Yasaka Mark V - The evergreen rubber!

Every heard of Yasaka Mark V? I am sure if you have played the sport, you definitely would have heard about this rubber which has been there for more than 50 years! This old timer definitely packed punch in it’s time and it is still alive. So let’s talk about the Yasaka Mark V rubber and would it still be relevant to play with this rubber in 2023?

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Yasaka Mark V, a small story

Yasaka Mark V earned it’s name for being used launched in 1969 and still being used over generations. It was used by Olympic champion Ma Lin on his backhand in 2008 era and this rubber was also used by almost all players in older time. Another Chinese legend, Olympic champion and coach Liu Guoliang used to use this rubber on his backhand as well around 1996 era. Yasaka wrote about their history of Mark V in 2019 blog post. There was a time where speed glue was not banned and people used to boost their rubbers and this rubber was just magic. These days speed glue is banned and water based table tennis glues are used dominantly. The Mark V comes with a thicknesses of 1.0, 1.5, 1.8, 2.0, Max and available in black and red colors. To be honest, this rubber has survived for more than 50 years and still able to appeal to masses. Yasaka has definitely created a beautiful product in their rubber lineup.

Is Yasaka Mark V still usable in plastic ball era?

The new era of table tennis has everything changed with ball material to rubber technology. The newer rubbers are more harder and preferable to the modern plastic ball era. But that being said, even in plastic ball era, Mark V is a decently rubber that will allow you hit all sort os shots. Mark V is a great alternative to any premade rackets but at a comparative high cost. If you are playing for fun then premade rackets are good enough but if you are playing competitively then definitely Mark V is better than premade rackets.

Who should buy Yasaka Mark V?

If you are coming from 10-15$ ping pong paddle, and really trying to learn or develop you game then Yasaka Mark V and Butterfly Sriver rubbers are ideal rubbers. These players will learn proper strokes as the rubber will not be forgiving in hitting shots incorrectly. If you use proper technique, only then you will be able to make the shots and that’s why new players will definitely learn proper techniques using these rubbers as it is not difficult to control in any way. This rubber offers excellent balance which result in more attention to proper form and training and this will improve your more common shots like topspin, loop, block, push, etc. The durability of Mark V is way higher than the ESN rubbers and you will be able to use Mark V for 4-5 years.

New alternatives to Mark V

Mark V is relatively cheaper and if you want to go with newer rubbers and there are modern rubbers if increase your budger a little bit more. Below are three of the best alternatives -

• Yasaka Rakza 7 - Definitely another rubber from Yasaka which has made a name for itself. Rakza 7 is a gem in modern era and an alternative to costly rubbers such as Butterfly Tenergy & Dignics series.
• Donic Barracuda - The spin monster is a beast and you are going to enjoy this rubber a lot. Only thing you need to know is to have proper technique and I will not recommend this to complete beginners.
• Andro Rasanter R47 - Another spinny rubber which is a powerful attacking rubber with lots of spin. This is a tensor rubber.

Long live, Yasaka Mark V 😇

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