Friendship/729 FX Lightening (Lightning)

I tried this rubber on Yinhe N9s blade and it is very suitable for forehand. You can loop and smash easily with it.

Slow, but not super slow like harder 729 rubbers. Good spin and control. Suits beginners well.

Was curious how good a $5 rubber could be. Got the 2.2mm version for slightly faster speed. Glued it on my spare Avalox BT550 blade and was pleasantly surprised.

It easily bottoms out to wood on strong loops and light smashes, but I like it this way. It has a definitive offensive CRRAACCCK sound when bottoming out. Did I mention this is really light?

For Chinese-style brush stroke players, this rubber works just fine for stroke development. It might be a bit slow for some, but what you lose in speed you gain in control…

Review

Initially, this rubber starts out slow and tacky. However, as it’s used, it loses its tackiness and speeds up noticeably, becoming surprisingly fast. Therefore, it’s important to break it in before using it in competitive play.

Weight

The weight of the rubber sheet when cut was 44g, which is considered average weight.

This is a great rubber that can be used for all strokes. It is an excellent all-around rubber for attacking. You will be happy that you purchased this rubber, especially since it is much more affordable than other options that cost $30 or more.

A very good and economical rubber. It is great for beginners who are just introduced to custom bats. It offers very good placement and topspin strokes. It is also a good candidate for looping.

Way more than worth the $5 you pay for it. It’s actually not slow at all and quite spinny. Many 30-dollar Euro/Jap rubbers feel about as fast and spin less! Get it in 2.0 or 1.8mm sponge and you can perform any shot with it.

I regret not choosing this rubber when I started learning to play instead of Sriver, as I don’t play very well with a totally grippy rubber with a soft sponge.

I also bought it because of its price. It has worked well for me because I put friction spray on it and it became a 10 in tackiness. It has lasted over 6 months with 10+ hours of play per week.

However, I wish its sponge was softer so I can use it for a flick shot. Stock, it is not very special and the tackiness wears off quickly.

Review Text:

Good for controlled BH at and over the table. Its low throw will cause pop-ups on push strokes until you adjust blade angle if you are used to a medium to higher throw rubber. It is great for controlled blocking, over-the-table counters, and placement.

If you like to open up with topspin off long underspin servers, this is not a good choice. The low throw forces the blade to be so open that it makes for an almost unnatural BH stroke and contact angle. I scored the overall high because of its price and because it is a great rubber if it is used for what it is and not tried to be used as a looping machine at mid-distance.

This is another beginner or backhand rubber. It has great control and works well for controlled looping and blocking.

It’s a bit slow, so it’s not recommended for offensive play.

67 grams uncut (2,0 black) is not as light as I expected. Otherwise, it is easy to play with. It suits the development of technique at the same time strokes are pretty efficient. Nowadays, it costs about 11 euros, which I consider good value.

Started out great but didn’t hold up. Not super fast.