Soft Rubbers with good speed need help

Niteen Talavdekar Asked 10 years ago

Sir, I used to use mark v, was very happy with it except speed. Now am using Donic JO Gold on FH and Acuda S1 on BH. Am very happy with the speed now but Donic rubbers do not grip the ball as mark v. They release the ball quickly. So I don't get to brush the ball as per my expectations. My blade is Waldner senso ultra carbon, a medium hard controled ply. I am looking for a soft rubber with good speed. My positive point making strokes are forehand topspin, backhand slow spinny topspin and backhand smash. I usually prefer to block with both forehand and backhand with attacking opponents as I am very weak in chopping away from the table. I play close to the table, something medium distance. Please Guide. Thank you & warm regards.

Alois Rosario Answered 10 years ago

Hi Niteen,

I will hand this over to the readers to provide some options for you.

← Is my win % good How old is Alois →

Jean Balthazar Posted 10 years ago

The Acuda S1 is hard indeed (48° sponge), but it's also about the fastest rubber you can get, so you will most probably have to give away a bit of speed if you switch to a softer rubber.

Sponge hardness can go down to 30° (Andro Impuls Speed, Yasaka Mark V 30, Pryde 30...), but you certainly don't have to go that low to get more dwell time and spin, and it would certainly take you a lot of time to get used to also. So maybe around 40° would be good. There you could have the Stiga Calibra LT Spin or Calibra Tour, Tibhar 1Q Sound, Donic Coppa X2 (platin soft)... for example.

What I did is I copied lists from the web into an Excel file, so I can sort and filter them however I like, for instance "Sponge Hardness" then "Speed". Here is a grid that indicates the sponge hardness:

http://www.wsport.com/catalogue/?todo=aff_revs

("R" is for Speed ; "A" is for grip ; "C" is for control)

If you find something that looks good by these ratings, read as many reviews as you can before you buy, because two rubbers with the exact same ratings can behave differently, and the numbers are not always very accurate (this grid for example says Mark V has a poor level of control...)

Hope this helps.

J-B.

Anthony Capasso Posted 10 years ago

Yasaka rakza 7 soft

soft with good speed and control

Niteen Talavdekar Posted 10 years ago

Thank you sir :)

Ahmad Malik Posted 10 years ago

tenergy 05

but only if you have 4—5 years of experience

Jon Schroeder Posted 10 years ago

Here are a few soft rubbers with some speed:

Yasaka Razka 7 soft (soft with moderate speed)
Donic acuda s2 or s3 (s2 somewhat soft with good speed and excellent spin, s3 extremely soft with average speed and good spin)
Donic coppa x2 platin soft (soft with good speed)
Donic coppa x3 silver (softest on list with average spin and speed on the lower side)

Also don't forget about Tenergy FX (if you can control it) and Sriver FX which is a good control rubber.

Hope this helps.

Ji-Soo Woo Posted 10 years ago

acuda S3 max was one of the best rubbers I've tried. The spinniest rubber by far. It's not an absolute speed demon but fast enough to get the job done.

Debo : Posted 10 years ago

Go for GKI Hybridz GX, this will fit your FH Need. Soft, good speed and a lot... lot... of spin. For backhand, you may opt for Tibhar Genius or Xiom Vega Europe (soft rubber with very low throw, good for BH).

Good Luck.