OOAK Table Tennis Forum

This is all absolutely true. I agree with it completely.



I have been told the same thing by many Chinese coaches (at least with respect to short pips). As recently as yesterday one told me that one has to relax the forearm on the inverted forhand, but NOT on the short pip backhand -- there the forearm is kind of rigid and it is movement kind of from the elbow and from the hips that generates your pace.

Don't let the ball drop too much.



Coach Wang here in Houston tells me that all the time. I once made an entire post about it on this forum. It bears repeating.

_________________
Butterfly Viscaria Black tag
2.2 mm Nexy Karis M on FH and BH

I'm not sure where exactly to put it, but since it concerns what I experienced with a short pips backhand just tonight, here's the story:

I was playing with an Amultart (medium-hard carbon composite) with 802-40, Dawei soft sponge 2.3mm. I find it a little odd that soft contact, the SP reacts to spin quite a bit (as expected).

But on hard contact, it seems like the ball is rebounding a bit too fast, the spin of the ball doesn't bite too well on the short pip, resulting in a much lower 'throw angle', a more direct ball flight.

It also seems to be the particular problem I have been tackling for the longest time when I was using short pips on the backhand -- the short pip feel and throw isn't the same for soft and hard contact, messing up my blocking and hitting quite a bit.

Now, after putting this hypothesis into practice, feeling my way through blocking and hitting through topspin loops, I was hitting balls hard, consistently, with a more open bat; resulting in rather low balls with reduced topspin. Fantastic!

Interesting that classic short pip behavior exhibits itself on the modern 802-40 when the ball rebounds quickly enough.

_________________
Viscaria. H2 Neo 2.15. Tenergy 05 1.9.

Yuz

It may simply be that the Amultart / 802-40 (2.3 mm) combination is simply too fast for control. I know it would be too much for me.

In any case, the more open the bat angle, the more "pip-like" the shot with a spinny short pip like 802-40, in fact it is the only way to every get any spin reversal. Otherwise the balls are almost like inverted but with more gears. If the blade is not too fast (or if you use a somewhat thinner sponge on a super fast blade) then you can play shots with a variety of racket angles and still get the ball on the table.

The temptation is to try to hit every ball hard with short pips. It is more effective to take the ball EARLY and vary the speed. If you play with a combination as fast as yours, then it is an absolute imperative.

_________________
Butterfly Viscaria Black tag
2.2 mm Nexy Karis M on FH and BH

Indeed, quite too fast for good control for a person like me -- I couldn't control when the ball reverses! Slower and it would be better...it felt like it only had three gears, with the top gear needing adjustment on the bat angle to land the ball on the table.

The 802-40 felt a bit like inverted with with more gears when hitting. Excellent description there!

I'm just keeping the Amultart with something on it until someone buys it off me. It's not my playing racket, hard feel for my forehand, very unforgiving for unseasoned/out of position strokes because it's also fast.

It's nice to have something lined up for the future; I certainly think playing short pips on the backhand is rather elegant and unique, especially with the current crop of juniors playing double inverted. Playing with short pips on the backhand every now and then helps keep my my way of thinking fresh and be able to think of other ways to win a point.

I'm probably keeping one bat just for short pips, this way I can teach some kids about it. I hope I find a suitable candidate!

_________________
Viscaria. H2 Neo 2.15. Tenergy 05 1.9.