Hard and Soft rubber styles...

Alex Von Macraw Asked 12 years ago

Hi There Pingskills Team,

I want to thank you for your time and effort in answering questions from the tt community:

I just wanted to ask about the differing play styles that resides between Hard/tacky rubbers and soft/med-tack rubbers..

I currently have been playing for 6 months intensely with a hard/off blade made of Koto wood with a DHS Hurricane 2 (FH) and a DHS Neo Skyline 2 (BH). At first it produced a lot of bounce because of the combination of a Hard blade and Hard rubbers, but now I can control it without any problems.

My play style is producing a lot of spin against the opponent and Attacking (smash) whenever possible. The DHS rubbers have suited me well, but I was thinking of switching to soft rubbers:

-Donic Barracuda or LKT XT(for emphasising spin as it is tacky and soft)  (FH)

-Yasaka Mark V (BH) 

I don't mind speed as I have more than average strength in my swings, and it has been further supported by the heavy racket which results from the 2 Chinese rubbers.

I just wondered what I would be expecting different from these softer rubbers compared to the Hard/tacky rubbers I am used to? Such as bounce/effort in the swings/spins etc.

Thank you for your time :)

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Alex,

It will be a slightly different feel.  It won't make a big difference after a week or two.  In general you can have your bat slightly flatter to allow the ball to sink into the sponge.

I am glad that you are benefiting from the site.