Ma Long Equipment Setup: Blade, Rubbers & Full Career History (2026)

Ma Long is the greatest table tennis player in history. Six Olympic gold medals, five World Championship titles, and the only player to complete the Double Grand Slam — winning every major title at least twice. He has held the world number one ranking longer than any other male player, and at 36, he is still competing at the highest level.

His equipment is among the most analysed in the sport. Players and coaches study his gear the way analysts study his strokes — searching for the secret behind the consistency, the power, and the longevity. This guide covers Ma Long's full equipment history, from his first Nittaku blade in 2005 all the way to the DHS W968 he used to win a sixth Olympic gold in Paris 2024.

Ma Long's Current Setup (2024–2025)

Note: Ma Long's actual equipment is customized and not sold to the public in identical form. The W968 and Hurricane 3 National Blue Sponge available on the market are the closest commercial equivalents. His personal rubbers use a topsheet compound specifically tuned to his playing style and physical strength.

The Blade: DHS W968 (Hurricane Long 5 National)

The DHS W968 is one of the most iconic blades in table tennis — and one of the most misunderstood. It often appears in store listings under the name "Hurricane Long 5 National," which creates confusion: many players assume it's a faster or harder version of the standard Hurricane Long 5. In reality, the W968 is softer, slower, and more controlled than the commercial HL5. It was specifically developed for Ma Long, optimized for the way he generates power through technique rather than equipment stiffness.

The blade features a 7-ply composition with two ALC carbon layers positioned closer to the core — a configuration often called "innerforce" style. This placement softens the carbon's impact on feel, giving the blade a more wooden character while still providing the speed and stability that carbon delivers. The result is exceptional dwell time for heavy topspin, paired with enough speed to attack from all distances.

W968 Specifications

National vs Provincial: What's the Difference?

The W968 comes in two main grades — and the difference is significant. The Provincial version (~158 × 152mm) is slightly smaller, harder, and less flexible. It offers more direct speed and is sometimes described as "requiring active strokes" — the ball won't go anywhere without deliberate technique. The National version (~160 × 152mm) is slightly larger, softer, and more flexible, with better trampoline effect and more forgiving dwell time. It's tuned specifically for players who generate heavy topspin from all distances — exactly Ma Long's game.

Ma Long's personal W968 also carries his photo on the handle and a specific serial code, making it visually distinct from anything sold commercially. The tuning of the upper wood layers differs from the standard production model, with the backhand side reportedly configured for slightly more control — critical when pairing a blade with two Chinese rubbers.

👉 Browse all DHS W968 versions in our collection

Forehand Rubber: DHS Hurricane 3 National — Blue Sponge

Ma Long's forehand rubber is arguably the most studied rubber in the sport. He uses the DHS Hurricane 3 National in its blue sponge configuration — 41–42° hardness on the DHS scale, 2.15mm thickness — and applies a booster to it before competition. The blue sponge is the most visible marker of the national grade: while commercial Hurricane rubbers have an orange sponge, the national team version uses a blue compound that offers more elasticity while retaining the heavy tackiness of the topsheet.

What makes Ma Long's forehand rubber genuinely different from anything you can buy is the topsheet. Sources close to the Chinese national team consistently report that the topsheet compound used on Ma Long's personal rubbers differs from commercial versions — tuned for a lower throw angle, designed specifically around his exceptional forehand technique and physical strength. The commercial version available to players worldwide is still an outstanding rubber, but it behaves differently: higher throw angle, more forgiving but less precise at elite speeds.

The booster is also a critical part of the equation. Ma Long applies speed-enhancing tuners to his already-national-grade rubber, making the sponge more elastic and the rubber as a whole faster and livelier. The base rubber — even without boosting — is faster and more consistent than the commercial Neo version. With boosting, it becomes one of the most formidable forehand weapons in the sport's history.

