Victas Triple Extra

Review

Overall, I am giving this rubber a 10/10 rating. Of all the rubbers I have tried on my forehand (H3N/palioak47/friendship super fx/pf4/Bluegrip C2), this is the best so far. It is also a good backhand rubber, but only if you know how to play with it. I am using it on my forehand because it has a similar construction to Chinese rubbers, but the sponge is livelier. My playing style is “kung fu” table tennis.

This is just my first day using this rubber, so I will provide an update later.

Characteristics

• Black/max/black sponge
• Looks durable
• Topsheet similar to Donic Bluegrip C2, but I think it plays better
• A bit heavy, but not as heavy as Hurricane rubbers
• Skyline tg3 on backhand is a little bit lighter
• Very spinny, but the speed can be overlooked
• Glued with Revolution No. 3 (2 layers) on an old PG7
• Good for chops, pushes, and serves
• Works better on smashes than Chinese rubbers

Having played with this rubber on my forehand for approximately 15 hours with the maximum thickness, I will now compare it to Butterfly’s Dignics 09c and Victas’s Triple Double Extra.

In comparison to the 09c, this rubber offers a slightly higher throw and is marginally lower than the TD. Similarly to these two, it performs exceptionally well when playing close to the table. However, it must be said that I believe the tacky top-sheet is mainly for aesthetics, as brushing shots are not significantly more spinny in comparison to other tensors, although services do benefit from a moderate increase in spin. To my surprise, blocking is notably underwhelming compared to the 09c and especially the TD, with it feeling like a very hard tensor.

Regarding flat shots, I believe both the 09c and TD excel for different reasons. The 09c is softer and generates a satisfactory amount of spin to control its descent and placement, while the TD executes deadly flat shots with almost no spin, which can be more challenging to control but prove devastating when executed successfully. Unfortunately, the TE is too hard to produce sufficient spin to control the ball and yet too spinny to be lethal even when it lands on the table. Apart from flat shots, it remains a commendable rubber for its price point, but I find the TD to be superior at a comparable cost. I would rate it 8/10.

I use this rubber in 2.0 mm thickness for my backhand on a Temper Tech All+ blade. It provides good control, spin, and medium speed. However, it requires some adjustment as the sponge is rather hard. Blocks are effective with this rubber.

Review

This rubber provides excellent control and a high level of spin. Its sticky topsheet enhances rotation and power, making it easy to use in various situations. When chopping, the ball reacts sharply. I have successfully paired this rubber with the forehand of my STIGA Carbonado 290. I believe it offers comparable performance to the DIGNICS 09C at a more affordable price. Overall, this is an exceptional rubber that I highly recommend.

Victas’ Triple-Extra rubber fills the gap between tensor-style rubbers such as Victas V>15-extra and V>20 and harder-sponge DHS H3-type rubbers including Victas Triple-Double-extra and Nittaku Pro III turbo-blue. It’s described accurately in the Victas catalog’s “Rubber Performance Table,” except for slip-resistance which is greater than V>22’s grippy rather than tacky/sticky top-sheet. Triple-Extra is appreciably less “bouncy” than so-called “hybrid” rubbers including Tibhar’s Hybrid K3 and Yasaka’s Rakza Z rubbers even when they’re boosted. It’s less tacky than DHS H3 “National” blue (DHS #22), Nittaku Pro III turbo-blue or Victas Triple-Double-extra – but sticky enough to provide valuable dwell-time for effective looping without the need for the high arm-speeds necessary to use Chinese-type tacky-topsheet, hard-sponge rubbers effectively. As such, it’s an excellent forehand rubber for reasonably stiff blades, such as Nittaku’s Goriki-Super-Drive, especially when they’re used with 0x long pips backhand rubber such as Tibhar D.TecS or slower Victas Curl P1V. Additional benefits of Victas’ Triple-Extra are that it’s (1) an excellent forehand rubber for blocking and (2) a useful transition backhand rubber for aggressive close-to-the-table, long-pips players who twiddle between backhand chop-blocks or “Jakarta” jabs using pips and backhand drives using inverted rubber. As with other Chinese-style hard-sponge rubbers, it’s much more effective when boosted and glued properly (e.g., using Falco Tempo Long or Premium boosters and Nittaku Fine Zip or DHS aquatic #15 glues).

This rubber is very hard and not very tacky. I see no reason to use this over Victas Triple Double Extra. I think I’d need to try boosting it to get anything out of it.