Spinlord Spinlord describes the Gepard as a semi-long pips-out rubber, with pips so inelastic that it plays like a short pimpled rubber. Supposedly, these medium pips are as fast as the Waran short pips, but even less sensitive to incoming spin, easier to play, and more dangerous, rendering them suitable for deadly counter-attacks, active and passive blocks, and powerful shots. Watch the video to see if I agree.

Spinlord describes its Nashorn short pips as being slow whilst defending but faster than expected whilst attacking, and recommends these pips for close-to-the-table game styles that utilize blocking, pushing and counter-attacks. Watch the video to determine if this description is correct. 

The Butterfly Dignics 05 produces a lovely, speed-glue-like feeling on topspin shots. Its greatest strengths are in the blocking game, whilst also being quite capable in all aspects of the topspin game. Intermediate players will likely find it to be an easier rubber to master than the D09C given its higher throw angle and view it as a step up from the Glayzer. I view the D05 as a more controllable version of Tenergy 05, allowing for an improved blocking and short game, whilst being marginally less powerful and reliable in the looping game.   

For full details, read the reviews here.

I reviewed two short pimpled rubbers from Butterfly, i.e., the Impartial XB and Impartial XS. The Butterfly Impartial XB is tailored to the controlled blocker and attacker, playing close to the table. It provides excellent control, OFF- level speed, and moderate spin inversion. The Butterfly Impartial XS, on the other hand, stands out as a very fast and bouncy short pimpled rubber, demanding an active playing style akin to inverted rubbers. It seems tailored for the aggressive, all-out attacker, owing to its impressive power and substantial spin potential.   

For full details, read the reviews here.

I reviewed three short pip rubbers from VICTAS, i.e., the Spectol S2, Spinpips D2 and the VO>102. Each of the short pimpled rubbers are excellent, but cater to different playing styles. The VO>102 stands out as a super soft, ultra-fast, and very grippy rubber, which enables curved topspin shots in addition to traditional short pip shots. This makes VO>102 a great option for players looking for a FH short pip rubber. The Victas Spinpips D2 is also fast but feels much stiffer than the VO>102, producing a crisp sensation. The pips are very grippy which allows for generation of high levels of backspin. The D2 characteristics encourage a direct blocking, hitting, and smashing playing style. The Spectol S2 short pips promote a similar style, but one needs to use a flatter bat due to its vertical pip arrangement.   

For full details, read the review here.

Butterfly has introduced the Glayzer and Glayzer 09C rubbers as less expensive, softer, and more controllable alternatives to the Dignics 05 and Dignics 09C rubbers that have become the rubbers of choice for many professional players in the early 2020s. The Glayzer is a control rubber for topspin-oriented players, whereas the Glayzer 09C is a moderately fast and linear rubber that is best suited for players operating close to the table. 

For full details, read the review here.

The Sanwei Target is a genuine hybrid rubber. It has a very grippy and tacky topsheet that is paired with a dynamic, relatively fast, and not overly soft sponge. It produces a crisp feeling, is more dynamic, and offers advantages on drives, loop-to-loop rallies far from the table, aggressive blocking, and smashing relative to an H3. However, it has deficits in the short game.

Read the full review here.

Spinlord describes the Wyvern as a “new short pimple-out rubber and an improved version of the Spinlord Waran”, facilitating both defensive and aggressive strategies

 Do I agree? Watch the video.

Spinlord describes the Minotaur as an experimental rubber with cylindrical pips that are very thin and long enough to qualify as long pips, and a topsheet that is made using an antispin compound. Watch the video to hear what I think of this rubber.

The Tibhar Hybrid K3 is an awesome hybrid rubber. Its grippy and slightly tacky top-sheet ensures a firm contact with the ball, facilitating high throw loops and spinny pushes. Its medium-hard and fast sponge provides the right balance between absorbing capabilities for passive blocking and catapult for lightning-fast counter-drives and smashes. This is a top-end rubber that will appeal to advanced, expert, and professional players, employing an aggressive game strategy and who do not want to commit to using slower and more physically demanding Hurricane 3-like rubbers.

