Verified: 13 August 2026 · Author: Danil Glukhov, editor at Maketto
Short answer. A table tennis rubber is chosen on three things: sponge hardness in degrees, sponge thickness, and what the top sheet does. Soft sponge forgives a bad racket angle; hard sponge needs a fast swing and pays back in power. Rozena is the calm entry point, Tenergy 05 is spin, Tenergy 64 is speed, Dignics 05 and 09C are the tier above, and Victas splits into German-made tensors and Chinese tacky sheets.
Why buy rubbers from Japan at all
The reason is price, and the gap is easy to check.
Butterfly sells Tenergy and Dignics in Japan under open pricing — the maker publishes no recommended price at all, and every shop sets its own. On 13 August 2026 Tenergy 05 sat at about ¥6,700–7,400 in Japanese shops, while Butterfly's own North American store listed it at $79.99. Dignics 05 was about ¥7,800–8,500 in Japan against $93.99 on the same official store. The more expensive the sheet, the wider the gap.
Rozena is the one model here with a stated Japanese price: ¥5,500 including tax.
What you do not get is a different rubber. Butterfly makes every sheet discussed here in Japan, and its Japanese and global product pages publish identical specifications. There is no Japan-only version of Tenergy 05.
What you are actually choosing in a rubber
A rubber is two bonded layers: a pimpled rubber sheet and a sponge underneath. On a normal smooth rubber the pimples face inwards, towards the blade, leaving a flat playing surface. Short pips, long pips and anti-spin follow their own rules; everything below is about smooth rubbers, which is what most players use.
Three parameters decide the feel:
- sponge hardness — the number in the spec sheet, the one people call "degrees";
- sponge thickness — millimetres;
- top sheet character — plain, tensioned, or tacky.
Butterfly publishes exactly three figures for its smooth rubbers: speed, spin and arc. It publishes no control rating — if you see one on a shop listing, it did not come from the manufacturer. And the three figures it does publish are relative values on Butterfly's own scale, revised in February 2023 and measured on the thickest sponge in each line. They are useful within a series and misleading across series.
What the ITTF rules require
Straight answer: the rubber has to be on the ITTF's authorised list, one sheet per side, and no more than 4 mm thick including adhesive.
- Smooth rubber with sponge (sandwich) — 4 mm maximum including adhesive, with the pimpled sheet itself no more than 2 mm (rule 2.4.3).
- Pimpled rubber without sponge, pimples outwards — 2 mm maximum including adhesive, with pimples spaced between 10 and 30 per cm².
- Colours. One side of the blade is black, the other a bright colour clearly distinguishable from black and from the ball (rule 2.4.6). Since 1 October 2021 pink, violet, green and blue are allowed alongside red, and the black side stayed mandatory. That is why blue and pink Victas sheets turn up in Japanese shops — they are legal competition rubbers, not novelties.
- No treatment. Rule 2.4.7 requires the covering to be used without physical or chemical treatment, and regulation 3.4.2.2 prohibits additives. Boosters fall under this.
- Markings. The ITTF logo, the covering number, the brand and the model name have to be visible at the handle end of the blade, and the model has to be on the ITTF's current authorised list (regulation 3.2.1.3).
Butterfly adds one useful note: sheet colour has no effect on how a rubber plays. The red and black versions of a model are identical.
Sponge thickness: what each millimetre does
Straight answer: thicker sponge means more bounce and more weight; thinner means a lighter, quieter racket.
Butterfly states the relationship plainly — as thickness goes up, so do weight and rebound, and the playing style shifts from defence towards attack. For beginners the maker recommends 1.7 or 1.9.
The numbers printed on the sponge are labels for a range, not the measurement itself:
| Label | Actual sponge thickness |
|---|---|
| 2.7 | 2.5–2.7 mm |
| 2.5 | 2.3–2.5 mm |
| 2.3 | 2.1–2.4 mm |
| 2.1 | 1.9–2.2 mm |
| 1.9 | 1.7–1.9 mm |
| 1.7 | 1.5–1.7 mm |
| 1.3 | 1.1–1.3 mm |
| 1.1 | 0.8–1.1 mm |
| 0.5 | 0.4–0.7 mm |
Butterfly's official table, checked 13 Aug 2026. The range covers the sponge only, without the top sheet. The 2.3 and 2.1 ranges overlap.
Which of these you can actually buy depends on the model. Tenergy 05, 64, 80, 19 and Rozena come in 2.1, 1.9 and 1.7. The entire Dignics series and Tenergy 05 Hard come in 2.1 and 1.9 only — these sheets are built for a full swing and thin versions do not exist, whatever a listing may claim.
