12 Reviews for Donic BlueStar A1

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External Review for Donic BlueStar A1 on September 29, 2024

Updated! Apparently various testers don't know how to translate the term "stickiness". This rubber is definitely "not sticky" and can't "lift" the ball properly!!! (- apart from the first day perhaps.) My rubber, black, 2 mm with the dimensions 156 x 150 mm weighs 49 g. I first test it (glued on with solvent-based glue) on a Huieson ZLC (outer wood), forehand side. Apart from the noticeably higher hardness (52 degrees sponge), this rubber makes the same impression as the A2!!! (- both seem softer.) As with the A2, you can generate incredible rotation "with your wrist" alone!!! ... which helps me to make serves with incredible spin. :-P - however, this rubber is also somewhat sensitive to incoming rotation. In contrast to the Dig 09c, with which I can neutralize the opponent's spin quite easily, the A 1 has different requirements. It shows a particularly great strength when you pull the balls forward very early (on and above the table). (- definitely try it!!!) In short-short play, the rubber is also harder to control than my Dig. 09c (due to its higher catapult/speed), but the control is still good. Blocking and pushing were also OK for me. However, when I played with the racket further away from the table, I was not at all satisfied. I did not feel comfortable at all with topspin or counterattacks, which was a mystery to me. ... especially after reading completely different reviews here!!! (- have I perhaps already gotten too used to the Dig 09c? :-/) Conclusion for me, change blade. Now the XVT ZL Koto (1st & 2nd Gen.), faster but softer. Result: Great!!! ...whether counter-topspin or shooting, both safe and controlled. - but why this huge difference??? Perhaps the blade had too little speed and elasticity before??? :-/ (... now I just have to test whether the "performance over the table" has suffered.) NO MATTER. ;-P (Current) final conclusion: great rubber, but only "outstanding" on the right blade.

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External Review for Donic BlueStar A1 on March 5, 2024

Very fast , very good for block and smashing/hitting.
Strange thing is when you loop the ball , it is spinny but the curve is very straight .
As a mid age amateur this rubber is not for me . You must be At least school team level or higher to emancipation the true power of this rubber. Maybe I can use it , but my case is , I like to create curve to let the ball get in the table when looping ,like Xu Xin . But the curve is just too straight. Yes throw angle is high but the curve is straight.That is very hard to explain. It you try it you will know .Maybe this is the Modern rubber should be like , maybe you will like it , but not me. So I switch back to Z1 turbo.

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External Review for Donic BlueStar A1 on December 1, 2024

What an absolute BEAST of a rubber. This on the donic original carbospeed is better than sex. Ridiculously powerful just with the swing of an arm. Requires good technique to avoid errors as you should expect with a powerful rubber like this. The control is great for the power you get, however.

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External Review for Donic BlueStar A1 on November 4, 2024

I'm USATT rated ~1700, 2-winged looper. I tried this rubber in 2.0 on a few blades. Some worked awfully, e.g. on Harimoto ALC, the blade and the rubber both want to hold the ball longer, causing the ball to shoot out way too slow. On Apolonia ZLC it worked better, but still not satisfactory. I put it away for some time until I randomly put it on an IFL ZLC. It worked amazing, good grip on the ball, but shoots out the ball just in time with nice spin and arc. IFL ZLC is less stiff in hardcore strokes/loops compared to Apolonia, which gives longer dwell time and a much more friendly feeling in the hand compared to Apo. This rubber also accentuates the IFL ZLC's surprising ability to land the ball on the table, however off I thought the ball would go. At one point I was prepared to counter a loop, then found my stroke way too late, so I casually made the stroke in a 'i-give-up' attitude, yet the counter succeeded... Everything just works like an automatic geared car, blocking/opening-up/touch plays etc. No weakness at all. Because of this amazing finding, I actually switched from Harimoto ALC to IFL ZLC as my main paddle for quite some time (until the EJ disease found me again with a Harimoto SZLC...). Overall good rubber, but needs to pair with the right blade.

For those interested in weight, cut to IFL ZLC (149x157), rubber weighs 50g, so it's on the heavy side.

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External Review for Donic BlueStar A1 on November 3, 2024

This is a simple review of the overall feel. A very good overall rubber and fast requires proper technique to handle properly no lazy strokes this rubber is very good for looping, blocking, serves, smashes and counters spins. This is very good for players who use spin to their advantage in order to get the upper hand . On the FH this is rubber is very good for those who like a fast game but with good control and spin i believe this rubber would be also good for players that to make creative shots such as myself and other young players. In short this a is a very good modern rubber for players with a good forehand and overall flow of the game.

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External Review for Donic BlueStar A1 on November 2, 2023

Good rubber.
Like hurricane 3, cannot be lazy. It's very easy to shoot the ball out since it's quite fast and has a high throw angle, so you have to be careful when you block and counter. Very grippy, touch in short game is not as good as h3(national blue sponge, boosted) but still very good compared to extremely bouncy rubbers like tenergy 05. I would say this rubber is between t05 and h3, like a eurojap tensor thats made to be similar to chinese style of play but faster.
I think the tackiness rating of some of the reviews is a little overexaggerated, it's not medium tacky. it's tacky, but not enough to consistently lift the ball but you can feel it stick.

So good for all out forehands like ryu seung min style.

