Explanation
I would like to review the rubber of andro, which is a German table tennis bland and always has a stylish and unique presence. I think andro has clearly become more prominent in Japan in recent years. The reasons for this include Simon Gauzy (France), who has won the 2017 Table Tennis World Cup against Jun Mizutani and the 2019 World Championship against Xu Xin (China), uses andro’s blade and rubbers. And also. there is a fact that the andro’s blade and rubbers used by Akifumi Hamakawa, who entered the 2019 All Japan Championship as a ranker.
From Rasant to Rasanter
andro was selling the characteristic green sponge rubber Rasant series (Rasant, Rasant Grip, Rasant Power Grip, Rasant Power Sponge, Rasant Beat, and Rasant Turbo) as a symbol until 2016. The 6 rubbers of Rasant series have all been discontinued, and a new lineup called Rasanter has been launched in 2017. The Rasanter series is a new flagship rubber that uses the same green sponge as the Rasant series. The Razanter series includes the R series, which has high spin performance and makes it easy to make arcs, and the V series, which has high speed performance in addition to spin performance. I am. In addition, ahead of other German manufacturers, it will be a rubber lineup equipped with Ultra Max, a technology that makes the sponge thickness 2.3 mm. This technology seems to have been applied to top players before that, and it is a rubber that makes the seat thinner than the current one and makes the sponge thicker by that amount. There is an international rule that the thickness of rubber, including the adhesive layer, should be 4.0 mm or less, so it is necessary to make the sheet thinner in order to make the sponge thicker. It is said that rubber with a thin seat and thick sponge is easier to get rotation, speed and flight distance, and it is easier to get the performance to receive top players. However, thinning the sheet tends to cause manufacturing variations, and it seems that it was not widely available before that. Perhaps the latest technology has increased productivity, and as a result, it has become possible to produce rubber with thin sheets and thick sponges at a low price, and it is believed that it has been sold to the general market. This technology does not seem to be in the rubber of Butterfly, who sells the Tenergy series, which is the world standard for table tennis equipment in Japan and around the world, and even though Butterfly is still extra thick, the sponge thickness is 2.1 mm. It remains. In recent years, other German manufacturers are increasing the number of rubber sheets with thin sheets and thick sponges.
Up to now, 9 types of Rasanter have been sold, 7 types for the R series and 2 types for the V series.
Rasanter series
The Rasanter series have a naming similar to the series in which the sponge hardness can be finely selected with the rotating R and the speed V, but when I actually tried it, it was different from my imagination. Apparently, the hardness of the sponge was changed, and the shape of the sheet was also changed, so the shot feeling, performance, and easy-to-use technology were different. Furthermore, although the V series is certainly fast, it is not a rubber specialized for speed because it takes a lot of spin tension and rotation.
katsuo000 has tried out R53, R48, R50, R47 and V47, and we would like to summarize the comparison in the future. I would like to comment here that the grain shape of the sheets of R53, R48, and R50 is a little thin and the grain shape feels a little quick to separate from the ball. Compared to Dignics 05 and Tenergy 05, I think the grain shape of the sheet makes it harder to feel the ball holding. On the other hand, the sheet is soft and the sponge has a good bite, so I think that it is a rubber that feels like a ball when it bites into the whole rubber.
Initially launched in 2017, there were six types: R50, R47, R42, R37, V47, and V42. Furthermore, in October 2019, the R53 equipped with Energy Cell technology was newly released, and in May 2020, the R48 also equipped with Energy Cell technology was newly released. Currently, andro’s flagship rubber is R53, R48 and R45.
Published performance value comparison
andro’s published performance value comparison. Is Andro characterized by adding an item called control in addition to speed and spin? After all, R53 and R48 with energy cells have high performance and will be a hot rubber!
If you look at the R53 review, you’ll get speed! However, in terms of published performance values, V47 is supposed to be faster. I’ve already tried R53, R48, R50, R47, and V47, so I’ll understand, so I’ll comment. I think V47 is faster than R53 in simple speed. I think V47 is faster than you can feel because it has a very straight trajectory. In particular, the V47’s midfield drive gives the impression of considerable speed. On the other hand, the R53 draws an arch line very strongly, which gives the impression that the ball is slower than it feels. However, I feel that the R53 feels faster with pressure and pressure balls! Especially, the drive of R53 has a feeling of accelerating by rotation while drawing an arch line! I think that the time it takes for the ball to reach the opponent’s platform is numerically faster with the V47, but I think that is largely due to the straight trajectory. Table tennis is not just a competition for simple speed. The R53 has outstandingly high ball power, amount of rotation, and acceleration due to rotation while drawing an arch line, so it can be said that it is a green (red?) Monster rubber!
