Hey what's happening guys! Now we've had a ton of requests for this review... The Yasaka Rakza Z! In this review we test it's speed, spin and control and how it stacks up to other rubbers such as the Dignics 09C! Enjoy!
Hi guys(still here and alive!) after using Victas kit for a while,invested in Dignics 09c. Use it on an Innerforce blade. Bit slow but grip/spin/control is excellent. Use on FH with Tenergy 80fx on BH. Dignics is a great rubber,just need a mortgage for paying for it!! Astronomically expensive,how can they justify it?! Its done my FH a load of good. Might just go for Rakza Z in future. Awesome review as always. Leo
Nice review. Another really good ”hybrid” type rubber I tried recently is victas V20 double extra. Would love to see a review of that! I think that it Will become à new competetor to dignics 09c. The price is around 50 dollars.
God how I have missed equipment reviews, I can also tell this was filmed a while ago because tom is using the hybrid wood, he plays with cybershape nowadays.
I love your reviews; thanks to them I just put together three ZLC pen hold blades (all are the Timo Chinese pen hold model from Butterfly) with the following: 1. 09C forehand/backhand - 2. Hurricane 3 Neo forehand / Tenergy 05 backhand - 3. Hurricane 3 Neo forehand/backhand I'm just learning the game, and after reviewing the grips with my coach, I settled on Chinese pen hold grip - it's the most comfortable for my wrist. I'm enjoying the test drives and comparisons immensely. So far my favorite is the bat with double 09Cs, followed by the H3N/Tenergy 05 combo. :)
Do more reviews! I absolutely love watching them Both because of how knowledgeable it is and also because of you and tom I feel like you guys play the best with each other Dan And Tom lets go
this is such a tremendous review. Could you guys consider testing out other hybrids like Tibhar K3, Gewo Codexx, DNA Dragon Grip, Andro C series and the Donic Bluegrip C series for the roundup?
Glad to see you released another equipment review video after a long time. Can you do a review on Dima´s Innerforce ALC blade?. I´d like to see that one compared to Timo´s ALC blade and Viscaria blade. Thanks!
Great to see equipment reviews again. I use Rakza Z and it took a couple of weeks to break in and is now spinnier than my tenergy 05 forehand rubber and about 80% of its speed. Would love to see a nittaku G1 review.
@@tiagomendes847 hi G1 is faster comparable to Tenergy 05 good forehand rubber for me but Razka Z produces more spin than Tenergy or G1 and has better control. I found G1 harder for touch shots and in the short games it would still ping off the bat in a way Tenergy 05 doesn't. Hope that helps.
Im currently using G1 it is controllable but your stroke should be consistent.. Came from chinese rubber .. And for me fast arc is hard to tame rubber... I will change to rakza z ... Having the qaulities of both esn and chinese rubber ...
Hi Dan. Love your videos especially the ones on equipment reviews.. What is your current equipment set-up? Blade, forehand and backhand rubber? And what is it for Tom?
I've just bought this rubber. I wanted to test a different rubber. I'm an intermediate player. Using this rubber on my backhand and H3Neo in FH. Until now I really like the rubber, has a lot of control when receiving serves. The lack of speed is true, but not big problem for me because I tend to hit very hard.
same for me, in match situations without regular training I struggled with BH consistency. With the Rakza it’s so easy to block any topspin shot and it’s even much easier to counter topspin compared to regular rubbers. On the Fh I was a biz disappointed with it, It really lacks power, both far from the table looping and close to the table counters. Opening up is very easy and stable, but it’s not particularly spinny. Overall I think it’s a much better ‘serious beginner’ rubber than a Mark V or a Sriver or something fancier. I will boost it when it starts to worn out, I hope it gets the oompf it needs. I would say it’s a very good rubber for training, to hone your technique but it worth the money to invest in something stronger. The Evolution series EL-S, MX-S and the Nittaku Fastarc G-1 which I use on the FH are all silmilar in the consistency aspect but provide better finishing power.
