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Globe 889-2 1.8mm 38deg sponge black in a Stiga Energy wood
blade: Well I'm not normally a short pimple player, but I got the
opportunity to try out this rubber, so below a bit of a review. The rubber
looked very much like Friendship's 802-40, also with wide conical and grippy
pimples, with a soft sponge. The sponge is orange and I'm not sure if it's
Chinese or Japanese.
From feedback from users of the Globe 889 rubber, we found that 1.8mm 38deg
sponge was the best combination, so that why the 889-2 was also ordered with the
same specs. I speed glued this rubber since I wanted to see how
well and fast it would for looping. I used the glass plate method and used 2
layers of Dawei speed glue. Well I was a little surprised when I got a huge dome
out of it. When I put in on my blade it had stretched almost 10mm! In hindsight
one layer would probably have been enough. I setup the ball
machine for heavy chop serves to my forehand. Well I could loop it fast with
lots of spin, just like an inverted rubber. Since I'm more used to brush looping
with a tacky rubber I had to make a slight adjustment and let the ball dig into
the sponge a little more, but I was surprised how much this played like an
inverted rubber. The I tried to hit through the ball instead of
loop it, well this was real easy, much easier than with inverted. It made a loud
cracking sound and came off quite fast.
Pushing the ball
back was also very easy, the ball did not grip the rubber much but I could keep
the ball very low and I felt I could put it wherever I wanted.
Then
I set up the machine for topspin. Blocking was real easy, but I certainly had to
adjust the bat angle for the amount of spin...just like inverted.
Driving
through the ball was great, coming off fast and I felt I had good control.
Taking a step back and trying to counter-loop I struggled for consistency a
little, not quite sure why. The bat seemed a little sensitive to the angle I was
looping it with. Especially when I let the ball drop right down I had some
trouble looping it back consistently. Now this may be my technique since I'm not
used to these types of rubber. Hitting with this rubber was
beautiful, coming off fast and with a loud cracking sound...very impressive.
I
actually found this rubber a lot easier to use on my backhand, possible because
I'm used to playing and attacking with a long pimple rubber, which offer some
slight similarities. In conclusion this rubber was a dream to use
close to the table, offering good control and speed in all the things I tried.
Serves and pushes are very spinny for a short pimple rubber, but not as spinny
as the normal tacky rubbers that I use. Away from the table I found this rubber
not as good, especially against topspin when you let the ball drop a little.
Since I believe these rubber are meant to be used for close to the table play,
this is not really an issue. A good choice for players that play close to the
table, and have some trouble controlling incoming spin, and like to hit block
and counter-hit. |
