LKT rapid soft review

Initial impressions

Out of the package, the LKT Rapid Soft looks pretty nice.  It does feel soft to the touch.  I had the 2.2mm black and used it on the forehand.  It�s tacky enough where you can put the plastic film after each session but mine did not pick up the ball for any extended period, maybe a fraction of a second.  I certainly wouldn�t call it sticky like the classic 729 or Globe 999.  But it�s pretty nice.

Short game: pushes, flips and serves

For pushes and flips, it�s quite excellent like most Chinese rubbers.  When a ball is dropped short to my forehand and I�m using a Japanese rubber, if I do flip it, I usually just focus on putting enough spin.  But with Rapid Soft, I can really flip kill it.  This goes the same for Torrent.  They�re both very excellent for the short game.   On serves, it�s not quite as spinny as the classic sticky top sheet with hard sponge ex. Globe 999 but it�s still pretty good.

Loops

Ok, this is what you really want, yes? I have to say that LKT Rapid Soft has a very distinct sound when looping.  It�s a very faint speed glue sound.  I used it on a few blades: a 5-ply Hinoki blade, Primorac Carbon and Korbel.  For the Korbel, it�s way too slow in my opinion.  With PC, not bad but I�m not used to carbon blades so I didn�t like the carbon sound.  Also, it affected the dwell time quite a bit.  But if you�re used to composite blades, I don�t see a problem.  With my Hinoki, it was pretty nice though.  Close to the table, the loops are powerful.  Mid-court, you have to swing a little harder but still very good.  From the back court (more than 6 feet back) I had some problems generating power.  One thing I like to do is fish from the back court and if there�s an opportunity, I do a forehand loop.  Well, I dumped a few in the net.  I wish I had a 1-ply Hinoki blade to test it with because I think the extra kick would really feel nice.

For power looping where you�re out to destroy somebody, I was fine as long as I was fairly close to the table.  However, a friend of mine who had it on a Yasaka Extra 7 was blasting lots of people from farther.  He was transitioning from a speed-glued LKT XP/XT.  Chinese looping (Hao Shuai looking strokes) are no problem.  This is preferable actually with the LKT Rapid Soft.  But if you have a Euro loop (salute action), it was no problem either. 

Flat hits

The LKT Rapid Soft flat hits pretty nicely.  If you�re a close to the table flat hitter, maybe with short pips on the backhand or even reverse like Li Jia Wei style, I think this would be  a good rubber.  However, it won�t give that really nasty flat block like the classic 729 or hard sponge Globe 999.  The tradeoff is that you get a bit more mid-court power if in fact you were forced back from the table.

Defense � blocks, fishing, lobbing

Blocking is excellent.  Like I wrote, it�s not going to be a dead block like classic Chinese rubbers (hard sponge, sticky tops).  I blocked with the backhand too.  If you like blocking one or two shots, then backhand loop off the bounce sort of like Liu Guozheng, it�s pretty nice.  Fishing and lobbing, it�s pretty nice too.  The sponge is bouncy enough that it won�t give you a �weird� feeling.  When I say weird, I mean switching from a Euro/Japanese rubber and let�s say going to hard Globe 999.  The ball will just drop dead unless you swing hard, right? This didn�t give me that feeling.

Again, if you fish and lob from afar and wait to counter with your loop, I had difficulties.  Maybe I should swing harder or use a bouncier blade.

Conclusions

I should say that my main equipment is Japanese stuff for many years.  So using Chinese stuff is not something I would just do very easily and take lightly.  I�ve used LKT XT/XP, Torrent and now Rapid Soft and I feel that the LKT products really offer me the easiest transition.  I find that at least for me, it was easier to transition to LKT than Dawei Inspirit (including Quattro) or even Palio CJ8000 (sorry Cole!).  Those two are very close to Japanese/Euro quality though and I think they would suit anybody who wants to transition from expensive Japanese/Euro stuff to the more economical Chinese stuff.  The LKT is just a personal preference for me.

I also want to note that I used two coats regular rubber cement, one on the blade, and then aired it out for a day or two before playing so I would consider the racket pretty legal.  I didn�t use it with speed glue or tuner.  Weight is not heavy for a Chinese rubber.  Unlike Cream MRS, it didn't make me think it was too heavy for a Chinese brand.

So the bottom line is I would use it with a bouncy blade like a one-ply Hinoki or a 7-ply Yasaka Extra Seven like my club mate.  A 5-py wood blade would work too ex. VSG-1000, BTY Firehand or Donic Dicon.  I am considering using it with a Galaxy blade for a back up.