👉 Shop DHS Hurricane 3 Neo — commercial and national versions

Backhand Rubber: DHS Hurricane 3 National — Orange Sponge

Ma Long's backhand rubber choice is one of the more surprising facts about his setup for players who follow international table tennis casually. For most of his career, Ma used a Butterfly tensor rubber on the backhand — Tenergy 64, then Tenergy 05 — which is the classic approach for hybrid setups: tacky Chinese rubber forehand, fast European tensor backhand. Around 2018–2019, he made the switch to an all-Chinese setup, replacing the Tenergy with DHS Hurricane 3 National on the orange sponge.

The orange sponge Hurricane 3 is softer than the blue sponge forehand version — around 37–39° — making it more manageable on the backhand where stroke mechanics are naturally less powerful than the forehand. This softer configuration allows Ma Long to play touch shots, blocks, and counter-topspin on the backhand without the rubber overpowering delicate exchanges. The tacky topsheet still allows him to generate exceptional spin on backhand loops, particularly in mid-table rallies where he can swing freely.

Playing two Chinese rubbers is physically demanding — it requires excellent timing and powerful strokes to activate the rubber consistently. Most coaches would not recommend this configuration for any player below the elite level. Ma Long's exceptional physique, flawless technique, and decades of experience with Chinese rubber make it work. For club players, a hybrid setup with a tensor backhand rubber remains the more practical approach.

Ma Long's Complete Equipment History (2005–2025)

What makes Ma Long's career particularly fascinating from an equipment perspective is the sheer volume of changes he made before settling on his current setup. Unlike players who find a configuration early and stick with it, Ma Long experimented extensively — with different blade manufacturers, different rubber technologies, and entirely different playing philosophies. Here is the most complete timeline available, compiled from photographic evidence and community research.

Timeline compiled from photographic evidence and community research. Exact dates of transitions are approximate — Ma Long has been known to test multiple configurations simultaneously during training periods.

The Key Transitions: What the Timeline Tells Us

Phase 1: The Nittaku Years (2005–2008) — All-Wood, Speed Glue

Ma Long's earliest documented equipment is quintessentially early-2000s Chinese junior table tennis: all-wood blades — the Nittaku Violin and then the Acoustic — with DHS Hurricane 3 on the forehand and either Narucross or Tenergy on the backhand. This was the speed glue era, where players routinely applied volatile adhesives to their rubbers before matches to temporarily boost speed and catapult effect. The Acoustic became famous after Ma Long's early success, driving a surge in Nittaku sales at the time. These blades are flexible and loop-friendly — ideal foundations for developing the heavy topspin game Ma Long would become famous for.

Phase 2: The Butterfly Interlude (2009–2012) — Timo Boll ALC

After the ITTF banned speed glue in 2008, equipment dynamics changed dramatically. The Timo Boll ALC — with its arylate-carbon layers — gave Ma Long the speed boost he'd previously obtained from glue. This period also saw him experimenting with Tenergy rubbers on the backhand, which was the standard approach for Chinese elite players at the time: tacky Chinese rubber on the forehand for spin, European tensor on the backhand for speed. Ma Long won multiple World Cup titles during this phase, demonstrating the setup's effectiveness.

Phase 3: Moving to DHS (2013–2017) — The W968 Era Begins

The transition to DHS represented a pivotal shift. Ma Long first appeared with a DHS 506 custom blade — a precursor to the W968 — before settling into the DHS 968 family. This is when DHS began producing blades specifically calibrated for Ma Long, with serial numbers and handle photos marking them as personal versions. The W968 effectively became his blade for a decade, refined incrementally but never fundamentally changed. His World Championship titles, Olympic gold medals, and sustained number-one ranking all came on this platform.

Phase 4: The All-Chinese Setup (2019–Present) — Full Commitment

The most striking recent development is Ma Long's switch to an all-Chinese rubber configuration. Replacing the Tenergy on his backhand with Hurricane 3 National (orange sponge) was a deliberate choice — at 30-plus years old, his game had evolved away from the backhand-led aggression of his earlier career toward a more controlled, serve-and-third-ball-attack style where the backhand serves primarily as a setup tool. The softer orange sponge Hurricane gives him the control he needs without sacrificing the spin that Chinese rubbers provide. He took this setup to the Paris Olympics and won gold.

