OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Great feedback dingwol2! With only a 0.6mm sponge it's always going to bottom out real quick. This will help spin reversal, but the control would go right out the window as you're almost hitting with the bare blade.... A thicker sponge might help though.. perhaps with a 0.6mm it might only feel fast because it bottom out so easily?

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
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Hi Haggis - you may be right, in which case I'm disappointed by the marketing from Dr N, which suggests that it will be an easy transfer from my Scalpel OX to the 0.6 Gorilla. I think I said in an earlier post that I'd like to see how this performs on the Hallmark superslow sponge which comes with the Mirage - my view hasn't changed - maybe Hallmark and Dr N should get together again!

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Tango Ultra 2mm black, DMS Storkraft 1.6mm red, DMS Invictus
Well done bat!

Yes that sounds like a good idea!

I do wonder why they don't make the Mirage in anyhting thinner than 2.0mm... perhaps it's very hard to make in a thin version?

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Last night I had quite a long knock with the Gorilla again, on my Barricade with 0.6 sponge. It's just too springy. I know I've said this elsewhere but really, the marketing from Dr N suggests your old frictionless game will just port over, with some practice time to adjust. Well, I just can't play a drop shot with this, against a loop, no matter what I try. i can see there is spin reversal, but because the ball I return is long, and the reversal is not so extreme as before, it just gets looped into me again and again, until it's a winner. Also, the angle you need for the bat is far less forgiving - I can't work it out yet, but I struggle to play my usual instinctive block back.

So last night I decided to mod the Gorilla. I removed it from the 0.6 sponge quite easily and then removed my Mirage rubber from the Hallmark super slow spnge, using a glue sheet, I have attached the Gorilla to the super slow sponge. And the end result.....well, hard to say really because I haven't had a knock with it. It's still springy but it is noticeably a bit slower. It must be the rubber itself, and the structure of the pips in, which is giving this the odd bouncey feel that it has.

Interestingly, after fighting against the speed of the Gorilla last night, I went back to playing with Swingback for 10 minutes. I was knocking against a top spin player (not a heavy looper) but suddenly I felt in control of my blocks again, could play it short, got back many shots which I was putting mile off the end before....so maybe I just love pimples. Looking forward to my insider now - if this is slower and has less grip than Swingback, then I guess this may end up being my best bet. That is, if my modified Gorilla doesn't do the trick.

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Tango Ultra 2mm black, DMS Storkraft 1.6mm red, DMS Invictus
Well done bat!

The Gorilla has finally landed.

I tried it on a slow, hard Hallmark Strategy blade. I felt this would be a good test because I have two Strategies, and the other one has Roulette on it. So it's Gorilla vs. Dr. N.'s fastest frictionless rubber.

How do they compare? They don't. I couldn't believe how ridiculously fast the monkey is.

Yes, there is spin reversal, but, sorry, as it stands now there is no way this will be a Super Block replacement with ANY amount of training. I'll let it sit for a few days to see if it calms down, but even if it went down 50% it would still be way too fast.

I guess eventually I'll try switching the Gorilla topsheet to the Hallmark Mirage sponge, but I'm just ed by the whole experience so far.

For reference, I also blocked a few balls with the Friction Special, which I originally thought was toothless, however compared to the current alternatives I would take FS in a heartbeat now.

Well, the TT Master Insider should be here any day. I read an early May launch for Hallmark's new LP 'Phoenix.' Also Joola has a new LP called 'Shark' that Solja is supposedly using, so there's still some hope.

Hey, now I know why Dr. N. called it the Gorilla -- because it makes an ape out of anyone who buys it.

I'm really wishing that I didn't order the Grizzly last week.

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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

A few nights ago at the club i let a guy who has been using superblock for a long time play with Palio CK531a on my aurora blade. This guy has never played with any other LP besides superblock. He could effortlessly play with the ck531a. He repeated several times the feeling was the same as with his SP. He could block,chop etc. Spin reversal is of course not at the same level but attacking is easier with the ck531a.

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Competition bats:
Win-tec power def Tibhar 5Q sound Power Update 1.8 * Spinlord Agenda ox
TSP Balsa 3.5 Tibhar Genius+Optimium sound 1.8 * Grass D-tecs ox

Put to rest:
Galaxy T10 Bluefire M2 2.0 Palio Ck531a ox
Victas Koji Matsushita Tibhar Genius+Optimium sound MAX * Spinlord Dornenglanz ox
Donic Defplay Senso Tibhar Aurus Sound Black max * Grass D-tecs ox

Check out my quest for my new blade here: http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=23241
Current standings:
Butterfly Matshushita powerdefence * Joola Chen Weixing * Nittaku KVU * Nittaku Shake defense* Tibhar stratus power defense * Victas Koji Matsushita * Yasaka Sweeper * Win-Tec power defence

Bob - you sound as cross as me about the marketing on this. We were really relying on the Dr who kept us in the dark for so long. I think we now know why - he has not solved the problem at all. And the way these are being sold as direct replacements to the old pips is plain wrong, as they do not convert at all.

I'm a bit cross really. I have another sheet of Gorilla on the way too - I ordered 2, so I could try them on different blades, but because of the delay I wish I hadn't as I already know that it wont do it for me on any blade, at least not on this sponge. Will let you know how it works on the Mirage sponge once I have tried it, but I still don't think this is the way forward for us.

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Tango Ultra 2mm black, DMS Storkraft 1.6mm red, DMS Invictus
Well done bat!

