Butterfly company’s non-tacky rubber enjoys great numbers of fans all over the world. Although the price is high, its excellent performance has gained great popularity in the world.
On April 1, 2020, Butterfly Company launched the first high-end professional tacky rubber, which can be described as making history.
Dignics 09C is the high-end tacky inverted rubber released by Butterfly Company in 2020. It has a hardened Spring Sponge-X sponge and a brand-new rubber technology.
In the initial development stage, after Timo Boll tried Dignics 09C, he felt that this rubber has great feeling, so he was more interested in its research and development. The new technology enables this rubber to have the high rotation of the tacky rubber and the great speed of the high elastic rubber.
It can be said to be a classic of the D series with the previously launched Dignics 05, Dignics 64, and Dignics 80. We covered the D05 in our previous blog, and today we’ll take a look at the performance of D09C.
Table of Contents
Starplayer of Dignics 09C
Dimitrij Ovtcharov is a German table tennis player. He is currently ranked No. 8 in the world by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). He was born on December 15, 1988, in Ukraine. His family moved to Germany when he was two years old.
Ovtcharov began playing table tennis at the age of five and became a member of the German national team in 2004. Dimitrij has won numerous titles in his career. By the age of eighteen, he had already won his first international title: the World Junior Championships.
He has since gone on to win many more titles, including the Olympic bronze medal in 2012 and the World Championships singles gold medal in 2017. Ovtcharov is known for his quick and aggressive playstyle, especially his powerful and accurate backhand strokes.
He uses an unorthodox grip, which allows him to generate a lot of spin on his shots. His blade is Butterfly Viscaria FL and now he is using Butterfly Dignics 09c as his rubber.
Overview of Dignics 09C
When it comes to tacky rubbers, Chinese rubber DHS Hurricane may come into the mind of everyone. As a rubber that has gained great popularity in China, its high viscosity has always been a huge advantage.
Loads of fans must be wondering, what is the comparison between D09C and DHS Hurricane 3? Can D09C challenge Hurricane’s forehand dominance? Therefore, in this blog, we will compare the Neo H3 Provincial blue sponge with Dignics 09C to compare their distinct performance.
Dignics 09C VS DHS Hurricane 3
In terms of weight, the Dignics 09C weighs 73 grams, and the Neo H3 Provincial Blue sponge is 67 grams. It can be clearly seen that the dignics 09C with the new technology high-density sponge is much heavier.
After measuring with a durometer, the hardness of D09C is 41 degrees, while the hardness of Neo H3 is 40.5 degrees, which these two are quite similar. We could suppose that the slightly harder D09C will also be able to hit the ball with greater speed.
In the playtest, we have been using Dignics 09C brushed with inorganic glue, as well as NEO H3, boosted with 2 layers of sea moon oil on the same blade, Zhang Jike ALC.
Serves
In terms of serves, there is almost no difference between dignics 09c and NEO H3. Compared with the D05 that we did the review last time, the rubber of d09c felt a clear sense of friction and rotation. Players can serve the ball with great spin and speed such as rapid backspin or topspin. Relatively speaking, NEO H3 fails to serve comparable spin like D09C.
Flash hits
Close to table flat hit Dignicas 09C has a clear feel and greater speed due to the powerful sponge and semi-tacky top sheet. Especially the backhand strokes can be extremely powerful under great strength.
However as the rubber is super bouncy, sometimes the ball goes quite long so we need to adjust the angle and placement. However, both Dignics 09C and NEO H3 are inferior to Tenergy 05 in close-to-table hits, according to my feeling in the playtest.
Backspin
Both two rubbers are able to lift up the backspin easily with a higher arc. Under small force, the arc of d09c will be higher, and the arc of NEO H3 will be shorter. This should be due to the spin generated by the Spring Sponge-X sponge, which makes the arc of Dignics 09c longer.
However, aside from the length of the arc, there is not much difference between the two and neither of them performs well in forwarding loop drives. In this sense, Dignics 05 really reigns in this area.
Topspin
Topspin rally is the favorite part of every professional table tennis player as they can exert force recklessly in the middle and back court. It has to be admitted that NEO H3 has great toughness, which is pursued by every player.
However, the harder Spring Sponge-X sponge with the new rubber technology of dignics 09C allows players to have more energy for looping in the middle court. That’s why professional players like Timo Boll are fond of it.
But it takes a lot of strength to experience it so in this regard, it is not recommended for enthusiasts who lack great basic skills.
Flick
Dignics 09C and NEO H3 have different styles and feeling when flicking. The flick of dignics 09c is quite rapid with great spin. Relatively speaking, NEO H3 can generate more spin and it’s more stable and solid.
So if you prefer fast-speed then you could choose dignics 09C; if you are into stable feeling, then NEO H3 would be better.
Control
There is no obvious difference in pushes. In some drop shots, Dignics 09C doesn’t have really good control and the ball leaves the racket rapidly.
NEO H3 is relatively tackier and it drags the trajectory of the balls falling down the side of the opponent. So generally speaking NEO H3 has better control compared with D09C.
Defense
NEO H3 is more stable and is able to absorb the power of the incoming ball. On the other hand, Dignics 09C is more bouncy and good at positive blocks. But players have to adjust the angle and force properly, otherwise, the ball may be out.
Who is it for?
Both NEO H3 and Dignics 09C are aimed at professional and semi-professional players. It requires excellent basic skills to experience the unique performance of the rubber itself. It is not recommended for beginners and ordinary players.
Actually, players can both use it forehand to do explosive and devastating loop drives or backhand to do pushes and blocks.
Conclusion
Both these two rubbers are excellent in constant topspin rallies under great force. NEO H3 performs better in generating spin and some drop-shots as it allows the ball stayer longer on the paddle.
The two rubbers have almost the same performance in lifting backspin or flicking. But Dignics 09C can generate greater speed in some close-to-table shots.
Actually, it’s hard to say which one is better because under absolute force the two almost perform the same. If there is a slight difference, it would only be because of the personal technique of professional players.
