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The scuffle between Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster at the end of Kansas City’s 30-17 win on Sunday Night Football reportedly could draw disciplinary action from the NFL.

During an appearance on SportsCenter, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said the league will “absolutely” review the incident and could levy a suspension for those involved.

“This is exactly the type of situation that the NFL never wants to have. It never wants to have in a standalone game. It never wants it in a standalone game on a Sunday night. And yes, the league will review the incident. And I am told that determinations on discipline will be made,” Schefter said. “So, at the very least, there will be fines, certainly possible suspension. And we’ll see how this plays out through the course of the week. But I would think that we should get word later today or tomorrow.”

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.
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Evgeni Malkin is a legend in Pittsburgh and, along with Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang, guided the Penguins to the Stanley Cup on three separate occasions. His contract with the team runs out at the end of this season and, at age 39, it is widely understood that this is the veteran center’s swan song in the Steel City.

Seravalli stated that, if the Penguins decided to trade Malkin and get something in return for their star before his contract runs out, the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are a potential destination.

He noted that Malkin has a home in the Miami area, making Florida even potentially more appealing.

There are worse ways to end one’s career than in Florida, home of the two-time defending champions. Last season, fellow veteran Brad Marchand joined the Panthers and was a key contributor to their repeat.

Malkin possesses a no-trade clause in his contract, so he would have to approve any attempt to move him so it will ultimately come down to whether he would want to leave Pittsburgh.

With that said, should the opportunity present itself, Florida would be getting a veteran with plenty of high-stakes hockey on his resume, who has played in the biggest games and moments, and could undoubtedly strengthen the roster’s depth and give them a legitimate shot at a three-peat, the first team since the 1983 Islanders to achieve that.

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Several quarterbacks suffered injuries in Week 1, notably Justin Fields (concussion), Jayden Daniels (knee), J.J. McCarthy (ankle) and Joe Burrow…

Image credit: Eli Willits (Photo by Tom DiPace) On this week’s episode of the Baseball America Draft Podcast, Carlos Collazo…

Each year since 2023, there has been at least one Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) pick added to the draft order…

Released in 2023, Butterflyâ€s Glayzer has become one of the most popular modern table tennis rubbers currently in production. It promised to be a very special rubber and one that piqued my interest the moment it was released.

Butterfly is a brand thatâ€s known for its cutting-edge equipment. They produce the best of the best: Tenergy, Dignics, all of their excellent blades, shoes, robots, you name it.

Their pricing is generally quite high because they produce extremely high-quality products. If you choose Butterfly, you usually have to pay a premium.

However, this Glayzer rubber and the Glayzer 09c are both priced at around USD $45, the price youâ€d pay for a modern offensive offering from any other brand.

To clear all the doubts we had about the Glayzer, we bought a sheet specifically for this review to see exactly how it performs.

BUTTERFLY GLAYZER REVIEW SUMMARY

The Butterfly Glayzer is a superb rubber, as long as you pair it with the right blade for your purposes.

The Glayzer features 2 main technologies, the Spring Sponge X (present in the Dignics series), and the 05 topsheet, present in the Dignics 05. The sponge is medium-hard and it has a very high maximum speed, but it isnâ€t too bouncy. The Glayzer is medium-fast, and it focuses more on control than speed. Its throw is medium-high and it provides plenty of clearance over the net.Â

The strongest attributes of this rubber are its control and its safety in offensive play. In addition, its power reserves are nearly limitless, while being very controllable and not too bouncy. The topsheet provides plenty of grip and its spin levels are quite good.

The Glayzer is a superbly balanced offensive rubber, and it is good for loops, blocks, flicks, serves, and the short game. Itâ€s a very stable and controllable offensive rubber.

Perfect for anyone with ‘The Controller†playstyle.

Perfect for:Attackers of all levels on either side of the racket (depending on the blade used and what they want out of the rubber), and advanced all-rounders on either side of the racket. 1-10+ years of playing.

