Effect of Sponge Hardness

I have two older rubbers needing replaced on my Clipper. Before you say "whoa, whoa, whoa. What about no more EJing?" I'll have you know I've been doing great with that. Purely short pip/Long pip combo for some time now. But the truth of the matter is that my long-time used long pips has several pips broken and my custom short pips topsheet is separating from the sponge where my index finger rests. So I did some testing last night preparing for options.

729/Friendship 802-40 on an Air super soft 30 degree sponge (2.0 thickness). 

Blade: Stiga Clipper Classic Cpen

vs

729/Friendship 802-40 on the stock 35 degree sponge (2.0 thickness). 

Blade: Nittaku Airuline 8.8 Jpen

I should note that I have always felt for some reason I hit with more spin with Cpens & more speed with Jpen. There must be something about my natural angle with Jpen that hits more flat. That being said, I did my best to be sure I had the same blade angle & swing pattern with each vs topspin against the robot.

The difference wasn't huge but I did notice that the arc of the ball curved & dropped more on the 30 degree sponge. Additionally, the ball trajectory was flatter and ever so slightly faster with the Jpen.

These findings are not surprising when you think about it. The softer sponge is wrapping around the ball more, thus grabbing it, allowing the spin capability to be slightly greater. But because there is more give & cushion so the speed is reduced.

Conversely, the harder sponge wraps less around the ball and there is less cushion. The ball flies off the surface quicker with more speed.

So there you have it. As far as I'm concerned...

• Softer sponge - more spin, less speed. Most likely safest and more consistent. Probably the better answer for most recreational players where usually tthe more consistent player wins.


• Harder sponge - less spin, more speed. Not as safe but more potential for devastating shots.
  
  If nothing else, watch the ball jump off Vladimir Samsonov's racket this last Olympics. I was watching and kept wondering at his age how he was getting so much power. I realize he's a professional and one of the very best but he was noticeably hitting with even more power than his younger competitors as far as I could see. I later found out that he apparently had something in the 50+ degree range. 😮

Going back to my original point about needing to replace my rubbers, I'm excited to try out what should be my highest quality rubber yet. TSP Spectol Red.

This takes the classic Spectol topsheet and puts it on a new sponge for the plastic ball. pre-tuned and 40 degrees. Without a doubt it should be faster.

I will have to accommodate for the speed and slightly less arc. This is not a bad thing. I never wanted my short pips to curve too much and behave like regular inverted. I think that defeats the purpose, or certainly one of the advantages, of playing with short pips in the first place.

I will have a full review of TSP Spectol Red soon along with a well known hitting long pip Dawei 388-D1 on a 1.5 sponge.