Andro Rasanter R42 Rubber

The R42 will provide the dynamic performance you are looking for once you add some extra speed in your stroke.

• Your profile is spin driven.
• You are looking for maximum grip.
• As an advanced to high level player you will benefit from medium 42° sponge hardness taking full control on your spins.
• Your style is versatile and you are smart enough to combine top spin potential with a medium soft sponge to guarantee superior feedback and control.

What's So Special About These New Rubbers?

• RASANTER is the most elaborate and complex rubber development ever undertaken in Germany.
• The goal was to develop a future-oriented rubber technology that allows all ambitious and technically skilled players to overcome the physical disadvantages of the 40+ ball.
• RASANTER's topsheet compensates for the rotational disadvantages of the 40+ ball, while the denser, ultra-thick sponge increases the catapult effect and compensates for the lower speed of the cell free ball.

Rasant means fast in German, and Rasanter, of course, means faster – a hint of what these rubbers promise, although the performance advantage goes far beyond just being faster.

The problem they set out to solve is the 40+ poly ball. It's been almost 3 years since the changeover, and these balls are now the standard in all sanctioned tournaments. On average the 40+ ball is about 0.5 mm larger in diameter than the celluloid 40 ball that preceded it, and the poly material is slicker and smoother than celluloid.

Together those two characteristics mean a loss of spin and speed when identical force is applied. Table tennis manufacturers have been trying to make up for that loss ever since the switchover, and andro has now done so with the Rasanter series.

But What Exactly Makes These New Rubbers So Much Better?

The topsheet comes first. It has been thinned down significantly by andro engineers, to only 1.7 mm thick, and this extremely thin profile combined with a new pimple geometry gives a larger contact area, for a significant spin gain even at low impact speeds.

Rasanter offers two topsheet versions, V (for Velocity) and R (for Rotation), which differ in pimple geometry: the V version has smaller pimples spaced farther apart, maximizing the catapult effect of the sponge, while the fatter, more closely arranged pimples of the R version maximize the contact area with the ball and allow for stronger surface tension.

Surface grip has been enhanced too. This is still a grippy European-style topsheet, not a super-sticky Chinese-style one, with a glossy finish and superior grip to other European-style rubbers.

Underneath, the sponge developed for Rasanter has a smaller cell structure than all other Tensor sponges, which produces a bigger catapult effect and a noticeable speed increase. And because the topsheet is thinner, the sponge layer can be thicker: the new Ultramax sponge is a luxuriously thick 2.3 mm, the thickest available. A smaller cell structure and a denser, thicker sponge mean more power potential.

The sponge comes in a variety of densities to suit virtually all attacking and all-round playing styles: 42 or 47 hardness for the V version, and 37, 42, 47, or 50 for the R version. 37 is considered soft and is favored by players wanting to enhance the spin and control aspects of the rubber. 42 is a medium sponge with more speed than 37 that retains excellent feel and control.

47 is medium hard, for players who want the higher speed and extra power of a hard sponge with more control than the 50, and 50 is a hard sponge used by players with well-developed strokes who strike the ball with a lot of force and emphasize power in their games.

Together, the 2 topsheets and 4 sponges are a marvel of table tennis engineering and make it possible to ideally match one of these 6 rubbers to your playing style.