Benefits

Limitless power reserves while not being too bouncy.

Ball slippage is non-existent.

Great balance of speed, spin, and control.

Very stable.

Easy to use.

Lots of safety over the net.

Good for backhand exchanges.

Good for serving and excellent for receiving.

Good value for money.

High quality and durability.

Drawbacks

Not the best rubber for hitting outright winners.

It wonâ€t provide the highest shot quality in terms of speed and spin.

Needs to be played actively because of its medium-hard sponge.

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 Glayzer to players who want a solid all-round rubber at a reasonable price. Especially if pairing with an OFF/OFF+ blade.

Design of the Butterfly Glayzer

The Butterfly Glayzer comes in a high-quality sealed package.

Upon opening the package, we find the rubber. The version we ordered is a black 2.1mm sheet of Butterfly Glayzer.

The topsheet of the Glayzer is very grippy and almost non-tacky, and its sponge is dark gray.

The rubber itself is medium-hard, somewhere around 47.5-50 degrees ESN. Butterfly states that its hardness is 38 degrees in their scale, which would also correspond with this estimated ESN value.

The Glayzer promises to be a very special rubber for 3 main reasons:

1. It is equipped with Butterflyâ€s Spring Sponge X, used in the Dignics line. However, the sponge in the Glayzer is 2° softer than that of the Dignics 05.
2. It is equipped with a top sheet with identical technology to that which is used in the Dignics series, and
3. It is much cheaper than any of the Dignics rubbers. In fact, itâ€s almost half the price of a Dignics rubber.

According to Butterfly:

“We have a strong desire to help a broader range of players improve, whilst also responding to the demands of top athletes. Therefore, we developed the Glayzer series which provides ease of use and retains high performance.

We proudly deliver the Glayzer series as a rubber that will help to expand your possibilities.â€

As you can see, the Glayzer was designed to be controllable enough for the average player and offensively capable enough to be used by high-level players.

Taking into account all of the above, my expectations of the Glayzer were sky-high.

In addition to this, we also have to consider the Glayzerâ€s price point and durability. In my opinion, this is what makes the Glayzer stand out even more as a great product.

The Glayzer claims to have an identical topsheet to that found on the Dignics 05, and the Dignics 05 is one of the most durable rubbers ever created.

When we reviewed the Dignics 05, I ended up gluing it to my main racket and I used it as my forehand rubber for that season. The Dignics 05 held up incredibly well, to the point that I can confidently say that itâ€s one of, if not the most durable rubber in the market, together with the Nittaku Fastarc G-1.

I used it for 6 months training anywhere between 10 and 15 hours per week, plus tournaments. That comes out to at least 240 hours if you do the math.

After that, I gifted it to a clubmate whoâ€s a beginner and itâ€s still holding up incredibly well for another few hundreds of playing hours.

Now, we only tried the Glayzer for 10 hours, so we canâ€t say for sure what its durability is like. However, if Butterfly isnâ€t lying and the Glayzer has the same topsheet as the Dignics 05, it should be just as durable.

This would make the Glayzer one of the best value rubbers out there, rated among the most durable rubbers in the market while being priced at just $45 per sheet.

In terms of weight, the Glayzer weighs in at 48 grams when cut to my Stratus Power Wood, a very good weight for a medium-hard rubber.

Playtesting the Butterfly Glayzer

After reading about its characteristics, my expectations for the Glayzer were very, very high.

I glued the Glayzer to my Tibhar Stratus Power Wood and for the first few hours I was quite underwhelmed. Iâ€d use the words ‘dead†and ‘dull†to describe my experience.

I was met with a very non-dynamic rubberthat needed much physical effort to get adequate speed levels out of it.

I didnâ€t want to write this review before trying it on a faster blade, so I glued it onto my other test blade, the OFF+ Donic Original Carbospeed. Suddenly, the rubber came to life and Iâ€m very glad I gave it a second chance.

