How Pro Players Think About Rubber Hardness (Part 1)
I remember this well. Years ago I partnered with Kaixuan’s older brother for a team tournament. He normally played with Tenergy 05 on both sides, but couldn’t get hold of Butterfly rubber on short notice and ended up sticking on two sheets of Donic Bluefire M2. That was interesting, because the logical substitute for T05 in hardness and performance would have been M1.
But he said his game was off that stretch — he hadn’t been playing much — so he picked M2 on both sides just to play more steadily and be able to handle all the techniques. He was proven right. He performed quite well in that tournament.
Onodaira Shohei: Forced to Go Harder
Setup: Super Viscaria, D09C on both sides.
His level isn’t elite — roughly top 16 at the All-Japan Championships in men’s singles. I found his interview quite interesting.
He mentioned he started with D05 on both sides, then switched his forehand to D09C three years ago and his backhand to D09C this spring. He acknowledged that softer rubbers are easier to control. (D09C is harder than D05, and in his feel that registers as noticeably stiffer.) But when playing in the Japanese league against higher-level opponents, he found D09C produced better quality.
Blackhorse’s note: “Better quality” means two things — he feels D09C is harder than D05, and D09C generates more spin. But another player might consider D05 the higher-quality rubber. Everyone’s needs are different.
He also noted that having one side slightly harder and the other slightly softer subjectively improves the feel at contact. Blackhorse’s note: Players with very balanced forehand and backhand can go with the same hardness on both sides — think Samsonov, Felix Lebrun, or Hugo Calderano. For someone like me whose forehand leads, I’d typically keep the forehand harder and the backhand softer.
Onodaira also mentioned that in good form he’ll lean toward a stiffer rubber; when his game is off he’ll go softer to shore up consistency. That reminds me of how our national team has sometimes started pre-tournament training on a 40-degree rubber and only bumped it to 41 degrees once they’ve hit their stride.
One more detail: rubber weight correlates with hardness. By weighing the rubber (packaging included), you can gauge stiffness — heavier typically means harder. When I was choosing Hurricane 8-80 for both sides, I’d weigh them along with selecting 37 or 38 degrees, picking the lighter sheet for the backhand and the heavier one for the forehand.
Mizutani Jun’s Take on Rubber Hardness
Setup: Mizutani Jun ZLC, D80 on both sides.
He believes softer rubbers offer better control, and that attacking players lean toward harder rubbers. My interpretation: go soft to strengthen control, go hard to boost attack. Of course the key is whether your technique can actually handle it.
Soft rubbers have longer dwell time and a pausing feel. Hard rubbers shed the ball faster and are comparatively harder to control. That said, most players today trend toward harder rubbers, because soft rubbers can slip when dealing with heavy incoming spin.
Rubber feel is also affected by temperature. On hot days the rubber feels relatively softer; in very cold weather it stiffens up. That’s why you see players breathing on their rubbers in the middle of winter.
Mizutani also noted that rubber weight corresponds to hardness. He generally selects sheets of similar weight, but still presses the sponge with his fingers to feel the elasticity. He saves the best-feeling sheets for key matches — like a final — and uses the next-best for the opening days of a tournament.
Which raises a question: why doesn’t Onodaira press-test with his fingers? Admittedly that takes some skill. But the key reason may be simpler: Butterfly doesn’t sponsor him, so he has to buy the rubber himself. Since he can’t open the packaging, weighing it sealed is his only option.