@@ajtatosmano2Thank You! helpful comment! I'm using a Sriver and Rozena on my second bat, and thinking to try the Rakza Z, you think have more similar speed to Sriver or to Rozena? will be an easy and consistent rubber anyway?
Can we see a video on Butterfly petr korbel made in Japan version as it is one of the 5ply wooden blade that begginers and intermediate players look at, while it also fits in their budget. 😄
Hey 👋, where have you been guys when it comes to product reviews. Just like me others are missing a lot. Please come back frequently with new product every week at least if possible. There are many pending reviews by both of you 😜. You also didn’t mention which blade you used in review I think no more TBALC. All the very best.
So far the harder sponge has held up very well. My wear pattern on the rubber is fairly consistent which may not be the best. However, the standard Rakza Z sponge would start to get soft, in that wear area, around 108 to 144 hours of use. The grip of the rubber is not an issue as that remains consistent. But, on the standard Rakza Z, with the sponge getting soft, it requires more effort to hit shots. I'm about 72 hours in with this set of rubber and so far so good. I can provide an update in another couple of months.
@@bryanwells4063 Brian, I got about 6 months out of the rubber, playing about 3 hours a day, 3 days a week. I just started with a new set and will look forward to another 6 months. That will take me right up to Christmas time 😁
I'm still looking for a Nittaku G1 review. I'm honestly surprised that TTD haven't reviewed it yet. They did also put out a new max thickness as well for the G1.
Does a tacky topsheet make the rubber "die" quickly (how long would the tackiness usually last)? Im really bad at short distance game and really think that this rubber might help but at at the same time im not rich enough to change my rubber 2-3 times every year....
Hi I would like to know how long the rubber life span is and how would the test be conducted Secondly if it is put on a fast blade like Primorac Carbon what would the performance be like Lastly there is a Extra Hard version how does this compare to the Rakza Z
I'd really like to see your review of nittaku PK-50. It's another hybrid rubber, that I believe uses a European style sponge, and a tacky Japanese style top sheet. Also, I believe it to be quite fast, and have had no problems with it on my forehand so far.
I started using Rakza 7, about 6 years ago, when I bought a couple of sheets from a friend. I thought that I had found my permanent rubber as I really liked the playing characteristics. However, I had an opportunity to try the Rakza Z, for slightly less money than the 7, so I thought I would give it a try. I use the same rubber on the forehand and backhand and was very happy with the speed, spin and control. The only drawback that I saw was that, after around 4 months of about 9 hours a week of use, The sponge drops off quickly. So, I need to be sure to change the rubber on a regular schedule. I am currently trying out the Rakza Z extra hard, which does provide more speed than the regular Z so, I'll see how that goes. The rubber is noticeably heavier though, something I'm willing to adjust to. I'm actually taking lessons now to see just how much better I can get. I certainly would like for you to try out the Z extra hard to get your feedback.
I would agree on the testing over time. My Rakza Z is 5 months old now and is faster but less spin . I absolutely love my Yasaka bat . Nice weight and balance for me.
I think that there are 2 speed categories - flat speed and tangential speed (when you spin the ball), This is my opinion after switching to H3 Neo about a month ago - so slow on flat hits, so fast on full strokes.
i wish you had a baseline racket with dignics 09c to actually visually compare it rather than giving very subjective ratings . I personally prefer that a lot more and i believe others would like it as well. Just doing the same drill with 2 rubbers to clearly see the difference would make these videos much better . I had Rakza Z , I think it would not be fair to compare this rubber without boosting with a solid booster. This rubber go well with ZLC and super ZLC blades.
@@lavasurfer22 yes formally they are but in practice it s a claim very hard to prove and it s known a lot of pros still use 1.9 mm and boost it up to 2 mm to be under the 4 mm thickness rule. The issue with that not very useful rule is now almost all rubbers are factory boosted it s impossible to say don’t boost your rubbers but approve these factory boosted rubbers.