This experience makes sense when I think about it, as the Dignics 05 is a more powerful and spinny version of this rubber, and even the Dignics 05 isnâ€t too bouncy or explosive. Both the Dignics 05 and Glayzer rubbers need to be played actively to deliver high-quality shots.

On the 5-ply, OFF- Stratus Power Wood, the Glayzer feels very controllable but not offensive at all. I couldnâ€t get any kind of pace or explosiveness on the ball. I just needed more base speed.

After gluing it on the Original Carbospeed, my experience was completely different. The Glayzer suddenly felt alive, explosive, and capable of hitting winners with relative ease.

In fact, the Glayzer has a very grippy topsheet and quite a hard sponge. It has the characteristics to hold up very well on even the fastest blades.

When you stick some rubbers onto a very fast blade they wonâ€t have the touch and control needed in the short game, or they wonâ€t have enough spin and dwell to make the ball dip safely onto the other side when looping. The Glayzer has both.

If I had to say, I would recommend that you try the Glayzer on faster blades. I donâ€t think the Glayzer is a good rubber to use on OFF- blades and below if you want to play an offensive game with it.

The Glayzer feels just perfect on the Original Carbospeed, and I think it would suit a Viscaria or a Timo Boll ALC like a glove.

On these latter blades, typical 5+2 OFF/OFF+ blades, the Glayzer behaves perfectly well in the short game and when blocking, and it has more than enough power when looping.

Driving and Looping

The Butterfly Glayzer is a great rubber for driving, looping, and punching the ball.

It delivers a quite muted and relatively hard feel in the hand. Even though it isnâ€t too bouncy, it has a medium-high throw angle.

The Glayzer works very well for driving the ball. Itâ€s a medium-hard, firm rubber, and it isnâ€t too bouncy, so itâ€s stable and firm when playing drives, flat hits, and smashes.

As for looping, the Glayzer will behave very differently depending on what blade you pair it with.

I found that there are tons of power reserves that you can call upon if you hit harder and harder, though its base speed will depend on what blade you pair it with.

Thatâ€s why I recommend using faster blades with this rubber to neutralize this lack of bounciness when compared to other faster rubbers in this hardness range, such as the Rasanter R47, the Tibhar MX-P, the Tenergy 05, and others.

When paired with a fast blade, the Glayzer is a great rubber for looping.

Loops clear the net wonderfully because of its medium-high throw, and, when you hit harder and harder, the rubber doesnâ€t bottom out and it stays stable and predictable throughout all of its top gears. In other words, it is a very linear rubber.

In this video, especially in the second clip we recorded, you can see that, if you hit hard, the Glayzerâ€s top gears are incredibly fast as the rubber just wonâ€t bottom out.

In addition, due to it not being as bouncy, the Glayzer has great dwell time and it does instill a good feeling of “holding the ball†for a longer time before releasing it.

The ball doesnâ€t go in and out as with a Tenergy, for example. With the Glayzer you get much more time to spin and control the ball, at the expense of some explosiveness.

This is also why the Glayzer is great for counterlooping: you have a nice throw angle paired with good dwell time, a stable, firm sponge, and a very grippy topsheet. Counterlooping with this rubber is very safe for the player using it, and dangerous for the opponent.

As for counterlooping away from the table, your mileage may vary. As we tried it on the Donic Original Carbospeed, the Glayzer feels lively, firm, stable, and powerful.

The Glayzer will feel firm and stable on all blades, but whether it has enough base speed to play an offensive game away from the table, depends on the blade.

Iâ€d say that any blade as fast as a Viscaria or faster will make the Glayzer perform very, very well away from the table.

My experience was great. I was able to generate effortless power, good spin and clear the net easily with the Glayzer away from the table.

As for opening up, the Glayzer is very good as it gives us great grip and very good dwell time with the ball. The arc is also quite good for opening up.

It isnâ€t the spinniest nor the fastest rubber there is, so you wonâ€t get as much quality on your open-ups as you would with top ESN, Butterfly, or Chinese rubbers.

