Donic Baracuda Big Slam
Even more sound and control due to the softer sponge.The new FORMULA DONIC BARACUDA BIG SLAM rubber with inbuilt speed glue effect produces fantastic spin. With DONIC BARACUDA BIG SLAM the ball leaves the blade in a conspicuously higher arc, giving considerably more spin. The increased rotation of the ball stabilises the flight and increases speed. The results are convincing after a few hours of training to become used to this modern rubber. Accuracy of placement is visibly improved even for top players. DONIC BARACUDA BIG SLAM offers that extra margin of safety even in the tightest situation, and not only when engaged in a high risk top spin game.DONIC BARACUDA BIG SLAM?s top rubber surface has been newly constructed to minimise abrasion. The happy result: more playing hours with a surface that remains intact without noticeable abrasion.
Speed: 90
Spin: 100
Control: 73
Donic is a table tennis equipment manufacturer that produces high-quality products in Volklingen, Germany. In business for over 25 years, they have been on the forefront of research and development, led by top Swedish pro players Jan-Ove Waldner and Jorgen Persson.
Ask around your local table tennis club and you'll be sure to find some players using Donic equipment. They have a great reputation and it's no surprise when you look at their rubbers. Three of their most well-known product lines are undoubtedly the Acuda, Bluefire and Bluestorm series. Additionally, a spin-heavy favorite for the backhand is the Donic Baracuda. If you like to spin, smash, or a little bit of both, you won't go wrong with Donic.
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Reviews of Donic Baracuda Big Slam (17)
External Review
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
May 28, 2023
It's too soft and slow for "new" plastic balls. Extremely spiny with brush-like strokes. Edges break really fast and it's not very durable at all. But I have never encountered spinnier rubber and I've tried hundreds of rubbers.
External Review
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
April 18, 2022
Facts: red rubber (sponge hardness 38 degree) in maximum thickness. Weight packed 95 g., uncutted 65 g. and on my Cybershape blade 46 grams.
After I ordered a Xiom Omega 7 Pro in 2mm (as a forehand rubber for my new Lemuria "Cybershape 6", inner layer carbon wood), I found out that this rubber is perfect for my backhand side. :-/
So I started looking for a rubber that was as light as possible and that produced a lot of spin.
- ... and so I decided to try the Donic Baracuda Big Slam (in 2mm)!!! Since it was a bit too slow in 2mm, I ended up buying it in the maximum thickness. Interestingly, my feeling with the Big Slam was the opposite of what I felt on the regular Barracuda. What I mean to say is that the normal Barracuda (with 47.5 degree sponge) seems softer and the Big Slam (with its 38 degrees) on the other hand seems harder! I found the difference in speed between the two rubbers to be rather small, with the normal Barracuda delivering significantly more spin than the Big Slam. ( - admittedely the "normal" Barracuda is glued on a completely different blade! ... a very hard ZLC blade with Koto outerveneer!)
Conclusion: Like its big brother, the Big Slam sometimes takes on a good portion of spin and then seems a bit uncontrolled in passive play. However, if you can deal with the opponent's rotation, the rubber appears safe and controlled. ... and it produces almost as much spin as its big brother !!!
Addendum: The Big Slam weighs (in max.) 6 grams less than its "big brother" with 2 mm. - interestingly, my two "Big Slam" (with 2mm and max) weighed the same !!!
External Review
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
March 9, 2020
Strange, but this has nothing of its big brother, Baracuda has. Everything is worse. Feels like Donic has pushed out it quickly on the market when Baracuda came and got alot of attention. Baracuda is top 10 still i think. This is not bottom 10, but close!
External Review
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
May 4, 2016
regular Baracuda is better spin, but Big Slam version still do greate spin. sponge not soft much as advertise.
External Review
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
January 25, 2016
These days the game is changing, due to next season all league matches will be played with poly balls in my country, from amateur to pro. (Pro matches are played from 2014 with poly balls). Blades are getting stiffer stronger with more power, and rubbers are getting slower, softer and bit grippier. So I chose this rubber for my Donic World Champion 89 Waldner blade. Softer Big Slam for BH and normal for FH. The setup is amazing. Firstly I would like to point uut that I use the rubber unboosted, but probably will boost, when the rubber's preformance will decrease. The setup has a really nice ALL+/OFF- speed, with enormous control. Though the rubber is spin oriented, it functions very well in other strokes. The spin is the same as Tibhar MX-P, bit more than M2. Speed is slower, when playing, but the blade has that OFF power, when I smash.
The rubber is very linear, my opponents say, that it is a bit easier to play against, than MX-P, because MX-P is more faster and rougher. But because of the control I can do counterspins to every loop, with decent speed. Spin sensitivity is very forgiving. My Blade is 92,4 gr, with rubbers it is under 180, which is considered a medium/light blade. It does not feel squishy on this stiff blade, ideal backhand rubber for spin oriented attacker or dropper style of play. Gives freedom of ball handling sacreficing a little speed, but gives huge spin in return.
