The 25 Best Table Tennis Rubbers for All Players in 2024

Last Updated on July 10, 2024 by Alex Horscroft

If you want to get better at table tennis, you need the right equipment to do it. Yet when it comes to choosing the best rubber for your table tennis racket, it’s a little overwhelming given how many are on offer. They also play rather differently, and if you choose the wrong kind you could actually end up hurting your game rather than enhancing it!

But don’t you worry, I’ve hand-picked each rubber for all of you readers. Irrespective of your skill level or style there should be a rubber for you on this list. Whether you are after the best table tennis rubbers for spin or those with high control, I have you covered.

Best Table Tennis Rubbers for Beginners

Option 1: Butterfly Flextra

If you’re set on picking up a custom beginner rubber, Flextra is probably the best rubber for the job. It’s the cheapest inverted-style custom rubber that Butterfly offers and is near-perfect for beginners.

According to Butterfly, the spin and speed of Flextra is almost identical to Tackiness Drive, my second pick. The main area it differs is its hardness which is 32 degrees on the Butterfly Hardness Scale compared to 38 (around 44 ESN hardness). This gives it a medium soft feel rather than a medium hard feel.

Option 2: Butterfly Tackiness Drive

This was the first custom rubber I ever purchased, so I was in your shoes when I picked it up. Tackiness Drive is by no means fast or spinny, but it offers control in spades which is exactly what you need.

While it’s a lot cheaper than most rubbers from Butterfly, it’s 15 bucks more expensive per sheet than Flextra, therefore it’s a no-brainer to go with Flextra instead in my opinion.

Best Ping Pong Rubbers for Intermediate Players

Option 1: Yasaka Mark V

Yasaka Mark V is one of the most popular rubbers of all time. While it is fairly tame by today’s standards, it was once one of the most offensive rubbers available. Many professional players including the legendary Ma Lin used it.

Mark V offers a beautiful balance of spin, speed, and control, with the latter being its primary focus. It’s also very respectably priced coming in at the same cost as Tackiness Drive. As a final selling point, it comes in a variety of thicknesses which helps you shape it to your style of play.

Option 2: Butterfly Sriver

Where Mark V is Yasaka’s old-school legendary rubber, Sriver is Butterfly’s equivalent. Sriver pre-dates Tenergy being released back in 1967, and it was incredibly popular with professionals at that time. Over 90 European and world titles were won with the rubber which is pretty incredible!

It plays largely the same as Mark V, offering a fairly even blend of control, spin, and speed. While once considered a very offensive rubber, by today’s standards it’s more fitting of an allround classification — perfect for an intermediate player.

Option 3: Butterfly Rozena

Butterfly advertises Rozena as a rubber of tolerance, meaning it has more forgiveness than many of the other rubbers they offer. To many players, it’s a cheaper and more controllable Tenergy.

It uses the same Spring Sponge technology as Tenergy and also features a High Tension top sheet as well. I consider it a great route into Butterfly rubbers as they are notoriously expensive. However, I’d only recommend it to more skilled intermediate players as it’s still a very fast and spinny rubber.

Best Table Tennis Rubbers for Advanced Players

Option 1: Butterfly Tenergy 05

Gosh, does this rubber need any introduction? It may have been released back in 2008, but players are still banging on about it today. It receives more praise than any other table tennis rubber, and it largely has the properties to back this up.

I remember my first time using it distinctly. All of my loops pinged off the end of the table — it took a great deal of adjustment on my part because of its strong in-built catapult effect. As far as spin and speed go, it’s up there with the best. The strong arc it produces on loops also makes it effective from virtually any distance.

However, for me, it wasn’t the perfect rubber. Both my Tenergy 05 and Tenergy 64 top sheets degraded fairly quickly, and I was reluctant to fork out again for the hefty price tag Butterfly demands. That being said, all other players I have spoken to speak highly of Tenergy’s durability. So perhaps it was down to a bad batch.