This rubber is more about consistency and stability than everything else.

Serve and Receive

Serving and receiving are very good with the Butterfly Glayzer. I particularly liked receiving with it.

In terms of serving, it produces the amount of spin youâ€d expect from a modern offensive rubber. Itâ€s not on par with higher-end rubbers such as the Tenergies, the Dignics, and other high-end ESN rubbers, but the spin you get is quite good nonetheless.

However, a great attribute of the Glayzer when serving is that it isnâ€t too bouncy, so you can control your serves a lot better than with a Tenergy 05 or an MX-P, for example.

As for serve receives, the Glayzer is excellent. It is a very good rubber for touching short, pushing fast and long with great control, and also, for opening up against long serves.

Starting with passive serve receives, the Glayzer is not as bouncy as top-tier offensive rubbers, so you can push wherever you want, with any speed or depth. Touching short is also comparatively easy.

In terms of active receives, it is a very good rubber for opening up against long serves because of its safe arc and its dwell time. Itâ€s a lot easier to attack long, spinny serves with this rubber compared with a Tenergy 05, for example. You simply get a lot more time with the ball.

As for flicks, I feel like the Glayzer is probably not the best rubber you can find. You can produce high-quality flicks and also you can land them on the table consistently, but it does lack that explosiveness and that ease of spin generation that higher-end rubbers have.

In the end, I believe that itâ€s a lot more sensible to touch short or play high-quality long pushes with this rubber because you wonâ€t get as much power on your flicks, and the Glayzer is extremely good at passive serve receive.

If you want to play backhand flicks often, I think a better offering with the same control as the Glayzer is the Rozena. Its sponge is much softer and bouncier so you get a lot more sink, bounciness, and more spin with short strokes such as flicks.

Blocking and chopping

Blocking with the Glayzer was great.

The Glayzer instills a great sense of confidence when blocking. Itâ€s not too fast and itâ€s medium-hard, so you always feel a sense of control of the ball.

The topsheet is quite grippy though, so blocking spinny loops may prove a bit difficult if you donâ€t angle your racket correctly.

I think the Glayzer is a great blocking rubber, especially on faster blades. On a blade like the Viscaria, the Glayzer will feel very firm, stable, and itâ€ll have just the right amount of speed to be very controllable when blocking passively but also dangerous when blocking actively.

On slower blades, you may find that blocks with the Glayzer will just be too slow to trouble your opponents, as the rubber isnâ€t too bouncy.

Chopping is quite good with the Glayzer. I was able to control the ball pretty well and generate good amounts of spin.

The Glayzer is great in terms of controlling the ball and giving the player more dwell time, so Iâ€m sure itâ€d be great to chop with if you paired it with a slower blade than the OFF+ Original Carbospeed we used for testing it.

Glayzer vs Glayzer 09C

The Butterfly Glayzer differs from the Glayzer 09c in the sponge and the topsheet.

In terms of the sponge, the Glayzerâ€s is 38 degrees, while the Glayzer 09câ€s is 2 degrees harder at 40°.

And, in terms of the topsheet, the Glayzer 09câ€s topsheet is medium tacky like the one present in the Dignics 09c.

Both rubbers are quite control-oriented, but I found the Glayzer to be more powerful and direct, with the Glayzer 09c being the more controllable one of the two. The Glayzer 09c also has a higher throw.

If you want to learn more about the Glayzer 09c, you can check out our full Glayzer 09c review.

Alternatives to The Butterfly Glayzer

Overall Reflections on The Butterfly Glayzer

The Butterfly Glayzer is a great rubber, you just have to pair it with the right blade.

In my opinion, the Glayzer is a very “standard†rubber, in a good way. It has plenty of grip, a medium-hard sponge with great power reserves, and it isnâ€t too bouncy.

It is a very versatile rubber, and it can be virtually anything you want it to be.

