Boosters and Base Oils Compared: What Each One Does
This one compares several boosters and base oils. Even though on my own main blade I only ever brush a coat or two of water-based glue and never oil, there’s no denying that oiling has a certain magic — especially for Hurricane 3.
What does oiling or boosting do? It improves feel, making the rubber softer and more ball-holding; it adds elasticity, so ball speed rises; and it improves spin and arc control. It’s also a good remedy for a scaly topsheet or a sponge that has lost its energy. Thinking back to the provincial university games — no oil, no glue, on the organic-era version of double Hurricane (Hurricane 3 and Tianji 2) — I can only marvel: youth is wonderful, boundless energy. Today, facing a fresh sheet of Hurricane, I find it stiff: it can still spin, but it’s genuinely slow, and without oiling you’re easily blocked back.
Thunder Booster
You can use it on a shrunken tensor topsheet to soften and expand it. Tibhar rubbers carry this Thunder-booster smell from the factory, so make of that what you will. It’s better suited to tensors; on Hurricane the effect is modest unless you use enough, since Hurricane needs a heavy dose to soak through.
Falco Oil
It claims 8–12 weeks of effect, improving spin, speed and touch. Compared with the Haifu oils below, oiling a Hurricane with Falco gives a softer feel, deeper ball grip and a higher loop arc — but not as much speed as Haifu oil. Broadly, it suits close-to-mid-table loopers who play spin-first.
Falco Platinum
Effect duration, feel and speed are similar to regular Falco. After application the topsheet also gets softer and grippier — but at the same dose the sponge ends up harder than with regular Falco, elasticity doesn’t increase, yet it produces better spin and a flatter, lower arc. I’d say it leans more toward close-table counter-attacking, counter-looping and redirecting.
Haishang Mingyue
Three to four weeks of effect. The feel isn’t as clear as Falco, and it seems to add less spin, but both create a softer feel and a higher arc. Its advantage over Falco is stronger elasticity and more speed, so backing off to mid-table it’s punchier than Falco.
National-Team Yellow Oil
Rumor says the yellow oil feels better than the black oil below; several top players used it at the Tokyo Olympics (not necessarily Chinese players). Compared with Haishang Mingyue, after application the sponge is a touch harder, but the topsheet area is more elastic. The further back you go, the more this yellow oil’s spin and speed pressure shine.
National-Team Black Oil
Many national-team players use this now. Word is the black oil boosts topsheet friction and lets the ball sink into the sponge longer. Compared with the yellow oil it’s less elastic but the sponge is more solid — simply put, if you have the power it’s more stable, but it’s more demanding than the yellow. In feel, the black is harder and the yellow softer; the yellow more easily generates good elasticity and speed on the loop, while the black offers higher stability and support on the counter-loop, and a touch more speed on the counter-attack.