(By: Darryl Tsao)
The Dignics 09c is quickly becoming one of the most popular rubbers in the market today. It has a couple of features that differentiate it from the other rubbers on the market, as well as the other Dignics series. It has a tacky top sheet, which is not becoming a norm in the industry. This rubber also has a harder sponge than the other rubber in the Dignics series. Testing is done once again with my Viscaria blade.
The Dignics 09c has become the turning point in the age of table tennis rubbers. Many companies are coming out with their own sticky topsheet and hard sponge rubbers. The 09c has a crisp and solid contact. Once you start looping, the rubber generates an enormous arc. Although it generates a high arc, the ball doesn’t travel very far, rather it bounces extremely high on the opponent’s court. You will need high amounts of racket speed to unlock the full potential of this rubber.
However, due to the rubber’s high spin and speed capabilities, there is some miss gear when reducing or adding power. What I mean by this is that the feeling and the way the ball travels differs quite drastically between slower and faster shots. This may result in an inconsistent feeling. Many of the properties on the forehand apply to the backhand. The arc is tremendous, spin is great even in lower racket speed swings. However, it is very hard to play power shots on the backhand, since it is much harder to hit through the rubber. It definitely takes a professional to fully activate the rubber’s potential on the backhand.
There are some advantages and disadvantages to this rubber in underspin. On the one hand, it is very easy to generate quality on the third ball. However, like the topspin, it doesn’t travel very far, meaning although the quality is high, it doesn’t make it much harder for the opponent to block. Many times I have to intentionally send the ball deeper to the baseline of the table. However, the high arc nature of the rubbers makes it really difficult, since the ball easily flies off the table. Additionally, this rubber is very spin sensitive. The only way to control the ball from flying out is to go over the ball.
Counter topspins feel exceptional with this rubber. It is very safe, no matter which angle you are playing from. However, since it is spin sensitive, you need to close your racket angle quite a bit to compensate for its sensitivity and high arc. I do have some issues with it aside from its playing characteristics. First of all, the rubber dies very quickly. When compared to the Dignics series, the other Dignics last about twice as long as the 09c.
Another problem I have with this is when re-gluing the rubber for the second time. It starts to bend and curve inward on the sponge. I always feel that this rubber feels different and not as good as when I first put it on. Overall, this rubber isn’t just an exceptional high performance rubber, it marks the turning point in a new age or rubbers.
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