• If you pair it with a defensive blade, you can use it to chop with, as it has plenty of grip and control.
• If you pair it with an all-round blade, youâ€ll be able to play virtually any stroke you want to a high standard.
• If you pair it with a fast offensive blade, youâ€ll compensate for its lack of base speed and bounciness with the speed of the blade, and youâ€ll get a fast, spinny, and controllable setup to play a modern offensive game based on loops and counterloops.

In addition, because it has the same topsheet as the Dignics 05, it should last seemingly forever, and, due to its price, the Glayzer is probably one of the best value-for-money rubbers out there.

In my opinion, the Glayzer is a great rubber, and I could see myself using it on the forehand side of my Fan Zhendong ALC.

It is also a good backhand rubber because of its stability when blocking, its strengths in the serve receive and its overall control, but you may find youâ€ll lack some “pop†when playing shorter strokes such as flicks or backhand loops close to the table.

On the backhand side, I personally prefer slightly bouncier rubbers such as the Rozena or the Tenergy 19.

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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First introduced in 1967, Butterflyâ€s Sriver rubber has been used by players to win 20 World & 70 European titles. However, this was done in an era where table tennis was played with a 38mm celluloid ball.

Many players would therefore consider the Sriver ‘outdatedâ€, especially as Butterfly have released many new rubbers since 1967. Surely theyâ€ve improved on their rubber design with the Tenergy, Dignics, and Glayzer rubbers?

I first picked up this rubber in 2005, and Iâ€ve come to love how it behaves for my playing style. Let me share my experiences, and help guide you to understand if Sriver might be the right rubber for your game as well.

BUTTERFLY SRIVER REVIEW SUMMARY

Butterflyâ€s Sriver is a classic rubber, loved by hundreds of thousands of players since it was released in 1967 during the speed glue era.

The medium-hard sponge paired with a classic medium rubber provides a linear reaction to adding power (the ball goes as fast as the power you put in). Thereâ€s also excellent ball-gripping ability which gives it a natural advantage when generating spin.

However, the most impressive thing about Sriver is the outstanding control capability, especially in high-speed matches. Itâ€s very easy to manage powerful attacks from your opponents and place returns back into awkward places.

Sriver is an all-round rubber that adapts well to different playstyles, including for offensive players who donâ€t need to rely on all-out power. WIth great durability and a mid-range price point, Sriver is still a fantastic option for many players.

Perfect for: All-round and defensive players, particularly beginners and intermediate (1 – 7 years experience).

Benefits

Excellent control

Decent speed

Great performance in topspin rallies

Quite good in block heavy topspin

Drawbacks

Absolute speed is not as fast as T05

A little bit expensive

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Recommended Playstyles

We recommend the Butterfly Sriver for players who need control, either on the backhand for attacking players, or on the forehand for defensive players….

My Experiences With Sriver

Butterflyâ€s Sriver is an incredibly popular rubber, one of the most-used rubbers of all time. In particular, this rubber was highly sought after by many table tennis players for their backhand during the era of small-sized (38mm) balls.

Even famous players like Wang Hao used this rubber for their backhand shots.

I first started playing table tennis in the early 2000s, at a time when the International Table Tennis Federation had not yet introduced the major switch from celluloid to plastic balls. My initial experience with this rubber was in 2005 when I was just 8 years old.

Afterward, I tried various other rubbers as I progressed in my table tennis journey. It wasn’t until I reached university that I picked up this rubber again. By then, table tennis had entered the ’40+’ era, which meant that the balls had become larger.

Compared to my first experience with the Butterfly Sriver, I had made significant improvements in both table tennis techniques and the understanding of different rubbers. Already, people were moving away from Sriver, but it was at this point I realized it was perfect for my game.

Design of the Butterfly Sriver

As Iâ€ve already discussed, Butterfly developed the Sriver when the game of table tennis was in a very different place. The can be seen clearly on their own comparison chart, which shows Sriver to be significantly slower and less spinny than many of its latest range of rubbers.

So, if youâ€re expecting Sriver to be similar to any of the Tenergy, Glayzer, or Dignics rubbers, youâ€d be in for a surprise. The Sriver is very slow by modern table tennis standards.

