From Fan Zhendong's Treble: Forehand Notes on Blue National Hurricane, D09c, Z03 and T05H
Last night, Fan Zhendong beat Qiu Dang 3-1 and Jha 3-2, taking two points on his own to help Saarbrücken win the Bundesliga title, becoming the club’s first treble winner in history: German Cup, Champions League and Bundesliga.
From these two matches, Fan Zhendong using the ZYRE-03 on the forehand looked neither impressive nor flawed. He made fewer errors than before, but there was not a single dazzling ball either. It feels like me using the Viscaria: attack and defense are both fine, few weaknesses, but no balls that make bystanders gasp. When I use the Super Heima or the Yoshimura Limited, it is not like this.
Today, let us compare the use of these forehand flagship rubbers.
1
NEO blue national Hurricane.
These days, if someone develops a product similar to the blue national Hurricane but tells you it only works after boosting, that seems to lack sincerity. When everyone says it would be great if DHS designed a truly built-in-energy Hurricane 3 — is it possible that, designed as true built-in energy, the effect could not be as good as it is now?
Comparing how Fan Zhendong looks using different rubbers on the forehand, there is no doubt the blue national Hurricane is more composed and has more variation in the details. Scraping out spin, holding the ball first while moving side to side, keeping the arc low, or ensuring a full arc when counter-looping — these are all things the blue national Hurricane does better. In short, it gives you more adjustment ability, and that is where the sense of security lies.
As for bottom power, it is true many amateurs cannot hit out its bottom power; they can barely produce the sneaky second bounce. If you want bottom power, boost it full and it becomes much easier to achieve, while also lowering the power threshold a bit. But in most cases, you still need to put in more effort.
2
Tenergy 05 Hard. Representatives: Zhu Yuling, Miyu Nagasaki, Ionescu.
If you want a tensor that, like the Hurricane, can bite the ball on the surface, pull out strong spin, and has enough power to end the point in one shot more easily, that is the T05 Hard. It is not only built-in energy but also much faster than the Hurricane — lightning-quick after you fire.
Zhu Yuling tried the D09c but always went back to the T05H. Maybe she understands that if she does not play Hurricane on the forehand, and wants a tensor that can both pull strong spin and put a ball away in one shot, the T05H is just about the perfect answer.
It is just that when you hit a kill shot, it requires your power to be a bit more concentrated than the Hurricane. Using it, you cannot help but stay tense, from power output to focus. Whether you can keep outputting like that is hard to say.
3
Dignics 09c.
Among slightly-tacky rubbers, this surface’s friction and ball-grip are very strong. Even though the sponge is not all that solid, as long as you pair it with the right blade, the bottom power is basically enough. And for half-long underspin balls, where it beats many tensors is that it can lift them up. When you rip, you may not feel it is very spinny; but when you lift, the spin is actually not bad.
Overall, it lets you play very composedly. Like a domestic tacky rubber, it lets you adjust. It has no mountain-splitting power, but as a built-in-energy substitute for the Hurricane, it is fairly easy to adapt to. You just adjust the hit-to-brush ratio, drop the spin a bit, raise the speed a bit.
4
ZYRE-03.
Overall, it is quite ball-holding, even though it is a tensor. It is just that its instant ball-gripping pause and adjustability are not as high as the few above, so when looping or lifting underspin, the opponent will feel it is not that spinny. On a chance ball, when you rip you have to push a bit more forward than with the few above, or you may net it.
Stars or players used to the Hurricane and D09c, when using the Z03, have to spare a bit of focus to first grip the ball. Beyond that, it easily produces a long arc with ease. More of its threat comes from the sense of speed and the long arc, especially suited to fast linking-up. But it does not quite fit our long-standing Chinese forehand philosophy: grip, load, rip in one shot.