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Yasaka is a brand thatâ€s known for its high-quality, consistent equipment. The Rakza line in particular is extremely successful, and all of the rubbers within the line are (or have been) best sellers, for good reason.

The Rakza XX is one of Yasakaâ€s newest offerings, released in 2023. Not to be confused with the Rakza X which was launched in 2015.

According to Yasaka, this new Rakza XX has very high speed levels while maintaining strong spin and high stability.

We have tested the Yasaka Rakza XX for more than 10 hours to understand exactly how it plays, whether Yasakaâ€s claims are true, and exactly how good this rubber is.

Yasaka Rakza XX REVIEW SUMMARY

The Yasaka Rakza XX is a medium-hard offensive table tennis rubber. In my opinion, the Rakza XXâ€s greatest strengths are its superb balance between speed, spin, and control and its high and safe throw angle.Â

Throughout my testing, I found it very easy to get the ball on the table, something thatâ€s very remarkable considering it has good speed and spin levels. Itâ€s not the fastest nor the spinniest rubber out there but it has more than enough power to finish points by attacking.Â

I think the Rakza XX is a great offering for most offensive players, as it has 70-80% of the speed and spin of top-of-the-line rubbers while having a lot more control. If you arenâ€t an advanced player, the Rakza XX would be a very sensible choice, and if youâ€re an advanced player, you could also use it on a faster blade or on your backhand side. Thereâ€s a lot to like about this rubber, including its high quality and its durability.

Perfect for:Offensive players of all levels on either side. 1-15+ years of playing.

Benefits

Great balance of speed, spin, and control.

Very confidence-inducing.

Great for looping.

Superb for countertopspins.

Easy to use, has lots of control.

Good for blocking.

Linear power delivery.

Ideal arc for looping and counterlooping.

Not too spin-sensitive.

Drawbacks

Not as fast or spinny as top-of-the-line tensor rubbers.Â

Loops land relatively shallow on the table and arenâ€t as dangerous as with other rubbers.

About the Reviewer

Alvaro brings 7+ years of playing experience. He’s tested 20+ rubbers for Racket Insight and his style is The Controller.

About the Review

Blade Used: Stratus Power Wood
Rubber Thickness: MAX
Hours Tested: 10+

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Recommended Playstyles

We recommend the Rakza XX to players who want a versatile, balanced rubber with great offensive capabilities and even better control and feel.

Design of the Yasaka Rakza XX

The Yasaka Rakza XX comes in a high-quality sealed package:

Inside, we can find the rubber, covered by a protective film.

The rubber we ordered is a shiny red, MAX thickness Rakza XX. Our initial impressions are that the Rakza XX is very grippy, as expected, and slightly tacky.

Upon pressing on the topsheet, we find that the Yasaka Rakza XX is a medium-hard rubber. Yasaka didnâ€t disclose their reading of its hardness in terms of the Shore A (Butterfly/DHS) or Shore O (ESN) scale, which is something I found quite uncommon and annoying, to be honest.

What they did tell us, is that the sponge is 4+/5 in hardness and that the rubber is 4/5 in durability.

I found it quite confusing that Yasaka didnâ€t state the objective hardness of the rubber and that they said itâ€s 4+/5.

From pressing on the rubber, Iâ€d say that the Rakza XX is around 47.5 degrees on the ESN scale. Itâ€s about as hard as the Vega X, the Tenergy 05, the Rasanter R47, and other rubbers in that hardness range.

Playtesting the Yasaka Rakza XX

We playtested the Yasaka Rakza XX on both my forehand and backhand wings. I believe itâ€s a great option for either side, for the reasons weâ€ll explain below.

The Yasaka Rakza XX is very controllable for an offensive rubber. Its arc is medium-high and it is relatively fast, but not enough to make it uncontrollable.

One of the main characteristics of this rubber, which may be positive or negative depending on who you ask, is that offensive shots played with this rubber land quite shallow on the table. That means itâ€s quite difficult to overshoot the table.