In this review, weâ€re focusing on the original Sriver rubber, which has a medium-hard sponge and is designed as an all-round rubber. However, there are a couple of Sriver variations:

Sriver FX– Introduced when speed glue became popular, so Butterfly made a softer version of the original Sriver rubbers that allows the speed glue to penetrate throughout the rubber more easily.

Sriver EL – The ‘latest†Sriver rubber, this was designed to behave like the original Sriver, whilst still having a softer sponge that was suitable for speed gluing.

In the Sriver range, all rubbers have the same topsheet and vary only based on the sponge.

Specifications

• Speed: Medium
• Spin: Medium
• Control:High
• Tackiness:None
• ITTF Approved:Yes
• Sponge Thickness:1.3mm – MAX

Summary: Sriver is a classic rubber which still performs well in the modern era. Perfect for anyone looking for lots of control or playing a more defensive playstyle whilst still wanting some counter-attacking options.

Performance Review of Butterfly Sriver

Before I dive into the playing review, I want to celebrate Sriverâ€s durability. Compared to similarly priced German-made rubbers, I have found that a single sheet of Sriver can last me a full year of playing a few times a week.

Considering the mid-range price of Sriver, this makes it exceptional value. If you use speed glue, or switch the rubber on to different blades, you might find the rubber degrades quicker.

Sriver is a well-rounded rubber which is strong in every area without being perfect in any specific area. The overall feel is of playing clear and crisp shots, with good feedback when you donâ€t quite get your technique right.

When playing with Sriver, I have a lot of confidence that the rubber will behave exactly as I expect, providing me with a big margin for error. Thatâ€s why itâ€s been my primary forehand rubber for over a decade.

Driving and Looping

Due to the medium-hardness of Sriverâ€s rubber, itâ€s easy to perform high-quality and consistent drive shots. Adding a little extra power makes the ball speed up instantly.

Used across either the forehand or backhand, Sriver gives stable performance which brings a feeling of immense control. Especially for beginners looking to develop their technique, Sriver is very forgiving and helps build confidence.

Of course, the biggest debate revolves around whether Sriver maintains its performance, especially in terms of looping, in the era without speed glue. During the speed glue era, the sponge would rapidly expand through gluing, resulting in impressive speed and spin during hits. Shots were extremely powerful. However, without gluing, many players felt that the ball speed decreased, especially compared to the emergence of pre-glued rubbers.

In reality, based on my experience and testing, this claim has some validity but isn’t entirely accurate. Compared to newer-generation rubbers like Tenergy 05 or Dignics 05, Sriver’s absolute speed without glue indeed falls short of their level. However, compared to most other rubbers, the difference in speed for Butterfly Sriver during looping is not as pronounced.Â

Even without gluing, it still offers very high speed for close-to-the-table shots. In mid-to-long-distance topspin rallies, professional players might notice some differences with a decrease in speed and support. However, for the vast majority of amateur players, these subtle differences wonâ€t have a significant impact on your game.

Of course, there’s a simple remedy that involves pairing Sriver with an OFF+ (Offensive Plus) blade, which effectively compensates for the shortcomings in mid-to-long-distance play while maintaining Sriver’s excellent control.

Serve and Receive

Sriver’s rubber surface has a slightly grainy texture, resulting in a high friction coefficient. Even with minimal force, itâ€s able to generate spin without relying solely on the sponge like other comparable rubbers.

When experimenting with the Sriver rubbers, Iâ€ve noticed the most effective spin it generates is backspin. When cutting down under the ball, the rubber really grips and bites onto the ball which creates strong spin. Thatâ€s why my most common serves have some form of backspin component, which my opponents often struggle with.

Dealing with incoming, high-spin serves is an area where Sriver performs reasonably. The grippy topsheet does result in needing to adjust your racket angle based on the incoming spin, which can take practice.

