Equipment
Timo Boll W7
Tenergy 05
Stranger Attack 0.5mm
I tried out the Stranger Attack yesterday for the first time. I've been using inverted on both sides this year and my lp feel may be a little off. Just give a little insight on the Stranger. Tom at zeropong gave me a sheet to test out for him. I played with National Pogo for a few years and here is my comparison of the two. Stranger's pip surface has the cross hatching marks. Pogo has a smooth surface with no markings. Strangers pips however are slightly firmer.
Stranger attack has a very similar feel (referring to the hardness and rebound speed) as Pogo. Stranger differently excels in the attacking area. I was able to hit consistent counters against top using a relatively normal racket angle. The rubber also gave you feel of control on the counter/attack. You can produce pretty spiny opening loops that have some topspin kick. When using the side swiping stroke off of topspin the rubber produced a good side spin ball. Pick hitting loose under spin balls were easy. When you make good contact while hitting the rubber makes a nice cracking sound.
Soft blocking/absorbing blocks stay short. Chop blocks produced decent under spin, OX version may produce a much heavier ball. The firmer pip handled stronger shots with more control. I noticed very few pop up and out of control shots. Pogo has less control in that area, really strong loops are really difficult to hold down. Stranger seems to be a better rubber close to the table. Much more control and better feel. The Pogo I was using had the 729 attacking sponge( if anyone knows where to get 729 attack orange sponge in .5mm or .6mm let me know) I would get the OX Pogo then put on the sponge. Stranger comes with a firm orange sponge. Maybe similar or the same?
Stranger is more spin sensitive on server returns. I dumped a lot of serves in the net the first few games. Pogo was less sensitive to short spiny serves. Stranger handles fast top spin serves and death serves well. You must brush the ball on dead serves, if you just try and bunt it back, the ball sails. Pogo would tend to have less control on fast top and dead. Stranger also pushes well against under spin. Stranger overall produces more spin.
This practice was with a player that has no problem with long pips and knows how to play them. He said the balls were more lively and had some weird bounces.
Practice two was a club night.
First match was with a 1750 two wing Chinese penholder. I beat him 3 straight winning most points off of his errors. He had a lot of trouble with the Stranger pips. He kept saying the balls was nasty; he hates long pips.
Second match was with an unrated player. I'm guessing you was around 1750-1800. This guy was a shake hander with a stronger forehand and weaker backhand. He had really spiny serve so I picked the balls right off the bounce and put them to his body. I then would chop to his forehand. Looping all balls that come out wide and popped up. Won 3-1
Third match was with a 1950 chopper. I didn't give him too many pip balls. I played mostly forehand and let him chop and fish. 3-0
Last match was with a 2014 player lefty with no backhand. He runs around and covers the table with the forehand. I would give him the pips wide to his backhand and block wide with the pips to his forehand. These pips have good control on the block. Very easy to get multiple blocks on the table. I beat him 3-1 but he also hates lps.
I videotaped the first practice with the Stranger. I'll post it in a few days.
Overall my opinion on the Stranger is the same. Great for at the table attacking and blocking close. Not so easy to chop with but can be done. You have make a full chopping motion the bend the pips. You can't get away with floating of half chopping. I give it a 7 on deception, more spin and more control, with more lively and weird balls.
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Gambler Fire Hinoki
Gambler Burst
Gambler Zero
USATT Rating 2174
