Explanation
Rakza X is one of YASAKA’s high-end rubber series, Rakza series.
Speaking of contract players with YASAKA, Takuya Kami, who won the All Japan Championship second place in 2014, Mattias Falck (Sweden), who won the 2019 World Championship second place, won the World Cup four times as an advisor, and won the Athens Olympics. Ma Lin (China) is famous. There are also many contract players from Waseda University, including Fumiya Igarashi, who won the Kanto Student Championship, Asuka Sasao, who won the Junior Division of the All Japan Championship, and Yuko Kato, who won the second place in the Kanto Student Championship. Also, there are many sharp contract players with Aida Satoshi who is active in TT Saitama with a different back and forth cut man. It seems that Kami is currently using YASAKA’s adhesive rubber Shoryu. When he was a student, he used both Rakza 7 and Rakza X, the Non Slip Sheet reviewed on this page. You will be a player who has experience playing an active role.
The Rakza series is a very proven series, and in the olden days, the god player mentioned earlier used Rakza 7 when he won the All Japan Student Championship and Rakza X when he won the All Japan Championship runner-up. Also, in recent years, it seems that Ryoma Tezuka of Meitoku Gijuku High School, who is a heterogeneous player who makes heavy use of smash, used Rakuza X when he won the championship, and Ryoichi Yoshiyama of Aikodai Meiden used Rakuza 7 when he won the All Japan Junior Championship. It is not a minor rubber, but a rubber series that even top players can get enough results!
Rakza series
The Rakza series is YASAKA’s signature tension rubber series. All Rakza rubbers are Hybrid Energy type rubbers, which are “combined with the high grip and spin performance of high elasticity and high friction rubber, the high repulsion of tension rubber and the refreshing shot feeling”.
Similar to Butterfly’s Tenergy and Dignics series, the image of the hitting trajectory is posted on the YASAKA homepage and pamphlets. The rubber with the highest arc is the Rakza Z, which was sold in the spring of 2020. This is followed by Rakza X, Rakza 7 and Rakza 9. I think you can think of it as follows when it is compatible with the Dignics series.
Rakza Z ⇄ Dignics 09C
Rakza X ⇄ Dignics 05
Rakza 7 ⇄ Dignics 80
Rakza 9 ⇄ Dignics 64
The Rakza Z, which will be released in the spring of 2020, is an adhesive rubber, and it is in the same classification as the Dignics 09C. Is this a coincidence, isn’t it?
If you explain the Rakza series in detail, there are four types of Rakza rubber, each of which is different in detail. There are two types of Rakza Z, Rakza Z and Rakza Z Extra Hard. The Rakza X uses Non Slip Sheet (NSS) technology and is said to have a high grip that sets it apart from other Rakza. In terms of performance values, the amount of rotation is higher for Rakza 7 next to Rakza Z. And the fastest in the series is Rakza 9. Soft sponge is sold in two types, Rakza X and Rakza 7. The rubber series, which is very popular even though it has different parts in such small parts, is the Rakza series.
The Rakza X to be reviewed this time is a 05 series rubber among the butterfly rubbers, so I would like to check the amount of rotation and loop drive. It’s a rubber that seems to be close to my taste, so I’m really looking forward to it!
Published performance value
YASAKA’s signboard rubber, Mark V (Mark Five) series is also posted. It can be seen that Rakza X is content with spin performance and speed performance of No. 2 or less among YASAKA’s rubber. Rakza X has no sharp points in terms of performance, and it seems that it is more suitable to describe it as a well-balanced rubber. Nittaku’s Fastarc G-1 is also characterized by high grip, and the Hurricane series, which Nittaku also handles, is superior in terms of rotational performance, and speed performance. If so, Fastarc P-1 is higher. Like the Fastarc G-1, the Rakza X can be said to be a grip-oriented spin and speed balanced rubber.
Rakza X paste and weight
Rakza X
"NSS-equipped rubber that does not lose to the rotation of the opponent"
Hybrid Energy
・Speed: 11
・Spin: 13+
・Sponge Thickness: middle thick, thick, extra thick
・Sponge stiffness: 45-50°
・5,200 yen + tax
・71 g (before cut) → 50 g (after cut)I pasted it using YASAKA’s Norisuke. At the time of hitting the curtain, it was a good impression rubber with a shot feeling that I seemed to like quite a lot, and it also took rotation easily! If it has a high grip, a good amount of rotation, and is as easy to use as the Rakza 7, I felt that it was quite possible and started the trial hit. As a result, it was a trial hit that did not make a big difference from the impression of hitting the curtain.
Three features of Rakza X
I decided to use the rubber on the back side of my main job! I will give you some features, but it was similar to Rakza 7 and easy to use. The shot feeling, grip power, and arch line are closer to Tenergy 05 and Dignics 05 than Rakza 7, so even if you unconsciously bang or rub it, it will fit on the table! I feel that the offensive and defensive powers are very well balanced. I am very happy to meet a satisfying rubber!
Easy to handle!
It has the same features as Ventus Extra (super Ventus) and Rakza 7, but it was easy to handle as expected! Of course, the direction of ease of handling is better than Rakza 7, and it will be a rubber that is easy to put on the opponent’s coat anyway! Comparing Rakza 7 and Rakza X, I felt that Rakza 7 is a rubber in the direction of Tenergy, and Rakza X is a rubber that feels hard and easy to feel like a German rubber! Also, as a point I like the most, compared to Rakza 7, Rakza X has a better impression that the ball sinks and the way the arc line comes out is closer to Butterfly’s Tenergy 05 and Dignics 05, so it can be used very comfortably. It was! Like Rakza 7, Rakza X was a rubber that was so easy to use that I thought I would use it in tomorrow’s game at a level where I didn’t have to search for habits. It’s a little hard, so I felt that the block was easy to fall off, but I think that if you get used to it, you can master it.
