Butterfly Tenergy 80 Review – Part 2

 

In this part of the Tenergy 80 review, I take the rubber for a test drive, checking it’s performance during real play, and compare it to other rubbers to see how it stacks up.

 

Test Setup

I looked around through my collection of blade, for something that should work well with Tenergy-like rubbers. I decided on a Donic Burn ALL+ blade, which is not too fast so I can get a good feel of the speed of this rubber, and the harder outer plies tends to make it work very well with these types of rubber, as I’ve experienced before.

I turned the house upside-down to find my slightly used used sheet of T05 which I was going to put on the other side for comparison, but could not find it… must have lent it to someone… Since I didn’t have a new sheet of T05 lying around either, I decided to put on a sheet or Donic Baracuda just so that I could have something on the other side for reference.

I got lucky when I arrived at the club… my friend strongpong was there, who is not only a great person to help me test and review this rubber, but he also happened to have a M. Maze ALC blade with a T05 on one side. I was grateful that he was more than happy to rip the rubber off the other side, so that we could test the T80 and T05 side by side!!!

Note: The T05 sheet used for comparison was not brand new and has had a little use. However it was still in very good condition and felt near-new in playing performance.

 

Service:

I could get plenty of work on the service, very similar to T05. The top-sheet felt just a little stiffer so I needed to dig the ball in a little more, but it really did not take much effort to get very good spin. The T80 also felt less bouncy, so it was actually easier to generate shorter balls with heavy spin. Although I feel I can still get heavier spin with my tacky 999 Turbo, for a non-tacky rubber this rubber is very spinny, and in the same league as T05, Bluefire, etc.

 

The short game

This is where the T80 surprised and impressed me most, and the higher level players will appreciate the importance of this. The T05 is not really bouncy for the short game, and is significantly better than the T64 in this respect, but the T80 is significantly better again. I was impressed that with a soft touch I could return a short ball very low and short. It seemed to have a little firmer and ‘deader’ feel compared to the T05, making it easier to control the spin and pace. I could quite easily return a heavy backspin serve short, with no spin. Dig the ball in just slightly and I could get good spin and place it short or deep.

 

Looping / counter-looping

In a nut-shell; very easy and forgiving with plenty of punch and spin!

Although the T80 does not quite have the same high arc of the T05, it’s close and still very spinny. I found the feel of the T80 just a little harder than that of the T05, and it also felt just a little faster. Away from the table it really felt quite similar to the T05, and it required no adjustment in stroke to get the ball on.

The T05 is quite sensitive to spin, which was always one of the reasons I felt it was more suitable for higher level players who practice regularly. The T80 is significantly less sensitive to spin, without really sacrifising it’s other good abilities, so I think it will appeal to a wider range of players.

I felt with the T05, when you loop it right, you feel a unique and sharp bite of the ball, and you know it’s going back fast and spinny. The T80 still has this feel too, so it’s not lost anything there.

On the Burn All+ blade, looping felt very easy and forgiving, and even with poor technique you get good spin to make the ball land. I was impressed how much pace I could get with this ALL+ blade. It was an absolute pleasure to play with on this blade, and I felt that when looping I could not miss.

The T80 on the Maze ALC, being a faster and stiffer blade, made it more powerful and not quite a forgiving, but it was still a easy setup to loop with.

 

Blocking:

Blocking with the T80 was also very good, and once again the reduced sensitivity to spin compared to the T05 made it easier and more forgiving. Against power loops a firm block with an almost open bat face return the balls back fast and low. The T05 would always tend to pop up the spinnier ones, so the T80 made this significantly easier to play and place. Punch it a little harder and you can block it for a winner… well against most players anyway 🙂

 

Lifting backspin

Although the slightly higher throw of the T05 makes just a little easier, the T80 performed very well in this, either for short flips or deep loops.

 

My thoughts so far

Although this rubber does not offer something dramatically different or better, like when the Tenergy 05 first hit the centre stage, I do think this is very nice new addition from Butterfly, which does fill some of the gaps in the Tenergy range.

The T80 being more forgiving and easier to use should appeal to more of the developing players or lower level player, as the technique does not need to be as good to reap the benefits of the Tenergy rubbers. The improvements in the short game and improved blocking ability should appeal to the current Tenergy fans as well as the higher level players, as it does seem to gain more than what it loses.

So is it for everyone? Well I think with the right blade and appropriate sponge thickness, it can be made to work for an even wide range of players. However not everyone can afford the relatively high price tag, nor is everyone willing to pay this much for a rubber, and other manufacturer are also coming up with similar performance (although not quite the same feel), with Donic Bluefire or Tibhar 1Q probably the closest I’ve come across.

Still I expect this will be a popular rubber amongst the Butterfly fans, and may well draw some new players towards the Butterfly brand.

 

Things I forgot to test:

In the excitement of testing a new rubber, you always forget to test a few things, and although I probably played some of the shots listed below, I did not really take note of how well it performed, nor how it compared to other rubbers, so I feel I’ll need another session to check out these properties:

  1. Hitting high spinny balls
  2. Counterloop close to the table
  3. Chopping away from the table

 

Click here to read part 1, about my visual inspection and comparison of the Tenergy 80 rubber.

 

Click here to read part 3, further test and conclusions about the Tenergy 80 rubber.

 

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