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