... the most important part of my game.
Since we (well my wife actually) run a table shop, it's going to be real handy to have a ball machine for systematic testing and comparing of rubbers and blades... might take me a while to get it all set up though.. but that's part of the fun.
I will take some pictures and do a review as soon as I've got it set up... can't wait!!!
It was a big box to bring back on the plane, weighed 22kg. Lucky there was 4 of us, or we would have been well over our weight limit.
Hope this beat will help me practice some shots that I've been working on, and the net system will be good for practicing serves... the most important part of my game.
Since we (well my wife actually) run a table shop, it's going to be real handy to have a ball machine for systematic testing and comparing of rubbers and blades... might take me a while to get it all set up though.. but that's part of the fun.
I will take some pictures and do a review as soon as I've got it set up... can't wait!!!
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Dawei 388D-1 1.0mm Long Pimples
I've just tried the 388D-1 1.0mm. Although I don't remember the 0.6mm
one that well since I haven't used it for a while, this one has very
good spin reversal, and does not generate nearly as much spin as the Galaxy 955 which I normally use. However the whobble on the ball was really good, and I found it great for
dropshots... This is all on my fast Dawei Navigator blade too!
It makes a high pitch click sound, as if it's speed glued.
Although I found the 955 a little fast on the navigator, it was still
pretty good. But I thought the Dawei one should take the pace off a bit more.
It's funny really, when you just touch the ball gently, it's quite springy, which I assume
is just the pimples. But when you hit through a bit more it feels quite slow, which I guess is the sponge.
I found it harder to attack with then even the 0.6mm 955, but the dropshots and spin reversal was really nice... I'll keep this on for a few more weeks and will work out if it suits me.
I did like being able to generate good spin with the 955, but the spin reversal of the dawei generate a lot of awkward balls.... I'll need to try it against some better players to see how well it works against loopers.
one that well since I haven't used it for a while, this one has very
good spin reversal, and does not generate nearly as much spin as the Galaxy 955 which I normally use. However the whobble on the ball was really good, and I found it great for
dropshots... This is all on my fast Dawei Navigator blade too!
It makes a high pitch click sound, as if it's speed glued.
Although I found the 955 a little fast on the navigator, it was still
pretty good. But I thought the Dawei one should take the pace off a bit more.
It's funny really, when you just touch the ball gently, it's quite springy, which I assume
is just the pimples. But when you hit through a bit more it feels quite slow, which I guess is the sponge.
I found it harder to attack with then even the 0.6mm 955, but the dropshots and spin reversal was really nice... I'll keep this on for a few more weeks and will work out if it suits me.
I did like being able to generate good spin with the 955, but the spin reversal of the dawei generate a lot of awkward balls.... I'll need to try it against some better players to see how well it works against loopers.
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