Tibhar Samsonov alpha

Hi Fesih,

No rubber and no blade is in itself good or bad. No combination of rubber and blade is in itself good or bad either, although some can make a little more sense than others. The question is “does this setup suit you?” To put it differently, it’s a bit like if a total stranger called you and asked you “Hey, I have found a pair of glasses, the correction on the right lens is X1 in strength, X2 in sphere, the correction on the left lens is X3 in strength, X4 in sphere, the frame is X5 inches wide, it weights X6 grams. Is it good for me?” It’s impossible to tell without knowing the person. And at least for eye correction, what someone needs for lenses can be objectively measured. Measuring which rubber you need on your FH or BH is not possible. Also the lenses won’t behave differently if you put them into different frames. Table tennis rubbers will behave differently on different blades. What I’m trying to say is that finding which equipment fits a player is an equation with just too many variables to be solved, and even more so because none of them can be properly measured. Therefore you have to simplify the equation, make assumptions to narrow down your choices a little bit (some extreme examples to illustrate: don’t select an OFF+ setup if you want to be a defender or long pimples if you want to top spin), but once that is done, only testing will tell you what really suits you. And the most important: don’t expect to find the magical combo that will fit you like a glove from day 1 and will put all the balls on the table by itself. I’m not implying that this is what you expect Fesih, I just wanted to make it clear that there is no “yes or no” answer to your question.

I looked into the Tibhar Samsonov Alpha at some point because it has a limba outer ply, which favors my top spin game, and it’s not too heavy (around 80g). But it’s also said to be best quite close to the table and not so much at mid-distance, which is where I wander about most of the time. A good player from my team uses it with rather hard and fast rubbers. She’s playing close to the table and loves to strongly counter any weak attack.

The Tibhar Rapid Soft is an old rubber. So watch out when you read reviews saying that this or this old rubber has “great feel”, “tremendous speed”, etc. Many times these comments are obsolete because they describe the rubber’s characteristics when used with speed glue. Coming back to the Rapid Soft, it’s said to have a soft top sheet (never used it myself) and it has a soft sponge (35°).

So the Samsonov Alpha / Rapid soft combo should be something like an OFF- setup that should be good for looping quite close to the table, and probably for blocking softly. It should be quite controllable in the short game. Blocking actively / countering and chopping could be a bit more difficult.

Anyway, as I said, the only important question is “Are you feeling good with it?”

Firstly Thank you very much for your efforts...I am very glad your comments..It is very beneficial for me...and yes I feel good with this equipment...thanks a lot