STIGA（スティガ）

Explanation

We would like to review the German-made adhesive tension rubber, STIGA’s DNA Dragon Grip, which is a hot topic in the streets. In recent years, the quality of German-made rubber has improved remarkably, and the number of German-made adhesive tensions has increased. I would like to compare them.

DNA will be Stiga’s high-end rubber series. To date, there are three types, all of which are Stiga’s first German-made rubber series. DNA Pro series, DNA Platinum series, and this DNA Dragon Grip. Only the DNA Dragon Grip is an adhesive tension rubber, and the other DNA series are basically spin tension rubbers. Until the release of the DNA series, Stiga sold and handled rubber made in Japan. Such Stiga will release a high-end rubber made in Germany, the first of which will be the DNA Pro series. DNA Pro is a rubber that seems to be the original German spin tension rubber, and it was very similar to the best-selling rubber Fastarc G-1 in Japan. And the second release last year is the DNA Platinum series. This is very popular and has been highly rated by table tennis YouTubers (Goblin’s) and other reviewers. katsuo000 also reviewed DNA Platinum Extra Hard as a good impression rubber.

The DNA Platinum series was a rubber very similar to Butterfly’s Tenergy 05. The grain shape of the sheet is thick and has a characteristic of spin system, and it was a rubber that feels quite good to bite even when combined with the 52.5 ° extra hard sponge (XH). Tenergy 05 is also a rubber that feels good in the hardness, but this DNA Platinum series is also a rubber series that is very good at biting into the indicated hardness, and it is a hard rubber that can be easily bitten, so the amount of rotation It will be terrible. It is a sponge that is not similar to the butterfly spring sponge, but it makes you feel that German technology is evolving. Is the feeling of use about 47 ° with the hardness of the German standard? I feel that it is the closest rubber to Tenergy 05 among the post-tenergy rubbers.

And the DNA Dragon Grip was released in quick succession. Recently, we have entered the era of adhesive rubber group male division, and each company has released adhesive tension. I would like to review what kind of rubber the DNA Dragon Grip is.

I can only tell you how amazing it is, but I would like to touch on the technology. First of all, DNA Platinum and DNA Dragon Grip are said to have adopted technologies such as Longer Trajectory, Direct Power Hit Effect, and Power Sponge Cells. Perhaps a new sponge called the Power Sponge Cell will perform like the Tenergy 05 to show similar performance to the Butterfly Spring Sponge.

・Longer Trajectory
・Direct Power Hit Effect
・Power Sponge Cells

In addition, the DNA Dragon Grip uses a technology called C Touch Tensor. The phrase “C-Touch” is the technology used in the seats of DONIC’s Blue Grip C1 and I imagine it’s probably similar. I quoted the explanation about C Touch Tensor from the STIGA site. ↓

C Touch Tensor

Adhesive top sheets provide exceptional grip and a high level of control on serve and receive. The newly installed sponge was developed based on AI (artificial intelligence) and advice from top players. By digitally analyzing the data, we identified the important characteristics of the material, and made the strong rotation amount and high control performance of the adhesive top sheet coexist with the powerful speed of the new sponge.

https://stigasports.jp/product/dna-%e3%83%89%e3%83%a9%e3%82%b4%e3%83%b3-%e3%82%b0%e3%83%aa%e3%83%83%e3%83%97%e3%80%8855%e3%80%89/

Published performance value

You can clearly see that the DNA Platinum series has improved rotational performance compared to the previous DNA Pro series. And you can see well that the adhesive tension rubber with higher spin performance from the DNA platinum series becomes the DNA dragon grip. Next is a comparison with a hardness tester.

As you can see from this figure, DNA Pro H, DNA Platinum XH, and DNA Dragon Grip are as hard as Tenergy 05. Of course, the German-made rubber STIGA rubber is heavier, and the butterfly rubber is lighter, which is also a characteristic of the result.