@@lavasurfer22 I think they should the pong professor ( I believe that was the name of his channel) who does reviews for tabletennis11 did a whole set of reviews with all kind of different boosters mostly on hurricane 3 . Having Rakza Z on one of my paddles that I don’t play a lot but played in the past can tell that h3 is very similar to rakza z . Except to me rakza z is better in quality .
For an intermediate player who wants to hit heavy top spin on their forehand and then play defensive on their backhand what yasaka would you recommend.
The Rakza Z is truly a beast. Switched from Tenergy 05 to Rakza Z because I did not like the passive shots on the 05 such as blocks, chops as they simply are not forgiving at all. If you have the wrong angle or read the spin wrong with the Tenergy, you basically invite the opponent to get the point. The Rakza Z on the other hand is very good in all aspects, especially on these passive shots. Chopping and blocking is very easy with a good amount of spin and control. On the other hand you barely miss any advantages that the Tenergy has on the active strokes. Flicks, Top Spins are easy and safe to play. If you manage to play them with decent power you won't miss on speed and spin, only if you play with low amount of power you will miss the catapult of the Tenergy. I'd change it over and over again anytime! :)
Hurricane 3 is the slowest of all the tacky rubbers and yet with the right technique it is the most powerful, I feel like hard tacky rubbers that have more spin does have more top end speed when you whip through the ball hard enough with solid technique
Yes. When you want to become good with chinese rubbers, you'll have to use your legs and chest during the strokes more than with european rubbers. Also you have to play the forehand topspin with a "long arm" bending during the stroke like the chinese players. All this rotation movement together generates the power. The right technique makes the difference here. Chinese players learn this from childhood, while european players always have the support of their fast european rubbers
Please do a Falco Tempo BOOSTED Rubbers Review !!!! 1. Rakza Z ( hard and harder versions ) 2. Shining Dragon ( not the rising dragon ) 3. Tibhar K hybrid series ( any of them K1 , K2 or K3 ) 4. Donic Bluefire M-series ? or maybe the old versions like the JP Gold or JO Waldner or something :D 5. Stiga Mantra ! Boosted H/M/S ? Hope you dont have any feelings of controversy about Rubber boosting.
@@rfbooth do you actually play table tennis to a decent standard? because boosting is so common that if you enter a tournament like a 2-star event in the UK probably 1/3 of people will boost. It's technically illegal but loads of people use it.
@@rfbooth Not comparable boosting makes your rubber faster but you lose alot of control, I tried boosting my chinese rubber once and couldn't play with it until the boost wore out. It generated alot of spin but you needed to be so precise when reading your opponent's spin, and tacky rubbers require you to use your whole body to generate power. I have never used such a demanding rubber in my life. You needed to read the spin so well AND have really good weight transfer. without the boost tacky rubber is not very reactive to your opponents spin and you only need good weight transfer Steriods only have benefits with no drawbacks. Boosting rubbers is expected for some rubbers like most Chinese rubbers so that their speed can compete with regular rubbers. I promise you every pro player that is using Chinese rubber like hurricanes is boosting including ma long. by the way some people are probably boosting in your local league especially if you play in the highest division, if you play in the bottom division then yeah no one is taking table tennis that seriously.
@@rfbooth boosting is similar to streaming movies it's technically not allowed but pretty much everyone does it and no one gets in trouble for it. There's no point in boosting if you use tenergy or any modern tensor rubber as it's already fast enough but most using tacky rubbers will boost.
great looking stroke, you improve your movement l so I understand why you didnt give a F about forum and improve because the technique looks very good.
No.. for forehand this is better because you have more time and range of motion ....more area where you can spin/drag the ball and impart power to it. On the backhand you have to play an active block (pushing a little ahead as the chinese do) otherwise the ball will go into the net if you just hold it stiff as backhand block. This is the case even at the max thickness of this sponge with Fan Zhendong ALC blade!
