Butterfly Tenergy 05 Review
| Release Date: | 2008 |
| Sponge Hardness | 36Deg (48-49Deg) |
| Sponge: | V.Small Pores |
| Topsheet: | Medium hardness |
| Catapult: | High |
| Playing Level: | Advanced |
Butterfly Tenergy 05 was a rubber bought out to compensate for the ban on speed glue in 2008 and instantly became a hit. For over a decade now Butterfly Tenergy 05 has been the dominant rubber choice for the world’s top players as well as beginners and intermediates. It gained worldwide recognition very quickly as one of the best performing rubbers and has become the yardstick in which all other rubbers have been measured by. It is one of if not the best looping rubber ever made.
Butterfly Tenergy 05 is a Medium/Hard rubber with a 36° JAP (48-49° EUR) Sponge with very small pores and a low level of factory tuning. The special Spring Sponge produces tremendous catapult and it a particular feature of this rubber which is made specially in Japan by Butterfly. The topsheet has great natural grip and is medium/hard with a fairly elastic medium/soft topsheet with a specially selected pimple structure (code 05) to maximise spin generation.
Manufacturer’s Description
Tenergy 05 / High Performance for a Topspin Attacking Strategy
“Spring Sponge” is the latest innovation from BUTTERFLY. It is the sponge of the coming era. The well-known High Tension technology of BUTTERFLY is now combined with “Spring Sponge” to produce a new rubber family: TENERGY.
Tenergy 05 is the first family member; the special feature being in the original shape of the pimples. The product carries our development code No. 05 and merges High Tension technology with the characteristics of a highly tacky rubber.
TENERGY 05 has already been evaluated by a large number of leading players, as well as by scientific measurement, as the best rubber for spinning the ball, both when serving and during a rally.
Do you look for a high quality rubber for your topspin and attack strategy? Then TENERGY 05 is the right answer
Spin
Tenergy 05 generates bundles of rotation – Its no doubt one of the spinniest rubbers ever made. Its got a very mechanically grabby topsheet (maybe due to the higher content of natural rubber in the rubber mix). What is the best part and what makes Tenergy 05 special is what happens when the ball sinks into the rubber a little bit – huge huge grip, once you get the ball to bite into the topsheet the grip and spin is just huge. Middle power shots are super loaded with topspin and you would be hard pushed to find any other rubber even today (12 years on) that generates more rotation at medium pace shots than Tenergy 05. Middle power loops is Tenergy 05’s domain and has been for over a decade. Loops are loaded, serves are loaded, Tenergy 05 is a spin machine. There are some rubbers that generate more spin than Tenergy 05 in slow brush shots (Joola Rhyzer 48, Gewo Nexxus El Pro 53 Hard) as I think now there are grippier topsheets out there, but they cant compete in the medium to high power spin shots and its this overall spin diversity of Tenergy 05 which overall makes it one of the spinniest rubbers ever made
Topsheet Grip: The Topsheet of Tenergy 05 is outstanding, the pimple structure is great and the elasticity of the topsheet is in a nice middle ground, not too stiff but not too flexible, just right! Tenergy 05 was way ahead of its time back in 2008 when it was released. its only just in the last 4-5 years that topsheets from other manufacturers have managed to surpass Tenergy in terms of mechanical grip. Even by today’s standard the topsheet grip of Tenergy 05 is fantastic, its got a great high quality natural rubber feel to it which generates all that grip and spin. Modern rubbers have to suffice with slightly grainy surfaces and thin topsheets just to compete with the Topsheet quality of Tenergy 05. Slippage is very very rare with Tenergy 05 and it can just grip the ball in every situation and angle.
Arc: The Arc of T05 is huge, it gives one of the biggest arcs of all Table tennis rubbers and I honestly cant think of a rubber that gives a higher arc. This give you great safety in shots and the ability to play shots from below the net and get them to bend on. The arc really helps high power shots dive onto the table at the last second. Nice feature.
Speed
Tenergy 05 is a fast offensive rubber but its by no means a speed monster, it can sometimes feel a lot faster due to its large catapult effect but I would say its on the lower side of the OFF category. Its unique spring sponge makes the ball catapult hard off the rubber but the best part of its speed is when you combine it with spin. A lot of rubbers you have a choice – you can either generate loads of spin, sacrificing speed, or lots of speed, sacrificing spin. With Tenergy they have got the balance just so right and you get the best of both worlds. Although it is not the fastest rubber out there, it has more than enough speed – Pro’s wouldnt use it otherwise.
Thanks to its spring sponge the catapult is big which makes it such a lethal weapon when combined with the spin possibilities. You can generate a lot of pace with the smallest of movements. This makes accessing this power very easy which appeals to intermediates all the way up to the worlds best.
