Table Tennis Gear's "Puzzling Questions," Part 2
4. Is black rubber spinnier?
A rubber’s color is decided by the pigment in the topsheet. Butterfly thinks, because the pigment added is actually very little, in their mechanical tests, red and black rubber’s performance values are identical. ESN thinks the black pigment added, like red rubber, has no effect on the rubber’s main body. But table tennis is a sport heavily affected at the mental level, so rubber color may have some effect mentally. After the 1990s, Chinese players generally used black tacky rubber on the forehand, so an impression of “black is spinnier” arose. China’s Dr. Zhang Xiaopeng (a former TTA vice chairman) wrote a book I read, mentioning: because of the different pigment added, black rubber is spinnier, red rubber springier. But there is also a situation: Hurricane’s blue sponge, if the topsheet is red, the sponge color shows through, making it dark red, which is rule-illegal. So national players who love blue sponge can only use black rubber on the forehand. Over time, some players felt black Hurricane is spinnier.
5. Why is Butterfly’s sponge hardness marking different from other foreign rubbers?
Butterfly says sponge hardness measurement references international standards and Japan industrial standards on one hand, and uses its own measurement method suited to table tennis rubber on the other. The commonly used instrument is the ASKER CL-150. We must realize that if the measuring instrument changes, the value differs. Different brands’ instruments may differ — for example, DHS’s instrument differs. Generally, right after the sponge is baked, the sponge hardness is measured, taken as the standard. But actually, after the sponge cools, it is slightly harder than this. Besides, the sponge measured alone, versus the rubber measured with the topsheet, is obviously different. T05’s sponge hardness is marked 36 degrees, but measured with the topsheet, the average is 47.44 degrees.
6. Does high-hardness sponge mean more power?
ESN says, by style, strong-attack players suit harder rubber, so the player can apply great force to the ball. Conversely, if a strong-attack player uses soft rubber, there is energy loss between the force the player applies and the rubber’s stretch. In plain words, attacking is not satisfying enough — the rubber’s energy ceiling cannot meet your strong attack. But whether the hardness suits you varies by person. I think: if your stroke is slower, the swing slow, the rubber can be softer, so it can still add spin. If the swing is slow and the sponge hardness too high to drive through, you cannot control it and cannot easily produce good spin and speed. Hard sponge can indeed show stronger power, but your power level and swing speed must be enough. For example, the recently hot T05 Hard, Zhu Yuling’s forehand rubber — if I used it, one or two rip shots are no problem, my swing speed is enough. But I cannot continuously loop-drive with it, lasting few shots. For my power, it would be a bit strenuous. Of course, besides swing speed and power level, high-hardness rubber is also pickier about the blade. We will discuss this later.