Instead, I recommend playing more attacking strokes with the Sriver and mitigating your opponentâ€s spin by adding your own. Push and flick returns are easy to play, and effective as the Sriver adds a strong amount of spin.

Blocking and Chopping

As a defensive player, speed is not my primary concern when choosing my forehand rubber. Instead, I care about how the rubber performs when Iâ€m defending against strong attacks coming from my opponent.

Itâ€s an area where Sriver is very strong.

You donâ€t need to just rely on my experience, if you visit China youâ€ll find many defensive players with a Japanese-style penhold grip will use Sriver on their forehand. It allows them to comfortably play both attacking and defensive shots with the same rubber.

Sriver is incredible at handling regular pushes, however I need the rubber to deal with more aggressive attacking shots coming my way. With just a slight adjustment to close the racket angle, itâ€s also easy to control and direct these spinny topspins. Sriver does not add a lot of speed by itself, which makes it easy to block consistently.

Moreover, itâ€s possible to play active blocks where you provide some speed through arm movement. I find this an easy, safe way to move my opponent around and force mistakes. Whether blocking actively or passively, I find that Sriver feels very intuitive and effective.

When chopping, the medium-hardness sponge provides a reasonable amount of control. You can feel the rubber compress and bite into the ball, although itâ€s still quite a hard contact compared to some more defensively-minded inverted rubbers.

If youâ€re reliant more heavily on chopping away from the table instead of counter-attacking shots, itâ€s worth considering the Sriver FX variant which comes with a softer sponge. That softer sponge allows for stronger spin and greater control when chopping.

Overall impressions of Butterfly’s Sriver Rubber

For defensive and control-oriented table tennis players, Sriver remains an excellent choice despite its age.

Manufacturers have focussed on creating rubbers with more of everything, which isnâ€t actually what every table tennis player needs. Thereâ€s a reason Sriver is one of the best selling table tennis rubbers of all time.

In China, despite the popularity of DHS Hurricane, there are still many table tennis enthusiasts who prefer this classic rubber. Especially for defensive players, the demands on rubber are high—it can’t be too soft or too hard. Finding a well-rounded rubber that is suitable for blocking while also aiding in offense can be quite challenging.

For choppers, it’s always more difficult to chop with the forehand than the backhand, especially when using an inverted rubber. Dealing with those highly spinny and heavy topspins can be a headache, often resulting in balls going out of bounds. Sriver offers us more options.

You can choose to block near the table, counter-attack from mid to long-range, and if the ball isn’t too fast (and you have enough preparation time) you can easily play an effective chop. The chopped balls will have tremendous spin, making it difficult for your opponent to adapt or lift up.

If youâ€re a defensive or control-centered player and haven’t tried this rubber yet, I strongly recommend getting one and giving it a try.

Alternatives to the Butterfly Sriver

Butterfly Sriver G3

The perfect combination of Butterfly’s new High Tension Technology with the legendary Sriver has made this rubber even more adaptable to the changes in the non-speed glue era, resulting in enhanced speed and spin.

Yasaka Mark V

Yasaka Mark V is also renowned worldwide for its exceptional control, and it offers speed and spin that are just as impressive as Butterfly Sriver. This rubber’s also suitable for table tennis players with different playing styles.

Xiom Vega Europe

XIOM Vega Europe is quite soft and offers strong spin, making it particularly suitable for choppers and players with a controllable playing style. It provides a clear feel when in use and its offensive capabilities are also impressive, making it a well-rounded rubber.

Xinyu started playing table tennis when he was 8 years old in China and he’s also the owner of popular table tennis blog ppongsuper . He has trained with the Chinese provincial team and now plays competitively in the Spanish national league. He’s constantly striving to improve his skills and tactical abilities, as well as deepen his understanding of table tennis. He joined the Racket Insight team to share his passion and promote table tennis to more people!

Blade: Nexy Joo Sae Hyuk | Forehand:Butterfly Sriver FX | Backhand: Dawei 388d-1
Playstyle: The Defender

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