I’m not a Chinese rubber fan. They lack quality and consistent performance. My dislikes to Chinese rubbers happened few years ago in the speed glue era. I did not use speed glue, and none of the Chinese rubbers could give me good performance. I have to reconsider this facts again when I have looked at Giant Dragon rubbers. Giant Dragon is a Chinese brand, and make decent table tennis equipments.
Talk to any rubber distributors who sells table tennis rubbers for $20 or less. Their primary marketing strategy these days is that their $15 rubbers are equivalent to Butterfly Tenergy. The players don’t realize this fact that Butterfly Tenergy is a Japanese rubber, they are made different so none of the Chinese rubbers can’t really perform in the similar fashion as Butterfly Tenergy 05. However, I can’t disagree this fact that the Chinese rubber manufactures are making the speed glue effect built in the rubber. The past is past, but there is something new for the players to choose that satisfy their speed glue love.
I have tried Giant Dragon Karate and TaiChi soft rubbers on a classic allround blade made by SpinTech. The Giant Karate is a harder and non-tacky rubber. It is someway similar to DHS Hurricane III. The Giant Dragon TaiChi is a tacky rubber. In both these rubbers, I have seen very good trampolin effect. This is unlike other Chinese rubbers I have seen. The topsheets are under tension. The Giant Dragon Karate comes with a very light blue sponge and the Giant Dragon TaiChi comes with a pink sponge. These sponges are not like Tenergy sponges, not porous. They are like multi layered carboard. The power trampolin effect may be coming from this special sponge.
Both rubbers have high throw angle. The Taichi surely lacks power, but it impressed me with its tracky surface. When I say tacky, the top sheet grabs the ball occassionally. I have not seen a consistent behavior of grabbing the ball all the time. It can generate pretty much the same spin as XIOM ZETA makes. On a slower ball, the TaiChi grabs the ball better. In a high speed rally, the ball jumps out faster. I’m not sure I did like that kind of performance difference. The XIOM Zeta behaves consistentaly in it’s performance in high speed and slower rallies. The tacky beavior at slower ball could not help me decide where the ball going. Will it go over the net or not? I did not have the problem with XIOM Zeta. The TaiChi puts decent speed on the ball high speed rallies. The looping is easy, as the ball takes of fast from the rubber. It’s okay in its speed. The serve is pretty good as the top sheet makes a lot of rotation.
The Giant Dragon Karate is little more advanced rubber than TaiChi. The rubber’s performance is pretty the same at high speed and low speed rallies. Unlike TaiChi, it can’t make those touchy shots at low impact of a slower ball. This rubber will suit very well with carbon blades.
I recommend Giant Dragon TaiChi soft to a player who is learning topspin looping skills. This is a very affordable rubber with long term durability. The Giant Dragon Karate is for Chinese style hard hitters and loopers who like speed glue effect. It require advanced skills to use it. Both the rubbers are not pre-tuned. Howeve r they have qualities to compare to the new generation rubbers.
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