Oh, that was a good KMD right there. >> Hey guys, I've been playing with Zyra 03 for a couple of months now, and it took me a while, but I think I finally understand this rubber. I got my Zy3 and my Tener05 card from pongport.com. Palport sells butterfly stuff, but also other brands that American distributors don't carry. Also, if you're unsure of what setup to use, you can check out their guided setup builder where you take a five question quiz to get setup recommendations within different price ranges. For me, Zy3 is the best backhand rubber that I've ever played with. But don't just take my word for it. Many pro players like Harimoto, Matsushima, and Optrov have also switched to this rubber on their backhand. And coincidentally, these players all have similar backhand play styles. I have three reasons why I think Zyra 03 is the optimal backhand rubber if you play a spinny backhand game and rely on consistency and tempo change to win the point. I will also go into some limitations of this rubber and the types of styles that Zy 03 would not suit. The three main reasons why I like Zy3 on my backhand are one, insane grip. two automatic sponge activation and three infinite gears. So, first grip. The first thing I noticed about Zyra 03 was that the top sheet isn't tacky like Hurricane or Dignix09C or Tar K3. But interestingly, Zyra 03 grabs the ball better than any tacky rubber as long as you emphasize spin first. In contrast, sticky rubbers like Hurricane and Dignix09C actually slip more when you don't make a thick contact with the ball. It seems counterintuitive, but the ball actually skids on the top sheet of a sticky rubber and drops into the net if you don't activate the sponge enough with good contact. On the opposite side of the spectrum, traditional rubbers popular in the celluloid ball era like Tenery05 and 64 also have a lot of slippage because the top sheet is too dusty. You can't grip the plastic ball very securely with those traditional rubbers and you rely on the springy sponge to throw the ball with Tenery. If you don't control the tenergy spring sponge properly, you will feel like the rubber is too bouncy when you unintentionally activate the sponge or too slippery when you fail to activate the sponge. I'm currently using Tenery05 hard on my forehand, which I also really like, but it's quite a different rubber from the modern rubbers people play with these days due to the lack of grip. With Zyra 03, the ball is almost impossible to slip, partly due to the strong grip of the top sheet. Another reason that the ball doesn't slip with Zy 03 is the automatic spring sponge activation, giving you another layer of security on your shots. When you focus on spinning into the ball, you notice how easily the rubber just eats the ball. It's almost like driving an automatic car versus a stick shift. You don't have to actively grab the ball first, then throw it out like with Tenery or even with the Dignic series. Zy 03 does that part for you by gripping the ball with the top sheet and sinking into the sponge almost immediately. I think this is due to the special construction of Zy3 with an ultra thin top sheet and super thick sponge of either 2.5 or 2.7 mm. The sponge is also quite hard and inert which makes the control high because the ball won't pop out of your rubber unpredictably. I confirmed this finding on Butterflyy's website where they say the sound of Zy3 is quieter than that of other rubbers because your options are spin and spin more but never crack. The feeling of Zyra 03 is pretty unique and unlike any other rubber I've ever tried. The grip and instant sponge activation makes it feel like the ball is stuck on your paddle until you decide to release it. I'm not sure it's the right word, but I'm going to call this dwell time. Which leads me to my final point about the infinite gears. Because your dwell time is so long with Zyro3, you have many options on how you want to play your shot. With the reliable sponge activation, you can securely play a slow, soft block that just kills the spin from an incoming loop. You can also easily play a quick countertop spin by using the grip and sponge to pull the ball forward. I found this specific counter spin shot to be really deadly with Zyra 03, often making the ball kick towards your opponent after it bounces on the table. A lot of people have told me it feels really uncomfortable to defend against my shot because their hand didn't even have time to back swing before the ball jumped in their face. The transition between a soft touch block and a kicking countertop spin is very disturbing to play against. And Zy 03 makes the tempo change really easy with the long dwell time. >> I feel like Dignix09C has more distinctive gears that can be hard to transition between. Whereas the output of Zy 03 scales very linearly and gives me a lot of flexibility in the shots I play. The lower gears also translate well to the short game where I can generate heavy spin on my pushes and flips supported by the grippy top sheet and controllable sponge activation. So to recap, I feel that the Zyra 03 is the best backhand rubber for me because it has excellent grip and automatic and predictable sponge activation. Those features give the rubber limitless gears for both the slow game, fast counter game, and everything in between. I feel like I've gained a lot of confidence in my backhand after learning how to use Zy 03 because I know I can rely on the rubber to grab the ball and I can focus on delivering the force to generate massive spin. But no rubber is without limitations. I find Zy 03 perfect for my backhand play style, which I take a lot of inspiration from Tamokazu Harimoto for his consistency and change of pace. But players with big cracking ones backhands like Nardong and FanDong probably find the rubber too dwelly on their backhand. If you like to crack at the ball to hit winners, it will probably feel like the ball is stuck on your paddle for too long with Zy3. This is the same reason I find Zy 03 hard to play on the forehand because I don't want that much dwell time on my forehand. I prefer to hit hard at the ball instead of pulling the ball with spin and variation. If you try to use Zy 03 to hit bangers on the forehand, you will have a hard time getting the quality out of the rubber as that's not the intended purpose. Just go watch FanDong struggle with the same issue with Zy 03 on his forehand in the 2026 European League Finals match against the LeBron brothers. All right, enough yapping. Go try Zy3 if it sounds right for you. And make sure to check out pongport.com where I purchased this rubber for the review. link in the description. Okay, I see you. >> Oh, >> it was right there. It was right there. It was right there. Nothing. >> That's it. >> Oh my It's okay. >> Oh, nice. >> Oh, that's a good one. Oh, that was a good one. That was a good one. >> Oh god. >> Oh, that's close. That was close. >> How am I missing that? >> It's close. >> Oh. Oh, >> that was a good one. >> Give it the tie. Okay. What the heck? Oh >> Oh, sorry. >> That was it. Oh that. >> Oh, >> that was a good one. >> Oh, too good. Almost. >> Oh, that was the ultra. Sorry. Oh, that was a good KMD right there. >> Oh, what? I made the hard one, then I missed this one. >> Sorry. What the what? >> That's the quand. >> Oh my. Oh rewind. Oh, too good. Too good. Sorry. Ah, that was a quandalo. Oh. >> Oh my god. >> Oh, you didn't let >> Oh, that was a good one. Sorry, that was going to be a >> Oh, that was it. That was it. That was it. Oh. >> Oh. >> Ah. >> Oh Oh