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Joola Mambo H
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 MAMBO
H is the latest development from Japan. The sponge is slightly harder
than that of conventional MAMBO. With a special glueing technique the
upper rubber, which is already designed for extreme tension, is then
combined with the sponge. This results in an unbelievable natural
energy. This In combination with the extreme grippy upper rubber surface
probably make it the rubber with the most spin currently available.
MAMBO H is a high technology High Friction rubber, that has been
developed at the very limits of spin feasibility. Unlike MAMBO C, MAMBO
H must not be stretched when fresh glueing, as this effect has already
been incorporated into the rubber.
Type: ALL- / OFF+
Density: 42.5
Speed: 96
Spin: 100
Control: 84
Click here for pricing on Joola Mambo H from Megaspin |
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Joola Mambo H review: |
Review by: Tuan Pham - Georgia State University Table
Tennis Club President (published with permission)
Thought I'd give you guys my impression on Mambo H after I tuned it with
CTE (5 layers).
First Impressions:
I thought this rubber wasn't going to be as good as my Energy Xtra but
I'd give it a whack anyways. Did a bounce test with it glued to my
Mizutani Jun blade (used Juic Aqua Stick) and thought that the sound was
ok (not as loud as Energy Xtra) and did not bounce as nicely but just as
high. The topsheet is nice and gripy and I can definitely say that this
uses a medium hard sponge (about the same hardness as DHS TG3). My whole
setup felt much heavier than when I had my Energy Xtra on it but that
was to be expected.
Practice Play:
When I played with this setup, I thought it was going to be slower than
Energy but I was in fact wrong. My shots felt crisper and spin was much
easier to generate, due to the gripy topsheet. So far it seems that I'm
actually able to generate more spin on my serves that with my previous
tensor rubber. During loop to loop rallies, I can see that the ball
likes to stay quite low. It may be my swing but I think that my loops
feel a lot better with this rubber. As for pushes, I feel like they are
a lot easier to manage. My backhand felt a lot more powerful now. I was
able to use a more relaxed swing and it felt effortless to land my
backhands.
Downside:
So far I noticed that the downside of this rubber is its short game. I
think this is due to the fact that I am still used to playing with a
tensor rubber so my feel is a bit off right now. Once I start hitting
really hard, I feel like it's not as fast as if I hit with Energy Xtra
for some reason. It's as if medium effort shots are faster but maximum
effort shots are slower than Xtra. Blocks are also a bit harder to
manage right now. I think the rubber reacts to the spin more but I'll
know more when I play next time.
Rating:
Speed: 8/10 (10 being Glued Mambo C)
Spin: 8.5/10 (10 being DHS H2)
Control: 7/10 (5 being Glued Mambo C)
Durability: N/A (Will keep you posted on how long it lasts)
I hope you guys find this helpful. I'll also post a review of Joola Air!
When I get the chance to play with it on Sunday.
Update 1:
Without glue and tuner, the rubber is great for drives. but you have to
change your swing a bit to get the right effect on the ball. pushes are
great even without tuner and blocks go exactly where you want the ball
to go.
Loops:
If you're used to looping with the glued version, you'll have to over
swing a bit (similar to looping underspin but not as much) to get the
same rotation on the ball. Further off the table, with a slight open
face you can actually rally pretty well. on the BH, i had to crank up
the racket speed to get the loops right. Basically, you'll need to put a
bit more effort in your shots if you're used to glue.
But if you've never tried this rubber before, the topsheet is truly
grippy. with serves, you can definitely serve using the topsheet and a
little of the sponge for spinny serves. for me the ball still went fast
even i tried to spin using topsheet only but that's fine. it's probably
b/c of my lack of "touch" skills. even when un-tuned/glued, looping
underspin is actually pretty easy. when you make proper contact with the
ball and swing high, the ball will generate a medium high arc. i tried
using an abreviated swing (short upswing followed by coming across the
ball) and the ball would barely make it over the net when looping
underspin.
Pushes are also easy, you can easily control the amount of underspin you
put on the ball and also how deep you want the ball to go. the same goes
for the short game, the rubber itself is not super bouncy when you use a
light touch.
All in all, i think this is a great BH and FH rubber if you're looking
for a controlled rubber and controlled loop. I feel most comfortable
with this rubber when looping 2-6 ft from the table. i tried playing
close to the table and looping off the bounce but it doesn't suit me.
Favorite FH shot with Mambo H: sidespin hook loop and flat drive
Favorite BH shot with Mambo H: controlled counter to guide direction and
quick punch at the ball.
it's late and i hope my comments are making sense lol. but if you have
any questions about the rubber please let me know =)
Update2:
This rubber is still grippy and plenty fast even after re-tuning with
CTE (like it will matter soon...Cry). The topsheet cracked a little bit
on the outter edge but that's due to the fact that my rubber is cut
larger than the blade. The TBS + Mambo H is a plenty fast setup with
great looping capability. The control factor is probably what I need to
work on best. When it comes to forehand loop drives and loops, this
thing really shines well. you'll get a nice flat tragectory when you
want to and you can raise the arc higher if you wanted to (but hard to
control that for me). pushing still works very well but with the
re-tuning, the rubber is extremely bouncy and it is, at times, hard to
control the distance of the push.
For the backhand, this rubber seems a bit too fast for me and i would
require something softer and just as grippy so that i could raise the
arc for my swing more (*cough* JO Platin *cough*).
Serves are still nice and spinny when you want them and fast when you
need them. Topsheet is also starting to be tattooed quite well. |
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