For the past few weeks I have been using TIBHAR Evolution MX-P 50 on my forehand. This is the ‘hard’ version of the very popular MX-P rubber.
The topsheet of MX-P 50 is the same as the original MX-P rubber, but the sponge underneath is harder. This is supposed to give a more direct trajectory and more speed.
What’s it like to play with? And what type of player would benefit from using this rubber?
Spin
First I’ll talk about the general playing characteristics of MX-P 50. The spin generation is very good. The topsheet grips the ball really well in all stroke situations – topspins, pushes, serving etc. In particular it performs very well with topspin vs backspin. I’m getting some really heavy rotation on the ball and I’m often surprised to see my loops being blocked off the end of the table.
Forehand counter-topspins are also a strong area of MX-P 50. The rubber feels very stable in these exchanges – the topsheet grips the incoming topspin and I can feel the ball holding on the rubber as I make contact with my counter-topspin stroke.
The trajectory is medium, which I think is a happy place to be. I personally struggle with rubbers where the throw is too low. I find it hard to consistently loop backspin with these rubbers. And with higher-throw rubbers I often struggle to keep the ball on the table in topspin to topspin exchanges. So this medium throw angle works for me and my swing mechanics.
I have clocked up 100 hours of play with MX-P 50 and the spin performance is still good. Of course, there is a slight drop-off in gripiness after the first 15-20 hours. But this is the same with all rubbers. Since that initial drop-off, the gripiness of the topsheet has held up pretty well.
Speed
The speed of MX-P 50 is decent, but because of the harder sponge, you do need to play very active strokes to fully utilise that speed potential in the rubber. I do quite like this balance. Unlike softer rubbers, it doesn’t feel that bouncy. It’s not fast ‘out-of-the-box’. This means I can play my controlled game when needed and then dramatically increase the speed when going for much stronger attacks.
I’m not a huge power player, so MX-P 50 doesn’t feel is as fast as other rubbers I have used. But it has enough speed for my level. I’m able to hit aggressive attacks, with enough speed to get past my opponents. Any extra speed that I can get from the rubber will need to come from improvements to my technique and physical conditioning.
For players who play aggressive all the time, you’ll most probably enjoy the speed this rubber produces. For players who like a rubber to generate fast speed with minimal effort, this probably isn’t the rubber for you.
Control
The rubber is not supposed to have high levels of control – at least it’s not marketed in that way – but I find the levels of control really quite decent for an attacking rubber. Blocking is very easy. As the rubber isn’t too bouncy, I can absorb a lot of incoming spin and the ball doesn’t jump out too much from the rubber.
Pushing is decent enough. I have to be a little careful with aggressive pushing as if I catch the ball too thickly then it will float off the end of the table. I have to make sure I really grip the ball and then the pushing has some real bite. Keeping the ball short is pretty easy. Again the harder sponge helps here, as the ball doesn’t catapult off the rubber so much.
Who should use MX-P 50?
If you’re a strong attacking player, you should get a lot of joy from this rubber. The spin generation is very good and the speed is there, but you need to activate it. For aggressive attackers this should work well – you’ll get the speed you need, but also high levels of accuracy and consistency with your strong attacking shots.
But there is another type of player who should consider MX-P 50. This is the all-rounder. A player who likes to vary pushes, blocks and strong attacks. As the rubber isn’t too bouncy, you’ll have success with your controlled game. And when you do choose to attack, you’ll get really decent spin and plenty of speed too.
TIBHAR Evolution MX-P 50 is available to buy from Bribar Table Tennis.
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