Tackiness wearing off

Jayce Soberano Asked 12 years ago

Hello!

Story:

I have been playing Table tennis active for about a year now and i have tried many good quality rubber. Started off with chinese rubber Globe 999 on both sides. Then when i started developing better strokes i tried Stiga boost TS and Donic acuda S3. And after that i tried Tenergy 05 fx and xiom sigma euro. worked pretty good but a little too fast and bouncy for me. With the Sigma euro i played pretty well, with good control and a little less bounce than Tenergy 05 fx. But still a little too fast or bouncy for me. So my "trainer" or someone i work with recommended me to use Chinese rubber again.

So what i use now and is good for me is:

Paddle: Butterfly Innerforce ALC

Rubber Fh: DHS Skyline neo 3

Rubber Bh: Globe 999

So the skyline is pretty tacky and the globe is not as tacky but good enough. I played a small tournament today and reached quarter finals wich im pretty satisfied with. Played about 6 matches and i noticed that the tackiness on both of the rubber slightly wore off, or in other words the tackiness was almost completly gone. When im finished playing i usually clean the rubber and use protective plastic to maintain the tackieness. So of course the more tack there is the less bounce there is and more control and spin (with the right stroke), the less tack the more bounce i get on the rubber. So back to the sixth match where i had almost had no tack on the rubbers. I played with good strokes but it was different. it was like playing with sigma again since there was less tack and more bounce. And the ball was always a few inches too far from the table when i looped.

Question:

How do i keep the tackiness on the rubbers when im playing a lot of matches on short breaks? i tried cleaning the rubbers after each match and put on the protective plastic but didn't seem to get back the tackieness i wanted. Or maybe i have to adapt to how the rubber is? I also noticed that the plastic has to stay on for a while to get back the tackiness.

Sorry for the long story but i like to tell how it is :)

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Jayce,

That is a bit strange. Rubber doesn't usually lose tackiness in a day. It may have just been the conditions of the day. Was it humid (moisture in the air)? This may have lead to the rubber appearing to not have grip because it was moist. Was it really cold? This could make the rubber harder and not as tacky. It may also have been the pressure of the match that effects the feeling of the rubber for you.

What you are doing is correct. Just give it a wipe over with a damp sponge after each game to make sire there is not a build up of dust.

Is the rubber back to normal now?

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Jayce Soberano Posted 12 years ago

Thanks for the reply.

Everytime i remove the plastic of the rubber the rubber is almost like new and there is plenty of tack on the rubber. But as i am playing the rubber looses alittle tack everytime. The grip is there but ofcourse there is difference between tacky and grip right? Where i train the rubber picks up alot of dust and ofcourse the rubbers tackiness is less because it has picked up some dust, that i can understand. But when u mention if it was humid. When i see alot of dust on the rubber i use my breath(humid) on the rubber and wipe out the dust with my hand. Maybe thats why im loosing tack on the rubber? Maybe something i shouldnt do.

The rubber is back to normal and gets back to normal everytime after wiping the rubber with foam and sponge and putting on the plastic. Its just after playing for a while i notice that its not as tacky.

What i do to messure the tackieness and bounce: I usually hold my bat straight and flat and drop the ball on to the rubber. When i first remove the plastic and drop the ball on the rubber, the ball bounces 2-3 times and then stays on the rubber. Almost as if the rubber is dead, but ofcourse its all about the tackieness of the rubber. And the Ball bounces straight up and down. After playing for a while, lets say 1 hour. I drop the ball and the ball bounces 5 times or more in different directions as if it was tenergy or a different rubber with no tack.

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago

Hi Jayce,

OK, this will be just because of the tackiness of the Chinese rubber. Don't worry too much about that. You can keep wiping it after each game or 5 minute when you are training. It will still generate a good amount of grip it just won't be quite as tacky on the surface.

Kevin Z Posted 12 years ago

I play with a Globe 999 too (blue sponge), first week that I got it it could hold a pingpong ball for 12 seconds, quite tacky, but very soon it lost its tack. It's pretty hard to play with. Requires energy