@@justchill99902 could you pls give more thoughts for Z on backhand? I am changing from 05 Tenergy and would like to understand for the difference in all aspects - block, flick, top spin for underspind, topspin away from the table. Thabks!
I have tried to develop my game (started 6 months ago) with both Hurricane 3 and Yasaka Rigan (super bouncy, kinda like a faster Mark V) ... and these two rubbers are totally different worlds. I wonder if the mix of them does indeed work or not. Does it kill the opponents spin as good as Hurricane 3 does? I loved how H3 could work in such a high range of speeds, but the problem was the high end speed, which you would not be able to produce with the unboosted commercial DHS H3 neo. Its a good way for developing players to learn spin, but you also need to learn how to contact the blade forcefully, which is hard to do with such a hard sponge chinese style rubber. My coach still wants beginner players to play with soft sponge to really feel the difference of touching the ball with rubber and touching the ball with blade. My conclusion is that a mix of the two worlds probably isnt such a good idea, and that I will be progressing into using Rakza 7 in another 6 months or so. Whatever you do guys, stick to the same blade for a long time, this is the most important principle!
Mark V is a good rubber to learn the basics, but I found that Rakza 7 soft and Rakza 7 are even better. My trainer recommended me a wooden bat (no carbon) and Rakza 7 / 7 soft, and it's working like a charm. Rubbers are fast enough and quite forgiving, shots that would normally go out with a faster rubber tend to go in.
@@Belgamor77 everyone seem to agree that rakza 7 is a good intermediate rubber. I plan to make the switch, but I just wish the two versions (soft/normal) had not been so different in hardness. I wish there was a rakza 7 that had the same sponge hardness as stiga mantra m, which seem to sit in between the two in hardness.
@@z0uLess I've not tried the Stiga Mantra M, but I agree that sometimes you need something that's between two rubbers, one being too fast and another too slow. I bet that with the huge variety of rubbers out there, there'll be one that fits your needs, the issue is finding it. I let myself to be hyped when I started by reading the reviews on some rubbers, only to understand later on that they were made by advanced players and therefore the rubbers were too fast and uncontrolable for me. Then you also have the issue of sponsored bats and rubbers, which get great reviews only because ppl are paid to make those reviews. I am learning now with Rakza 7/soft, when I have control I'll go for something faster (I have a Rakza X/ Bluefire Z2) and eventually I'll move to Tenergy 05 or similar.
I would never recommend players rubbers that are too soft. Maybe only in the first year they're playing. After that it's much better to use a slower blade with hard rubbers. Soft rubbers give you bad habits. Also, I played Rakza 7 on Stiga OC and it never felt slow to me. The top end speed isn't that crazy but spin and speed variation always gave me easy points. When I want to win the point with power I just turn around and play FH
@@blueheart9873 So you are saying that I am doing it the right way or the wrong way? Do you think I should switch from having Yasaka Rigan on both sides on Stiga OC to having Rakza 7 on forehand when I have played for a year? I am currently 7-8 months into my table tennis journey, having played H3 on forehand for a couple of them.
What i want to say about all the rubber reviews is the following: its a common misconception when people go like 'the rubber has xy amount of spin'. Actually thats quite untrue. A rubber itsself has no spin at all. its the player producing the spin. And even with a Hurrican 3 or a dignics09c (which i play both) its not much spin, if you dont brush the ball (hurrican) or dont have a good contact (dignics). I'd talk about 'spin potential'. Thats the thing you're talking about. The rubber has the potential to produce spin, when used correctly. But then it all bows down to the players technice. Thats where i prefer a boosted hurrican 3. Its more forgiving with lets say short touches or counterspins whereas the dignics09c needs perfect timing and acceleration for that, otherwise the ball flies to the orbit and will probably hit Musks Startlink 7 🤣
The black one is better than the red one in my opinion. They are both heavy. I even have a sheet with orange sponge not creamy white sponge (not extra hard version).
Somehow my red Rakza Z top sheet last way better than the black ones, so for those that don’t care which side use which color aim to use the red variant.
