I started playing table tennis 6 years ago and my first ever racket was Reactor Tornado V5 and Donic Acuda S1 on a Radius blade (Green Paddle’s imitation for butterfly’s Sardius blade). All throughout the years I’ve tried using different rubbers for my forehand side and I have used Sanwei Target National, Tibhar MXP, Donic Bluestorm Z2, Xiom Omega Asia VII, Nittaku Fastarc G1 and some I don’t remember. Presently, I am using Reactor Tornado V5 with 1 layer of boosting on a Yinhe T1s blade. I am a hard hitter and I love flat driving topspin balls with it and I find it very pleasant to use. It’s fast, very spinny for it’s price and easy to control.
Most of the high-end rubbers cost above 3000 pesos . However, table tennis rubbers do not need to be expensive specially if you are still a developing player.
If you’re on a budget, here are 5 cheap but competitive rubbers that costs 1300 pesos or less.
1. Reactor Tornado V5
(Editor’s choice)
Price: 275 pesos
Features:
Speed : 8.3
Spin : 8.9
Control: 8.9
It comes in a classic beige sponge and is pre-treated with booster, it has a medium-hard sponge around 47 degrees and has a grippy topsheet. It is surprisingly fast and spinny for it’s price and beginners can really develop their stroke with this rubber since it is easy to control. It does need boosting however around 2-3 layers and I’ve even heard a coach boosting it with 5 layers and it worked wonders. Overall, a very good rubber for its price.
2. Sanwei Gear Hyper
Price: 1300 pesos
Features:
Speed : 8.1
Spin : 8.5
Control: 9.3
The new GEAR Hyper is a combination of Half-sticky top sheet and Middle-hard mousse texture cake sponge. The top-sheep could assure outstanding surface tension and grasp ability, and the sponge creates firm and direct feedback. A new attaching technique is also used in the rubber which makes little loss of energy when transferring from the sponge to top-sheet. This rubber offers enough energy when doing active / passive attacking and looping, and provides a good tolerance of fault and help to reduce unforced error. (via Sanwei Sports)
3. Loki Rxton I
Price: 400 pesos
Features:
Speed : 7.6
Spin : 8.3
Control: 8.6
This is one of the best rubber available at very low price. Speed and spin are decent. Has bouncier feeling than H3, so it works on FH or BH. It’s a little bouncier/faster than H3. The rubber can last a long time as well, and it has a solid build quality. The spin is there when brushing the ball. The rubber is similar to Palio HK1997 Gold, but harder sponge. The top sheet is really very good quality like the rest of the RXTON series.
4. Sanwei Target National
Price: 1150 pesos
Features:
Speed : 8.6
Spin : 9.2
Control: 8.9
SANWEI table tennis rubber GEAR Hyper is a combination of European-type top-sheet and mousse texture cake sponge in different hardness. The top-sheet could assure outstanding surface tension and grasp ability, and the sponge creates firm and direct feedback. A new attaching technique is also used in the rubber which makes little loss of energy when transferring from the sponge to top-sheet. This rubber offers enough energy when doing active/passive attacking and looping (Which means it can be used as both a best backhand rubber and a forehand), provides a good tolerance of fault, and helps to reduce unforced error. (via Sanwei Sports)
Per website, rubber is no longer in production and upgraded to the New Target National
5. Double Fish Volant
Price: 900 pesos
Features:
Speed : 8.5
Spin : 8.8
Control: 8.7
The rubber adopts the new internal energy technology of NEW RELEASE PRO, which makes the performance of the sponge maximally, the rubber can be in a storying energy accumulation stage for a long time and still achieve good effect without oil or glue filling. The super effectiveness and rotation of rubber, coupled with the support of the new internal energy sponge, the feeling of playing ball, explosive power, perfectly combine rotation and strength. (via Green Paddle)
A common mistake beginner table tennis enthusiasts face are going for those fast tensor rubbers professionals use or because his/ her table tennis idol uses it. The problem is, you will have a hard time developing your strokes and consistency and it would do more harm than good. This is one of my mistake during my formative years of learning table tennis and I find that I like using the cheaper and slower rubbers now because I value control over power. Some people have this belief that just because they purchased a popular expensive rubber that their performance would automatically improve as a result. But it all comes down to proper technique and practice. If you are a beginner and you are still learning the basic strokes, I highly recommend to use rubbers that are more forgiving and offer more control.
Do you know cheap rubbers that are not include in the list? Feel free to share in the comment section below.
About the Author: Grant is a certified table tennis enthusiast who regularly plays at the Metro Cebu Table tennis league. He uses inverted rubber on his forehand side and medium pimples on his backhand side. His playing style is counter-attacking slow spinny loop balls with his forehand drive and backhand punching with his backhand using medium pips rubber. His goal is to play table tennis for health reasons and wants to inspire anyone who wants to learn the sport that anything is possible as long as you put your heart into it.
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Yinhe Moon Pro is also good. Costs around 1200