High-quality rubber for beginners and advanced players - The Joola Micron
As the saying goes: All beginnings are difficult. Especially if you let yourself be tempted by the wrong material. In table tennis in particular, it is often the case that beginners buy rubbers that are of high quality and are intended to be used for a long time, which are good intentions. However, this is usually unsuitable as a result. Such rubbers are often simply too hard and too fast, which results in poor control and makes it difficult to learn and consolidate techniques.
There are so-called beginner rubbers for this purpose. These have a high degree of control and feedback and tend to be soft or medium-hard. The Joola Micron is such a rubber, which can certainly be described as a beginner's rubber - however, it can also do more and is also (even better) suited for advanced players, for example. Its playing system belongs to the Allround (ALL) category.
The Micron from Joola under closer examination
Let's start with the sponge. This is purple in color and medium-hard. As a result, it can be pressed reasonably well on contact with the ball, which increases the ball contact time and therefore feedback and control. However, the energy transfer is also positive, which means that faster and more offensive actions are also possible, especially when playing actively. The technology of the sponge is the so-called Momentum Sponge. This means that the pores of the sponge are medium-sized and support a direct game with a relatively high amount of spin.
The surface of the Micron is slightly sticky, typical of hybrid rubbers. This allows the ball to rotate very well, which supports topspins or spinny serves very well. This Joola rubber also performs well on forehand flips, but blocks and short-short play are only easier with practice.
Joola Micron - Really just a beginner's rubber?
You may have already noticed it from the tenor: Energy reserves and dynamic characteristics with an active playing style, a lot of spin, a rather flat trajectory - these are all characteristics that a beginner will also be able to cope with. However, this shows that this rubber is also (or perhaps more) suitable for advanced players. This is not to say that this Joola rubber is unsuitable for beginners.
In some ways, the Micron is comparable to the Andro Shifter (in terms of speed), but the Micron seems to have more reserves thanks to the hybrid technology. In terms of weight, the Micron is not too heavy, which is very pleasant and not exhaustive.