OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Maybe this belongs in the techniques section but more like a cross over topic.

I've been playing 6 months with SPs on my forehand. I've been trying to master flat hitting and "scrubbing" spin off ball. I've only played table tennis seriously for a year but have been professionally coached most of the time. I understand my footwork is not there, my stroke is not consistent and that I'm not even in good shape. However, I'd like to look ahead to some different strategies that might be good in future. My current strategy is to flat hit every ball and try for good placement and hope my opponent hits it into the net. From the beginning though, my coaches have taught me to loop a heavy underspin long serves. Now, I'm finding this "extra stroke" useful.

Here's my long winded question. How do spinny pips work? Is Haifu Dolphin considered a skinny pip?

If good or ok loops are possible with spinny pips, how can these pips also be good for flat hits like the so-called 'classic' pips?

From the threads on spinny pips, 729 802-40 seems like a good brand to experiment with. I just want to know if I got the concept right. I guess I don't understand how the flat hit of spinny pips would be different from inverted.

Thanks in advance.

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Custom Defense::: Friendship 802 : Dr. Neubauer Super Block

Hey,
Haifu Dolphin doesn't have the reputation of a skinny pips, it is considered spinny instead.
May I suggest you a strategy with sp? Try to serve the ball short on the opposite side and no-spin (with a fake undercut motion), in order to force a pop-up and then go smashing with short pips which is the funniest part of the sp's game.
When you receive, you may try to spin the first ball and smash the second. But don't get caught off position nor off time, sp requires good footwork and good reaction time.
Lift or "roll" with spinny sp is possible, but you have to go somewhat "under" the ball and lift with a more upward motion. Sps have lower throw angle and less aderence than inverted, but the spin created can surprise ur opponent if u lift well.
If you want to try something different from your Dolphin, I don't think 802-40 is a good idea. It is another hard/spinny pips rubber pretty similar to what you have now. My advice is 1. try a softer short pips with softer sponge underneath, that's coming closer to inverted to spin the ball better and with more control in lifting, OR 2. try a real short pips with hard sponge and not grippy surface in order to learn how to hit & smash through the spin. Or try both the alternatives to see which is right for you.

Sorry it auto-corrected to skinny from spinny, I guess my computer finds "skinny pip" to be more correct than spinny pip, haha.

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Custom Defense::: Friendship 802 : Dr. Neubauer Super Block

Thanks CelestialBoy.

I've noticed that my spin is very inconsistent on serves using my SPs. Some people have told me that that's just a characteristic of SPs. But then how could Liu Guoliang dominate serving with his SPs? Then again, a local high ranked player Zheng Jiaqi twiddles every serve in order to use her inverted.

So is this just my poor serving technique or should I be twiddling also?

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Custom Defense::: Friendship 802 : Dr. Neubauer Super Block

With inverted you surely are able to create more spin with less effort. I personally find sp fine for spinny serves. It's all about wrist, you have to do a fast wrist snap to brush the Ball and impart spin on serves. He Zhi Wen is Amazing on serving with sp, but the pros thechnique is on another planet...
The important thing on serving is not only spin but also placement, you have to build the Point from a well placed serve and 3rd Ball according to the opponent's weaknesses you find during the game.

What does a softer top sheet do, more spin? What about sponge hardness for SPs? Just want to try to understand what's going on in theory.

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Custom Defense::: Friendship 802 : Dr. Neubauer Super Block

Softer topsheet (pips) tend to have more grip, so it's easier to spin with these (and more sensitive to incoming spin), especially on low impact like with serves, pushes, etc.

Harder sponge tends to allow you still add some spin at high impact. A softer sponge tends to 'bottom out', which makes it less sensitive to incoming spin, but since the ball comes off flatter it can be harder to land.
A softer sponge can help add spin at low impact though, as it allows the ball to sink in more, allowing the rubber to grab the ball more.
These are just general observations... specific rubbers will have more specific properties.

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That explains a lot about the top sheets, thanks.

To carry the question outside of pips to inverted, most of my high ranked friends or coaches don't speak English as a first language so sometimes I get it totally wrong (of course their English is head and shoulder above my Mandarin). For instance, I bought a tacky rubber and my friend said it was very soft and ok for BH but not good for FH. So from what you are telling me, I'm guessing this is true because at higher speeds the rubber couldn't deal with the spin and power very well so it's hard to control.

Is the reason most people prefer a softer sponge on BH is because you have more control at slower and medium speeds? And if someone hits fast to your BH chances are you'd block whereas normally people would just bang away on FH no matter the speed.

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Custom Defense::: Friendship 802 : Dr. Neubauer Super Block