OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Iksandar mentioned that he uses a common strategy against LP players: serve a long, heavy, fast chop ball, getting a long topspin ball back, which is easy to attack.

How do people respond to this? My initial response:

_________________
Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

If there's a decent amount of backspin on the serve it's quite easy to attack with the LP IMO, you can bump/lift pretty hard and it's pretty easy to mask where you are placing your shot until the very end.

I find it much harder if the serve has topspin, or even worse, no-spin. If it's fast with topspin it's hard to do much else than to block or chop, a block will never have enough spin to prevent a strong attack so a chop is probably the best option, either way placement is key. If you have some feeling it's a good option to drop it short as well.

If it's no-spin placement is pretty much everything.

_________________
Read about my adventures to perfect my style and the ever-present battle against the evil EJ virus!

More advanced players can attack backspin with the long pips by bumping or flicking, but at lower levels, most people only know to do two things:

1) If you're given topspin, return topspin (i.e. close the bat to prevent the ball flying off into the blue).
2) If you get backspin, return backspin (i.e. open the bat so the ball doesn't go down into the net).

This is why, at lower levels, rallies turn into pushing matches. Attacking backspin (be it with long pips or with inverted) just isn't done.. goes against all experience.. You don't begin attacking backspin until you're rated, say, 1300.

Iskandar

I think its more likely that 1. would be returning light backspin and 2. would be returning no spin at low levels Iskandar. Very hard with LP to return topspin off topspin at any level (unless they're very grippy pips).

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

This is why I'm such a big proponent of twiddling. I love LPs but I don't like sometimes the more predictable nature of it. I feel as long as there's a threat that one could twiddle to inverted, that predictable nature goes away.

Now for pure modern defender maybe they would just chop that ball back and then chop that 3rd ball attack and get into the point they've practiced a million times. But if you're not Joo Sae-hyuk , and don't like the predictable nature of returning that serve, twiddle and either loop or push that ball back keeping it backspin.

But you have options.
- Bump it back with LPs (slow topspin sinking ball)
- twiddle and Loop it back with inverted (massive topspin ball)
- twiddle to inverted & push (heavy backspin ball)

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

....push it back. Who cares if it has no spin...you have SO much time to back up and get ready to chop if they serve like this. If you are a close to the table blocker that's a different story.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

I was talking about playing with inverted. Don't know any low level players playing with long pips around here except for the person I was talking about earlier (and he's reverted to inverted on both sides - decided he didn't like the pips despite it being easier to return my serves). He would push the ball back because that's what he was used to, and didn't know you could attack the backspin with the long pips.

Iskandar

Against a long backspin serve to your pips.
1. Bump the ball with the pips (easier in OX). Right off the bounce, if possible.
2. Heavily brush the ball on it's bottom side and return a fast, low, long and no spin(if OX) ball to your opponent. With some pips you can return them a backspin ball this way (P1-r in 1.0 and thicker for example).
3. Just push it returning some of the spin.
4. Twiddle and attack or push

_________________
My ooak blog.

And height.... keep it as low as you can.

_________________
Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

A flat hit where you turn that back spin into your weak top spin is a nightmare if you can develop the touch. Honestly my least favorite ball to return as an inverted player is a skipping no spin off a long pip where I can literally see the logo taunt me as it sails by with no spin. I can't just lift straight up or I'll throw it into the ceiling and I can't flat it because they're always under net height. You're really only left with looping over the top which is a pain because you're always contorted in some bs angle.