Hardness in degrees: why the same number means different things
Straight answer: every maker measures hardness its own way, so comparing numbers across brands does not work.
Butterfly says so outright — sponge hardness is measured "to Butterfly's own standard", and the company never names the scale. Victas publishes hardness with a tolerance, for example 47.5±3, which is a different system again. So Tenergy 05 at 36 and Victas V>15 Limber at 40 do not sit four degrees apart in the hand.
Within one brand the numbers behave predictably. Butterfly's own summary:
| Sponge | What happens |
|---|---|
| Softer | lighter racket, lower rebound, ball sinks further into the rubber, works with a slow swing, suits beginners |
| Harder | heavier racket, higher rebound, ball sinks in less, needs a fast swing, suits advanced players |
The practical consequence is the one people ignore: if the stroke is not yet built, a hard sponge subtracts consistency instead of adding power. The ball never compresses the sponge in the first place.
Tenergy: how the models differ
Tenergy launched in 2008 and brought Spring Sponge with it — a sponge full of large air bubbles that compresses like a spring and pushes the ball back out. The second technology in these sheets is High Tension: tension applied to the rubber molecules, which cuts energy loss on impact. Butterfly released the world's first high-tension rubber, Bryce, back in 1997.
The number in the name is a pimple geometry code, not a skill level.
| Model | Hardness | Thicknesses | Speed / Spin / Arc | Year | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tenergy 05 | 36 | 2.1 · 1.9 · 1.7 | 83 / 76 / 79 | 2008 | spin, pimple code No.05 |
| Tenergy 05 Hard | 43 | 2.1 · 1.9 | 82 / 96 / 92 | 2018 | same sheet on a hard sponge, for a heavy swing |
| Tenergy 05 FX | 32 | 2.1 · 1.9 · 1.7 | 81 / 64 / 65 | 2010 | same sheet on a soft, lightened sponge, for consistency |
| Tenergy 64 | 36 | 2.1 · 1.9 · 1.7 | 87 / 70 / 75 | 2009 | speed, the fastest rebound in the series |
| Tenergy 80 | 36 | 2.1 · 1.9 · 1.7 | 85 / 73 / 77 | 2013 | balance of speed and spin, code No.180 |
| Tenergy 19 | 36 | 2.1 · 1.9 · 1.7 | 84 / 75 / 78 | 2021 | tighter pimple spacing, sheet holds the ball longer |
| Tenergy 25 | 36 | 2.1 · 1.9 · 1.7 | 64 / 76 / 86 | 2008 | over-the-table play, touch and counters |
Specifications from Butterfly's official product pages, checked 13 Aug 2026. The figures are relative values on the maker's own scale.
In plain terms: 05 is the spin sheet — it loops heavily and forgives a high arc. 64 is the speed sheet — flatter, faster, less rotation. 80 sits between them and is the safest pick when the style is not settled. 19 is the newest of the group and grips the ball noticeably longer on the sheet.
The suffixes matter as much as the numbers. FX is the same sheet on a softer sponge: less spin by the official figures, but far more tolerant of a mistimed stroke. Hard goes the other way, for players who already swing through the ball.
Dignics: what changed against Tenergy
Dignics is Butterfly's senior line, opened by Dignics 05 in April 2019. The difference from Tenergy is a new sponge, Spring Sponge X, plus a new top sheet — and Butterfly quantifies it.
By the maker's own figures, Spring Sponge X took nine years to develop. Against ordinary Spring Sponge it deforms about 14% more readily under the ball, rebounds about 3% more elastically, and is about 3% lighter at the same hardness and thickness. On paper the Dignics sponge is four degrees harder — 40 against 36 — and Butterfly warns in the same breath that it feels softer in play than the number suggests. Surface wear resistance on the sheet is more than doubled.
| Model | Hardness | Thicknesses | Speed / Spin / Arc | Year | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dignics 05 | 40 | 2.1 · 1.9 | 86 / 85 / 88 | 2019 | spin: power loops and counters from close and mid distance |
| Dignics 80 | 40 | 2.1 · 1.9 | 88 / 82 / 86 | 2019 | all-round: balanced across every zone |
| Dignics 64 | 40 | 2.1 · 1.9 | 90 / 79 / 84 | 2019 | speed: fast loops, loop-to-loop, smashes |
| Dignics 09C | 44 | 2.1 · 1.9 | 79 / 96 / 96 | 2020 | tacky: maximum spin, short game, chopping |
Specifications from Butterfly's official product pages, checked 13 Aug 2026.
