January 12, 2018

Ask The Experts: JÖRG BITZIGEIO, No. 169, Butterfly question & answer

Butterfly Table Tennis Question and Answer

Blade: Stiga Carbon
Forehand Rubber: Tibhar MX-S
Backhand Rubber: Tibhar MX-S

Question: I am currently using the Stiga carbon blade with Tibhar MX-S rubbers which gives me a fast racket with relatively good spin and control.

I would like more control while keeping the speed, so I have just bought a Butterfly Zhang Jike SLC blade and need some advise on rubber selection.

As I understand, this is a very fast blade with large sweet spot. My club mates say a rubber with high control to balance it out, but I would like your advise.

I have been looking at the Tenergy 05, Tenergy 64, Tenergy 05FX.

I do like the speed element, but my game also relies a lot on spin serves, digs and loops.

Can you help as I don’t have the money to buy each of the above to test out?

Kind regards,
Kevin Evans

Answer: Hello Kevin,

This is Jörg, the USATT High Performance Director, and I would like to try to help you in regard of your question.

I personally trust Butterfly products for more than a decade and I’ve always been really happy with it.

In regard of the information you gave us I would like to recommend you the Butterfly Tenergy 05 for the forehand and the Tenergy 64 for the backhand. Combined with the Butterfly Zhang Jike SLC blade this would be a great choice and you will be able to implement all the different aspects of your playing style and game with the material. It’s not easy to find fitting rubbers for the claims you mentioned but I’m sure you will be satisfied.

Greetings,
Jörg