Butterfly table tennis equipment

Butterfly table tennis equipment is the line most European coaches still treat as the default tour reference. Tamasu Co., Ltd. (株式会社タマス) was founded on 19 December 1950 in Yanai, Yamaguchi Prefecture, by Japanese international Hikosuke Tamasu; the butterfly mark comes from the way he described his own footwork. Head office is now in Suginami, Tokyo, with Tamasu Butterfly Europa (TBE) in Germany, plus subsidiaries in China, Korea and Thailand. Flagship inverted rubbers and most fibre blades are Japanese-made or produced in dedicated Asian plants listed on each product page.

Spring Sponge (Tenergy, 2008) and denser Spring Sponge X (Dignics) are the two sponge technologies that still organise how European shops talk about offensive inverted rubber. Tenergy 05 is the looping reference; Tenergy 64 trades spin for speed; Tenergy 80 sits between; FX and Hard variants change the sponge. Dignics 09C adds a stickier topsheet on Spring Sponge X and became the common two-wing upgrade from 05 in the 2020s. Sriver, Rozena and Roundell remain the mid-price Japanese sheets for players who do not need tour catapult.

On the blade side, Viscaria (outer Arylate-Carbon / ALC) and Innerforce Layer ALC (fibre under the outer ply) are the two most copied constructions in the world. Zhang Jike Super ZLC, Timo Boll ALC / ZLF / CAF and Mizutani Jun ZLC sit above them as named tour woods. “Viscaria-type” in other catalogues means an outer-ALC recipe that tries to feel like Butterfly’s original. This site maps Butterfly’s own printed figures onto a shared 0–100 index so Tenergy 05 can sit next to Tibhar Evolution MX-P, DHS Hurricane 3 or Andro Rasanter R47 without mixing brand scales.

Street prices in Europe sit at the top of the catalogue. Players buy Butterfly when they want a known World Tour feel, spare sheets that match last year’s racket, and a hardness/throw they can discuss with a coach using names everyone else uses. For a first tensor after a premade bat, Rozena or a used Tenergy 05 is the usual Butterfly answer; Palio AK47 or Xiom Vega Europe is cheaper. For a boosted Chinese forehand, look at DHS Hurricane 3 National rather than Dignics 09C unless you want hybrid grip with built-in catapult.

Hikosuke Tamasu (1920–2004), a Japanese international, founded Tamasu Co., Ltd. in Yanai on 19 December 1950 and named the brand Butterfly after the way he moved at the table. The company later moved its head office to Suginami, Tokyo. Kimihiko Tamasu and, more recently, Takako Osawa have led the firm. Tamasu Butterfly Europa in Germany (historically Moers / Krefeld) is the European distribution arm players actually deal with in EU shops.

Tenergy’s 2008 launch with Spring Sponge reset the offensive inverted market. Dignics (Spring Sponge X) followed as the denser, higher-impact family, with Dignics 09C the sticky-hybrid flagship of the 2020s. Viscaria and Innerforce Layer ALC became the two blade recipes other brands copy. Sponsored players across decades have included Timo Boll, Zhang Jike, Jun Mizutani, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and many Chinese and European national-team attackers.