Dignics 09C is the odd one out — a tacky sheet, which Butterfly classifies as its own category, "tacky high-tension rubber". Its purpose is the Chinese one: heavy rotation with a short throw. The official numbers back it up, with spin and arc at 96 and speed at 79, the lowest in the series. That makes it a serve, short-game, heavy-loop and chopping rubber. It is not built for fast exchanges from distance.
Rozena: where most people should start
Rozena arrived in 2017, and Butterfly was unusually candid about why. Tenergy had become expensive enough to put players off, so the company built a rubber on the same Spring Sponge for less money. Its own framing, published under the president's name, sets the hierarchy: Tenergy is "the rubber for winning", Rozena is "the rubber for getting stronger". The same statement admits Rozena falls slightly short of Tenergy on performance.
The specs: hardness 35, marginally softer than Tenergy 05; speed 83, spin 70, arc 75; all three thicknesses available — 2.1, 1.9 and 1.7. The property Butterfly puts first is tolerance — the sheet covers small errors in racket angle and swing direction. For anyone still building a stroke that is worth more than the extra spin rating.
Victas: German tensors and Chinese tacky sheets
Victas is the other Japanese brand players ask about, and the difference from Butterfly shows up immediately in the fine print: almost the whole tensor range is made in Germany, and the tacky range is made in China. Every Butterfly rubber in this article is made in Japan.
Victas also publishes hardness with a tolerance and states a retail price for every model.
| Model | Type | Hardness | Thicknesses | Made in | Price, incl. tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V>15 Limber | tensor | 40.0±3 | MAX · 2.0 | Germany | ¥7,260 |
| V>15 Stiff | tensor | 45.0±3 | MAX · 2.0 | Germany | ¥7,260 |
| V>15 Extra | tensor | 47.5±3 | MAX · 2.0 | Germany | ¥7,260 |
| V>22 Double Extra | tensor | 50.0±3 | MAX · 2.0 | Germany | ¥8,800 |
| V>20 Double Extra | tensor | 52.5±3 | MAX · 2.0 · 1.8 | Germany | ¥7,260 |
| V>11 Extra | tensor, lightened | 47.5±3 | MAX · 2.0 | Germany | ¥6,050 |
| V>03 | tensor | 42.5±3 | MAX · 2.0 · 1.8 | Germany | ¥4,730 |
| Ventus Extra | tensor | 47.5±3 | MAX · 2.0 · 1.8 | Germany | ¥6,050 |
| Triple Regular | tacky | 42.5±3 | MAX · 2.0 · 1.8 | China | ¥4,400 |
| Triple Extra | tacky | 55.0±3 | MAX · 2.0 | China | ¥5,500 |
| Triple Double Extra | tacky | 57.5±3 | MAX · 2.0 | China | ¥5,940 |
| VS>401 | slightly tacky, defensive | 57.5±3 | 2.0 · 1.8 · 1.5 | Germany | ¥5,720 |
Prices and specifications from Victas' official site, checked 13 Aug 2026.
Within the V>15 family only the sponge changes: Limber is the soft, manageable one, Stiff sits in the middle and is built for rallying, Extra is the hardest and aimed at the finishing ball. V>22 Double Extra came out in 2022, seven years after V>15 Extra, on a harder sponge again. V>11 Extra matches V>15 Extra at 47.5 but is roughly 10% lighter — which you feel once both sides of the blade are covered.
VS>401 deserves a warning, because people buy it on price without reading the description. It is a defender's rubber, developed with Koji Matsushita, built around a low, stable chop with a hard sponge for the attacking ball. An attacking player will not get on with it.
The Triple tacky line is Chinese-made. Victas aims Regular, at 42.5, squarely at beginners and intermediates; Extra and Double Extra, at 55.0 and 57.5, only make sense with a full swing behind them.