Compared with other rubbers with flatter and longer throws, such as the Hurricane 3 NEO for example, the Rakza XX gives us a lot more safety on offensive strokes.

The downside to this is that offensive shots arenâ€t as dangerous because the ball will not land as deep on the other side of the table so our shots may be blocked or countered more easily.

The speed and spin levels of this rubber are standard for modern offensive rubbers. I read that other reviewers say this rubber is extremely fast and super spinny, but this was not my experience with it.

In my opinion, it is a step down from the modern offensive rubbers that are designed for higher-level players.

It is slower and less spinny than the Rasanter R47, the Tibhar MX-P, the Tenergies, and other rubbers in that performance range.

The Rakza XX is more in line with rubbers such as the Xiom Vega X, the Nittaku Fastarc P-1, and other similar rubbers.

If I had to draw a direct comparison to other rubbers, the Rakza XX feels like a slightly harder Butterfly Rozena or a tamer Butterfly Tenergy 05. It is a very similar rubber to the Nittaku Fastarc P-1.

I say this because the design of the sponge is quite unique in that it is extremely porous. The Rakza XX is indeed relatively hard, but it plays softer than it is. Iâ€d say it plays like a medium-hardness rubber, around 45 degrees.

Hence, the Rakza XX feels quite spongey and gives the player using it great dwell time and feeling with the ball, but not at the expense of firmness and stability when hitting hard.

In terms of what blade to pair it with, I think it could work great on a huge variety of blades.

We tested the Rakza XX on a Donic Original Carbospeed, a very fast OFF+ blade. On the Carbospeed, the Rakza XX behaved very well.

It ended up balancing the blade out wonderfully. The fact that shots played with this rubber land shallower on the table is a great quality to have if you have a fast blade and you want a consistent yet capable rubber.

I think that this rubber can work well on OFF- blades if youâ€re a beginner with 6 months – 1 year of training experience, and it can work on OFF/OFF+ carbon blades if youâ€re an intermediate or advanced offensive player.

Driving and looping

The Yasaka Rakza XX is a great rubber for driving, looping, and flat-hitting.

Drives clear the net easily and you get a huge sense of control over the ball.

Flat hits also work quite well with a Rakza XX, as they do with most European rubbers. It is a good rubber to flat hit and smash with, as it is a controllable rubber but it doesnâ€t lack speed, especially if you pair it with a faster blade.

As for looping, the Rakza XX is a very good rubber. It is an offensive rubber, after all.

Iâ€d like to preface this section by saying that I tested the Yasaka Rakza XX alongside the Butterfly Glayzer. I had the Glayzer on one side and the Rakza on the other.

To test these rubbers, I usually train with them for a few hours and then shoot around two hours of video to get the clips for this article.

My experience with the Rakza compared to the Glayzer is the following: The Glayzer was noticeably faster, longer throwing, and slightly spinnier than the Rakza XX.

Even if itâ€s slower and slightly less spinny, itâ€s much more forgiving.

The key difference was that the depth of my loops played with the Rakza XX compared with the Glayzer was huge.

The Rakza XXâ€s throw was slightly higher and a lot more shallow than the Glayzerâ€s. This means we got more safety over the net and less risk of overshooting at the same time, at the expense of less directness and shot quality.

My training partner mentioned that with the Rakza XX, my shots were much easier to block than with the Glayzer. However, I found it easier to land the ball on the table with the Rakza.

In the end, it comes down to your preferences and your needs. Most table tennis players would benefit from getting the ball on the table one or two more times per rally, and the Rakza XX could be a great solution for that.

Thatâ€s why I think the Rakza XX could be a great rubber for developing offensive players who know how to loop but they want to improve their consistency and start counterlooping when the chance arises.

The Rakza could be the perfect solution for these players as its arc and control could help them play more freely and confidently, especially in tournament play when the pressure is on.

