Lawsy's Rubber Ratings
Back to lawsy's ProfileHere are Lawsy's ratings and reviews. These ratings are useful because Lawsy has his/her own standard and will rate and review the ping pong equipment accordingly, giving you accurate and useful ratings and reviews to aid you in your next online purchase.
DHS (1) 
 |
DHS Gold Arc 8
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Review of DHS Gold Arc 8GA8 (50, red, BH) + Battle 3 (40, Black, FH) on a Yinhe V14 Pro.UPDATED SPEED RATING (@3months): for backhand, it is still plenty fast (I wish it was faster still). On forehand, it is well behaved when pushed, but doesn't have the endless extension of Battle 3 (not surprisingly). ----------- I was very comfortable with Battle 2 Prov Soft 37 on BH; very neutral, consistent throw angle over its speed range. I ordered GA8 for speed. Firstly, the throw angle of GA8 is slightly higher than B2P S37, but once you get used to it, it feels like an extension of your hand. Nice. Spin quality is excellent due to high mechanical grip, but low-speed catapult means service and touches are faster vs tacky rubbers for the same spin. Thankfully, as ball speeds increase and the sponge engages, the catapult is NOT exaggerated, but responds linearly, which I like. Spin sensitivity is quite manageable, though B3 is easier, and B2P Blue is better still. Backhand drives/flicks off the bounce to be especially effective. However, if you take the ball as it drops, no problem; the slight increase in throw angle helps drive the ball on. ----------- SUMMARY: GA8 50 obviously starts faster than B3 40, and as power is increased, their speeds start converging (limits TBD). Huge amounts of topspin on my backhand, though B3 has a lot more on FH for the same ball speed (not surprisingly). GA8 blocks well, is no more spin sensitive than you're all used to, and drives are very crisp and accurate. The higher pitch sound it makes is also addictive. 3 months later, I'm still very happy, and it's durability seems to be excellent. Apr 15, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Friendship/729 (5)
 |
Friendship/729 Super FX
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Review of Friendship/729 Super FXMy overall rating is 8.5 because I think this deserves to be used as a training rubber. For this purpose, I can't think of a better option for the money.Training rubbers should be cheap, consistent, durable, but with enough spin and control to develop good technique. Case in point, when my work got a table over 2 years ago, I immediately organised 4 rackets for everyone to use, instead of the $5 jobs that came with the net. I went with ALLround blades to keep it slow (I would otherwise recommend Off+ blades, no matter what, for Super FX), however, those who haven't played are still somehow surprised by the rebound. The mildly tacky surface disappeared within months of office abuse and zero cleaning, which made virtually no difference given that we don't bother to brush loop that much in the office. However, there's more than enough mechanical grip to get the job done, even after 2 years, if you want... With the slower blade, I have many people in my office enjoying the game, gaining in consistency, and even becoming decent players; there are even a few who have never played before enjoying themselves. Yet, those of us who play regularly can still have lots of fun putting on a decent show for everyone (and there are no equipment-based excuses afterwards, either)! Thus, I highly recommend this rubber as just about the best trainer for new players or kids, because it's virtually disposable at this price, yet has the playability necessary to build a strong foundation. Final thoughts: firstly, don't underestimate the Super FX. Secondly, pair it with the fastest blade within your budget. Then, you can upgrade with better rubbers once your game develops (or your kids grow up and stop scraping the table). Dec 11, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
NO IMAGEUpload an Image
|
Friendship/729 Battle II Provincial
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Review of Friendship/729 Battle II Provincial39 hardness Battle II Provincial Blue sponge, on a new (2023) Mercury Y-13 (Off) blade (Forehand). I have the 38 (orange sponge) on my backhand. No booster on either.----------- This rubber has a very wide dynamic range. When you want to play slow, it's slow, controlled and well behaved, like a training rubber or a 729 Super FX. If you need to defend, you can, with great control. Adding power feels extremely linear, and you can balance spin with power by adjusting your angles. What makes this rubber so nice to play with is how consistent and predictable the throw angle at any power level. I also found no loss in power with flat hits and it plays mid to far from the table fine. I could confidently recommend this rubber to almost anyone (just not beginners). I am very pleased.------------------------ UPDATE: One of my colleagues loved this bat so much that he purchased it from me. However, in the weeks following this review, I enjoyed every single hit with this combination more and more. The Y13 blade was quite well suited to the B2PBS, having decent speed but not too hard, keeping some dwell time. You could pair this with a faster blade, so long as some dwell time is maintained. From there, this rubber will do the rest... ------------------------ UPDATE 2: If anyone is interested, I ended up buying a somewhat crazy setup with Battle 3 (39, black), on a T11S to dry out B3 and to push the limit of a harder blade. It's actually a lot of fun and plays very well. As expected, the T11S has less dwell time, making a direct comparison more difficult, but from what I can tell, B3 is honestly very similar to B2PBS. I'll submit a full review on the B3 page with more detail. Mar 12, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Friendship/729 Battle II Provincial (Battle 2 Provincial)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Review of Friendship/729 Battle II Provincial (Battle 2 Provincial)38 hardness Battle II Provincial (orange sponge), on a new (2023) Mercury Y-13 (Off) blade (Backhand). I have the 39 blue sponge on my forehand.