Tabletennis11.com testing opportunity - CLOSED

Review: Victas V>15 Extra
http://www.tabletennis11.com/other_eng/victas-v-15-extra

Initial Impressions: This rubber has some kick! Looping is nice and fast. The rubber feels just a bit firmer than T05 and the throw angle seems like it’s a little lower. The ball really jumps off the paddle, but once I got the timing down, my loops were fast, spinny, and difficult for my opponent to handle. Hitting and smashing were both good. Again, the low throw angle required some adjustment compared to T05, so at first I was hitting some balls into the net. It didn’t take long for me to begin smashing winners. Blocking at the table is nice because it doesn’t require an active stroke and the ball is quick and low over the net. Away from the table fishing type shots require a bit more touch/precision and swing power to assure the ball gets over the net and is not easily killed. Touch shots and short game play was just ok with this rubber. It seemed to have a similar sensitivity to spin as T05, but I found it more difficult to get the right racket angle and not pop the ball up or dump it in net. I guess the ‘feel’ isn’t quite as good in the short game.

Grades:
Looping: A
Smashing/Driving/Hitting: A-
Blocking/Fishing: B
Touch Play: B-

Conclusion: This rubber offers a nice alternative to T05. I think the main difference is the lower throw angle and the consequences it has on different types of strokes. If you prefer a low throw angle, then this rubber is an easy choice. I still prefer the feel of T05...but this rubber is very good.

Grading Explanation: I’m using an arbitrary letter system to grade these test rubbers. The grades are all subjective to my preferences and playing style. The rubber was only tested on my FH. So, if you have a similar style to mine, hopefully this will be helpful.
 
Reviewer Playing Style: I play a modern defense style. I currently use BTY Feint Long 3 1.3 as my BH rubber,  and BTY T05 max as my FH rubber. I like to chop from mid and long distance with my BH, and chop-block close to the table. My FH is mostly used for close to the table smashes, blocks, and loop kills. Away from the table, I like to counter-loop and hit fishing shots. My current USATT rating is around 1750. The blade I used for this review was Donic Defplay Senso FL.


Edited by ndotson - 01/07/2016 at 10:59pm

Everything I tried with this rubber, whether counter-drive, loop, or soft-touch pushing/serving, felt absolutely comfortable and solid, like a sheet of one of the higher-end rubbers that is well-past its’ break-in period and nearing the end of its lifetime, but never with any “zip” to either the speed or spin imparted. To me, this rubber was excellent for a mid-range, developing all-round player, say with a rating of 1300-1700, but still working to develop power and consistency.  It may also fit the game of a blocker and pick-hitter, but didn’t feel right for my “spin-‘em-off-the-table” approach.  Also, I must add, while definitely a softer feel to me than T05, I personally didn’t feel the “mushy, bland, and bottoming- out” sensation like Patrick Hrdlicka described in his review, but that can easily be explained in one of several ways – first, I use a much softer blade (Tibhar Red Cyprus), and so the rubber-to-blade transition as the ball sinks in during the shot will not be as pronounced.  Secondly, I rarely all-out flat hit forehand kills any more,  preferring instead to spin the ball in, and so my stroke speed and particularly the horizontal forward-driving racquet speed will always be much lower than Patrick’s (comments that I hope helps a reader understand and judge the suitability of this rubber for their particular style of play).   A very good all-round rubber, but with no “pop” to up the excitement level.

Reviewer Playing Style:  I am a right-handed allround player with a ~1900 USATT rating, using what I consider to be an ALL+ Tibhar Red Cyprus blade (soft feel, great touch and control, but low/medium speed).  I have used Tenergy O5 2.1mm on both my forehand and backhand for the last 3 years.  I consider my style of play a controlled spinner, in-and-out from the table, in that I’m happy to stay at the table to push & block with varying spins and placement at the table if I can get away with it competitively, but even happier to step away and attack/counter with medium-slow-and-very-spinny loops off either side.  I only played “competitively” for 3 years of intensive practice from 1973-1976, with a rating of about 2000.  Since that time, I play few or no tournaments at all, content to help others learn. 