In any case, Tenergy 05 has remained one of the most popular rubbers over the last two decades, therefore it is absolutely a rubber you should consider if you are an advanced offensive player.

Option 2: Nittaku Fastarc G-1

I hadn’t even heard of this rubber up until a few years ago, and this is despite the fact that Fastarc G-1 is supposedly the top-selling table tennis rubber in Japan. After seeing stellar reviews from players, naturally, I had to give it a go, and I’m glad I did.

This rubber plays exceedingly similarly to Rasanter R47, my previous rubber — perhaps the tiniest bit slower, but in all honesty, it’s tough to tell. I’m convinced if the names were covered I wouldn’t be able to discern the difference.

In my opinion, Fastarc is perfect for players pursuing one of the fastest and spinniest medium-harm rubbers available. I can perform slow and spinny rollover loops or loop kills equally well with it, and to me, there are no issues to speak of whatsoever.

For those who don’t know, I’m based in the UK. And rubber prices are a little different over here to the US. My previous rubber, Rasanter R47 is a little more expensive, so given the similar characteristics, I made the switch to Fastarc G-1 on both sides.

Option 3: Andro Rasanter R47

After learning that the Rasant series was discontinuing, I was rather disappointed — I had tried and loved every rubber from that range (excluding Rasant Chaos which is long pips). Yet, all was not lost, as its successor, the Rasanter range, shortly followed. I promptly picked up Rasanter R47 to replace my fading Rasant rubber sheets.

If I’m honest, I think Rasant was slightly superior, but we are talking about negligible differences for the most part. Rasanter R47 is deadly with its high spin and speed and I’m convinced it’s one of the best ping pong rubbers available today. If players weren’t so sucked in by the Butterfly name I’m sure it would be a lot more prevalent.

If Fastarc G1 wasn’t cheaper here in the UK, it would still be my preferred rubber of choice as I love the way it plays. Yet for those of you in the US who can get it for $15 cheaper than me, you should definitely consider it.

Best Cheap Table Tennis Rubbers

Your table tennis setup can get expensive rather quickly if you play regularly and opt for the likes of Tenergy 05 — you could be forking out almost $150 every two or three months!

This is why it’s a good idea to shop around and consider cheaper alternatives. Many are comparable to the most popular rubbers and save you a pretty penny.

Option 1: DHS Hurricane 3 Neo

If you’re an advanced player after a cheap elite rubber, Hurricane 3 Neo is the best table tennis rubber that you are going to get. It costs half the price of many of its competitors yet remains very popular with players all around the world.

As a Chinese rubber, it plays very differently from the Euro/Jap rubbers we have looked at thus far. It is tacky and doesn’t have a catapult effect. Rather it plays linearly — you get out what you put in. So if you want to hit power loops you certainly can, but you’ll have to use excellent technique and be explosive. For this reason, you should only use Hurricane 3 Neo on forehand, not backhand.

While linear rubbers are more tiring to use, they have the advantage of offering more control. So ask yourself which matters more to you. A rubber that gives you a speed boost with poor control, or a slower, linear rubber which is capable of similar levels of spin and speed, but more tiring to use. If it’s the latter, Hurricane 3 Neo is one of the best Chinese table tennis rubbers on offer.

Option 2: Xiom Vega Pro

Xiom Vega Pro only narrowly missed out on featuring in my best rubbers for advanced players section, so it is well worth considering if you’re in the market for a cheap rubber. At the time of writing, it costs just $35 which is very good value for a top rubber.

With respect to spin and speed, it is both fast and spinny, but not quite on the level of the liveliest rubbers on the market, yet for the price, I for one, am hardly complaining.
RITC 729-5

Option 3: RITC 729 729-5

RITC 729-5 is the ultimate budget rubber. Sure it doesn’t have the blistering pace of Evolution MX-P or the spin of Rakza Z, but it’s still plenty spinny and fast in its own right.