Which rubber for which game
| Goal | What to look at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First rubber, stroke still forming | Rozena, 1.7 or 1.9 | hardness 35, covers angle errors; Butterfly's own beginner recommendation is 1.7 or 1.9 |
| Attacking play built on spin | Tenergy 05, then Dignics 05 | pimple code No.05 is the spin geometry; Dignics repeats it on a livelier sponge |
| Attacking play built on speed | Tenergy 64, then Dignics 64 | the highest speed ratings in their respective series |
| Style not settled, want one sheet | Tenergy 80 or Dignics 80 | balanced speed and spin by the maker's figures |
| Maximum spin, short game | Dignics 09C or Victas Triple Extra | tacky sheet: more rotation, shorter throw |
| Defensive play, chopping | Victas VS>401 | designed for chopping; three thin options at 2.0, 1.8 and 1.5 |
| Heavy swing, want power | Tenergy 05 Hard, V>15 Extra, V>22 Double Extra | hard sponges: 43 at Butterfly, 47.5 and 50 at Victas |
| Losing consistency on the swing | Tenergy 05 FX, V>15 Limber | soft sponges: 32 and 40 respectively |
How to glue a rubber on
Straight answer: water-based glue, a thin even coat on both surfaces, dried until clear.
Butterfly recommends water-based glue rather than adhesive sheets for anything built on Spring Sponge or Spring Sponge X — it simply holds better. The maker's own procedure:
- Squeeze glue onto the rubber, about the area of a coin, and spread it evenly with a sponge applicator, no ridges.
- Apply the same amount to the blade and spread it the same way.
- Let both dry for at least 10 minutes, until the layer turns transparent.
- Lay the rubber down starting from the handle end and press the air out — cover the surface with paper and press with both hands from the back.
- Trim the overhang with scissors along the edge of the blade. Hold the scissors still and rotate the racket; that is what keeps the cut clean.
Butterfly's Free Chuck 2 glue runs about ¥440–640 for a small tube and about ¥1,600–2,000 for a 100 ml bottle in Japanese shops as of 13 August 2026.
When to replace a rubber
Straight answer: by the state of the surface, not the calendar. Butterfly names two signs — the sheet stops gripping the ball, and it loses its gloss and turns whitish.
The maker's guidance by playing load:
| Hours played | Replace after |
|---|---|
| 1–2 hours a day | 3–4 months |
| 2–3 hours a day | 2–3 months |
| 3–4 hours a day | 1–2 months |
Butterfly's recommendations, checked 13 Aug 2026.
One point Butterfly makes that is easy to miss: rubber degrades with time alone, whether it is played or sitting in a drawer. Stockpiling a year's supply gains you nothing.
What these rubbers cost in Japanese shops
Because Tenergy and Dignics carry no manufacturer price, the only honest reference is live retail. These are prices from our Japanese shop catalogue on 13 August 2026.
| Rubber | Price in Japanese shops |
|---|---|
| Rozena | about ¥3,500–3,900 |
| Tenergy 05, 64, 80, 19, 05 FX, 05 Hard | about ¥6,700–7,400 |
| Dignics 05 | about ¥7,800–8,500 |
| Dignics 80 | about ¥7,700–8,400 |
| Dignics 64 | about ¥8,000–8,500 |
| Dignics 09C | about ¥9,200–10,500 |
| Victas V>15 Extra | about ¥4,600–6,200 |
| Victas VS>401 | about ¥4,000–4,900 |
| Victas Triple Regular | about ¥2,900–3,200 |
From the Maketto catalogue on 13 August 2026, Rakuten and Yahoo Shopping. A snapshot on the date, not an offer.
A spread inside one model is normal: with open pricing, the same Dignics 05 can differ by a thousand yen between two shops. Victas does publish a price, but shops routinely sell below it — V>15 Extra lists at ¥7,260 and turns up around ¥5,000 in practice.
Ordering a rubber from Japan through Maketto
Japanese shops do not ship abroad and do not take foreign cards, so the purchase goes through a proxy. We buy the rubber in the Japanese shop, receive it at our warehouse and send it on. Our commission is 10% of the item price with a ¥1,000 minimum, and it covers the whole service: the purchase, warehouse handling, checking, correspondence with the seller and arranging the shipment. Item price plus commission is visible before you pay.
Shipping is calculated separately once the parcel is packed and weighed — nobody knows the exact weight before that. Rubbers are light, so if you need several, putting them in one parcel is the sensible move.
See what is in stock: the table tennis selection or a search across every Japanese shop. For what to glue these onto, see our article on table tennis blades.
FAQ
Tenergy is 36 and Victas is 47.5 — is the Victas half again as hard? No. Each maker measures hardness its own way. Butterfly states plainly that it uses its own standard and never names the scale. Comparing numbers is only meaningful within one brand.
Which thickness should I start with? Butterfly recommends 1.7 or 1.9 for beginners. Those are labels, not measurements: 1.7 means 1.5–1.7 mm, 1.9 means 1.7–1.9 mm.