Finally, the difference between the hardness on the sheet side and the hardness on the sponge side is plotted. Katsuo000 feels that the larger this value is, the easier it is to handle or bite into the rubber. I have included Tenergy 05 as an index, but you can see that Tenergy 05 is a rubber that is very easy to handle and easy to rotate because it has a good hardness and is very easy to handle. On the other hand, the DNA Dragon Grip seems to have specifications that are conscious of Dignics 09C, and the hardness difference between the seat side and the sponge side is close. The difference between the seat side and the sponge side is smaller than that of Dignics 09C, and I think it is a rubber that is difficult to bite into. However, the value of shore c itself is harder in Dignics 09C, so its influence may be stronger. (For adhesive rubber, the difference in hardness between the sheet side and the sponge side is not a very good index, and I feel that it is easier to understand if you compare purely by hardness. What kind of comparison is good in the future? I would like to think about it.)

DNA Dragon Grip sticking and weight

DNA Dragon Grip
・Speed: 132
・Spin: 146
・Control: 80
・Sponge Thickness: Max (2.3 mm)
・Sponge stiffness: 55.0°
・6,600 yen + tax
・74 g (before cut) → 52 g (after cut)

I pasted it using YASAKA’s Norisuke. After all it is heavy! By the way, I pasted the racket on my favorite WRM 970XX-KLC recently. This racket is an inner Kep1er carbon racket with a 5.7 mm thin plate, a hard upper plate dyeing material, and the lightest among Chinese rackets. The cost performance is very good (5,980 yen + shipping fee for sale), so it is recommended.

By the way, the sheet doesn’t feel very sticky. Recent German adhesive tension rubber does not have the sticky feeling of the sheet like Chinese adhesive rubber. The smell is a little peculiar, but compared to Chinese adhesive rubber, it is a level that even people who do not know table tennis do not mind. If it is not sold as an adhesive tension rubber, it will be difficult to recognize it as an adhesive rubber in the first place. Of course, the performance has the characteristics of adhesive rubber!

3 features of DNA Dragon Grip

Adhesive rubber that bites in with a light force!

As you can see from the results of the hardness comparison, it was a rubber with a very light force, which was hard enough to hit by hand, and it was easy to put out a sticky ball. First of all, regarding the hardness, it was a rubber that bites well and is easy to handle compared to the adhesive rubber made in China. The bite is too good and you may even feel like a spin tension rubber. The sponge is a hard sponge that is even harder than DNA Platinum XH and has fewer bubbles, but I didn’t feel that hard. In the review of Karahashi Takukyu Yoyogi store, it was also reviewed that the DNA Dragon Grip can add vertical rotation with a small force without making a big swing when used in the back, and it can get points. If you want strong rotation even with such a weak force, I think the DNA Dragon Grip is a very good option.

A seat that emphasizes ball holding and rotation rather than Rakza Z

The characteristic of DNA Dragon Grip is that the seat is thick and the grain shape is low and thick, that is, the seat shape is characterized by the rotation performance that is adopted for the spin type tension rubber that emphasizes rotation. The sheet of the DNA Platinum series also had a sheet shape similar to Tenergy 05. On the other hand, the sponge is not as hard as other super-hard adhesive rubbers and feels more biting than I expected. Of course, there are multiple German tension rubbers of the same hardness, such as Omega VII China Guang from XIOM, Blue Grip C2 from DONIC, and VICTAS. Examples include Triple Extra. For this comparison, I mentioned Rakza Z Extra Hard, which has already been tested to some extent and has the same hardness. I hope it can be compared with other adhesive tension rubbers, but I haven’t. The Rakza Z XH is symmetrical compared to the DNA Dragon Grip, and the overall weight of the rubber is heavier than the DNA Dragon Grip, while the sponge has a lot of bubbles and the sheet is rather thin and the sheet is thin and Tenergy 80 (Tenergy 80). It has a shape like a speed tension rubber such as 80) or Tenergy 64. It was an adhesive rubber because it was heavy and hard as a whole, and it was a rubber that was somewhat like a speed tension rubber. The DNA Dragon Grip has a symmetrical design guideline compared to the Rakza Z XH, and I felt a great difference in its rubber design. The DNA Dragon Grip has a seat and grain shape similar to that of a spin-type tension rubber specializing in rotation like Tenergy 05, but the sponge is a sponge that is not too hard. It was a well-balanced rubber like between the adhesive rubber and spin tension, which is perfect when you want more spin performance than DNA Platinum XH.