But what it does have which other rubbers do not is unbeatable value.

RT 729-5 costs just $15 per sheet which is simply mind-boggling! Use this on both sides and pick up a cheap but quality blade and you can have an elite racket for $70! Talk about a real-life cheat code!

Best Non-Inverted Table Tennis Rubbers

Although the vast majority of players use inverted rubbers, other styles of rubbers are also very effective. These include long pimples, short pimples, and anti-spin.

Best Long Pimples Rubber: Victas Curl P1V

If you’re after the trickiness that the long pimples style offers. Victas Curl P1V is the rubber you want. Formerly, this rubber was called TSP Curl P1R which explains why Victas Curl P1V isn’t as talked about as it should be.

It’s the main long pimple rubber of choice for professionals and amateurs alike and is a nightmare to play against (speaking from experience). It also has the advantage of being pretty cheap. I recommend pairing it with an inverted rubber to play havoc with the brains of your opponents.

Best Short Pips Rubber: Yasaka Rakza PO

Players seeking the cracking smashes that short pimples offer will have a grand ol’ time using Yasaka Rakza PO. Popularized by Mattias Falck, it is a great choice if you like to stay close to the table and drive or smash the ball rather than loop it.

Rakza PO uses Yasaka’s new natural rubber gum sheet which offers increased spin compared to many other short pips rubbers, but then again, its spin is much lower than inverted rubbers which is what you want. Otherwise, you’d lose the iconic short pimples style of play.

Best Antispin Rubber: Yasaka Anti-Power

Although I doubt there are many of you out there looking for antispin rubbers, I thought I’d still include one on this list for the few that are. In case you don’t know what antispin is, it’s a type of frictionless rubber that is tricky to play against.

As the top sheet doesn’t grip the ball, the type of spin on the ball continues. Meaning a topspin shot is returned as backspin which is pretty tricky to play against.

Anti-Power is an offering from Yasaka that seems to be the most popular type of antispin rubber out there. For maximum effectiveness, I strongly recommend using it in combination with an attacking inverted rubber. This will allow you to punish all of your opponent’s mistakes.

Best Forehand Rubber (Hard)

Option 1: Butterfly Dignics 09C

After Tenergy made waves in the table tennis world, players eagerly anticipated its successor, Dignics, and it did not disappoint. While many players still use Tenergy, a large portion has switched over to the newer Dignics.

Dignics 09C is hard and while it is fast, its spin is its most alluring quality. According to Butterfly, it has the most spin of any of the rubbers they have produced alongside Tenergy 05 Hard. However, it is a little harder than Tenergy 05 thanks to the new Spring Sponge X sponge that it uses.

While there’s no doubt Dignics 09C is a top rubber, it’s damn expensive, which is a bit of a turn-off. It costs twice that of most elite rubbers so you may prefer to look elsewhere.

Option 2: Andro Rasanter R50

Rasanter R50 is my recommendation if you’re after one of the best table tennis rubbers for your forehand side. As the name suggests, the sponge has 50 degrees of hardness which I think is a good level for most players. However, they do also make a R53 version too which is notably harder.

Like Rasanter R47, R50 is a delight to play with and gives you access to extreme levels of speed and spin.

Option 3: Tibhar Evolution MX-P50

Another super hard rubber is Evolution MX-P50 by Tibhar. As some of you may know, Evolution is Tibhar’s hottest line right now, but it’s mainly MX-P that gets a lot of praise, not MX-P50.

This is once again a 50-degree rubber, and it only plays a little differently to the regular MX-P as it shares the same top sheet. The difference instead lies in the sponge which has small pores rather than large ones.

As it’s newer than the original it’s a little more expensive, but not by much. It still works out a hell of a lot cheaper than Dignics 09C.

Best Backhand Rubber (Softer)

Option 1: Andro Rasanter R42

Look at me milking the Rasanter range for everything they are worth! But seriously, I’m including another Rasanter rubber as they really are just that good.

