Change in Thickness vs change in Rubber
Equipment
Dakota Castleberg Asked 9 years ago
I am aware of the properties pertaining to sponges(effects on dwell time, spin, speed, control, etc).
I have been thinking of looking for a little more control in my game.
My question to you is whether I should simply drop my thickness from MAX down to maybe 1.8(?) and keep using Vega Pro
OR
Try a different slower rubber that has better control, but buy it at MAX to retain some spin?
Would both accomplish the task of giving me more control equally? What would be advantages/disadvantages of both?
Thanks again for your advice!
Alois Rosario Answered 9 years ago
Hi Dakota,
Probably going thinner on the same rubber is the way to go, then it isn’t too much of a difference in the throw etc. but still get better control.
Thoughts on this question
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Jean Balthazar Posted 9 years ago
Or you could consider trying the same rubbers on a slower blade...
Dakota Castleberg Posted 9 years ago
thanks for the advice Alois, I will probably go with that if I can't get my MAX under better control, and I thought about mentioning the throw angle in my original question as I quite enjoy the higher throw angle this rubber has over my previous. And Jean I also thought about that, currently just using Tibhar Stratus Power Wood blade, pretty sure its an ALL ranking so it isn't that fast. Definitely plan on putting some thought into a new blade as well.
Jean Balthazar Posted 9 years ago
According to this review (http://www.tennis-de-table.com/materiel/bois/tibhar/Stratus_Power_Wood), your bat would be ranked OFF-, but Maikeul, one of the two reviewers who's a TT equipment freak, writes that it would rather deserve a plain OFF ranking. So there may be some room for speed reduction and control increase within your bat selection, but it's hard to tell if it could be enough to fit your needs.
Just FYI, I play the Vega Pro in 2.0mm on the forehand with a Butterfly Maze T-tec ALL+, and my feeling is that it's really not too fast. What I like about it is its predictability (no ON/OFF tensor boost, works well even if the ball isn't centred properly on the bat), high throw angle and high spin capability (although my bat is a bit too stiff).