How Rubber Ratings Work

Speed indicates how fast the ball will leave the striking surface of the bat when struck. New sticky inverted rubbers will take into account that the spin on a topspin ball will cause an increase in speed after striking the opponents side. The fastest striking rubbers are by far the short-pips.

 Spin indicates how POTENTIALLY spinney a rubber can be; the rating assigned by the manufacturer is how much spin a player can generate with a stroke intended to create spin. Remember spinney rubbers are effected more by incoming spin than less spinney rubbers.

 Control is the most difficult to explain.  Good control is NOT the same as easy control. Good Control is; An Inverted, fast spinney rubber that has a high control rating also requires a high level of skill to benefit from that high rating. Players not skilled in the use of fast spinney rubber will have much less control with a fast spinney rubber, especially when facing spin variations. Easy Control is; A less spinney inverted, even pips-out, that forgives slight misreads of spin, and miss-hits.  The Easy Control Invert is usually either slightly less spinney slightly less fast, or both. For a Pip-out rubber Easy Control comes form the fact that Pips are better able to deal with incoming spin.  Most players should seek a middle ground between good and easy control, find your balance and your enjoyment and skill will increase.