How is Dignics 05 different from Tenergy 05? Sponge and sheet. Dignics uses Spring Sponge X, which by Butterfly's figures deforms about 14% more readily, rebounds about 3% more elastically and is about 3% lighter at equal hardness. It is four degrees harder on paper — 40 against 36 — but the maker says it plays softer than that number.
Is Dignics 09C a Chinese rubber? No, it is Japanese-made with a tacky top sheet. Butterfly gives it its own category, tacky high-tension rubber. Its official figures show the highest spin and arc in the series with the lowest speed.
Is Rozena worse than Tenergy? Butterfly answers that itself: Rozena falls slightly short of Tenergy on performance, and the company positions it a step below. For a player still building technique, that gap tends to help rather than hurt.
Are the specs different on Japanese-market rubbers? No. Butterfly publishes the same speed, spin, arc, hardness and thickness figures on its Japanese and global sites. What differs is the price.
Can I play with a blue or pink rubber? Yes. Since 1 October 2021 the ITTF allows pink, violet, green and blue in place of red. The other side of the blade still has to be black.
Does rubber colour affect play? No. Butterfly states specifically that the red and black versions of a model perform identically.
Key takeaways
- Choose on sponge hardness, sponge thickness and top sheet character. Compare hardness only within a brand: Butterfly measures to its own unnamed standard, Victas to its own with a ±3 tolerance.
- The number in a Tenergy or Dignics name is a pimple geometry code, not a skill tier: 05 is spin, 64 is speed, 80 is the middle, 09C is tacky.
- Dignics differs from Tenergy through Spring Sponge X — roughly 14% more deformable, 3% more elastic and 3% lighter at equal hardness, and four degrees harder on paper.
- Rozena is Butterfly's official entry into Spring Sponge: hardness 35, all three thicknesses, a stated ¥5,500 including tax. Tenergy and Dignics have no manufacturer price at all.
- ITTF rules: 4 mm maximum including adhesive, no chemical or physical treatment, one side black and the other red, pink, violet, green or blue.
Sources
- Butterfly — product pages with full specifications:
https://www.butterfly.co.jp/products/detail/05800.html(Tenergy 05),06040(Dignics 05),06070(Dignics 09C),06020(Rozena) — checked 13 Aug 2026. - Butterfly — rubber specifications: sponge thickness ranges, hardness, effect on play:
https://www.butterfly.co.jp/products/rubber/spec.html— checked 13 Aug 2026. - Butterfly — High Tension and Spring Sponge technologies (Bryce, 1997; Tenergy, 2008):
https://www.butterfly.co.jp/products/rubber/technology.html; Spring Sponge X compared with Spring Sponge:https://www.butterfly.co.jp/product/dignics/sponge.html— checked 13 Aug 2026. - Butterfly — official statement on the launch of Rozena and its place relative to Tenergy:
https://www.butterfly.co.jp/story/rozena/detail01.html— checked 13 Aug 2026. - Butterfly — gluing with water-based glue and when to replace a rubber:
https://www.butterfly.co.jp/learning/beginners/stuck/free_chack2.html,https://www.butterfly.co.jp/learning/beginners/replacement/— checked 13 Aug 2026. - Victas — product pages with hardness, thicknesses, country of manufacture and prices:
https://www.victas.com/products/detail.html?id=781(V>15 Extra),id=795(V>22 Double Extra),id=787(VS>401),id=53(Triple Double Extra) — checked 13 Aug 2026. - Butterfly North America official store — reference prices for the comparison ($79.99 Tenergy 05, $93.99 Dignics 05):
https://shop.butterflyonline.com/tenergy-05,https://shop.butterflyonline.com/dignics-05-dig05p— checked 13 Aug 2026. - ITTF Statutes 2026 — rule 2.4 The Racket (thickness, colours, no treatment) and regulations 3.2.1.3 and 3.4.2.2 (authorised list, markings, additives):
https://www.ittf.com/statutes/— checked 13 Aug 2026. - ITTF — new rubber colours effective 1 October 2021:
https://www.ittf.com/2021/09/30/distinct-difference-new-colours-effect-friday-1st-october-2021/— checked 13 Aug 2026.
On the numbers: every specification here comes from the manufacturers' official sites. Butterfly's speed, spin and arc figures are relative values on the company's own scale, revised in February 2023 and measured on the thickest sponge in each line. Japanese shop prices are a snapshot of our catalogue on 13 August 2026.
Changelog
- 13 Aug 2026 — published.