Elvis56: Thank you for the heads up on Palio CK531a. I ordered some on Ebay. At $3 a sheet, I guess you can't go wrong. Let's see, 1 sheet of Gorilla = 23 sheets of Palio CK531a. Ouch!

dingwol2: I do agree with Dr. N.'s 100 disruptive effect rating. The only problem is that it's the Gorilla user whose game is disrupted, not the opponents'. By the way, I noticed the Doc was registered to play in a Swiss tournament a few weeks ago, but he defaulted. I guess it would have been bad publicity if he got his clock cleaned using his own new rubbers.

Despite all of this, I still have some empathy for the guy after the ITTF unfairly tried to destroy him, and, like a sucker, I'll probably still buy his DVD and "Super Block Classic," which we all know is almost guaranteed to be on the ITTF's September list. I just hope it's not the Palio CK531a renamed with a $69 price tag!

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The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
Table Tennis Video Links: itTV | laola1.tv | ttbl | fftt | Challenger Series | mnnb-tv

My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

Hi Elvis - I've also taken your advice and ordered some inexpensive Palio CK531a. It was only after I had placed the order with LevoSports on Ebay that it did not specify what sponge it had (if any!). The Google search I did for this seller had the description 'Near Table Attack+Lo w/Japan Sponge' - Does it only come with one sponge thickness? You certainly give this rubber some glowing reports, and I am really getting quite fedup with promises of a good Super Block replacement, my Mirage rubber turned out to be a load of rubbish!

I originally bought a CK531A with 0.6 sponge but after a few hours of play I removed the sponge and liked it much better in . On my sheet I Could easily remove the sponge in seconds, some others on the forum have had more difficulty removing the sponge. You will probably ok if you get it with sponge, that way you can try both with and without sponge.

_________________
Competition bats:
Win-tec power def Tibhar 5Q sound Power Update 1.8 * Spinlord Agenda ox
TSP Balsa 3.5 Tibhar Genius+Optimium sound 1.8 * Grass D-tecs ox

Put to rest:
Galaxy T10 Bluefire M2 2.0 Palio Ck531a ox
Victas Koji Matsushita Tibhar Genius+Optimium sound MAX * Spinlord Dornenglanz ox
Donic Defplay Senso Tibhar Aurus Sound Black max * Grass D-tecs ox

Check out my quest for my new blade here: http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=23241
Current standings:
Butterfly Matshushita powerdefence * Joola Chen Weixing * Nittaku KVU * Nittaku Shake defense* Tibhar stratus power defense * Victas Koji Matsushita * Yasaka Sweeper * Win-Tec power defence

how great would it be if some cheap no-name pip like palio beat out the Dr. and hallmark! Here's to wishing

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Hello. I haven't decide yet what to buy to replace my Dr.N Super Block.

I have Super Block put on Schlager Carbon blade.

I will keep this blade, so from what u have tested till now, what would you recomand?

And something else, did somebody played with Dr Neubauer Special Defence? Is it a solution?

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Blade: Butterfly Schlager Carbon
FH: Butterfly Bryce Speed
BH: Dr. Neubauer Super Block

Special Defence is a slow, spinny chopper rubber that I doubt would be harmonious with a Schlager Carbon blade.

As for the Super Block replacement, that's what everyone is trying to figure out. Nothing acceptably similar on the market just yet.

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The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

Hmmm I've received my Gorilla now and have had one practice session with it (the next practice is tonight).

After a good two solid hours of playing with it, I can see potential. Some of the bloke returns I managed were unplayable for my opponent as they came back very low, fairly fast and loaded with spin.

However, like many others on here, the rubber is very fast in comparison to my old pimple setup (Inferno OX), but is that such a bad thing? I'm not so sure!

This got me thinking. I'm trying to play with the Gorilla in the same way that I was playing with Inferno - e.g. aiming to float and block balls back with an open blade. The difference however is that because Inferno was a lot slower, you could just block with an open blade a lot more easily. However Gorilla is different and I'm still working it out. Some shots you can block back with a fairly open blade and these really do fizz back onto the table. I can honestly say that these returns are harder for my opponents to play against than balls returned by Inferno.

So, I've decided that I'm going to try and start playing with Gorilla more like a normal rubber, e.g. I'm going to push the ball rather than block everything and try to be more proactive with it. Perhaps watching the new Neabauer DVD would help, so I'll probably order that, but I'm not going to give up just yet on this rubber. It does have great spin reversal, but it's just working out how to play those passive shots. I think if you're too gentle with it, the ball tends to ping up in the air. Maybe a more aggressive approach would work better?

I'll let you know how I get on.

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Blade: Ross Leidy custom blade
Forehand: Butterfly Tenergy 05-FX 1.7mm
Backhand: Dr Neubauer Gangster and Desperado 2 (testing both) OX

Butterfly Amicus Professional robot
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Just got mine and my reaction is even more negative.

Way too fast even on very slow blade.

Very poor reversal. Maybe partly because of slow blade? Hit with local coach and great anti-junk player. He said Gorilla blocks were dead and when I switched to Insider he immediately said the reversal was MUCH better.

Seemed like there were times when heavy spin would grab. Heavy underspin in particular seemd to drag into the net.

Attempted chopping was even worse, couldnt find a way to get them on the table. Too depressed to spend more time working out why.

Again the Insider chopped much better. Some were so heavy the coach said he thought players below his level would struggle to get them over the net.