Stiga Airoc S

This rubber has a good spin, which makes it ideal for serves and top spins. It is also great for blocks. However, it is very soft and not ideal for the new ball. Additionally, it is a very sensitive rubber that tears easily.

Stiga rubbers used to be a revelation for me. When I first tested Innova Ultra Light, it felt like an upgrade in my playstyle. From that time, I developed very good serves and spins. My game and level increased, as did my adversaries’, so did my material. I went to Calibra LT, with an ALL+ wood, and that was terrible.

So for this season, I changed everything with Stiga Offensive CR WRB, mounted with Airoc S on both sides. A new revelation! New pleasure at the table! I’m making a lot of winning serves, and mid and away from the table topspins are amazingly spinny and precise. I feel like I can put everything on the table, due to the security lead by the throwing angle being quite high. It’s almost like you have the ball in your hand.

I can also spin cut balls with ease. There’s a lot of control while blocking. It’s perfect for aggressive gameplay, against modern players.

Of course, like most soft blades (all?), it’s quite hard at short game with no effect. The high throw angle is hard to control (with hard blade of course, but with soft blades, it’s less interesting at topspinning) - so the ball often goes up and turns to punishment. I’m bad at smashing, and this rubber adds to this difficulty due to the high throwing angle. On high balls, you almost have to smash it on your side if you want the ball to hit the table. Even though I’m bad, I have a percentage of missed balls of almost… 95%. Speed and angle obliterate the control, and high balls must be played another way (even though I must be a large part of the 95% XD).

Last point, I mainly serve and attack forehand, which is required in 85% of my power shots. After 6 months, 1 training session a week + matches on the weekend + 2 tournaments on the period, my forehand rubber is quite marked! It’s still spinning, a bit harder, and not so trustworthy as it was at first. Throwing angle has faded a bit too. It’s still a good blade, I’m not changing it now, but I’ll come back when it’s time for me to change.

Got this rubber super cheap for almost $20, totally worth every cent. There’s no better option out there for that money.

I play with Timo Boll ALC (FH 1.7mm), and I found this rubber to be spinney and easy to control. Blocking feels amazing, and looping underspin comes with ease. However, I struggle a bit when playing short on the table since the rubber lacks a little punch and usually ends pushing the ball onto the net.

I believe this rubber was made for the intermediate to advanced players since the ball trajectory is not that consistent. You have to hit the ball with good technique to make it hit your opponent’s side of the table. I usually play with tensor rubbers that are far more consistent, but I found this on a record-low price and I’m very pleased with the quality so far.

I don’t actually get why Stiga stopped manufacturing this rubber series, yet I believe it is due to durability issues. In my case after ~10 hours of training and playing, the rubber doesn’t have any sign of wear out, like other rubbers from Xiom or Andro do.

The best rubber I have played with. Spin and control are awesome!

It’s good for hard blades (e.g., Stiga CL CR).

Comparing to “R7 soft”, this rubber is fast, sensitive, and has more control.

This rubber is definitely for plastic balls. You cannot get its best effect on the old celluloid ball because it becomes non-tacky for celluloid balls.

For plastic balls, it is a very perfect rubber. You can do anything easily, and it gives an extra hard feeling to the blade. It is good for power smashes, drives, loops, counters, services, blocks, and punches are exceptional.

One of the best soft rubbers I have used. I usually prefer slightly harder rubbers, but Airoc S felt really comfortable playing with, especially for my backhand. They are tacky and have a medium-high throw angle. The weight is average.

From my experience:

• When new: The rubber is fast with a very low throw angle, and average control.
• After a few months: The sponge shrinks (mine while still being glued to the blade). The speed decreased a little, the throwing angle improved a bit, and the increase in control is noticeable.
• After 6 months: the grip is remarkable.

Pretty bad spin compared to the newest ESN rubbers.

But good control. After two more weeks - holy smoke - this is bad.

Best rubber on forehand. In this speed range, I think the best rubber to keep control at blocking and short games.

Highly recommended. It provides great control for the speed, and the spin is amazing. The 1.9 version is a very good soft rubber!

I just received this rubber and here are my first impressions after playing with it for a day.

Out of the packaging, the rubber curls inward, so care and a roller should be used to mount it properly. I got the Maximum thickness and placed it on my second Stiga Rosewood XO blade on my backhand side. Airoc S looks and plays differently than any other rubber on the market today. Under magnification, I can see pores in the topsheet and the pores in the sponge are visibly different than other sponges. The pips are thinner too.

When playing the first thing I noticed is just how engaging and easy the rubber is to play with. It is fast and powerful, as well as spinny with an unimaginable amount of control. At the table, the pushes are low and crisp, touch play is a dream with balls barely clearing the net and loaded with spin, blocks are precise and serves are loaded. Mid distance and far away the rubber shines even more. Loops and counter loops are punishing with pin-point precision. You can loop slow and spinny with a high arc or low and fast, your choice. Chops are low, controlled and loaded, lobs are equally consistent and precise.

I played several of my friends and they all had three things they noticed; first was more spin, second was more control and third was more power. I lent them my racket so I can feel what it is like on the receiving end. I found the amount of spin Airoc generates annoying to play against. The amount of spin forced me to focus more on keeping the ball on the table, rather than adding more power and spin to my counter-loop, this making my counter loops weaker. To make matters worse, the power and placement really makes for a miserable experience when playing against Airoc S.

Airoc S plays well and shines in every aspect of the game. It does indeed give me more options than my venerable Tenergy 64-FX and 80-FX. With the new balls on the horizon that are less sensitive to spin and slower, Airoc S is indeed at the forefront of the sport right now.