Read the review here. 

The Tibhar Evolution MX-D has characteristics of both the MX-P and MX-S, being more similar to the latter. The MX-D has a relatively prominent catapult effect, which renders it a challenging rubber close to the table (pushes, flicks, off-the-bounce blocks, long serves), but a good rubber for mid-distance play (loop-drives, smashes, counter-drives). The MX-D is a demanding rubber that requires focus, good technique, and hand feeling.  

Read the full review here.

The Donic Bluestorm Pro is a rather soft-feeling rubber that generates a very strong catapult effect on high-intensity shot types. In other words, it is a very non-linear rubber, which renders it challenging to play with, especially since it isn’t clear when the strong catapult is activated. It is beneficial to use soft hands to place the ball around the table. For these reasons, I consider the BP a rubber for advanced players only, and it is best suited for those who play a clean aggressive game from mid-distance with less emphasis on spin.  

Read the full review here.

The 38-degree DHS Hurricane 8-80 is a more dynamic version of the regular H8, which in turn gives it more “H3-like” characteristics. However, the #80 sponge is firmer and less dynamic than the #50 sponge of Hurricane 3-50 . Thus, the H8-80 is still, fundamentally, a robust rubber that excels in the controlled looping, short, and serving game. I think the H8-80 will be an easier FH rubber to play with than H3 or H8 for intermediate-level players or players who are making the transition from European/Japanese FH rubbers. High-end players, on the other hand, will likely find that the H8-80 lacks the top-end and penetrating power of H8 and – especially – H3. The H8-80 might appeal to an even broader player base as a BH rubber, as this is where the #80 sponge’s more dynamic nature comes to it full right.   

Read the full review here.

The Xiom Omega 7 Guang China is an interesting hybrid rubber. It is relatively slow on low to medium impact shots like pushes and warm-up drives, medium-fast (high OFF-/low OFF) on topspin shots from distance or against blocks, and very fast (high OFF) on high impact shots played with flat bat angles (blocks and smashes). It is faster than a traditional Hurricane 3 on active strokes, especially when flatter bat angles are used, but produces lower topspin levels and flatter trajectories when looping. This rubber caters to relatively high-level players who want to have Hurricane-like stability in the short game but better flat hitting characteristics, yet do not want to fully commit to a switch since the Hurricane-like rubbers are more physically demanding.  

Read the full review here.

I evaluated four hard-sponged ESN rubbers, i.e., Yasaka Rakza Z Extra Hard, Donic BlueGrip C1, Donic BlueGrip C2, and Andro Rasanter R48. 

Of the four rubbers evaluated in this test, the Rakza Z Extra Hard offers the most balanced set of playing properties. It works well close to the table (sufficient sponge compressibility for aggressive blocking, good serving characteristics) and from mid-distance (sufficiently fast to enable loop-to-loop rallies.

The Donic BlueGrip C1 is best suited for highly skilled players who operate close to the table with a direct, less spin-oriented game style that is peppered with a strong blocking and counter-drive game. I enjoyed the C1 and would recommend it to anyone who wants to move from Chinese-style FH rubbers to something that is a little less physically demanding.

The Donic BlueGrip C2 will cater to a broader group of players than the C1 as it is more forgiving and offers more flexibility in its use. Thus, the C2 is suitable for playing strategies both close to the table and mid-distance. 

I would recommend the Rasanter R48 to intermediate level players who have a moderately fast arm pull, and who operate from mid-distance with an open game style without too much emphasis on spin. The crisp, almost speed-glue like feeling of the R48 on topspins render it a fun rubber to play with. 

Read the full review here.

In this TT11 review, I evaluated the DHS Skyline 3 provincial blue sponge rubber. The Skyline 3 is a harder-feeling, tackier, more powerful, slightly lower-throwing, and more predictable rubber than Hurricane 3. It excels in power-looping, 5th ball attacks, flicking, and aggressive blocking while being slightly more difficult to handle in the pushing game than Hurricane 3. I love this rubber. Get all the details here.

