YASAKA Rubber RAKZA PO

Description

The first couple of BH drives revealed that the Yasaka Rakza PO is slower, softer, spinnier, more deceptive, but also a little bit harder to control than the TSP Spectol Red. Simply put, the margin for error is smaller with this rubber, in large part because the soft feeling renders the contact point less clear as with harder short pips. Correct timing is important to ensure high consistency on BH drives. In many respects, the Rakza PO plays and feels more like an inverted rubber than a classic short pimpled rubber, which includes a relative high throw angle, necessitating a more closed bat angle. Hitting through backspin is easy, but not as easy as with the TSP Spectol Red. BH attacks against long pushes, in particular, tended to go long and required a more closed bat angle. BH flicks on short serves and pushes, on the other hand, were easy to lift over the net. BH “loops” from mid-distance can be played reasonably competently but correct timing is, once again, critical to the success of these shots. Passive blocking against loops generates quite deceptive and treacherous returns. However, the softer feeling of the rubber, again, decreases consistency in my opinion. Active blocks played right off the bounce and with a lot of wrist snap, worked well with this rubber. Long pushes on serve returns can be played with a lot of spin. Short pushes can be kept very low and can be played with a tremendous amount of touch and finesse. Serves can be played with a surprising amount of spin. It is certainly possible to chop with highly variable spin using this short pimpled rubber, but its strengths are in the controlled offensive game.

Conclusion
In my opinion, the Yasaka Rakza PO is an excellent short pimpled rubber for players who want to use a combination of spin, deception, and mix of aggressive and touch game strategies.

Speed: 8/10
Spin: 9/10
Control: 7/10
Deception: 5/10
Hitting through backspin: 7.5/10
BH “loops” from mid-distance: 7/10
Blocking: 8/10
Short game: 9/10
Chopping: 8/10