Stiga DNA Hybrid M

I love this rubber. The first one I used coming back from a big break. Have it in my FH. It can do it all; looping is consistent, opening is extremely easy/forgiving, good feeling, good spin. The only cons for me are that it is too soft for my preference when flat hitting or smashing, and that it is not very tacky and loses the tacky effect relatively fast (although it does not lose spin). Would recommend for intermediate players all day long!

I requested the Stiga DNA Hybrid H as a replacement for the M. It is a good rubber with a great balance between speed, spin, and control. I have used it on many of my Stiga penhold blade setups: Carbonado 190, Dynasty Carbon, and even Rosewood NCT VII. The rubber itself is not too hard nor too mushy. It has great feel and directness when playing with topspin strokes and smashes. Serving with this rubber allows for great spin and control. The only reason that it is not a five-star is because of the durability of the rubber. The topsheet does get worn fairly quickly after roughly 6 months of use. Nevertheless, it is still a good rubber to use. Highly recommended for use on the forehand side in combination with Stiga Mantra Pro M for the backhand. For people who feel the H version is too hard, the M can be a good alternative.

EXCELLENT

Nice product and good quality.

Tried this rubber for around 6 hours on a DHS Long 5. The rubber is slightly tacky but can’t lift a ball like Chinese tacky rubbers. That said, the grip is still really good and gets better after around 2 hours of play. Compared to DNA Platinum, this rubber is slower in the same hardness, so blocks and flat shots aren’t as hard for your opponents to return. Where I felt like this rubber was significantly better than the Platinum was attacking backspin shots. Hybrid has a very high throw angle, so you can play with a more closed bat and with a bit more of a forward motion, resulting in shots that can really bounce up on your opponent’s side. With DNA Platinum, you really have to engage the sponge to get good spin, resulting in very fast shots that are harder to control. I actually prefer this for backhand because I felt like I could return any ball aggressively with a high margin for error. I’m still not sure this rubber is better than my favourite ESN rubber, DHS Gold Arc 8. DNA Hybrid is definitely easier to play with, has even higher throw than the Gold Arc, and is overall one of the most spin-insensitive tensor rubbers I’ve tried, but I feel like the balance of speed, spin, and high arc is better with Gold Arc 8. Will need to test it a bit more.

Good rubber.

Fantastic rubber!

I tried this rubber recently and I think it’s amazing. For many reasons.

1. Great control and feeling on the counter topspin. I felt like I could go almost full power and always get the ball on the table. This rubber is a mix of normal rubbers and Chinese rubbers with more tackiness. Because it has this little bit of tackiness, it is great on this ball.
2. When you play forehand topspin, you get great quality. Because it has more grip than normal rubbers, you get a lot more spin on the topspins, but you still have that power.
3. You can almost go full power when the ball is a little bit under the table. Because it has good grip, you can still go full power when the ball is under the table.
4. Also, good control on the first balls: serve, return, and block.

The only thing you need to consider is that you have to be active with this rubber when playing. Because if you just stand still and block, the ball will not have great speed and quality, and the opponent will have it easy. Because if you play with the Stiga DNA Platinum for example, you can hold the bat pretty still and the ball will still get good speed.

And I think this rubber is great on forehand especially. Because it is easier with forehand to be more active. So, not the best rubber on the backhand.

If you want to play with this rubber, you need to be pretty good at the game.

The stickiness and lively sponge mean you have to have good touch. Once you get used to it, you can make the ball very difficult for the opponent. However, it is not for everyone due to the unique combination mentioned above.