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Galaxy Neptune Long pimple rubber "Cutting edge technology has been employee by Milky Way to produce this novel long pimple. The classic long pimple characteristics are present, unpredictable trajectory, flat hitting and strong reversal but due to the high tension element it is more elastic with easy control to combat strong attacking play. Suits the player adopting a chopping / counter hitting technique."
Comments / Reviews: Review by LawOCG with thanks (published with permission) Jan 07 Initial inspection: At the table:
Pushing/Blocking/Scooping/Hitting Blocking with the Neptune seemed to
give mixed impressions. I got my practice partner to loop as consistently (spin
wise) as he could. I could block the ball very consistently. The moment he added
a slight volume in spin, my racket angle would have to change dramatically or
else the ball would just shoot off. Overall the Neptune blocks very well
provided you have the touch and racket angle. The depth of the block can be
controlled extremely well with the Neptune. Double bounce blocks are easy to do
as well as very fast dead floater blocks. Chop blocking is fairly easy as well
as long as your action isn't too big, the smaller your stroke the more
consistent the chop block. The reason why I got mixed impressions with blocking
is because of the spin reversal. The spin reversal I got with the 1.0mm at the
table blocking wasn't enough to make my opponent hesitate. Even spot on chop
blocks against full blooded loops produced moderate reversal at best. The
opponent would be thrown off more by the change in rhythm then the spin
reversal. Scooping seemed to work easily
against Backspin. This would be the safest and most effective shot with the
Neptune. Against backspin you can easily scoop upwards or produce a side spin
scoop with great effect. The ball would displace and wobble even from my point
of view. Against good servers that serve heavy side back, this absolutely wrecks
havoc on them. I would 9/10 times see the scooped ball corkscrewing off the
opponents side of the table leaving him baffled. The best thing is that all of
this can be done with a great level of control and consistency. Lifting against
oncoming topspin is fairly consistent as well. Although you naturally cannot do
this shot fast, the ball seems to float back consistently heavy. Hitting with the Neptune is where I
was surprised. I just couldn't believe how consistent I could hit with it. In a
backhand to backhand warm up with a inverted player, I could hit 10 or more
backhands easily. Although the player had no troubles with my ball, I was amazed
at the fact that I was able to create that much topspin to hit consistently.
This also works against topspin as well. The harder the incoming loop, the
harder you will have to accelerate upwards. The trade off.... a short pimple
like flat hit is returned to your opponent. Hitting against backspin is fairly
hard as the angle has to be spot on. I would say it comes down to my technique
in this area so the better players out there can hit backspin much easier then I
can. Chopping: Mid distance and Long distance Aggressive chopping in my opinion is much
better then safe chopping when using the Neptune. The wide ranges of spin you
can get from the rubber really shine when you chop faster. When chopping
aggressively instead of floating the ball back, your directing it back on the
table with more speed and huge amounts of backspin. Of course when aggressively
chopping you can vary the spin easily with a slight change in your stroke. Overall as a chopping rubber the Neptune
does fairly well. The directional control is pretty good and the depth of the
chops can be controlled quite easily as well. The spin reversal is a very
subjective matter as it depends on your skill level. The faster your racket
speed on the chop, the larger volume of backspin will be produced. This is
extremely hard as you have to have the touch to take all the pace off the ball
in order to do that. I would describe the Neptune as a very stable chopping
rubber. Very rarely would I chop a ball that would soar off the table or fly
into the net or have a mind of its own. Conclusion For those who are asking what it compares
to... I cant really say much as I haven’t tried that many long pips. I’ve
used the Stiga Destroyer 1.0mm for a while now as well. I can say that the
Neptune is almost better in every respect. For those of you who have read Dean
Stretton's reviews... He claims that the destroyer is the best chopping rubber
out there. I strongly disagree. The destroyer is pretty much a DHS C8 with a
different label. The quality of the destroyer is extremely shabby as well. Well back on track The Neptune is a excellent allround Long pip. It has a nice solid feel to it. Its nether springy or dead, in my opinion just right. For those of you out there who are looking for a long pip that can do it all, the Neptune is it. For those who play on the extremes and use pips like Dr Neubauer...look elsewhere.
Review by Alex: Galaxy Neptune 1.0mm sponge: This rubber seems virtually identical to the Galaxy 955, so my comments below are very similar. This rubber came in just a plastic sleeve, not the usual packaging. I don't know if this is normal for this rubber since it's the first time we've purchased it, but it does not affect the rubber in any way, so it really does not matter: This is truly the most remarkable long pimpled rubber I have ever tried. This rubber offer outstanding control for a chopping style game, but also provides outstanding offensive ability. This is a deceptive, medium pace, long pimples rubber. The pimples are skinny, a little stiff and very grippy. This allows you to put a lot of variation of spin on your returns. This is essential at the higher levels of competition, as simple spin reversal will no longer fool your opponent. I class this rubber as highly deceptive because it’s so easy to change the amount of spin you return by only slight changes in strokes. Because of the grippy pimples, this rubber also allows you to impart significant spin yourself. With a very fast chopping action if you come right under the ball, it’s often taken my opponent by surprise how much spin I could put on the ball, especially since most people expect NO spin off a long pimpled rubber. Chopping against loops, the spin reversal is quite good, but the best thing with this rubber is that it’s so easy to take all the spin off the ball as well, with only a slight change in the angle of the bat. The ease of doing this made this rubber unique, as none of the other long pimpled rubber I have tried made it this easy. Blocking against topspin loops is very good and easy, although some minor adjustment need to be made for high spin loops (because of the extra grip of this long pimpled rubber). Your bat must be slightly closed, and must have some forward movement. By changing the angle of the bat you can change the pace and the spin. If you come through fast enough the ball comes off quite fast. It generally produces a low flat ball, hard to attack again, but with some minor changes in the action, you can produce some topspin or backspin. The spin reversal on blocks is not all that great, but chop blocks are fairly easy (if you have the reflexes), so you can produce decent backspin this way. Hitting against chops is very easy and consistent, and produces decent spin reversal. Chopping against chop can be kept very low as long as a full stroke is made. I found it has very good control in the short game. I was able to block or chop short balls with easy, and I had great control over the placement. Even 'no spin' balls were easy to handle for a long pimpled rubber! The best thing this rubber offer is variation. Against return of serve, by changing the stroke and angle slightly, a lot of variation of spin is returned, consistently drawing errors from the opponent. Conclusion: This is not the most deceptive long pimple rubber out there, and does not produce the greatest (but still decent) long pimple effects. However the control, and ability to generate your own deception is remarkable, and this is what is required at the higher levels of competition. As I mentioned this rubber is very similar to the Galaxy 955 rubber. The 955 0.6mm would be the slowest, the Neptune and 955 1.0mm a fair faster, which makes them easier to block and hit with, but loses some control on your chops. NOTE: This review was put together with input from a long pimpled chopper (myself) and a long pimpled attacker (a friend), who have both used this rubber extensively. However these are personal opinions, and your experience may be quite different, depending on your style and level of play. |
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