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External Review for Donic BlueStar A1 on October 3, 2023

Great rubber. Very fast with great speed and spin. Not for beginners and those with lazy strokes though! Since it's fast and Throw angle is pretty high so you have to close the bat more when driving, blocking and counterlooping topspin to avoid setting up an easy smash or missing the table, but it's easier to get it over the net when looping and flicking backspin and deadballs. I have it on the backhand and forehand and it's super deadly when proper technique is used.. it has all the speed and spin anybody could need. You need pretty solid technique to use this rubber effectively.

Update: I recently glued these on the donic original carbospeed and what a BEAST. It's became more direct/less of a high throwing rubber when I glued it on there. Its very dynamic and your opponents are finished when you smash or loop with lots of spin. Good margin for error despite the mentioned features.

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Review by pierocarella for Donic BlueStar A1 on May 4, 2023

Paired them with a donic persson power carbon senso ST (90g), 6.00 mm, 7+2 carbon (limba outer ply). It actually feels like a BTY SZLC blade, and I can say that because I used to play with Mizutani Jun szlc… regarding the rubbers I just can say that they feel softer than 52.5 esn tensor degrees, more like 45 degrees or something like that, but maybe that’s the effect of the OPTE donic new sponge; feels superior than ie. a tenergy 05, it allows you to loop easy, counter top, and flat hitting still have a lot of feeling. On passive shots it doesn’t feel too much responsive and short game is spectacular. It’s really an hybrid, doesn’t feel grippy but doesn’t feel tacky at touch, it’s something between. Cleaning the rubber surface it’s very easy with rev. 3 rubber rejuvenator. Throw angle is very high and the ball lands at the end of the table as advertised. Must give them a try, best ESN tensor rubber out there at the moment.

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External Review for Donic BlueStar A1 on March 18, 2023

I love this rubber. I used it for my forehand to replace C1. I think it is a very successful upgrade of C1. I will explain why.
First of all, the hardness of A1, according to the DONIC website, is 52.5 degree, while C1 claims to have a 60 degree sponge, however, I feel that the actual hardness of A1 is between C1 (60 degree) and C2 (55 degree), slightly softer than C1 but a bit harder than C2, which makes it a very good substitute of C1 if you feel C1 is too hard for you. Of course you can use booster oil to soften the sponge of C1 but that won't solve the biggest problem of C1, the weight.
C1 is super heavy, according to DONIC website, the uncut C1 is 90 grams, my blade is STIGA CyberShape Carbon, the weight of blade itself is 86 grams, and I use C1 as forehand and STIGA Airoc Astro S as backhand, which is the lightest rubber I can find in my table tennis gears cabin, and the overall weight of blade reaches 195 grams!
On the other hand, A1's top sheet is also sticky, as same as C1/C2, like Chinese rubber like DHS Hurricane 3, so it has a very grippy feeling, and good at topspin attack, the speed of A1 is a bit faster than C1, when smashing you will feel a crispy feeling, which C1 doesn't have.
So, in short, A1 solves the biggest problem of C1, which is the weight, in the meanwhile, provides the same grippy top sheet and a bit faster than C1. I would definitely recommend this as your forehand rubber to replace Hurricane 3.

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External Review for Donic BlueStar A1 on February 21, 2023

Deep heavy angle on the backend of the table with good touch on the short game. Catapult effect is apparent on strong shots but touch game on closed short pushes is controllable. Linear doesnt shoot down off the paddle but leaves high on a topspin stroke giving you a safe feeling. I like this and will be sticking with this as my fh rubber. Recommended for all out fh top spin attacking. This rubber has really surprised me it is indeed in a category of its own and I've yet to ever try a rubber like it. I feel very confident all out attacking with this on my forehand. If you like Dignics 09c and boosted hurricane 3 give this a shot for the value and for the need to not boost. Fair warning its very heavy however. Update 1/31/2023 still going strong and hasnt lost its tackyness. This rubber definately can hold onto the ball. But has plenty of power. I have a feeling once this gains traction it will become very popular. I can say honestly its my favorite forehand rubber right now and all Im using and probably in my top 3 of all time. You gotta try this! *update* i like this rubber so much I got a sheet for my backhand too. **on the bh side my initial impression is its a lot like hurricane three on the back hand but faster. Very small margins for error on technique too just like hurricane probably due to the hardness of the sponge so this isnt forgiving at all but you will be rewarded with good technique with power and spin and kick . Shots flew long when contact wasnt correct . Punches seem to work well .

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External Review for Donic BlueStar A1 on November 18, 2023

Very fast rubber, but the spin is not better than T05 (9.9 is not realistic !). Max red, weight is 50g. Spin and speed are excellent, it behaves as EU rubber. The control is quite special, because flat touch leads to slow block, but block with a slight angle leads to bouncy reaction. So it might take some time to adjust and benefit of such capability observed on Presson WC89 (SZLC) with spruce as top wood. It was too fast on this SZLC blade, too fast on TB ALC or Viscaria, so ... I am trying to find a OFF- blade to handle this super fast rubber. Maybe a blade having speed of 8.5~8.7 might be better than speed >9.0.

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External Review for Donic BlueStar A1 on April 13, 2023

goma extremadamente rapida con harton spin, y buen control. ideal para quienes nos gusta ir al ataque, la mejor goma para juego en ataque que he probado hasta ahora.

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