Review: Nittaku Alhelg

http://www.tabletennis11.com/other_eng/nittaku-alhelg

 

Review: Victas V>15 Extra and Gewo Nanoflex

Edited by Victor_the_cleaner - 01/23/2016 at 11:57am

Hi
Any chance of extending this test to the UK?
Andy

Victas V>15 extra and Gewo Nanoflex 

Review: Tibhar Nimbus Delta V
http://www.tabletennis11.com/other_eng/tibhar-nimbus-delta-v

This is my last review on this thread, and I was honestly a bit skeptical of this rubber as it didn’t exactly receive a glowing review from the OP. I was, however, pleasantly surprised by the Tibhar Nimbus and found it to be possibly the most fun rubber of the bunch. Having said that, it may not be the rubber that will win me the most points, but I found it extremely enjoyable. The main reason is due to the high throw/catapult. I typically use T05 which has a pretty high throw angle. The Nimbus’ throw is equal to or higher than T05. This allowed for many possible shots away from the table which is where I like to play. Looping was great from medium and far distances. The catapult effect did make close to the table looping more difficult to control and my strokes needed to be more vertical to avoid going long off the end. I found lifting/looping underspin to be just as easy when compared to T05. Hitting and counter-driving was basically the same story…pretty good from distance but harder to control the closer I got to the table. Fishing shots away from the table were great due to the high arch and catapult effect…very effortless. Touch shots and short game are fine but didn’t seem like this rubber’s strength as not a ton of spin was generated. It’s not particularly sensitive to incoming spin.

Grades:
Looping: B+
Smashing/Driving/Hitting: B+
Blocking/Fishing: A-
Touch Play: B

Conclusion: Can be a fun rubber for those who like to play away from the table. It may be a suitable T05 alternative if you prefer softer rubbers. Loopers who play a more controlled, high-arching, slow looping game may also enjoy this rubber.

Grading Explanation: I’m using an arbitrary letter system to grade these test rubbers. The grades are all subjective to my preferences and playing style. The rubber was only tested on my FH. So, if you have a similar style to mine, hopefully this will be helpful.

Reviewer Playing Style: I play a modern defense style. I currently use BTY Feint Long 3 1.3 as my BH rubber, and BTY T05 max as my FH rubber. I like to chop from mid and long distance with my BH, and chop-block close to the table. My FH is mostly used for close to the table smashes, blocks, and loop kills. Away from the table, I like to counter-loop and hit fishing shots. My current USATT rating is around 1750. The blade I used for this review was Donic Defplay Senso FL.

Edited by ndotson - 02/24/2016 at 1:49am

Very nice review !!!

This review is from Daniel, a skilled freshman at our university club. Enjoy!

Stiga Airoc Astro M Review

 

Setup:

     I have the Airoc M glued onto the forehand of my Butterfly Supreme Speed blade, and Acuda S3 on the backhand. As its name implies, the blade is fast, with 3 ply wood and 2 ply arylate carbon. The paddle head is also thicker than normal blades which gives it a slightly head-heavy feel.

 

Playing Style:

     I play with a modern close to table, mid-distance looping style. I like to go for speed rather than spin when given the opportunity. 

 

Overall Feel:

     My initial impression with the rubber is that it is fast. It is faster than a lot of the rubbers I play with regularly which includes Hexer Powersponge, Bluefire JP03, Tenergy 80fx; I would even say that it is a little bit faster than Tenergy 05. The speed of this rubber becomes more evident as you move away from the table and start doing loops, but as a result, even though with the high amount of spin that I was able to generate, the arc was low, giving less margin for error. Another characteristic I noticed is that the rubber feels very dense. There is a loud sound when hitting from mid-distance, and the rubber had a decent dwell time, allowing for pretty decent spin generation.

 

Control:

     I feel like this is where the rubber shines. The top sheet is very grippy and very sensitive to spin, allowing me to make short pushes that had a lot of spin. When flicking from the forehand, it feels very easy to generate spin and speed, I even felt that it was easier to do more of a flat hit stroke, as the speed of the rubber can often overcome the spin of the ball. From right out the table, I was able to do a small loop with minimal motion, and still generate a lot of speed. I think players who likes to sometimes hit more rather than spin more at mid distance, or likes to rip through back spin shots with a lot of speed will find this rubber very powerful. 

