OOAK Table Tennis Forum

When I had short pips on both sides, I would always go over the tops of the pimples with room temperature water using a sponge or a toothbrush on the day of a match. Since changing to LP on my backhand, I'm wondering how often I should clean them, as grip is important to me.

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Standard Setup 1
Blade - Joo Sae-Hyuk ST
FH - DHS Hurricane 3 Neo 2.2mm
BH - TSP Curl P1r 1.5mm

Standard Setup 2
Blade - Joo Sae-Hyuk ST
FH - DHS Hurricane 3 Neo 2.2mm
BH - TSP Curl P4 1.5mm

Hardbat Equipment (Former Full-Time Hardbat Player)
Blade - Marty Reisman custom 5 ply Hock
Rubber - Yasaka Cobalt Alpha OX

If you really want your LP to grip the ball, you shouldn't be playing with an LP rubber Even the grippiest of LPs still play like pips and have all the properties of pips, i.e. they are somewhat slippery, slow, etc. I clean my LP whenever I change my FH rubber, which is roughly every 2-3 months. I just use some foam cleaner and a toothbrush. I do it for aesthetics mostly as I personally don't see much difference in spin of clean vs dusty P4 (which is quite similar to what you use - grippy pips on a soft sponge). If you have a full chopping stroke, there won't be much of a difference in spin.

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Attackers: "All pips players are cheaters who can't loop, move, or read spin"
Me: I beg your pardon?

I don't usually clean mine either, but I agree that a foam cleaner and a very soft brush works well.

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So far, I've found Feint Long 3 to have a decent balance of qualities from short pips and long pips. If I change to something like Dtects or Curl P1R (which I plan on testing with thick sponge soon), I don't think there would be any point in cleaning them. However, the grip of FL3 gives me the option of varying the spin. I assume if the tops get dusty, it will lose grip and therefore start to behave more like other long pips, as in more reversal but less spin manipulation. After my session today, there's a grey circle on my black FL3 where I've been hitting the ball. I'm not sure if I should clean it.

_________________
Standard Setup 1
Blade - Joo Sae-Hyuk ST
FH - DHS Hurricane 3 Neo 2.2mm
BH - TSP Curl P1r 1.5mm

Standard Setup 2
Blade - Joo Sae-Hyuk ST
FH - DHS Hurricane 3 Neo 2.2mm
BH - TSP Curl P4 1.5mm

Hardbat Equipment (Former Full-Time Hardbat Player)
Blade - Marty Reisman custom 5 ply Hock
Rubber - Yasaka Cobalt Alpha OX

I usually use sponge and water to clean the tops of short pips. Maybe an actual cleaner would be better, but I think of those as being meant for inverted.

Speaking of inverted, I see you use Victas VS > 401. Is it good enough for attacking to cater to a 60/40 or 70/30 ratio in favor of defense?

_________________
Standard Setup 1
Blade - Joo Sae-Hyuk ST
FH - DHS Hurricane 3 Neo 2.2mm
BH - TSP Curl P1r 1.5mm

Standard Setup 2
Blade - Joo Sae-Hyuk ST
FH - DHS Hurricane 3 Neo 2.2mm
BH - TSP Curl P4 1.5mm

Hardbat Equipment (Former Full-Time Hardbat Player)
Blade - Marty Reisman custom 5 ply Hock
Rubber - Yasaka Cobalt Alpha OX

As a chopper I also find grip on my LPs important. I clean my pips every time after a practice session/match/tournament. You can use a toothbrush for this.

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There's always stuff to improve!

My blog on being a LP defender beyond 2000 USATT and the pips discrimination that comes along with that

Okay, thanks. I think I will clean my long pips before matches/tournaments then as well.

_________________
Standard Setup 1
Blade - Joo Sae-Hyuk ST
FH - DHS Hurricane 3 Neo 2.2mm
BH - TSP Curl P1r 1.5mm

Standard Setup 2
Blade - Joo Sae-Hyuk ST
FH - DHS Hurricane 3 Neo 2.2mm
BH - TSP Curl P4 1.5mm

Hardbat Equipment (Former Full-Time Hardbat Player)
Blade - Marty Reisman custom 5 ply Hock
Rubber - Yasaka Cobalt Alpha OX