Hybrid rubber (or Hybrid Sticky rubber), which increases the speed of sticky rubber by weakening the stickiness of top sheet and combining it with new-generation tension sponge, is rapidly gaining popularity among top layers because it is being considered as the solution for the decrease of rotation due to the adaption of poly ball. And the possibility that hybrid rubber becomes the mainstream of table tennis rubber in the future seems to be quite high. Accordingly, many table tennis manufacturers are putting a lot of effort into hybrid rubber and releasing many new products one after another. Among those hybrid rubbers, many models are introduces as the manufacturer’s top models developed for contract players. andro ‘NUZN (probably it is the abbreviate of New Zone)’ series released in May 2024 is also one of those top model hybrid rubbers.

andro already has top model hybrid rubber products in its rubber range – ‘Rasanter C’ series which is one of sub-families of ‘Rasanter’ series which is the top model family of andro. However, the representative sub-family of ‘Rasanter’ series isn’t ‘Rasanter C’ but ‘Rasanter R’ which consists of non-sticky tension rubbers. ‘Rasanter C’ series was introduced as the rubber family specialized for counter topspin. However, new ‘NUZN’ series, which appears to be further improved from ‘Rasanter C’ series, has improved overall power and announced as a new top model line of andro which is positioned even higher than existing ‘Rasanter R’ series. Currently many contract players of andro are using ‘NUZN’ series. ‘NUZN’ series consists of two variations – ‘NUZN 55’ and ‘NUZN 50’. ‘NUZN 55’, which is the rubber for highly skilled players, maximizes the overall power of various kinds of topspin. And ‘NUZN 50’, which focuses on spin performance, increases the effectiveness of aggressive topspin game.

andro ‘NUZN’ series consists of two models – ‘NUZN 55’ whose (avg.) sponge density is 55° in German standard (= around 42° in Butterfly/DHS standard), and ‘NUZN 50’ whose (avg.) sponge density is 50° in German standard (= around 38° in Butterfly/DHS standard). The red color of the packaging of ‘NUZN 55’ may indicates that ‘NUZN 55’ focuses on power, and the blue color of the packaging of ‘NUZN 50’ may indicates that ‘NUZN 50’ focuses on stability.

By the indicators on the back covers of packaging, andro is saying that ‘NUZN 55’ is the rubber for professional players and ‘NUZN 50’ fits also for amateur players of high level.

NUZN 55 – ‘Power’ version

‘NUZN 55’ is the new high-performance hybrid sticky rubber developed for professional players. It provides enhanced overall power by adopting a harder new-generation tension sponge for the improvement of speed.

On the back cover of the packaging, the characteristics of the ‘NUZN 55’ is described in five languages.

Inside the front cover, it is described that this rubber is developed by scientific data and being loved by professional players.

Inside the inner cover, it is described that this rubber provides extended durability and as the result this rubber keeps high performance for longer time.

Top sheet is covered by plastic protection sheet which can be generally seen from sticky rubbers.

The feel of the surface of top sheet isn’t visually different from that of non-sticky rubber. In case of Chinese sticky rubbers such as DHS ‘Neo Hurricane 3’, the treatment of the logo area is somewhat different from the body area. But, that kind of difference isn’t seen in recent German sticky rubbers.

The color of sponge isn’t green which has been used for the top models of andro but cream (= no color). Sponge density is around 55° in German standard (= around 42° in Butterfly/DHS standard).

The pimples of ‘NUZN’ are slightly smaller (by 0.1mm) in diameter and arranged slightly more tightly (by 0.1mm) than those of ‘Rasanter R’. The base of top sheet is thicker than that of ‘Rasanter R’, but not extremely thick as that of some Chinese sticky rubbers. The height of pimple looks a bit low, but not extremely low. So we can expect that the geometry of the top sheet is designed with some speed in mind. Overall structure looks similar to that of ‘Rasnater C’, and there also exists ‘Counterspin Damper’ which is the truncated cone shape at the root of the pimple.

The average area density (the weight per unit area) of ‘NUZN 55’ is around 0.26g/㎠. When combined with a standard size blade, the rubber alone weighs approximately 52 grams. (And, about 2 to 4 grams of glue weight will be added here. The weight of the glue depends on how the player apply it.)

The top sheet is available in two colors – red and black. New colors such as magenta, green, blue and purple are not available. The ITTF registration number of ‘NUZN 55’ is 03-059.

NUZN 50 – ‘Spin’ version

‘NUZN 50’ is the new high-performance hybrid sticky rubber that is optimized not only for professional players but also skilled amateur players. It provides higher stability than ‘NUZN 55’ by adopting relatively softer sponge (although its sponge is still classified as hard sponge). ‘NUZN 50’ focuses more on spin performance than speed performance.

On the back cover of the packaging, the characteristics of the ‘NUZN 50’ is described in five languages.

Inside the front cover, it is described that this rubber is developed by scientific data and being loved by professional players.

Inside the inner cover, it is described that this rubber provides extended durability and as the result this rubber keeps high performance for longer time.

Top sheet is covered by plastic protection sheet which can be generally seen from sticky rubbers.

The feel of the surface of top sheet is identical to that of ‘NUZN 55’, and it isn’t visually different from that of non-sticky rubber. In case of Chinese sticky rubbers such as DHS ‘Neo Hurricane 3’, the treatment of the logo area is somewhat different from the body area. But, that kind of difference isn’t seen in recent German sticky rubbers.

The color of sponge isn’t green which has been used for the top models of andro but cream (= no color). Sponge density is around 50° in German standard (= around 38° in Butterfly/DHS standard).

The pimples of ‘NUZN’ are slightly smaller (by 0.1mm) in diameter and arranged slightly more tightly (by 0.1mm) than those of ‘Rasanter R’. The base of top sheet is thicker than that of ‘Rasanter R’, but not extremely thick as that of some Chinese sticky rubbers. The height of pimple looks a bit low, but not extremely low. So we can expect that the geometry of the top sheet is designed with some speed in mind. Overall structure looks similar to that of ‘Rasnater C’, and there also exists ‘Counterspin Damper’ which is the truncated cone shape at the root of the pimple.

The average area density (the weight per unit area) of ‘NUZN 50’ is around 0.25g/㎠. When combined with a standard size blade, the rubber alone weighs approximately 50 grams. (And, about 2 to 4 grams of glue weight will be added here. The weight of the glue depends on how the player apply it.)

The top sheet is available in two colors – red and black. New colors such as magenta, green, blue and purple are not available. The ITTF registration number of ‘NUZN 50’ is 03-058.

Various measured data of ‘NUZN’ series is printed in the background of the top cover of packaging. It expresses that ‘NUZN’ series is developed by scientific data.

‘NUZN’ series is new top model rubber family in andro’s rubber range, and according to andro many players are currently using ‘NUZN’. TTGearLab will use ‘NUZN’ series for various testing at court.

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this website’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to TTGearLab with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.