Whether itâ€s worth it to trade shot quality for the added control depends on your playing level and where you stand on your table tennis journey.

Loops (both backhand and forehand) played with the Rakza travel with adequate speed and spin levels for a modern offensive rubber.

I say that its spin and speed are adequate because theyâ€re not lacking, but theyâ€re definitely a step below those of most modern offensive rubbers. This is especially true if you consider that the Rakza XX was released in 2023.

Donâ€t get me wrong, you can produce fast winners and spinny open-ups, but the Rakza XX is not the best at either of those. Being able to produce high-quality shots is the bare minimum expectation for an offensive rubber nowadays.

Unlike other manufacturers such as Butterfly, Tibhar, or Donic, Yasaka seldom tries to push the limits of what a rubber can accomplish in terms of speed or spin.

Iâ€d say that the Rakza XX, along with most of the Yasaka rubbers, prioritizes balance, control, and feeling above everything else while having enough speed and spin to reward offensive play.

Because of this balance, the Rakza XX is a great rubber to use on the backhand side if youâ€re like most amateur offensive players.

If you want a safe, consistent, and confidence-inducing rubber thatâ€s also offensively capable, this is the rubber to get.

Most of us donâ€t hit powerloops on the backhand side, but rather, we prioritize spin and ensure a consistent return. This rubber excels at looping with control.

The Rakza XX is also a good rubber for the forehand side because of its hardness.

If you hit the ball harder and harder, you will be able to put good amounts of spin and pace on the ball. Just not as much as with other high-performance rubbers, but, if you want to improve your consistency and up your confidence, this is a great rubber to pick.

Speaking of improving your consistency, the Rakza is a superb rubber for counterlooping, a shot that most intermediate-level players struggle with, but one thatâ€s necessary if you want to get to an advanced level, especially when it comes to forehand counterloops.

In my opinion, the Rakza XX is one of the best rubbers for counterlooping if youâ€re a developing player because:

• It has the perfect hardness, itâ€s not soft so it isnâ€t unstable, and it isnâ€t too hard.
• It gives us more dwell time than most offensive rubbers because of its slightly lesser speed.
• It has a nice, high arc but not a long throw, so itâ€s hard to overshoot.
• And, itâ€s fast and spinny enough to win points by counterlooping.

The forehand counterloop is a deadly shot simply because itâ€s hard for your opponents to react in time. They just attacked and you counterattacked, so itâ€s hard for them to recover in time to get to the ball.

You donâ€t have to hit too hard when counterlooping, you just have to aim for consistency if you arenâ€t a very advanced player. If you counterattack, you will gain control of the point the vast majority of the time, that is, if you donâ€t win it outright.

The Rakza XX is the perfect rubber to start counterattacking with control.

In terms of open-ups, itâ€s a good rubber. It has a safe, high arc, but it could use a bit more grip to get the vicious spin other rubbers are producing. It is very confidence-inducing and spinny enough nonetheless.

As for playing away from the table, the Rakza XX isnâ€t the best.

Itâ€s good if you want to keep the rally alive, as its throw will help you land the ball on the table, but you will require you to use a lot of strength and power if you want to attack your opponent from further away.

In our experience, the Rakza was fast enough because we tried it on an extremely fast blade, but its speed could be an issue on slower blades.

Serve and receive

The Yasaka Rakza XX is a great rubber for serving and receiving.

Starting with the serves, the Rakza has enough grip to load serves with good levels of spin. In addition, itâ€s quite a controllable rubber, so it helps with the placement and depth of the serves.

However, its spin levels are not on par with the spinniest rubbers, such as the Tenergies, Dignics, and most tacky rubbers, so thatâ€s why we only gave it a 4/5 for serving.

In terms of receiving serves, the Rakza XX is also a very good rubber.

