Tibhar Grip-S Untuned review - ttnpp version

I am still in cheap EJ mode - i hope i will be back in normal mode after a couple more orders  - so i bought a Grip-S untuned version for ~25$ from ttnpp.com. It seemed a great purchase, having done some research, and i thought i was the lucky one that knew about that rubber, until i opend the package... and i dont mean the bad smell!  

First impression is that this rubber i believe is a B-grade that didn't pass QC and instead of tossing it they sell it at a much lower price. The topsheet had some lines that were smoothly carved and surely would not cause any problems in the game but still thats a minus. Topsheet was tacky but not that much, it could hold a ball for couple of seconds. The sponge was dark red, cherry-like and hard, marked as 40 hardness. To give you a better understanding i would rate Donic Baracuda 4/10, Xiom 4 Asia 5/10, TG2 Neo 7/10 and this would be around 8-8,5/10 but right out of the package. The topsheet is semi-hard around 7,5-8/10. I hope both will soften a bit after a week or two - plus some layers of speedglue!

About its playing characteristics. With the bounce test i immediately realized it is just another dead chinese rubber BUT with the grip test i saw it has great bite/grip of the ball. I dont remember if i have played with such a grippy rubber. I can feel the rubber giving a heavy feeling and kicking, when spinning the ball, without loss of energy. I will try to explain for every shot but first of all:

I am a "modern attacker" player using spin than speed in my game. I try to attack whenever possible and when in defense mode i like blocking near the table and fishing away from it.

Flat hitting: ...  ...  ...  i thought it was a joke! Most terrible rubber for flat hitting ever made. Most balls went to the net while others went out flying. Very hard to adjust (coming from Dawei 388-A) and i have to hit hard like soft-smash to send the ball where i want. The angle has to be very certain cause slightly different angle leads to error. After 3 layers of speedglue and ~6 hours of playing things seem to be better. Sponge softened a tiny bit plus i adjusted to the behavior. A very loud shrill sound is produced with every flat hit though it can be reduced by closing a little the angle - adding some more spin. After 6 hours i find it an ok rubber for flat hitting. I found it easier for the backhand but i might have it wrong.

Pushing: I could say that it is a great pushing rubber either new or played (brake-in). I am not a pushing expert but i think this rubber can be a pushblockers dream. Due to the heavy spin it produces along with the hard sponge and semi-hard topsheet it gives excellent feeling and control especially near the net.

Blocking: Hmm... not easy until you adjust, after that you can have a coffee in one and and block with the other. The point is to have the right angle and pressure so the ball engages the sponge. Let the opponent deal with the dead semi-short ball after the block. For soft touch/non pressure/close angle blocks it requires very good feeling as it can easily throw the ball out due to its grippiness (for vocaboulary lesons, col mi), or whatever its called! Smashing is also very easy but thats a general chinese-like rubber advantage, correct me if wrong.

Spinning: The most important thing and the one that i got most disappointed right away. This rubber has a hard sponge.- At first most balls went to the net, were spinless and i couldnt do sh!t! The key is to start gently and brush loop! After few hours when i got into the point i felt the heaviness of my shots and my spins were a lot harder to control with a nice arc. Last time i played i could even powerkillmegaultramonsterspin the ball with a lot of confidence. It requires great concentration though because a killshot can easily turn other way around and see the ball go to the net - even worse under the table  - or high above it. Especially when far from the table the margin of error drops logarithmically and the shots should be more gentle and a lot more precise. This rubber has a high throw due to the high grip level of the topsheet but when sponge is engaged, bye-bye.  One thing to turn the hard sponge to advantage is to do fake spinshots. The more the sponge is engaged the less spin there would be. The bad thing is the sound of the sponge gives away the shot but who cares, thats the opponents responsibility to understand.

Flicks: Excellent rubber for flicking and especially slap-flick. My flicks are very stable even on balls lower than the net height. I feel i can open any ball, the high ones (net height or above) are really easy because of the hard sponge, and the lower spinny because of the grip of the top-sheet. Though i haven't tried it on bh i think it would work great for spin-flicks. 

Durability: Though its early to talk about it i believe it will be very durable. I got an issue because i wear out rubbers - especially euro-like ones - quicker than my pocket can recover so it is important for me to find a durable rubber. I usually cut the remaining rubber thats left after the scissoring with my hands to check the strength and... for fun . Well i had big trouble with this one, if i had to choose one thing to hang from a cliff i would rely my life on a Grip-s sheet!

Summary: I can tell its the spiniest rubber i have played and also the hardest one to get results from. The biggest letdown after opening the package but with the best potential. Totally not what i expected (a medium hardness sponge-topsheet rubber) but i can do much more things with a lot of training. Not a rubber to play more than 1-1,5m from the table, at least for my level and for the 6 hours i played with it. It suited me for both bh and fh but i believe its more of a fh rubber. Very unstable at the start until i learned to use the sponge and topsheet separately and avoid the mixed situation for now. Durability seems to be excellent and assuming the very low price it makes a nice purchase. The price is ~25$ but i briefly tried Apollo (the blue) and i can tell the similarities are many. The difference in price is nearly 10$ so i don't know if it is worth the extra $. Thats it for now, maybe i will add some photos and alter my review next week.

Blade - LKT Instinct / Fh - Grip-S untuned - max / Bh - 729-5 - 2,2mm

Added flick review that i forgot, and equipment i used. Bellow i will add the things that change with time - updated weekly for next 2 weeks - and answer any questions.

In my last training i tried hitting away from the table with my bh for a dozen balls while i was messing with robot shooting light spin shots. Not a rubber to hit away from the table, for now. Very difficult and ineffective, even landing the ball on the table needed concentration and a high arc to make it sure. Better take the risk and spin the ball, besides its called Grip-S, not Hit-S (ye, i know, very funny).

Edited by Stoi - 06/04/2012 at 1:07pm

The untuned, thanks i will edit and add that clue.

Thanks for the review Stoi!

Do you think you got a 'dud', or do you think they're all like that?

I think i got a normal "dud" sheet as i believe all of them are QC failures. They cant just sell at almost half price just because they are kind. Also i read other reviews that say about a speed-glue feeling, soft sponge or something and stuff. Well thats far away from what i got. If i had read nothing though, i couldn't tell there are any "problems" with the sheet except the smoothly carved lines that totally don't affect the behavior. Also this rubber will teach you how to brush-loop, cause if you don't, you wont be able to loop at all. I don't like boosting or gluing unless have to. Gonna add some more things to the review.

Could you please describe the hardness of your Grip-S sheet? Name a few rubbers and how it compares to them. I have mentioned some of those i have played so i would appreciate to compare with any of them. Thanks.  

Edited by Stoi - 06/04/2012 at 1:05pm