Rasanter R42 has 42 degrees of hardness which I feel is a nice fit for backhand. While you miss out on a touch of pace compared with R47 and R50 due to the softer sponge, you still get excellent spin for the likes of banana flicks and backhand loops.

If you want to go softer, you can with Rasanter R37, however, I would recommend trying R42 first to see how you like it as 37 degrees is pretty damn soft!

Option 2: Yasaka Rakza 7 Soft

Rakza 7 only narrowly missed out on featuring in my best rubbers section, so it only felt fitting to include the exceptional Rakza 7 Soft as one of my recommended backhand rubbers.

It’s among the most popular soft rubbers out there and is marginally cheaper than Rasanter R42. As for the exact hardness of Rakza 7 Soft, this varies depending on where you look. Yasaka themselves do not specify, instead rating it 3 out of 5 which makes the rubber seem medium-hard.

However, most online retailers classify the rubber as being 37 to 42 degrees, so you may well end up receiving a softer rubber than Rasanter R42 if you purchase it.

Option 3: Xiom Vega Europe

Next up we have our second Xiom rubber. While Vega Pro featured in the cheap rubber section, I felt Vega Europe was more fitting for the backhand.

Its softer sponge gives Europe more control than Vega Pro while offering similar levels of spin. Like many of the top rubber today, it is a tensor rubber which means it has in-built tension. Therefore while it is slower than Vega Pro, it still has plenty of pace.

Concerning hardness, it may be medium-soft, but it is only marginally harder than Rasanter R42 as it is 42.5 degrees rather than 42. In reality, this 0.5-degree difference will be imperceivable.

Fastest Table Tennis Rubbers

Option 1: Tibhar Evolution MX-P

Whenever anybody asks me what the fastest rubber is in table tennis, Evolution MX-P is always the first rubber that comes to mind. Out of the box, it is blisteringly quick thanks to its factory boost. Even if you’re used to fast rubbers I’m pretty sure you will be sending a few balls long before you get used to it.

However, the drawback of this rubber is its longevity. The boost only lasts a month or two depending on how often you play. And once this is gone, speed-seekers will be left wanting more. So as far as performance goes it gets my seal of approval. But in terms of value, it’s relatively poor as you’ll be replacing sheets far more often compared with other models.

Option 2: Donic Bluestorm Z1 Turbo

For our first Donic rubber, we have Bluestorm Z1 Turbo. While it is incredibly quick, it also has comparable levels of spin too. Therefore if you play a fast and spinny game it is a great rubber to consider.

Just be aware that it has 50 degrees of hardness which isn’t ideal for the backhand, but as far as the forehand goes, it’s a top rubber!

Option 3: Gewo Nexxus XT Pro 50 Hard

Last up when it comes to the fastest rubbers is Nexxus XT Pro 50. It features a thin and grippy top sheet paired with an XT sponge which gives the ball a low trajectory. This makes it ideal for a close-to-the-table attacking style.

Best Table Tennis Rubbers for Spin

Option 1: Tibhar Evolution MX-S

It’s not only MX-P and MX-P50 which are worth talking about but also MX-S. It is the spinniest rubber from the range and also one of the hardest at 47.5 degrees.

While it is no slouch when it comes to speed, it is noticeably slower than MX-P and MX-P50 making it much easier to control. You’ll appreciate this when it comes to blocks and punches as it’s much easier to keep the ball on the table.

Option 2: Yasaka Rakza Z

Rakza Z is another excellent rubber from the Rakza range. It can produce a crazy amount of spin and this is in part due to the new top sheet. Unlike the other rubbers from the Rakza series, Rakza Z has tackiness like Chinese rubbers.

That being said, it is not as tacky as the likes of Hurricane 3 Neo. It’s also not got a strong catapult effect like most tensor rubbers so it feels a little slower in most areas. Where it feels strong is in the looping game. You can loop from almost anywhere and generate a tonne of spin.