I tested the new DHS Sharping 2 short/medium pip rubber for TT11. It is an interesting and somewhat strange rubber. It has a very hard sponge and a grippy topsheet. It is very solid on block and drives but requires a closed bat angle as the topsheet grip otherwise propels the ball in a high arc beyond the confines of the table. It took me some time to learn how to control my BH loops against backspin and the shots have quite of bit of wobble. For more details, read the full review here.

In this review for Tabletennis11.com from 2020, I reviewed four Nittaku rubbers, i.e., the Sieger PK50, Factive, and Hammond CR smooth rubbers, and the new Sonic AR short pips. 

The Nittaku Sieger PK50 hybrid rubber retains desirable Hurricane-like qualities during looping and pushing, while offering improved smashing characteristics. The rubber will cater to players who want a livelier version of Hurricane-like rubbers or a tackier and more controllable version of typical European rubbers.

The Nittaku Factive is an easy rubber to play and learn strokes with. It is lightweight, spin-insensitive, moderately fast, controllable, and offers a crisp feeling. On the flip side, it only generates moderate spin levels, especially backspin.  

The Nittaku Hammond CR is a step up from the Factive, both with respect to speed and spin. The Hammond CR does not reach the levels of market-leading rubbers like the Nittaku Fastarc G1, but it is an easier rubber to play with due to its lack of spin sensitivity.  

The Nittaku Sonic AR is a short-pimpled rubber for the uncompromising attacker that seeks to finish the point off quickly. It is not a rubber for beginners as the catapult effect is quite violent on higher impact shots, which reduces control. Those who can tame this beast a rewarded with a rubber that excels in flat hits and flicks through backspin. 

For all the details, read the review here.

In this review for Tabletennis11.com from 2020, I finally got a chance to try out the Hurricane 2 rubbers. So many people use Hurricane 3, but far fewer use Hurricane 2. Why is that? 

The inexpensive DHS Hurricane 2 rubber is an excellent, albeit somewhat slow, control rubber. It shines in the looping, flicking, pushing, and service game, whereas its weaknesses lie with blocking, counter-looping, and smashing.  

The DHS Hurricane 2 Neo is an interesting rubber. It lacks the stability on blocking and top-end power on looping and loop-drives that the H3 provides, which likely is the reason why top-players have been gravitating towards the H3-series instead. However, the H2N is an excellent high-spin rubber for the initial phases of any point, i.e., service, service returns be it flicks or pushes, and third-ball attack. In my opinion, the H2N is suitable for intermediate to advanced players operating close to the table and who value spin above all else. 

For more details, read the full reviews HERE.  

In 2019, I reviewed the Nittaku Hurricane 3 Pro Turbo Blue for Tabletennis11.com, which I dubbed a game-changing rubber. 

The Nittaku Hurricane 3 Pro Turbo Blue is harder and more solid than a Hurricane 3 blue sponge rubber, offering advantages in the fast, close-to-the-table and counter looping game with minimal concessions on opening loops. The main drawback of the NHP3TB is its extreme weight. This is a FH rubber for high-level players who are able to swing through the ball with full commitment and excellent timing and technique.

Read the full review HERE.  

Back in 2019, I reviewed the Andro Hexer Grip and Powergrip rubbers for Tabletennis11.com. 

The Hexer Grip is a great FH rubber for intermediate level and/or young topspin-oriented players. More advanced players, using faster arm swing speeds, will likely find the sponge of the Hexer Grip to be a little bit too soft. In my opinion, the Hexer Grip has even greater applicability as an BH rubber, due to the prominent catapult effect, which imparts more speed and spin on shots played with medium arm speed. 

The Hexer Powergrip is an exceptionally fun rubber to loop, power-loop, or counter-loop with. It is a rubber for intermediate to professional level players who want to win spectacular points by coupling high speed with superior control of ball placement. Respectable spin levels are generated on serves, serve returns, and opening loops. The harder sponge lends the Hexer Powergrip to be used as a FH rubber, but highly skilled players with fast arm speeds enjoying medium-low throwing rubbers, will be able to use the rubber in the BH as well. 

Get all of the details HERE.