It’s easy to bite in and handle, but it’s also easy to get rid of habits (misleading by the amount of rotation)!

Although it is not completely comparable to the rubber mentioned above, I think that the DNA Dragon Grip is probably classified as a habit ball (or easy to make mistakes due to the amount of rotation) rubber side even in the hardness of 55 °. I will list the same degree of hardness again.

　・Omega VII China Guang (XIOM) 55°
　・Blue Grip C2 (DONIC) 55°
　・Rakza Z Extra Hard (Yasaka) 52~57°
　・Triple Extra (VICTAS) 55°
　・Dignics 09C (Butterfly) 44° (Butterfly standard)
　・Hybrid K3 (TIBHAR) 53°
　・Hybrid K1J (TIBHAR) 52.5°
　・Blue Grip R1 (DONIC) 50°
　・Rakza Z (Yasaka) 47~52°
　・Rising Dragon (Yasaka) 47~52°

There are rubbers that I have used and rubbers that I have not used, but among the above, DNA Dragon Grip was a rubber that was easy to get a habit (misleading due to the amount of rotation). For example, even if I drive in a state close to hand-striking without wearing shoes, I felt that the rotation and the way the ball bounces and flies from the table will change. I think that this amount of rotation and habit is the performance you want if you use adhesive rubber! Personally, I felt that it was a rubber that could make mistakes with the amount of rotation more than the Rakza Z XH and the Dignics 09C (of course, the Rakza Z XH is faster than the Rakza Z XH and the Dignics 09C is better if you want ease of handling in addition to speed. I think). Please refer.

Each technology review

Fore hand

Light hit
There was no discomfort with the momentum like tension rubber. At least I don’t think I feel like I don’t fly like a leopard.

Drive on long balls and rallies
I felt it was a little soft. Compared to the spin type tension rubber, there was an impression that the ball enters a little shallower because the arc line is very easy to come out. It grips the ball very well, so it is easy to spin. I personally like the one that is a little harder, but it may be easier to use if you want to speed up. Since the sponge hardness is 55 °, I felt it was soft, but I didn’t lose to the opponent’s ball.

Drive with open face
Even if I opened the surface, it would rotate firmly and sink, so it was very good. This area was just like an adhesive rubber. Also, I felt that the drive would be stable because it would sink by rotation if it was rubbed without opening the surface in the opposite direction due to the shape of the seat.

Top spin (loop) drive against back spin
Since it grips firmly, I was able to hit a drive with abundant rotation. However, it is not a rubber that is hard and does not bounce like a leopard, so I felt a little power loss. I felt that it was shallow and low and easy to control.

Speed drive against back spin
Even if I hit it like rubbing, I was able to hit the speed drive and the impression was good. However, since it is an adhesive rubber, I felt that the ball would run better if I hit it with the surface open. I think that hitting like rubbing will increase from the opponent’s court.

Curve / shoot drive
I felt that the ball would bend well when it was curved or shot because the ball entered shallowly. The course is also easy to aim for.

Block
I felt that it was a little susceptible to rotation. Instead, it was easy to block balls such as smashes.

Counter drive
It was easy to bite in firmly and rotate, and it fits well and it was easy to counter drive. Is it really an adhesive rubber?