Why This Setup Works: Ma Long's Playing Style

Ma Long's equipment makes sense only when you understand his game. He is the textbook two-wing attacker — forehand and backhand equally capable of ending points — but his forehand is the primary weapon. His pendulum serve is among the heaviest in the sport. His forehand loop finishes with an unusually long follow-through past the center line of his body, generating exceptional spin at the cost of recovery time. He compensates for this with footwork that is simply in a different category from any other player of his generation.

The blade: controlled power. The W968's softer, woody ALC character gives Ma Long the dwell time to grip the ball with a tacky rubber and generate maximum spin. A stiffer, faster blade would reduce the contact time and diminish the spin his forehand produces. The W968 is specifically designed to maximize what a Chinese rubber can do — not to add speed of its own, but to let the rubber do its job.

The forehand rubber: spin above all else. The Blue Sponge Hurricane 3 National gives Ma Long a combination of extreme tackiness and boosted elasticity that no commercial rubber can fully replicate. Every serve, push, and loop benefits from the topsheet's grip. Against heavy backspin, the rubber's tack allows him to open with devastating top-spin even from passive positions. This is not a rubber that rewards passive play — it rewards decisive, technically clean attacking strokes.

The backhand rubber: control and consistency. The softer orange sponge Hurricane on the backhand gives Ma Long confidence in his short game and receive. He doesn't need the backhand to generate explosive pace — he needs it to be reliable under pressure, to start points cleanly, and to set up his forehand. The Chinese rubber on both sides creates a racket with a uniformly controlled, low-throw character that suits his precise, low-ball technique perfectly.

What You Can Actually Buy: Commercial Equivalents

Ma Long's personal equipment is not commercially available in identical form. But there are genuine equivalents that bring you as close as possible to the real setup without the impossible-to-source custom versions.

Tier 1: The National Team Experience

Tier 2: The Hybrid Setup (Recommended for Most Advanced Players)

Tier 3: The Ma Long-Inspired Budget Setup

This is essentially the setup Ma Long used when he won his first World Championship. The commercial Hurricane Long 5 shares the same family as the W968, the Neo Hurricane 3 is factory-boosted for more speed than the standard commercial version, and Tenergy 05 remains one of the best backhand rubbers ever made. A proven platform for serious competitive play.

Is Ma Long's Setup Right for You?

✅ Consider this setup if:

— You're an advanced offensive player with strong technique on both wings

— You have prior experience with Chinese tacky rubbers and understand how to activate them

— You prefer spin over flat speed and rely on serve variation as a primary weapon

— You play a complete game — strong forehand, solid backhand loop, consistent short game

❌ This setup may not suit you if:

— You're still developing your topspin mechanics — Chinese rubbers punish poor technique and will set your game back

— You prefer the springboard feel of tensor rubbers — the W968 + Hurricane combination is linear and demanding

— You're a defensive or counter-attacking player — this setup is built for proactive aggression

— You play without a coach who can give you regular feedback on your Chinese rubber technique

Conclusion

Ma Long's equipment tells the story of his career. From flexible all-wood Nittaku blades in his junior years to the custom DHS W968 he's used to win six Olympic gold medals — every change reflects a deliberate adaptation to his playing style, his physical development, and the evolving demands of elite table tennis.

The current all-Chinese setup — W968, Hurricane 3 Blue Sponge forehand, Hurricane 3 Orange Sponge backhand — is the culmination of 20 years of refinement. It's demanding, unforgiving, and extraordinarily effective in the right hands. For advanced players willing to invest in developing their technique alongside their equipment, it remains one of the most rewarding setups in the sport.

Not sure which tier of this setup is right for where you are now? Contact us — we'll help you find the right entry point for your level and your game. Free personal advice, always.