Itâ€s quite easy to play out the short game because of its control and itâ€s also easy to flick the ball because of its arc. Itâ€s not hard to touch short with the Rakza XX.

Overall, itâ€s noticeably easier to play out the short game with it than with most other offensive rubbers.

Blocking and chopping

Blocking with the Yasaka Rakza XX is very good.

The rubber feels firm, stable and it has the perfect speed for blocking. Itâ€s not fast to the point you lose control but not slow to the point that your blocks arenâ€t dangerous.

I felt like the Rakza XX, paired with the Donic Carbospeed was a killer combination for blocking.

If you pair it with a fast, stiff blade, you can play very effective backhand punches and active blocks. If you pair it with a slower blade, youâ€ll be able to control your opponentâ€s power quite easily.

Chopping with this rubber was quite impressive.

It was a lot easier to chop with this rubber than with the Glayzer we had on the other side. Chops felt nice in the hand, I felt like I could control the ball well with varying amounts of spin, speed, and direction.

Furthermore, if you accelerate more and more, you can get very heavy backspin on your chops with this rubber, and itâ€s a lot easier to accelerate more into the shot than with other more responsive rubbers such as a Tenergy 05, for example.

Alternatives to the Rakza XX

Overall reflections on the Yasaka Rakza XX

The Yasaka Rakza XX is an excellent rubber thatâ€s very versatile and that can be used and enjoyed by a wide spectrum of players.

The Rakza XX has a nice high arc, good grip, and good speed as well, but it also has great control and feeling.

If you want a rubber to develop your game with confidence while not relying on too much speed or spin, this is a great one to get.

You can use it on your forehand side to develop your technique and confidence and to learn trickier shots such as counterloops if youâ€re an intermediate-level player.

And, you can use it on the backhand side if you want a stable, consistent, controllable rubber with great feeling and more than enough offensive potential.

I believe that this rubber could work for almost anyone, especially considering that every blade can bring out different characteristics out of it.

• The Rakza XX works great at bringing control and balance to very fast, ultra-offensive blades.
• It could also be a very dynamic and controllable combination with great feeling on OFF blades, such as a Viscaria or a Hurricane Long 5.
• It can be a great rubber for an advanced beginner or an early intermediate on an OFF- blade.
• And, it can be a great offering for all-rounders and defenders on their blades of choice.

Given my experience with Yasaka products, its durability should be above average. However, I think the Rakza XX may be just a bit overpriced.

At the moment of writing, itâ€s $10 more expensive than the Fastarc G-1 and $15 more expensive than the Vega X. I think itâ€d be more adequately priced if its price was in line with that of the Fastarc G-1, but even then, I think the Rakza XX is good value nonetheless.

Alvaroâ€s a qualified ITTF Level 1 Coach who’s been playing Table Tennis since he was 15 and is now ranked within the top 50 in his native Argentina. He loves to compete in provincial tournaments and is always looking for ways to improve. Alvaro made his favorite memories with a racket in hand, and he joined the RacketInsight team to share his passion with other players!

Blade: Butterfly Fan Zhendong ALC | Forehand: Butterfly Dignics 09c | Backhand: Butterfly Tenergy 19
Playstyle: The Controller

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Eastfield is one of the two brands owned by popular table tennis coach Ben Larcombe, who documents his efforts over at Expert Table Tennis.

That makes him an experienced builder of table tennis equipment, so youâ€d expect the Eastfield Allround to be a good racket. However, we needed to test it out and see how it performs on the table.

Over 10 hours of testing later, and we have our answer. All will be revealed in this Eastfield Allround review.