Review by
arozhin
(Verified Customer)
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
December 3, 2015
Best fit for my backhand for 5 years now. Spinny, high throw, great control. Using it on Waldner Dotec AR blade.
External Review
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
January 10, 2015
Definitely not suitable for a hard blade. The sponge is too soft so that it feels like the ball hit the blade directly. Not as much grip as the regular version when brushing the ball.
Review by
aeroelastic_hyperma
(Verified Customer)
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
December 17, 2013
The Donic Barracuda Big Slam (2.1mm, red) is soft like an draftsman vinyl eraser with more gummy density. The rubber sheet has a firm yet elastic stretch enough to lightly surround the ball upon contact. The soft sponge allows very good control against hard incoming balls at seven feet away from the table's edge. When returning the ball at that distance remember the trajectory is lower than most high tension rubber sheets. At the table and close to table the ball when "stroked" with an inverted lateral wrist movement produces a very shallow and very fast Helical Spin. As this kind of spin touches the net at low speed, the ball would "suspend" over the net's edge for a short milliseconds length before just dropping over. At higher speeds the ball seemed to "stasis" (suspended animation) at the edge going left to right side or vice versa depending upon the Chinese Penholder Grip player's wrist action with an "anchored" elbow close to rib cage. This results in the other player not able to contact the ball at all. Chinese Penholder Grip players do not have a "backhand" return. Though with a mobile and not rigid wrist he is able to create "Corkscrew Spins" (three dimensional spins) which are not possible with Shakehand Grip (neither forehand nor backhand).
Tried it but the balls only remain two dimensional spun balls.
For the Shakehand Grip player hitting the ball by scraping along the edge of the rubber sheet, the ball would be propelled like a Side Spin or with elbow inverted (backhand) become a shaking Top Spin ball.
As the player become older in age, his injury recovery is slow. And when the player still enjoys a Table Tennis game at age 90 years-- you shall know he is "playing" you for keeps.
Like all sports and physical activities-- its the "Innovator" that "stays in the game" even after the tournament is over. And he never takes his emotions to the tournament or to the the players. It is never about winning the point, nor winning the game, but about surviving your experiences as a player and returning stronger. The high technology equipment helps, but the techniques should be internalized and practiced. Recommend Donic Barracuda Big Slam for its careful and considerate engineering in creating a rubber sheet that is technically superior both for the Penholder Grip and Shakehand Grip players.
Although expensive its a consistent and durable product to develop ball manipulation techniques which gives no quarters.
This product deserves nine stars for Donic's engineering efforts.
External Review
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
December 16, 2013
Very spiny, good control, enough speedy for offensive blades. It's sheet appropriate for off+ blades.
External Review
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
December 14, 2012
I love the original Bara on the FH side, but have recently replaced it with Bluefire M3. However, Bara BS remains an excellent choice on the BH side.
Slightly softer than the original Bara, but not as soft as the other Big Slam versions (Vario and F3 Big Slam are much softer). Throw is lower, speed slightly less, spin remains very high. This suits my BH, and I find it a bit easier to use than Acuda S3 on the BH side due to the easy access to spin and slightly deader feel in the short game.
Excellent BH choice, and agree with everything NS said in his/her review above.
Review by
akshah1
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
September 5, 2012
I think this is a fantastic rubber used it for one season tried a the Yasaka fusion and decided to go back to the Donic Baracuda the ball hold is amazing.
External Review
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
March 2, 2012
Good rubber with enough OFF- options
In max perfect for powerfull topspins
External Review
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
February 9, 2012
I have it on my BH and it seems to work better so far than the regular baracuda - possibly because I play more loop drive on my BH and the throw angle is lower than regular baracuda which am loving. On the scale of speed it is very slightly slower than regular version but the sound is really nice and feel is better possibly due to softer sponge . The top sheet is the same so it's as grippy as regular baracuda. To me I didn't have to do any adjustment to my BH stroke changing from regular baracuda and I love it in my BH. I am still testing serve returns aggressively so might write back soon but hoping not much surprises coz of same top sheet.
Review by
luiska
(Verified Customer)
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
January 8, 2012
I love this rubber!! I was using Donic Vario Big Slam before, and Baracuda definitely has more speed, while keeping nice spin and enough control.
The first time I used it, it felt so easy to put all the shots on the table, no matter the amount of backspin my oponent was applying to the ball. Also I noticed that my oponents started having more problems trying to control my topspin shots, they said it themselves.
Totally recommended, I use it on my forehand along with a Schlager Carbon and a Desto F3 Big Slam on the backhand.
External Review
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
December 2, 2011
Not as soft as it should be. I still prefer Acuda S3, which has more speed and spin.
External Review
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
October 19, 2011
quite disappointed. I'm a Donic fan and was very happy to hear that Donic at last release this rubber. However, after I used it for a few session. I found it slower and lower throw angel than Donic Acuda S3. :(
External Review
for
Donic Baracuda Big Slam
on
July 14, 2011
Nothing much to say: It's softer than the original Baracuda which has the commen advantages and disadvantages of softer rubbers