Push / stop
I felt that it took some getting used to cutting because the bite was a little too good. Since it is an adhesive rubber, it was very easy to do without popping out.

Serve
It was easy to rotate firmly. However, I felt that it was softer than the Omega VII China shadow and that it popped out a little better.

Back hand

Light hit
After using it in the fore, I tried using it in the back, but as I imagined, I felt it was easy to use in the back. With a sponge hardness of 55 °, the weight is certainly as heavy as 50 g, but I felt that it was easier to handle than Chinese adhesive and could be used in the back without any discomfort.

Drive on long balls and rallies
I felt a sense of stability because I held the ball firmly. I also felt that the ball was a little slow to leave. I also felt that impact was needed to speed up from the middle team.

Top spin (loop) drive against back spin
It was very easy to do. I felt that I could make a loop drive with just the right hardness and a sense of stability. Also, because it grips the ball firmly, I felt that it could be lifted even if the hitting point was dropped.

Speed drive against back spin
I felt that the speed was a little mature because I had a good ball. I also felt this in DNA Platinum.　

Block
I felt that it was easily affected by rotation for its hardness. It wasn’t that difficult.

Counter drive
It was easy to do. I felt the feeling of holding a ball more than Dignics 05, so it was easy to feel that I had a counter drive.

Push / stop
Since it is an adhesive rubber, it will not float. However, since the sponge has a good bite, I felt that it was easy to overshoot if I was not careful about the touch.

Chiquita
It was easy to do. It was easy to rotate!

Comparison with other rubbers (personal impressions)

Spin amount
　Omega VII China Ying ＞ DNA Dragon Grip ＞ Dignics 05

Speed
　Dignics 09C ≧ Rakza Z Extra Hard ＞ Rhyzen ZGR ＞ DNA Dragon Grip ＞ Hurricane NEO III

Explanation

We would like to review STIGA’s 2021 featured product, DNA Platinum XH. Speaking of STIGA, I think that Table Tennis player has a strong image of a long-established wood racket. The image of STIGA ≒ wood racket is quite strong for katsuo000. And the image is that you have a contract with the Chinese national team. Such STIGA released a new rubber in the summer of 2021! The name will be the DNA Platinum series! The DNA Pro series was already on sale. STIGA was particular about rubber made in Japan, but from the DNA Pro series to rubber made in Germany. Speaking of Made In Germany, the high-end rubbers of VICTAS and YASAKA are almost made in Germany. German rubber is often used by top players next to Butterfly’s Tenergy series, and STIGA’s DNA Pro series was also attracting attention because it was made in Germany! Although it is a very short period of time, I have used DNA Pro H, and I feel that the image is quite similar to Nittaku’s Fastarc G-1. You did. At that time, I hadn’t used G-1 yet, and I wanted to write a review about DNA Pro H again after various trial hits. After all, the new rubber came out first. Sweat. I would like to continue to review the latest rubber at As Soon As Possible (ASAP) so that this does not happen.
The DNA Platinum series that appeared this time was a high-end rubber, so it was a bullish price setting of 8,000 yen + tax. I felt that the technology of German-made rubber, in which post-Tenergy rubber (such as andro’s Rasanter R53) that exceeds Tenergy has appeared one after another in recent years, will be applied to this DNA platinum series as well. This is expected!

The world standard Tenergy 05 still wants the name of the world standard as of 2021, more than 10 years after its launch. Tenergy 05 has become an existence that cannot be talked about without it when thinking about table tennis. Considering the features of this Tenergy series as katsuo000 as of 2021, I think it will be as follows.

Features of the Tenergy series
・High spin performance
・High speed performance
・Light

Tenergy series can only be produced at Butterfly’s own factory, making it a rubber that differentiates it from other competing table tennis makers. While other competing table tennis makers basically outsource rubber manufacturing, Butterfly, despite being a table tennis maker, owns a sponge manufacturing factory and is trying to differentiate itself! Of course, I think that rubber manufacturers outsourced to overturn such a situation have also advanced technological development. I think that the early post-Tenergy rubber supplemented the rotation performance by thickening the seat in order to compete with the Tenergy series with high rotation performance.

