Spectol Blue [Discontinued]
| Everyone's rating |
[Hardness] Little hard [Performance] Speed and Control to have excellent |
(Click to zoom the photo)
Averages reviews points
- Speed:8.28
- Spin:5.44
- Control:7.08
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TSP Spectol has been a top-seller for decades and one of the best-known short pips-out rubbers worldwide. Numerous major championships were won by players using Spectol, and even today many top table tennis stars rely on the special features of this legendary pips-out rubber.
With Spectol Blue, TSP presents a new high-end version featuring integrated Dynamic Tension Technology for aggressive pips-out playing style. This rubber is a unique combination of speed provided by the hard open-pore tension OFF sponge and great pips-out effect provided by the special Spectol pips geometry. The blue high-performance sponge of Spectol Blue is slightly harder than the sponge of Spectol Red.
- Short pimples
- Fast initial velocity and knuckleball performance with linear trajectory
- Good balance between offense and defense, easy blocking and angle shots
- Low spin but less affected by opponent's spin
- Hard sheet and sponge require power; difficult for weak players
- Excellent compatibility with soft rackets
Reviews by user
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katsuo000 (Experience: More than ２０ years) The classic short pips choice!
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2017/12/16
I won this in Table Tennis Kingdom's free TSP rubber trial campaign and used it. Back in junior high I also used Spectrum on my B-side, and back then I used glue. This time, using it without glue after a long while, my impression was that with the plastic ball, the knuckle effect felt weaker. I guess that's because with the plastic ball, when it bounces on the opponent's side of the table, friction with the table surface turns it into topspin.
That said, the Spectrum brand still holds its own, and to sum it up in one line, I think it's a good rubber that balances the classic short-pips virtues well: high pitch from fast ball release, knuckle balls, and insensitivity to spin. It's perfect for a style where you give up on the push and instead use angle hits, meet hits, and pushes on the B-side while putting topspin drives on the F-side.
It does have tension too, so it's not like it doesn't grip for spin at all, but I think it's kind of pointless to expect spin from a short pips rubber. With the plastic ball I feel like the ball drops slightly, but I think you can make up for that with practice. I'd really recommend using it on the B-side if you're a drive-oriented player.All Speed Spin Control Hardness Little hard
Racket recommended use Forutiusu FT
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Look over there (Experience: More than ２０ years) Great match with soft blades
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2020/09/26
Since I've been using a soft blade, I couldn't find a hard short pips rubber that matched well, so I'd been using a hard Chinese rubber for a long time.
This rubber fits well with a soft blade and produces straight, fast knuckle balls right off the bounce.
I considered switching to Spinpips Blue too, but it didn't produce knuckle balls easily and was too heavy.
Spectrum Blue has a bit less trajectory stability than Spinpips Blue, but it produces knuckle balls easily and gives that quirky short-pips action. Blocking and pushes are both pretty easy to do.
People dislike short pips for the spin, but it's really about speed and knuckle balls, so that's why I went with this one.All Speed Spin Control Hardness Little hard
Racket recommended use DOUBLE FACE Ⅱ TO
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Look over there (Experience: More than ２０ years) Great match with soft blades
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2020/09/26
Since I've kept using a soft blade, I hadn't been able to find a hard short-pips rubber that matched well with it, so for a long time I used a hard Chinese-made rubber instead.
This rubber suits a soft blade and produces flat, fast-starting knuckle balls.
I also considered switching to Spinpips Blue, but knuckle balls don't come out as easily with it, and it was also too heavy.
Spectol Blue has somewhat less trajectory stability than Spinpips Blue, but knuckle balls come out more easily, giving that classic tricky short-pips ball. Blocking and pushing are both reasonably easy too.
What makes short pips annoying to play against isn't so much spin as speed and knuckle balls, so that's why I settled on this one.All Speed Spin Control Hardness Little hard
Racket recommended use Birmingham 77
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Pen meat (Experience: ６〜１０ years) Great compatibility with inner blades
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2020/04/12
Used the 2.1mm version on the forehand of a Liberta Synergy Japanese-style penhold blade.
Since the blade has a lot of flex and holds the ball well, I'd tried various short-pips rubbers but hadn't been satisfied with the ball release — this one turned out to be a perfect match.
It has that classic short-pips feel, and it's easy to hit flat, straight shots.
Countering the opponent's drives is also easy, so you can play aggressively.
Knuckle balls don't come out easily for a speed-oriented pips rubber like this — you need to produce them deliberately.
That said, it's easier to control because of that, and it's a rubber with no issues even in rally exchanges.
As for spin, it's neither particularly strong nor weak.
On serves, it's hard to aim for an outright ace through spin, but you do get proper bite on the ball.
Pair it with a harder blade and the ball might come off too fast, making control difficult.All Speed Spin Control Hardness Little hard
Racket recommended use LIBERTA SYNERGY
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Shiokara (Experience: ４〜５ years) Great for forehand short pips
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2020/02/10
Used short pips on my forehand
My thoughts:
- Just putting the ball in play is enough to give your opponent a hard time
- You hit the net a lot, but once you get the knack of it, you can do all the basic techniques
- Easy to handle over-the-table play and receives
- Quick meet timing, and it gets speed tooI think this is perfect for someone who wants to get under their opponent's skin!
All Speed Spin Control Hardness Little soft
Racket recommended use Swat Power
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Wonta (Experience: ６〜１０ years) Guess it comes down to balance?
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2019/10/27
I'm not sure someone as unskilled as me should be writing this review, but...
Thirty years ago, the Spectol impressed me with its straight, fast-starting trajectory, but today's inverted rubbers are actually faster than this.
This short-pips rubber only generates about half the spin of an inverted rubber.
On basic strokes it feels like it drops a bit more than an inverted rubber, so if you don't meet the ball cleanly, it goes into the net.
So, what's good about it? I do find myself thinking about switching to inverted rubber on both sides, but for some reason, this rubber is hard to miss with.
When I ask myself why I use Spectol, I guess it's because it's stable and gives me peace of mind.
The Spectol's weakness is basically that it's hard to produce balls with a lot of spin (serves, drives, etc.).
On the other hand, you're less affected by spin the opponent puts on the ball, and if you sense the ball has floated up even slightly, a ball that would just be a push with inverted rubber turns into a scoring chance.
Also, the fact that the rubber lasts a long time is a plus.
Popular inverted tension rubbers are expensive and wear out quickly, so putting short pips on one side is easy on the wallet too.
It used to be the poster child for close-to-the-table fast attack, but these days it's also used by choppers, so maybe it's actually a well-balanced, easy-to-use rubber after all. I'll end the review there.All Speed Spin Control Hardness Little soft
Racket recommended use Swat
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SKEY (Experience: ２〜３ years) Easy to block with
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2019/04/06
Used this on my backhand after about 1 year and 8 months of playing table tennis. Blocking is super easy with this!! If you keep the racket still when you block, the ball stays short, and if you push forward, it goes deep — it gives you a ton of tactical options!.
All Speed Spin Control Hardness Little hard
Racket recommended use Latika Light
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