 

Blocking

     As I’ve mentioned before, the top sheet is quite tacky, so it is not very forgiving when receiving shots. But once adjusted, the blocks can be very spinny. I’ve always had trouble with softer rubbers when blocking because it creates a shorter than ideal trajectory, but when blocking with Airoc, i was able to block long, and with a lot of speed. However, I personally do not recommend using Airoc as a backhand rubber unless one has the ability to vary precisely the amount of hit and spin when using backhand strokes. The hardness of the rubber makes it less forgiving when doing backhand flicks as I often find myself hitting the ball into the net before I was able to get more spin off the ball. Having said that, with very good control, the balls that do go over has a very low arc and fast speed. 

 

Looping:

     Looping mid-distance from the table using Airoc M is very easy. I personally like to sometimes sacrifice spin for speed when looping mid-distance, but with Airoc M, I find that I could generate the same amount of spin but faster balls than when I’m playing with Hexer rubbers. However, looping from slightly farther away, when the ball is descending, it is hard to spin it back on the table. The maximum amount of spin can be generated when you really hit the ball through the sponge, but as a result, the ball also travels faster, and creates a lower arc. So when I was trying to the do more of a brushing stroke to get the ball on the table, I often find that either I couldn’t generate enough spin, or I would hit the ball too far. I find this rubber to be best at around mid-distance and when hitting the ball the peak of the bounce, which gives you the option of making a hard, fast shot and completely overcoming the spin, or a spinny, yet still quite fast shot, with a very low arc. 

 

     In conclusion, I highly recommend this rubber to players who really likes to do powerful, fast shots at mid-distance, and yet maintaining control in the close game. Airoc is spinny, but I think its more prominent characteristic is its speed. It is sometimes ridiculously easy to overcome the spin of the ball with sheer speed given enough height. On the downside, it is less forgiving when doing brushing strokes, but when hit through the sponge, gives tremendous spin and speed. 

 

Edited by Argothman - 03/06/2016 at 9:49pm

I have tested the Victas V15 Extra as well as the Limber. To tell the truth, with celluloid balls. However, I am convinced that my findings hold with plastic balls too.

Although they are good rubbers I have the feeling that Victas still did not invest in buying the latest tensors from ESN. The V15 Extra has a hard sponge but the topsheet is too mushy and it was not as effective as MXP in my test with celluloid balls. I am afraid that V15 does not give enough power to hit through the opponent. It has a distinct smell of tuner just as other ESN products do and its performance goes down after about a month.

The Limber is very soft indeed it does not hurt to play against. It is dofter and less direct than Tibhar's FXP. I repeat, these two are good rubbers but fans of really offensive rubbers should look into Tibhar MXP or the Xiom Omega V line, especially the Pro version.

Hans Regenkurt wrote: I have tested the Victas V15 Extra as well as the Limber. To tell the truth, with celluloid balls. However, I am convinced that my findings hold with plastic balls too. Although they are good rubbers I have the feeling that Victas still did not invest in buying the latest tensors from ESN. The V15 Extra has a hard sponge but the topsheet is too mushy and it was not as effective as MXP in my test with celluloid balls. I am afraid that V15 does not give enough power to hit through the opponent. It has a distinct smell of tuner just as other ESN products do and its performance goes down after about a month. The Limber is very soft indeed it does not hurt to play against. It is dofter and less direct than Tibhar's FXP. I repeat, these two are good rubbers but fans of really offensive rubbers should look into Tibhar MXP or the Xiom Omega V line, especially the Pro version.