EASTFIELD ALLROUND REVIEW SUMMARY

Letâ€s get the negatives out of the way. This is a racket thatâ€s quite heavy and makes an unusually hollow sound on contact. Itâ€s not great for defenders due to its speed and low throw angle.
Now weâ€ve got that out of the way, this is a great beginners racket for anyone looking to develop a more attacking game.
The standout feature is the tackiness provided by the two Eastfield A-Soft rubbers, which creates incredibly spinny serves that will be tough for any opponent to return.
I enjoyed playing topspin loops with the Eastfield Allround, finding it easy to generate heavy topspin that often won points against beginner – intermediate players.
When youâ€re ready to evolve into a faster racket, itâ€s easy to replace one of the rubbers on the Eastfield Allround instead of buying a whole new racket.

Perfect for: Beginners with 0 – 3 years experience who want to develop their attacking game.

Benefits

Able to generate very heavy spin.

Easy to make high-quality, controllable loops.

Good control on simple drive/push shots.

Drawbacks

Hollow sound on contact with ball.

Tackiness is likely to wear off over time (stayed during 10+hrs of testing so far).

Heavy feeling takes a bit of getting used to.

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Recommended Playstyles

We recommend the Eastfield Allround racket to the Controller and All-Rounder styles….

Design of the Eastfield Allround

The first thing to know about the Eastfield Allround is that itâ€s pre-built, but not factory-made. Itâ€s a subtle but important difference. Because the rubbers have been glued on by hand, they are removable in case you wanted to upgrade or change one (or both) side/s.

Sure, you wonâ€t want to change the racket immediately. However, the ability to adjust your setup in the future without switching to a whole new racket is hugely beneficial.

My Eastfield Allround arrived in a smart cardboard package, which almost felt like I was receiving a gift. Unfortunately, this means thereâ€s no carry-case that comes with the Eastfield Allround, so you may want to buy one to protect the racket during storage and transit.

In fact, my packaging arrived slightly damaged towards the bottom, which was disappointing. Considering how rough shipping products can be, it would be nice if Eastfield used a stronger cardboard.

The packaging on my Eastfield Allround…

…with some minor damage on the box.

Weâ€ve listed out the best racket cases at any budget, and highly recommend storing your new racket in a protective case.

Thereâ€s a slightly flared handle on the blade, which is listed as ‘5-ply†wood. Iâ€m willing to guess that itâ€s mostly Ayous, with a 5-ply wood blade normally suggesting an all-round style of racket.

The standard slightly flared handle on an Eastfield Allround

Theyâ€ve chosen to put 2 Eastfield A-Soft 2.1mm rubbers on the blade, in the standard red and black colors.

The black side of an Eastfield Allround racket

The most noticeable thing when you take the racket out of its case is the weight. This racket is quite heavy at 187g. Whilst itâ€s not like holding a hammer, itâ€s worth being aware that (as a general rule) heavier rackets require more effort to move but generate more power as a result.

Specifications

• Weight:187g
• Speed: Medium
• Spin: Medium-High
• Control:High
• Handle:Flared
• Blade: 5-ply wood
• ITTF Approved:Yes
• Sponge Thickness:2.1mm

Summary:An excellent option for beginners looking to develop an attacking game, whilst still maintaining some control. Very enjoyable to play with once you get over the hollow sound.

Playtesting the Eastfield Allround

The Eastfield team knew what they were doing when creating this racket. From the moment I picked it up, it felt like a comfortable, controllable racket.

The thing that jumped out to me immediately was the tackiness of the rubbers. Trying to rub a finger along the rubberâ€s surface was difficult with the rubber feeling sticky (Intentionally! Thatâ€s called tackiness in table tennis terms).

The problem with relying on tackiness is that the effect can wear down over time, leading to a rubber thatâ€s significantly less spinny than when it came out of the factory. We tested the Eastfield Allround for around 10 hours, and didnâ€t find the tackiness had degraded too much during our testing.

By the end, we were still able to generate huge amounts of spin.

Our first few hits were also a surprise because the racket makes a funny hollow sound on contact with the ball. Itâ€s not a bad thing, but it was a bit off-putting until you get used to it.