One thing that I did find a bit challenging was the Tenergy 05 is not what you call a linear rubber. In the short game it can be quite bouncy and the more you swing the speed which is comes off the rubber is exponentially faster. This means the control suffers but it is something you can get used to but definitely is doesnt have as many gears as other rubbers.
Control
Im going to start with the positives and that is shot consistency of Butterfly Tenergy 05. Other rubbers sometimes can react a little differently to the same shot. Tibhar Evolution MX-P is a good example compared to Tenergy 05, its just not as consistent in the rebound as sometimes you get a stray ball that just flies off the rubber and thats just not something that generally happens with Tenergy 05. I can play the same shot 1000 times and it will always do the same thing which is very desirable in a rubber – it is completely stable. The consistency is absolutely spot on.
Now for the downsides and im not going to sugar coat it… Tenergy 05 is hard to control.
Incoming spin can be extremely difficult to handle Its extremely spin sensitive. Because the rubber has extreme grip it is very sensitive to incoming spin and as a result the ball tends to have a very strong reaction on the rubber making it hard to control and this is something you have to compensate for. This isn’t such a problem for pro’s as they have experience and top technique but if you are a beginner you could really struggle to control the oppositions incoming spin. Combine this with a rubber with high catapult and you have a lot of taming to do.
The other downside is the high catapult and high throw angle. Tenergy 05 is a very bouncy rubber which aids you in attack but not in controlling shots like touches and blocks. You’ve got to have really good touch and technique to compensate for the high throw angle and bouncy nature of the rubber. This rubber is not recommended for beginners or I would argue intermediates either. I see a lot of intermediates use Tenergy 05 because they love the hero shots they can play when they get everything spot of for 1/10 shots. And who wouldn’t, the hero shots with Tenergy 05 are dreamy but for 9/10 times they just flat out struggle to keep the ball on the table. This rubber is for Pro’s you have been warned!
Feel & Hardness
Tenergy 05 has a hardness of 36° in Butterfly’s hardness scale which roughly translates to a 48-49° sponge in terms of Euro rubber. The overall feeling of the rubber feels a little softer than that and that could be down to the natural rubber mix that butterfly use and the elastic topsheet. Overall when playing it feels more like 45-46° rubber but because the sponge is accurately quite hard underneath it doesn’t really bottom out. Solid medium hard feeling.
In terms of feeling Tenergy 05 does feel a little bit mushy – it definitely doesnt feel as crisp as a lot of ESN rubbers but this could be explained by the higher rubber content in the topsheet – less artificial feeling. For lack of better description when the ball sinks into the rubber the rubber feels quite gummy. When looping its also got this very dwelly nature of holding on to the ball, for certain shots (looping) this is beneficial for others (driving, flat hits) maybe a bit of a hindrance. Feeling can be a personal preference and I certainly cant describe it as having bad feeling but personally I like that sharper crisper feeling that I get with other rubbers. Tenergy 05 was just a tad too mushy for me.
Shots
Serve – 9.5/10: You can generate so much spin off the serve with Tenergy 05 its a true asset, it really grabs the ball at extreme angles and slow speeds which is perfect for serves and the spin level is super high. Hard to control sometimes though because of the catapult.
Slow looping – 9.0/10: Brush looping is great, its got a grabby surface that justs bites the ball so well and the spin you can generate is huge. There are better rubbers out there for this shot, personally I like Evolution MX-S, Rhyzer 48, Gewo Nexxus El Pro Hard 50 and some Chinese rubbers better than Tenergy 05 for this type of shot because the topsheet is just a bit more grippy, but tenergy really is up there with these rubbers too, there aren’t many better.
Fast looping – 10/10: Just unlike any other rubber out there, huge spin, high arcing, ease of power you get with Tenergy 05 combine to make this one of the best looping rubbers ever made. Its easy to generate power and unrivaled spin at mid distances and it really is unrivaled in this department even after 12 years of being released. Power looping perfection.
Drive: – 8.5/10: I always struggled with this particular shot with Tenergy 05 in particular, its like it only wants to grab the ball and put as much spin on it and it was a really narrow window to find that place between a flat hit and a loop. Still good if you have the skill.
Blocks & Flat hits – 7.0/10: Really tough to play blocks with control, Butterfly tenergy 05 is just so spin sensitive you have to have good skill to compensate and then there is the catapult effect which is hard to tame too, it really is tough to be good at blocking. Flat hits are ok, nothing to write home about though, this is a looping rubber.