R53 rubber pasting and weight
As usual, I pasted it on Butterfly’s Zhang Jike ZLC. The adhesive used is Butterfly’s Free Chack II.
It’s heavy!
I haven’t posted the photo before it was pasted, but it weighed 52 g. This is heavyweight! But not as much as the Omega VII Tour and the Omega VII Hyper.
Rasanter R53 UM Tension (Tensor Bios UM) Energy Cell 40+ Plastic Ball ・Sponge Thickness：1.7 mm、2.0 mm、ULTRAMAX（UM） ・Speed：118 ・Spin：125 ・Control：87 ・Sponge stiffness：53° ・6,500 yen + tax ・72 g (before cut) → 52 g (after cut)
Three features of Rasanter R53
Drastic speed and spin drive different from adhesive rubber!
I think one of the features of R53 is drastic speed and spin drive (the habit ball). The habit ball may be about katsuo000, but I have the impression that gyro spin and side spin are easier to enter than a beautiful vertical spin drive. I got the impression that it tends to be a drive with acceleration due to rotation, like a spiral rotation, instead of a habit ball like adhesive rubber. Also, since it is a spin type tension, it is not as easy as adhesive rubber to drop the RBI, but even if I drop the RBI, I felt that the swing was swung forward. The arc line with horizontal rotation gives the impression that it draws a fairly large arc and heads toward the table. I drew an arch line to accelerate with Guin, so I was very impressed with the feeling of exhilaration and running. Similar drives can be rotated with Tenergy 05 Hard (Tenergy 05 Hard, Butterfly, sponge hardness 43 °) or Spin Art (Spin Art, Butterfly, currently out of print, sponge hardness 48 ° (Butterfly hardness)). It is an image that comes out when you hit a power drive with a lot of. The amount of rotation of R53 is slightly lower, but I felt that it was easy to hit the power drive continuously and easily!
High amount of spin and ease of spin!
The second feature I felt was the high rotational performance. I think that it has a high rotation performance that is comparable to or better than Tenergy 05. Of course, the R53 can get a high amount of rotation when it is rubbed up as much as possible, but it was impressive that the drive rotation was quite high even if it became a sung drive. It seems that abundant amount of rotation can be obtained if rotation can be applied with an impact above a certain level. To be honest, it is difficult to do a loop drive with the maximum amount of rotation. It’s probably because the grain shape is a little thin, so it’s hard to feel the ball holding, and the loop drive that is easy to do with adhesive rubber etc. is hard to do. Adhesive rubber and Dignics 09C and Dignics 05 are easier to do for loop drive with maximum rotation. Although the rubber itself is not a rubber that specializes in rotational performance, I think that it has high rotational performance and performance that makes it easier to rotate than imagined.
Ease of hitting speed drive
The third is speed drive. Depending on the person, it may be called a power drive. It was a rubber that was very easy to hit with speed drive. There was a feeling that if you shake it forward, the speed drive will enter stably. Also, even if it hits the ball quite thickly, the sheet and sponge easily bite into it, so I felt that it drew an arc trajectory more than I imagined and it became a speed drive without permission. The trajectory is just an arch trajectory, and I personally found it a little difficult to hit a straight meet. Since the sheet is quite soft and easy to bite, it needs an impact above a certain level, but since it also draws an arch line, it was easy to hit the speed drive anyway. However, rather than a speed drive that has speed and a clear amount of rotation like adhesive rubber and Tenergy 05, it was a speed drive that was satisfied with the stability of the speed drive and a speed drive that could punch through.
Impression
As for the impression of katsuo000, it was a very satisfying rubber. I think it was a very good rubber with 90 points out of 100 points. It can be said that this is an evaluation excluding the price and will be higher if the price is included. The reason why I can’t give a perfect score personally is that the seat is too soft, so the counter drive is a little difficult, and I felt that it was a little sensitive to the rotation of the opponent’s strong rotation drive and it was difficult to block. I was not dissatisfied with the ball holding for the amount used in the foreground, and I felt that loop driving was a little difficult. If Dignics 05 wasn’t sold and only Tenergy 05 and Tenergy 05 hardware were sold, I think I would have switched.
