Hi Mark,
Thank you for your question and they are very interesting terms used by the table tennis community. I’ll explain them one by one.
Gears – is to describe how many different playing styles that the rubber can be adopted. When people say the rubber/equipment has many gears, they mean they can easily control how much spin and power to apply. For example, a fast hit with less spin vs. a slow but powerful loop with so much spin.
Throw angle – throw angle is the launching angle of the loop. Usually high throw angle looping is safer and spinnier, while low throw angle is faster and more direct.
Consistency – consistency is another dimension to evaluate a rubber/equipment. Usually the center of the rubber has maximized spring effect and elasticity. But you hardly can hit to the same point all the time. You need consistency of the rubber when you make mistakes so it can tolerate your errors.
I hope you find this helpful. Let me know if you have any questions!
Best,
Wenting