AndySmith wrote: Hans Regenkurt wrote: I have tested the Victas V15 Extra as well as the Limber. To tell the truth, with celluloid balls. However, I am convinced that my findings hold with plastic balls too. Although they are good rubbers I have the feeling that Victas still did not invest in buying the latest tensors from ESN. The V15 Extra has a hard sponge but the topsheet is too mushy and it was not as effective as MXP in my test with celluloid balls. I am afraid that V15 does not give enough power to hit through the opponent. It has a distinct smell of tuner just as other ESN products do and its performance goes down after about a month. The Limber is very soft indeed it does not hurt to play against. It is dofter and less direct than Tibhar's FXP. I repeat, these two are good rubbers but fans of really offensive rubbers should look into Tibhar MXP or the Xiom Omega V line, especially the Pro version. I have to say that the ball selection goes a long way for me when getting a read on rubbers these days.  And not just cell/plastic (although that's the widest range), but the type of plastic ball too.  I really like V>15 and you're right about the topsheet feel, but with cell you get the feeling that the ball is just bouncing off a flat tyre.  And not just with V>15, but with a lot of recent ESN rubbers with mega-soft topsheets (and V>15 is nowhere near as soft as Acuda Blue, Rasant Beat, Vega Europe DF).  Whereas I feel there's a lot of meat behind V>15 with XSF, for example. I just try to avoid cell totally now to reduce confusion.

Baal wrote: Very very very true.  And you probably should also play several times before being sure.

Review: Stiga Airoc Astro M

Very good control overall, but disappointing spin vs. high expectations was my overall impression of this rubber.  Forehand counterdrives and loop drives had a good sense of control, but the slower sponge never gave me any sense of catapult or “pop” like the harder sponge/rubber combinations (like Donic Acuda and Victas).  Spinny touch shots like brush looping and serving were solid and controlled, but unremarkable in terms of spin level achievable (far below Tenergy 05).  A big plus was that it seemed fairly insensitive to incoming spin from opponents loop drives and/or serves, while still able to impart moderate spin levels with aggressive strokes from me on either deep serves or loops.  Countering and looping from my backhand side produced comparable results to the forehand shots, where control was the main strength of this rubber, enabling forced drives and punched blocks with impunity.  I’d also call the tactile touch response just middle-of-the road, where dropshots and delicate pushes were easy and comfortable, but also felt a little sluggish/dead at times, where I could not feel the pull of the opponents spin off this rubber at all.   Overall, this felt like a good control rubber for countering and blocking, but you’d probably want a blade with a harder surface than my ALL+ if you wanted to add any real zip to those shots.

Reviewer Playing Style:  I am a right-handed all-around player with a ~1900 USATT rating, using what I consider to be an ALL+ Tibhar Red Cyprus blade (soft feel, great touch and control, but low/medium speed).  I have used Tenergy O5 2.1mm on both my forehand and backhand for the last 3 years.  I consider my style of play a controlled spinner, in-and-out from the table.  I only played & trained “competitively” for 3 years of intensive practice from 1973-1976, with a rating of about 2000.  Since that time, I play few or no sanctioned tournaments at all, mostly content to help others learn. 

Review: Donic Acuda Blue P1

Of the seven sample rubber sheets that I signed on for testing, this one was definitely in the top tier overall.  With forehand counters and loop drives the good hardness produced a good feel, with a nice pop of speed, and solid levels of spin (even if not especially outstanding).  Slower touch loops also had a nice feel of control, and again with very good spin, just not exceptional (vs. Tenergy).  All of these same impressions were repeated on my backhand loops, drives, and blocks – a good sense of speed and touch, with solid ability to spin the ball with good control when required.  Going full-out on serves and/or “dig” pushes also produced good-if-not-great levels of spin.  A big plus for me in using this rubber was that it seemed quite insensitive to opponents spin (or at least able to easily overcome that spin with any aggressive racquet acceleration on my part), and so was perfect for returning tougher serves.  I would therefore have this rubber in mind as a very strong consideration for my backhand, where I try to receive most serves – and since my last sheet of Adidas P7 is bound to be wearing out there over the next several months, I may need to buy a sheet for at least a full trial on this rubber.

Reviewer Playing Style:  I am a right-handed all-around player with a ~1900 USATT rating, using what I consider to be an ALL+ Tibhar Red Cyprus blade (soft feel, great touch and control, but low/medium speed).  I have used Tenergy O5 2.1mm on both my forehand and backhand for the last 3 years.  I consider my style of play a controlled spinner, in-and-out from the table.  I only played & trained “competitively” for 3 years of intensive practice from 1973-1976, with a rating of about 2000.  Since that time, I play few or no sanctioned tournaments at all, mostly content to help others learn.