Flicks – 9.0/10: Banana flicks with this rubber are crazy, just load it up from any angle and your in an attacking rally, really very good. Bit tougher for flatter flicks because its got a bit of a mushy feeling.
Smashes – 8.5/10: Yeah that catapulty spring sponge has very good power for smashing, its extremely hard to bottom out, again you have to be careful to compensate for the lack of control this rubber gives but generally you make a good shot its not coming back!
Counters – 9.0/10: Very good at counters if you are re-looping, elastic topsheet and sponge hold the ball and spin it out with even greater power and spin, its hard to control sometimes based on incoming spin and speed especially in flatter strokes but re-looping is very good.
Chopping – 8.0/10: So as a good power looping rubber I was surprised to find that this is still a popular choice for defenders and old school choppers but I gotta say it does work well in this department. The spin chops have is probably one of the main reasons, you can absolutely load the chops up! Its a bit bouncy but if you can handle the pace its good.
“Now watch this drive”
The only thing I find tricky using this rubber is power driving and smashing the ball. All Tenergy 05 wants to do is grip the ball and this makes it the perfect rubber for looping but when you come in for the kill I find myself making more mistakes than I would with other rubbers. I find it extremely hard to find the shot between heavy loop and the big ‘ole’ slap with Tenergy 05. At first I thought it was just my style and my technique when I tried other rubbers I could drive and smash effortlessly. As much as I can kill the point with heavy powerful loops it does bug me that I can’t just smash or drive the ball effortlessly past the opponent like I can with some rubbers. A minor flaw but this is where I found Butterfly Tenergy 80 to make sense over using Tenergy 05.
Who Does This Rubber Suit / Playing Style
Butterfly Tenergy 05 best suits a two winged looper who predominantly plays from mid-distance and focuses on looping the first chance they get to win the point with a heavy combination of heavy spin and power. The mid distance loopers best friend.
Tenergy 05 is a very versatile rubber and can suit many styles from brush loopers to even modern defenders and is probably why it still one of the most popular rubbers at every level. If your game is centered around spin this is a rubber you need to try at least once.
Its best suited for top players that want to get the maximum performance from their rubbers.
Quality & Durability
Butterfly specialise in high quality and they have done for decades. The quality is absolutely top notch. The topsheet grip is fantastic, it’s durable, it doesn’t easily perish, there is very rarely a bad sheet. The sponge is super high quality, really good, just a step up from anything made in Germany’s ESN factory or anywhere else in the world. The sponge is probably one of the biggest contributers to Tenergy’s success.
A Big plus that I really like about Tenergy 05 is that it doesnt shrink when you move it from blade to blade, its stays more or less the same size, which is rare for rubbers these days . Everything about this rubber screams quality and this is what makes it stand out above the rest in my opinion – it’s just sheer quality.
As you would expect with high quality products – they last longer too, a sheet of Tenergy can last a whole season if you look after it and can last about 5-6 months playing 2-3 times a week. Great durability and even after this period the topsheet still has good grip left and its still usable, outstanding durability.
One potential area where it does fall down is the topsheet is a little bit delicate so you can get crumbing round the edges and some marks where the rubber gets worn, it still performs well but wear and tear does happen.
Price / Performance
This is the other thing Tenergy is known for – its price. Butterfly produce the most expensive rubbers in the world with a sheet of new Dignics coming in at £80.00!!! Luckily Tenergy 05 is not that expensive but its still pretty much more expensive than anything else too.
In the UK prices are around £58.99
In Europe price are around €64.99
In the USA prices are around $67.99
So is Tenergy 05 worth it? Its hard to say and it will differ from person to person. With other manufacturers now putting up their rubber prices so they are not much off tenergy prices Tenergy 05 is starting to look pretty attractive again. However I recently did a review on the Vega Pro which is about 80-85% as good as Tenergy 05 for half the price.
Is Tenergy 05 a value for money rubber – er no way! but it is an incredible rubber so maybe its worth its price?
Overall
Tenergy 05’s looping ability, rotation potential and high arc is just an incredible combination for a looper and merge this with its bouncy spring sponge power is a true weapon! There is nothing that quite compares and if you are an attacker this is a rubber you definitely need to try at least once because there is a reason a high percentage the world top players use it.
Looping with this rubber is effortless, powerful and unbelievable. For Me personally Tenergy 05 has been the best rubber for mid-distance looping rubber for over a decade and its still arguably the best even today in 2020.
Tenergy 05 is potent in its performance yet somehow allows easy to access to this performance by intermediate players as well as the worlds elite. This makes it very popular – a rubber that helps you play like the pro’s.
Butterfly Tenergy 05 has become a classic and will be around and popular for a long time to come.
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