Shining Dragon II
Shining Dragon II builds upon the success of Shining Dragon, offering an improved balance of tackiness, spin, and control. With an upgraded tacky topsheet and a more responsive Japanese tension sponge, this rubber provides exceptional grip for heavy topspin strokes while maintaining stability in short play.
Details
Designed for players who rely on heavy topspin and precision-based attacks. The medium-high throw angle allows for safer clearance over the net, making it easier to perform controlled loop drives and counterattacks. The sponge hardness of ~47.5° provides a well-balanced feel, offering stability on passive shots while maintaining explosiveness when attacking.
While it retains the tacky characteristics of the original Shining Dragon, the updated version provides better energy return, making it more suitable for modern offensive players who want a dynamic yet controllable rubber. Its high-arc trajectory makes it ideal for close-to-the-table looping and mid-distance rallies, while also performing well in spin-based serves and controlled blocks.
For players transitioning from Chinese-style tacky rubbers, Shining Dragon II offers a softer feel and easier handling, making it a more user-friendly alternative while still delivering the spin and precision expected from a tacky rubber.
What others are saying
5
Overall rating
I’ve been using shining dragon 2 for about a year now. My other rubber is Rakza Z EH. I’m very excited still for how the shining dragon 2 behaves. I will be discontinuing the use of rakza Z. Both have speed, and spin, but the brick feeling of RZ is so strong and it makes touch play very dead compared to SD2. I would say SD2 is an all+ rubber but it really gives you what you take from it. The 47° sponge grabs the ball and maximizes the tacky top sheet which can still hold a ball upside down for a second or two after a year of playing.
If you feel H3 is too hard, or boosting is too costly and time consuming, I think SD2 is worth a try for FH rubber.
If you are coming from European rubber disregard my review. You will not like this for 6 months, maybe never.