Click here for the relationship between seat shape and performance：　https://katsuo000.com/topsheet_shape/

I think early post-Tenergy rubbers were, for example, Fastarc G-1 and Rakza X, Evolution MX-P. For example, the Fastarc G-1 certainly has high spin performance and grip, but it is heavier than the Tenergy 05, and I think it will need a stronger impact to bite the ball. It can be said that one of the factors is that the sheet is thick.

I think this DNA Platinum series is a rubber that is categorized as a post-Tenergy tension rubber or an evolved Tenergy tension rubber in katsuo000. Instead of using a thick sheet like the post-Tenergy rubber in the early days as mentioned above, what a thin sheet is used! It seems that the technology has advanced so that thin sheets can be adopted for Rasanter R53 and Rasanter R48, which are classified into the same post-Tenergy tension or evolutionary Tenergy tension in katsuo000. The DNA Platinum series may have adopted similar technology! As a result of the advanced technology of the German factory, I imagine that high-performance rubber will continue to be sold from the German factory. I’m really looking forward to this!

The DNA Platinum Extra Hard reviewed on this page is the hardest rubber in the DNA Platinum series. Yu-san, a table tennis equipment specialist, was also pushing for extra hardware in the DNA Platinum series! Although it is a hard rubber of 52.5 ° according to German standards, I imagined that it is a rubber that is easy to handle because it is hard to break the hardness like Tenergy. The price setting of 8,000 yen also makes you feel the seriousness of STIGA! Let’s review it!

Published performance value

You can see that DNA Platinum Extra Hard is the highest performance spin tension rubber among STIGA rubbers! This is promising!

The hardness comparison by a hardness tester, which shows a certain degree of correlation with performance, is shown below.

Compared to Butterfly’s rubber, I felt that it was a rubber closer to Tenergy than Dignics. Tenergy 05 seems to be particularly close. However, it should be noted that the mass of rubber is heavier for DNA Platinum XH. In terms of weight, the butterfly rubber is light and very good.

DNA Platinum Extra Hard Weight and Paste

DNA Platinum Extra Hard was 53 g. I expected it, but it’s still heavy.

DNA Platinum XH
　High Tension
・Sponge thickness: MAX (2.3 mm)
・Spin: 140
・Speed: 168
・Sponge stiffness: 52.5
・8,000 yen + tax
・74 g (before cut) → 53 g (after cut)

Three features of DNA Platinum XH

Recently, I’ve been addicted to inner carbon, and I’m going to try out this rubber with inner carbon. It was nice that it was very easy to handle, but the comparison with the rubber so far may be a little sloppy. Thank you for your understanding.

Easy to handle and high spin performance that does not make you feel 52.5 °!

I imagined it would be more difficult to handle because it was extra hard, but I felt it was quite easy to handle because it was attached to the inner carbon. Also, since the difference between the sheet side hardness and the sponge side hardness of the hardness tester (Shore a) is close to Tenergy 05, I imagined that it would be good to bite in, but it was as easy to handle as Tenergy 05, and it took a lot of rotation. I felt the ease and high rotation performance. This sounds good!
Although it is a rotation performance, it was a good impression that the rotation was so good that the opponent could be swallowed by the downward rotation backhand drive. I’m not good at backhand, so it’s difficult to stabilize the rotation, but even with my backhand technology, I felt that DNA Platinum XH would be easy to rotate and would be a weapon against the opponent!

Because the grain of the sheet is thick, it has a stronger grip than R53!

