thickness-of-rubbers
Nomad asked 4 years ago
Hi Dan / Tom
After a bit of soul searching I recently changed my bat and rubbers. I now have an Innerforce ALC and Stiga DNA Pro rubbers 2.1 thickness on both backhand and forehand.I like the blade although the handle was thinner than my previous bat so I put a grip on the handle which stopped the bat from slipping during a fast rally.
I am happy with the combination of blade and rubbers as I can feel the ball gripping when contacting the ball. This gives me more control in terms of blocking, opening up strokes, counter topspin and fast aggressive smashes.
My question is…in the event of having to renew rubbers would there be any benefit in changing either forehand or backhand (assuming that both are equally strong) from 2.1mm to 1.9mm thickness?
Best wishes for the New Year when it comes.
Alex
Tom Academy Coach answered 4 years ago
Hey Alex,
I guess I’m the best person to answer this as I use DNA Pro hard on both sides as well 🙂 I don’t see any benefit in changing to 1.9, as long as you find you have enough control with the 2.1 sponge, the only reason to change would be if you felt the rubbers were too quick and springy and wanted more control with a thinner sponge.
So if your happy with the feel and control stick to the 2.1 sponge
Cheers, Tom
NomadHi Tom. If you are using this rubber then that will be the best recommendation I need. I would expect that the Stiga DNA Pro medium would be softer with a slightly longer dwell time on the rubber and so might be more useful for opening up against heavy backspin?
I have been practising the acucracy in various sidespin servies using the new bat and rubbers and am pleased with the control I am getting in making small alterations to direction (see set up which I sent to the Table Tennis Daily Email address).
Thanks again Tom for your helpful advice which is much appreciated.
Alex
Yeah I love the DNA I think it’s great for all aspects that are important, spin, speed and control. Yes exactly right, DNA medium is softer and slightly slower with more control and slightly easier against backspin but of course you lose a little power. Fairly small difference ls though all the DNA rubbers I would recommend to most players. The robot and bat serving set up looks great and will definitely help the direction and quality of your serves the more practice you do and also just getting used to the feel of the equipment set up too.
No problem at all Alex, happy to help!
Tom