Serving & Returning

The tackiness of Eastfieldâ€s A-Soft rubbers make serving a dream. I was consistently able to deliver high-quality, heavy spin serves into awkward places for my opponents.

This was the only area I really noticed the extra weight on the racket, as it caused a little extra pressure on my wrists as I was snapping through serves. This wasnâ€t a major issue, but I wouldnâ€t want to be serving 100 times in a row with this racket.

If youâ€re already a player who relies on spinny serves, youâ€ll love serving with the Eastfield Allround.

Returning was slightly more challenging, as the rubberâ€s tackiness does take hold of your opponentâ€s spin quite strongly. However, there isnâ€t a huge amount of speed on this racket so I didnâ€t have any trouble returning serves as long as I read the spin direction correctly.

Driving and Looping

Starting with playing forehand/backhand drives, I felt that the Eastfield Allround was a good balance between spin, speed, and control. If anything, leaning towards control and lacking out-and-out speed on punch drives.

That makes this a good racket for beginners looking to improve their attacking game, without jumping up to fast catapult-effect rubbers.

I was able to comfortably drive the ball for long rallies, with a relatively low throw angle (the angle between rubber and ball) ensuring my shots were high quality.

Looping was also a huge positive for this racket, mainly down to the tackiness we discussed when reviewing serving capabilities. Itâ€s easy to generate high-quality looping forehands and backhands using the Eastfield Allround.

When looping, I found this racket exaggerated my tendency to come around the ball on forehand topspins, resulting in some heavy sidespin taking the ball away from my opponent. Itâ€s a clear example of needing good technique to make the most of a racket like this Eastfield Allround.

Blocking & Chopping

I would have to say that this isnâ€t a defensive racket despite the ability to generate strong spin. Despite its all-round tendencies, itâ€s still too fast for effective defensive shots.

That meant that the chops I was playing needed to have a really soft brushing contact with the ball or it would fly off the end of the table. Thatâ€s not an easy technique to develop unless youâ€re already an intermediate defender.

I was also slightly disappointed with this racket when blocking. Whilst there is good control, the strong tackiness means there is little room for error when blocking high-spin shots. You really need to close the angle of the racket and it took a while for me to adjust for this.

Overall impressions of the Eastfield Allround

I thoroughly enjoyed testing the Eastfield Allround racket, once Iâ€d become accustomed to the hollow sound on contact with the ball.

I was able to pick up plenty of points on my serve because it was so easy to absolutely load my serves with spin. Every opponent I played struggled to return my serves, making this a super effective match strategy.

In attacking rallies, this is a solid racket. You get a good amount of control (as well as power) on your drives and loops, leading to high-quality rallies. As an all-round racket, it does lack the top-end speed to win points outright against more advanced players.

Iâ€d also personally prefer a slightly lighter racket, with the weight becoming noticeable in longer playing sessions or when serving repeatedly. However, thatâ€s a minor complaint. The Eastfield Allround is a great racket for beginners looking to develop a more attacking style.

Check Latest Price on Amazon

Find out how much the Eastfield Allround costs on Amazon

Alternatives to buying an Eastfield Allround

Killerspin JET400

Our preferred racket to recommend for beginners, this is the best alternative youâ€ll find for the Eastfield Allround.

Stiga Evolution

The Evolution racket from Stiga is a super light racket with plenty of control for beginners, making it difficult to miss the table.

Palio Expert 3.0

From Ben Larcombeâ€s other brand, this is a faster racket for players who want to hit the ball hard, even if sacrificing some control.

David’s been playing Table Tennis since he was 12, earning his first coaching license in 2012. He’s played in national team & individual competitions, although he prefers the more relaxed nature of a local league match! After earning his umpiring qualification in England, David moved to Australia and started Racket Insight to share information about the sport he loves.

Blade: Stiga WRB Offensive Classic | Forehand: Calibra LT | Backhand: Xiom Musa
Playstyle: The All-Rounder

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