Option 3: Yasaka Rising Dragon

Rising Dragon is rather similar to Rakza X. It’s kind of a cross between a Chinese and Japanese-style rubber. You get a tacky top sheet and a hard sponge which allows the ball to compress into the top sheet. This gives you more pace than a typical Chinese rubber. However, given the top sheet is tacky, it does mute the pace of the ball somewhat, so you don’t get a typical catapult effect.

As I say, there is not much to separate Rakza Z and Rising Dragon. Given the latter is almost 10 bucks cheaper, if you’re interested, Rising Dragon is the rubber I would try out first.

Table Tennis Rubber Buying Guide

When it comes to purchasing table tennis rubbers, there’s a hell of a lot to think about. Purchase the wrong kind, and it could stunt your progression. Yet with the right rubber, you’ll have quality training sessions and continue to improve.

Identify the Kind of Player You Are

Before you even look at what’s on offer, it’s first important to establish what kind of player you are as this will heavily shape your rubber selection.

Do you like to smash on your forehand? A fast and hard inverted rubber should do the trick. Equally a short pips rubber could serve you well.

Or perhaps you chop instead? A slower rubber would be a better fit. While inverted rubbers are good for chopping long pips can make you extra tricky to play against.

Below are some recommendations based on common styles:

• Blocker: Any rubber type, prioritize high control
• Chopper: Inverted/long pips, slow with high control
• Flat hitter: Short pips/inverted, very fast
• Driver: Short pips/inverted, fast
• Controlled looper: Inverted, fast, and spinny
• Aggressive looper: Inverted, very fast, and very spinny

Of course, these are just general recommendations. You also need to consider your skill level. You shouldn’t get a rubber that is too advanced for your ability, otherwise, you’ll lose consistency and struggle to keep the ball on the table.

Control, Speed, and Spin

Besides the type of rubber, the three main qualities you want to look for are control, speed, and spin.

Control is how easy it is to keep the ball on the table, speed is the pace at which the ball rebounds off of the rubber, and spin is the rubber’s ability to rotate the ball.

As you may have deduced, control and speed are directly tied to one another. The faster a rubber is, the less control it has. However, many people may try to convince you that some of the top fast rubbers also have lots of control. It’s mostly a load of nonsense if you ask me.

Moving onto spin, this quality is great as it helps you to produce shots that are harder to return. However, it is a double-edged sword. The more spin a rubber has, the more sensitive you are to it. Therefore, as an example, you may find that you win more points when serving, yet you are also likely losing more points from your serve receive as well.

Hardness and Softness

Every rubber has a hardness rating. This relates to the stiffness of the sponge and affects how the rubber plays. You can engage soft sponges more easily — this gives you access to increased spin and speed when you input low power on your strokes. However, soft sponges reach maximum compression easier than hard sponges.

This means for very fast strokes, hard sponges have additional stores of spin and speed that you can access. This is why players like hard sponges on the forehand given that it is much faster than the backhand.

Sponge Thickness

Something else to consider is sponge thickness. This quality is easier to get your head around. The thicker the sponge, the faster it will be.

• ≤1.5 mm: Defenders
• 1.6 mm – 1.9 mm: Players who value control
• ≥2 mm: Attackers

Conclusion

What a beefy article this turned out to be! Hopefully, you learned a thing or two about rubbers and found a few kinds that piqued your interest.

I tried to include the best table tennis rubbers for every kind of player, so hopefully, you don’t need to do too much more research, if any, beyond this post.

Remember that while picking suitable rubbers is important, ultimately quality training is what matters. Way too many developing players put too much stock into rubbers thinking that they will magically evolve their game. While quality rubbers will of course help you to improve, ultimately, there is no substitute for putting in hard hours on the table to both work on your strengths and weaknesses.