Also, like Rakza 7, it was hard to feel that the quality of the ball was so high. In order to improve the quality of the ball, I felt that it was necessary to firmly insert each ball into the entire rubber and then fly it while rotating it firmly. However, it was fun to be able to hit the chiquita, drive, and rally with a high degree of freedom that I wouldn’t expect to use for the first time!
Strong grip!
As a feature compared to Rakza 7, I felt that Rakza X had a very high grip. Of course, I felt that I had a ball with Rakza 7, but I felt that the ball was easy to fly, probably because the seat was quite soft. In the future, I’d like to somehow compare the grain-to-grain of the sheet, but apparently there was no big difference in thickness and spacing between Rakza 7 and Rakza X. The shape of the sheet is similar, but the transparency of the sheet is different, and I felt that Rakza 7 is transparent and soft, and Rakza X is a turbid and hard sheet. I felt that the hardness of the seat of Rakza X is just right, and I can grip and fly the ball to the last minute like Tenergy 05. Therefore, by using Rakza X, it is easy to hit a very high quality loop drive and Chiquita, and Chiquita also bends firmly! According to YASAKA’s announced performance value, Rakza 7 has better spin performance, but I felt that Rakza X was easier to hit with a spinning ball than Rakza 7! Rakza X responded firmly to the swing that I tried to rotate, and I felt that it was easy to hit a ball with a sharp rotation amount.
Easy to handle even in rallies!
Even in the exchange of fastballs in blocks and rallies, it was a good impression that it was easy to hit back firmly without losing the rotation of the opponent’s ball. I think this is also because the sheet is hard. Anyway, I felt that swinging is easier to stabilize, and trying to block only at an angle is more susceptible to the rotation of the opponent. I think that it will be stable if you raise it by applying some kind of rotation instead of just hitting it. I think it can be said that it is a rubber that is easy to make your own ball even with a weak force!
Each technics review
Fore hand
Light hit
It wasn’t hard to hit.
Drive on long balls and rallies
It was very good that both the method of rubbing with the sheet and the method of hitting it were stable! Personally, I felt that it was easier to hit a high-quality ball than Rakza 7.
Drive with open face
I felt the strength of the core that I could not lose even if I let Rakza X dig into it as well as Rakza 7. The strength of this core is the image of the strength that can be taken to the drive no matter how hard it is bitten. I found it easy to drive with a very open face. On the other hand, I think it is a characteristic of rubber, but I felt that the ball was not running as much as Rakza 7 in Rakza X. The speed performance is the same for both Rakza X and Rakza 7, but I felt that the ball stretched better with Rakza 7. This part is a part where tastes are quite different, and if you focus on growth, I think that Rakza 7 will grow more than Rakza X!
Loop (top spin) drive against back spin
Rakza 7 was good, but Rakza X was pretty good! I strongly felt the grip. I felt that it was hard to repel and it was easy to control the low and shallow loop drive. It was your favorite shot feeling!
Speed drive against back spin
I wrote in the item of drive with the face open, but it was very good. It was more stable than Rakza 7! However, I also felt that the ball was not growing. I think it’s a rubber that seems to have different likes and dislikes.
Curve / shoot drive
It is a rubber that can easily generate the amount of rotation if you hit it firmly and carefully, and I think that it will bend firmly on curves and shoots. Personally, I was impressed by the fact that the ball does not stretch as much as the Rakza 7, so the Rakza X bends more firmly on curves and shots. I think it’s easy to use as a weapon because it became a plastic ball and the ball became easier to bend sideways.
Block
I felt that it would drop a little compared to Rakza 7. However, I also felt that it was not easily affected by the rotation of the other party. I want a grip even in the block, but I felt the grip in the Fastarc G-1.
カウンタードライブ
Counter drive
The counter turned around and was easy to do.
stop
I felt it was hard to float and easy to do. However, I feel that the amount of spin is a little low.
Push
Like the stop, the amount of rotation was small, but it was not difficult to do.
Serve
It was a good impression to be able to rotate firmly. You can cut it! It was harder to bounce and easier to control than Rakza 7.
Back hand
Light hit
There was no strange feeling of strangeness of the other party.
Drive on long balls and rallies
It was a good impression with the drive. It was good that it was hard to overshoot even if I hit it hard. It’s also easy to rotate. It was a rubber that I felt was quite easy to use! I felt that this ease of handling would live in a rally!
Loop (top spin) drive against back spin
This was also very easy to do! Since it grips firmly, the sense of stability was level regardless of the amount of rotation!
Speed drive against back spin
This was also easy to do. It draws an arch line firmly, so it was easy to hit a drive that pierces the deep part of the opponent’s court! This will be a weapon!
Curve / shoot drive
You bent it by turning it sideways and raising it! As I wrote in the section on forehand technology, it bends well. I think this rubber is very good if you put in horizontal rotation to stabilize it!
Block
I felt it was a little easier to fall off.
Counter drive
It was a good impression that I entered quite a bit even if I touched it immediately. There was a feeling of being helped by the rubber.
Stop
Like the fore stop, the amount of rotation was small, but it was easy to do.
Push
Same as stop.
Chiquita
It was very good that it was stable by adding horizontal spin. Also, it is easy to rotate, so it was good to get a certain amount of rotation even if you hit it with just your wrist.
Comparison with other rubbers (personal impressions)
Spin amount
Dignics 05 ＞ Tenergy 05 ＞ Rakza X ＞ Rakza 7
Speed
Dignics 05 ＞ Rakza 7 ≧ Tenergy 80 ＞ Rakza X ≧ Tenergy 05