I just played with Tenergy 5 for the first time this evening - in terms of standard I am a US 2200 level p_layer_. Serving well is the key to my game being at its best.

On my forehand, over the last 12 months I have gone from Bryce FX using speed glue, to Bryce SpeedFX with optimizer, to Sriver G2 with optimizer and today for the first time Tenergy without any glue or any optimizer.

Quick Recap...

Bryce FX with glue is an excellent combination, but I wanted to give up the glue ahead of the ban. Its main downside is that when overglued its hard to generate heavy spin services and given a glue ban a replacement was needed.

Bryce Speed is an amazing product with optimizer - it creates extreamly fast spinny loops and high levels of spin on service BUT it is way too delicate as a product - my sheet had a tear from my service action after playing with it 2 times (2nd time was in a rated tournament, 10 matches in one day). If I were made of money I would stick with this combination

Sriver G2 with optimizer is another great combination BUT when playing against heavily glued opponent, I felt like I was working twice as hard as my opponent to generate the same spin and speed. I have a very fast action on my forehand shot and it is very consitent with Sriver G2.

So I was hoping Tenergy could be the solution to not using expanders.

First impressions - bear in mind that it takes a minimum of a few weeks to fully adjust to a change of rubber; and slight modifications to technique may be required to get the most out of it.

Service: rubber generates unbelievable spin on service it took appromixately 60 minutes of practice match play to adjust to the rubber.

Service return: when pushing with chop the return stays low, attempting to touch the ball just over the net resulted in the ball popping upwards for my opponents to put away - this is not good. With G2 I was able to touch the ball softly over the net to prevent my opponenet from initiating an agressive Loop.

Loops and drives: This could be a timing problem adjusting to the rubber. Sometimes the loops and drive generated point winning speed and spin but on several occasions my opponents were able to depatch the loop or drive with less effort than if the shot was hit with the G2 combination. This was disappointing - I had connected to the ball with a fast arm/wrist action only to produce a slow ball without massive rotation.

Another point on my loops and drive - I made many many more mistakes popping the ball off the end of the table than I typically would have with the G2.

I will stick with it for another 3-4 session and repost an update in due course. Main concern at the moment is the timing required to ensure the loops are consitently fast and spinney enough to give good p_layer_ a problematic ball as opposed to a ball which can be despatched at will.

So here's a quick summary:

Last Tuesday using G2 - felt like I was ontop of my game.

Today in practice using Tenergy - slightly below average in terms of performance.

Not disasterous for a first outing with a new brand of rubber and not yet in my confort zone with the rubber at this stage....


Update: From Richard McAfee a USA hall of fame coach, p_layer_ and equipment expert:

Regarding the short drop return, you may want to try to add a little spin with the wrist on contact. Make sure you are taking the ball early, just after the bounce, and chop a little downward. You indicated that some of your loop strokes are very good and some, not so good. This is probably just a matter of getting used to how long the sponge holds the ball. I would suggest to not over think your stroke but just concentrating on how it "feels" you get when you make a good stroke. Keep trying to replicate that feel and let your muscles learn the timing. This is a totally new type of rubber and will take a little while for you to adjust.

One of my students (2400) has just returned from Germany where he has been playing in the league this year. He tells me that Tenergy has generated a lot of excitement with the higher p_layer_s in his area.

Update: after 2nd outing I am starting to like this rubber, the spin/power on my forehand is simply amazing when the ball is timed correctly. It is not as foregiving as other rubbers. Touch and drop shot still need to work on this aspect with this rubber.

Currently equipment: Kreanga Carbon, Spectol, Tenergy