In this blog, we will bring you a new rubber, Victas V 15 Extra. According to the official promotion, “It is a rubber that can be faced with the spinny ball from the opponent with confidence.
The rubber has great control and you could drive or pool the ball easily. This is due to the excellent elasticity of the rubber. The powerful sponge is used to achieve the balance between attack and defense.”
Table of Contents
Overview of Victas V 15 Extra
Obviously, Victas Company attaches great importance to this brand new product and it serves as a great weapon for offensive players. The high-end rubber is not afraid of the strong spin from opponents and can even counter-attack or counter-loop. So in this blog, we will do an in-depth playtest and review its performance.
Starplayer of Victas V 15 Extra
For loads of amateurs, the star endorsement of the rubber is a major attraction. The star player who endorses the V15e, Koki Niwa, has also used this rubber playing a variety of international matches. The Japanese table tennis player is currently among the world’s top ten first-class players.
He uses Victas v 15 Extra for both his forehand and backhand. He has got the runner-up of the men’s team at the Rio Olympic Games, the third runner-up of the Asian Championships in singles, and the runner-up of the doubles at the World Championships in Dussehra.
Niwa is renowned for his “imaginative” and “changeable” playstyle. Thus, Niwa has enjoyed huge popularity in the table tennis community for his unique style.
Victas V15 Extra vs tenergy 05
Data
The weight of the rubber before trimming is 71 grams, and the hardness measured by the durometer is 39 degrees. It can be seen that the rubber is still slightly hard. Later we will use Long V to match with Victas V 15 Extra for the playtest.
Speed 4.0/5.0
V15 Extra has a faster initial speed due to the hard rubber itself. Especially in the short or middle court, the spin-optimized top sheet increases the speed of the ball a lot. Therefore, in the topspin rallies in the middle court, you can also generate a very fast topspin without great force.
From this point, this rubber is much better than DHS Hurricane 3 or T05 or other rubbers designed for high-level players. Many intermediate-level players can also appreciate its advantages.
Spin 4.3/5.0
Spin is undoubtedly the greatest strength of V 15 Extra. Although the rubber itself is relatively hard, it can still hold and wrap the ball perfectly as it’s a tacky rubber.
The arc is relatively low and the spin is super strong when looping or driving. When it comes to serves, you can serve quite spinny backspin or topspin which is complicated for your opponents to return back. Unlike T05, V 15 Extra’s serves are more spinny, while the T05 is much faster.
But just like the official promotion, perhaps the biggest feature of V 15 Extra is not to generate spin, but to resist spin. The soft sponge absorbs the impact of incoming balls well and performs well during counter-loops. It should be noted that the angle of the racket should be adjusted well and not too narrow. Otherwise, it will hit the edge of the ball.
Control 4.5/5.0
The V 15 Extra also excels in control, which is why top players like Koki Niwa have chosen it. When doing drop-shots with T05, you can feel that the ball comes off the blade very quickly, and sometimes it is difficult to control the placement precisely.
However, the V 15 Extra does not have this problem. Whether it is drop-shots or pushes, it has good control performance.
Topspin 4.2/5.0
As we mentioned, V 15 Extra has better performance in wrapping the ball, so the ball has a long arc and great speed. Generally speaking, it’s quite all-round rubber.
Under the same power, T05 is more aggressive and the loops are much more forward. So if you want to play the game in a more powerful and explosive way, you can choose T05; On the other hand, if you prefer stronger spins then V 15 Extra is your great choice.
Backspin 4.4/5.0
When lifting up the backspin ball, V 15 Extra is not as fast as T05. However, V 15 Extra has better friction performance. Under great force, T05 is more explosive and the arc is relatively lower.
While the advantages of V 15 Extra can be observed obviously under small force. Players have a softer feel and can pool upwards the backspin easily with a higher arc.
Flick 3.8/5.0
V 15 Extra performs decently when flicking the ball. As the rubber surface is not as hard as the T05, it is much easier to control the ball. But T05 hit the ball faster and the quality of the strokes is much better.
Defense 3.8/5.0
In terms of defense, T05 also performs much better. With the same strength, the trajectory of T05 is longer and that of V15E is shorter. Thus, we should use less force when blocking with T05 as it´s super hard and bouncy. Otherwise, the ball may be out.
Match suggestion
Both V 15 Extra and T05 are hard rubbers. As we all know, the rubber and the blade need to cooperate well to maximize their overall performance.
Players who are not very good in basic skills can try to match them with a softer blade, such as Butterfly Lin Gaoyuan ALC, this will make it easier to control the ball.
Those who have excellent basic skills can match it with harder blades such as W968 or Butterfly Viscaria.
Conclusion
Generally speaking, Victas V15 Extra is a very comprehensive rubber. It has both speed and great spin in attack, and it’s also easy to control the ball. On the contrary, T05 is much harder and more powerful. The overall quality of the strokes is quite amazing.
However, it is common sense that we don’t need the best weapon but the most proper one. The one that fits you is the best. So that is why Niwa doesn’t choose T05 or Yasaka in his whole career.
If you are offensive players who are crazy about topspin to topspin rallies but at the same time want to pursue stability, then Victas V15 Extra will not let you be disappointed.