--------------------------------------I knowingly built quite a fast bat with Chinese tacky rubbers on both sides, so I know these are meant to be forehand rubbers. However, the 38 hardness worked well. In fact, it actually played fantastic because it has the same fundamental feel as the B2P Blue Sponge: very predictable, almost as linear (from touches to smashes), same throw angle consistency. It is more tacky than Blue Sponge, but you can't tell during play. I have tested each rubber on both the backhand and forehand, making it clear how good this is on the forehand. However, you notice the biggest difference between the B2P 38 and the B2P Blue Sponge 39 when using each on the backhand. You can clearly access the potential of this rubber a little easier, making it genuinely playable on the backhand. But on the forehand, it is a phenomenal looper, and for a more budget build or if the Blue Sponge didn't exist, I would gladly use it on the forehand. To summarise, the Battle 2 Provincial (38, orange) is an absolutely amazing forehand rubber, and is by no means "soft", even compared with the superior 39 blue sponge variant. However, if you have reasonable power in your backhand, its a great backhand rubber as well. So I'm pleasantly surprised and very happy with its performance for this purpose.-------------------------------- UPDATE: The Battle 2 Provincial Soft (37 only) was back in stock and I built another setup using this. The 37 feels tackier, and despite using a faster blade (T11S vs Y13), it plays even more naturally on the backhand. The sponge and top sheet feel slightly different to the regular B2P, which warrants a separate listing/review, which I have now added. Mar 12, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
NO IMAGEUpload an Image
|
Friendship/729 Battle 2 Provincial Soft (37 Only)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Review of Friendship/729 Battle 2 Provincial Soft (37 Only)Battle 2 Provincial SOFT: only available in 37 hardness. It was split from the normal Battle 2 Provincial (38 to 40). Has unique, golden packaging. Optimised for Backhand. I'll compare it with Battle 2 Provincial (B2P), Battle 2 Provincial Blue Sponge (B2PBS), and the newer, Battle 3 (B3)—————The B2P S 37 has similar tack to B2P, slightly more than B3, which has more than the B2P BS. Slight catapult effect in the touch game makes it faster up to mid-power, but remains just as linear as all B2 and B3 rubbers (not surprising). Ultimate speed only a bit slower than the 38 B2P. Thus, very little is sacrificed for using this backhand friendly option (good job 729). Control is similarly excellent to the 38 B2P, but not quite as good as 39 B2P BS or the 39 B3 (it's marginal). Slightly longer dwell improves BH loops and over-table flips, and snap drives/flat drives are very consistent. This rubber pairs pairs perfectly with B2P BS and B3 on FH, feeling very natural, as though both wings have the same character. Unlike some tacky rubbers, I think most beginners would be fine using this rubber, since blocks are much easier than higher throw angle tensors, and I don't personally feel like it has any more spin sensitivity, either. ————— OVERALL: Still one of my favourite backhand rubbers, despite changing to GA8 50 (I wanted to try a non-tacky BH. I'll review it eventually). UPDATE: After playing this on a T8S (tiny bit more dwell vs T11S), it was marginally better, so it doesn't suffer from more dwell (though, T8S is still quite rigid). However, blocking and throw angle consistency makes it easy to play with, reaffirm my original thoughts that beginners and strong intermediate players can (and should) use (and enjoy) this B2P S 37. NOTE: slightly slower speed rating is based on maximum effort power looping/drives, where the harder sponges come alive. This rubber is faster everywhere else (GA8 50 is faster again, and extends further, but not as much as most people think). Mar 12, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Friendship/729 Battle 3
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Review of Friendship/729 Battle 3EDITED: sold my old setup: Battle 3 (B3 39) FH + Battle 2 Prov. Soft 37 (B2P 37) BH on a Yinhe T11S. Replaced with B3 40 + GoldArc 8 50 on V14 Pro . Older setup: B2P Blue Sponge (B2P BS 39) FH + B2P (38 orange sponge) BH on Yinhe Y13. NOTE: B2P 37 is virtually as linear as B2P 38 on Y13—————————— Firstly, B3 39 AND 40 are slightly different/better than B2P BS 39 in the following areas: mid-speed power (more for 39); tackiness, which increases service/touch spin (but somehow not spin sensitivity?!?); forehand power drives and power loops. All three have the power for big forehands rallies beyond mid-distance. The mid-speed power boost of B3 39 is only really noticeable because B2P BS has near perfect linearity (which I personally think is very nice and prefer). HOWEVER, B3 40 loses some (but not all) of this mid-range speed, so now I get the best of both. This means blocking with B3 40 and B2P BS 39 is slightly easier vs. B3 39 (but it's not significant). After B3 39 "broke-in" (about 10 hours), it gained some dwell and started power looping nicely. V14 Pro has more dwell than T11S (and is basically just as fast), resulting in the +1 harder B3 40 looping the best of all three. B3 40 seems to have required less "break-in" (~5 hours), and the effect is less significant. In both cases, though, the result was similar to mildly boosting, but without the durability issues that involves. ——————SUMMARY: Battle 3 (39) and Battle 2 Prov. (Blue Sponge 39) are more similar than different, and the harder B3 40 seems to combine the advantages of both. All are S-Tier FH rubbers. PLEASE NOTE: My speed ratings are based on maximum effort, forehand drive + power looping. You DO NOT need "perfect technique", however, they do feel slower than tensors if you play with less topspin.Mar 14, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
About
Founder StoryBlog
Shop
Retailers
Dictionary
Contact
© 2026 Flipspun Inc.
Formerly the Table Tennis Database
