Giant Dragon: Giant Long LP Review

First off, I would like to thank JimT & Ztabletennis.com / Conradsong for this opportunity.  So I’ve been chosen to review the new Giant Long LP .5mm sponge.

Got the package within 3 days after notification from Mr. Conradsong, the package is very attractive.  Inside comes with a mini-catalogue of all its products.  And to my surprise an adhesive sheet for easy gluing.   I have decided to use this rubber with my Stiga 5.4 first, than it will move on to my GuoYueHua OFF(medium soft feel, more like OFF- IMO). 

First Impressions:  Upon opening the package, I’ve noticed that the pips are medium small, medium in softness, and pips-ratio is at maximum compared to YingHe’s 955/DaWei’s 388D.  Also, produces medium friction feel when I brush my fingers & the ball on it.

I’m a Penholder FH looper, BH blocks/counter hit with inverted rubber, has been playing with LP for the last 3 months to expand my game.  When I do switch back to inverted(in games), occasionally against a higher level player (>US1800), I felt that my RPH game has improved drastically. 

LPs in session:

Speed of this rubber is probably a 6/10, just a bit fast than 955.  very good control with medium throw.

Chopping: One of the strengths of this rubber IMO, but not the best part of this rubber yet.  It produces a lot, I mean a lot of backspin on topspin hits.  Make sure that your chops are low on backspin chops or you’ll get smashed!  It’s quite easy to play with compared to the above two mentioned rubbers.  Works well at any distance. 

Punch Blocks:  it produces more knuckle balls than the two rubbers from above.  But you must keep the blade more open.  The ball drops early before it hits the table compare to 955, whereas the ball drops fast after the first bounce.  There were a handful of times where my partner thought the ball will fly out of the table, but still hit in front of the end line.  I think it works best close-to-table, it might become unpredictable from further away. 

Looping:  The bread-n-butter for this rubber, IMO!  I haven’t mastered this stroke yet with this rubber, but I can see the potential.  It’s a huge difference in stroke, & blade angle when looping with inverted compare with LPs.  My Loops only had a succession of 30%, but 90% of it resulted in net balls, or high balls for smashing/kills.  Perhaps a few more weeks, then I’m ready to permanently proclaim my “go-to” LPs.  I like to attack on both sides, especially counters on my BH.  The ball dips and creates similar ball effect that punch blocks do. 

I will continue to test this rubber on the 5.4 for another few weeks for consistency/durability.  Then, I will place it on a more flex blade to compare its characteristics. 

I hope this review will help those that might consider purchasing this rubber.  Thanks all & Good Hitting!