Each technical review
Forehand
Light hit
I feel that the sheet is quite soft. The sheet is soft and you can feel the bite strongly. I feel that there are different tastes around here.
Drive on long balls and rallies
When you hit the drive, you’ll want to say “Rampage Horse!” Or “Rampage Shogun!”. That much ball swells! Unleash! It’s a great drive!
Drive with open face
Since it bites well, it is easy to hit a drive with an open surface. There is no such thing as a sticky rubber-like habit ball, but it felt good even with a drive that spins while opening the adhesive rubber-like surface and hitting it. The sponge is really easy to bite into, and the blue sponge of the leopard is an overstatement, but I felt that there was a similar part.
Loop (top spin) drive against back spin
You can hit it in the foreground without any problems. However, I felt that it would be difficult to hit the ball too much, and it was a little difficult to hit the loop drive, which is shallow, slow, and has a lot of rotation. I think this is due to the grain shape being a little thinner, but it was a little difficult to control the depth of the ball because the ball was released a little faster. Even if you drop the hitting point a little, I think it is better to move forward and make a high quality rotation and a fast drive.
Speed drive against back spin
It was easy to hit the speed drive, which is the true value. Even though it is a rubber with high rotation performance, it is easy to hit speed drive, which is a very contradictory performance and I think it is very wonderful. The shot feeling, ease of shooting, and trajectory of the drive are completely different, but I think it is a feature like Dignics 05.
Curve / shoot drive
I like the curve drive. I want to get involved and drive! I think that the swell of the ball will be more tasteful if you add horizontal rotation, so let’s curve it more and more!
Block
If you just hit it, it will be slightly affected by the rotation. Therefore, I think it is better to positively put in rotation like an active block from yourself.
Counter Drive
It was a little hard to hit. I got the impression that it is easier to do a counter drive like Simon Gauzy who goes down a little and holds the ball firmly and overwrites it, and it is a little difficult to counter drive in front of the apex where the RBI is early.
Stop
It was pretty easy to stop. With the impact of bench technology like push, the sponge hardly bites and it is very easy to stop. Also, it was reasonably easy to cut if it was captured on a sheet. If you let it bite into the sponge, it will be easier to get a long distance and it will be difficult to stop.
Push
It’s easy to push, but if you let it bite into the sponge, the flight distance will be longer than you imagined and it’s easy to over-miss. I think that it is more stable and easier to rotate if you cut it firmly with a sheet.
Backhand
Light hit
I felt the speed of leaving the ball from a light hit.
Drive on long balls and rallies
With the backhand, there were a lot of delays and I felt that I was lacking in technical skills. After all it is heavy and hard and the impact is not enough sweat.
Loop (top spin) drive against back spin
It was quite difficult. It’s a lack of technology.
Speed drive against back spin
It was quite difficult in the back. This is also a lack of technical capabilities.
Curve / shoot drive
When hitting the curtain, the rotation was quite comfortable. I tried it in practice, but there were a lot of over-misses because the flight distance came out quite a bit.
Block
As I am getting used to Dignics 05, it was difficult to compare because the ball holding was short and it was easily affected by rotation. Since I often use spin tension with high rotation performance, I feel that it is easier to block with rubber that feels like holding a ball. I feel that I can return the ball after holding the ball firmly. I think it’s easier to do than Dignics 05 if you just hit it and block it with the image of making a wall against the ball.
Counter drive
When using it in the back, the counter block was easier to do than the counter drive. It’s close to what you touched on the block. Since it bites well and the grains are thin, I think that meat and blocks are easy to do in rubber with high rotation performance. It’s a technique that I don’t use a lot and I rarely use in games.
Stop
Tenergy 05 hard showed It was as easy as stop. I felt that it was not a rubber that cuts and stabilizes, but since the sponge of the sheet is hard, I felt that it was reasonably strong and easier to cut with the sheet than R48.
Push
If you let it bite in, it will fly away, so be careful only there. I felt the high rotation performance by cutting firmly.
Chiquita
It was difficult because the flight distance was too long.
Comparison with other rubbers (individual impressions)
Spin amount
R53 > Tenergy 05 > Omega VII Tour
Speed
Dignics 05 > R53 > Tenergy 05
Ease of drawing an arc when biting into it (easiness of sinking the ball)
Dignics 09C > R53 > Dignics 05