I was surprised at the high rotation performance of the Rasanter R53, but I felt that the grain shape of the sheet of the R53 was slightly better than the Tenergy 80, not the Tenergy 05. In other words, it feels like the ball is coming off quickly after it has been bitten. On the other hand, the DNA Platinum XH is similar to the R53, but I felt that the grip was clearly better than the DNA Platinum XH! Imagine this is probably due to the thick grain design of the sheet. On the other hand, the R53 had a rougher feel to the ball in a good way, and I felt the ball was powerful, but the DNA Platinum XH made the ball a little shallower, and I felt that the ball was running, the ball was running, and the 2nd gear was a little quieter. See you. I think this is a trade-off performance, so I think it can’t be helped. Personally, I felt that the R53 was flashy, and the DNA Platinum XH was straightforward and had high rotational performance. If you can master R53, I feel that R53 is easier to play with a lot of humor, and DNA Platinum XH is less flashy, but it is easier to put out more than the user’s ability!

The best of Post Tenergy 05! Just heavy Tenergy 05!

Among the post-Tenergy rubbers in 2021, I felt that it was the closest rubber to Tenergy 05! Until then, I felt that the Rasanter R48 was in that position, but although the rotation performance was high, the shot feeling and grip feeling were not exactly the same as Tenergy 80, not Tenergy 05. The DNA Platinum XH this time is heavy, but the ease of grip obtained with thick grains is exactly close to Tenergy 05, and I felt that it is a rubber with similar performance in rotation amount. Even in comparison with the hardness tester, the value is quite close, and the rubber that can be said to be Tenergy 05 except for the weight was DNA Platinum XH! It’s a very good rubber and I think it’s a recommended rubber.

I also tried it with the inner carbon Reinforce AC this time, and it felt very good. Even considering STIGA’s products, I think that it is probably a rubber that is easy to fit in a wood racket. Mizuno’s Q5 is another rubber that I felt was not suitable for wood, but I think that the spin tension from the hard and adhesive rubber tends to be suitable for wood or inner carbon rackets. DNA Platinum XH will be a rubber that matches wood and inner carbon without leakage! Such rubber is often understood by the ease of overwriting loop drive with forehand, but DNA Platinum XH has a very low loop drive and abundant rotation amount, so it was easy to return. I really like these rubbers. I felt that it would be a very good option if I could overcome the weight!

Each technique review

Fore hand

Rally drive
You have the ball. I felt it was very easy to handle. I felt that this is the grain shape of the sheet that is close to the sheet structure of Butterfly 05.

Loop (top spin) drive against back spin
I felt high rotation performance.

Speed drive against back spin
It was easier to hit than I expected because the bite was good! I think speed drive is easier to hit than Dignics 05.

Block
I felt that it would take a little spin and power against.

Stop
It was easy to stop firmly.

Push
I felt it would run out.

Serve
The service was easy to put out and it was exhausted.

Back hand

Rally drive
It’s easy to hit because it has a ball. However, because the rubber is a little heavy, there was a lot of delay in swinging.

Loop (top spin) drive against back spin
It was extremely easy to do, and it took a lot of rotation, which made a good impression. It’s not that it’s a little lighter. I was happy to be able to indulge my opponent with a backhand drive!

Speed drive against back spin
This was also easy to do. I’m glad that there was a feeling of almighty.

Push
It was easy to spin.

Comparison with other rubbers (personal impressions)

Spin amount
　Dignics 05 ＞ DNA Platinum XH ＞ Tenergy 05

Speed
　 Dignics 05 ＞ DNA Platinum XH ＞ Tenergy 05

Ease of handling
　Rasanter R48 ＞ DNA Platinum XH＞ Rasanter R53

Comparison within evolutionary Tenergy tension
　Spin amount
　　Dignics 05 ＞ Q5 ≧ DNA Platinum XH ≧ Rasanter R53 ＞ Rasanter R48 ≧ Evolution MX-D

　Speed
　　 Dignics 05 ≧ Evolution MX-D ＞ Rasanter R53 ≧ Q5 ≧ Rasanter R48 ＞ DNA Platinum XH