OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Inverted.
This is the most commonly used rubber, It has a flat surface and a sponge under the actual rubber part. Its surface is either grippy or tacky.
There is an incredible range of inverted rubbers

Anti spin.
Looks like inverted but in contrast to Inverted its surface is entirely smooth, Anti spin rubbers also tend to be quitte slow.

Long Pimples.
Long pimples means there are long pimples on the surface so it is not smooth and sometimes a long pimples rubber doesnt even have a sponge under it.
Long Pimples are a defensive kind of rubber.

Frictionless Long Pimples.
Frictionless long pimples are kind of the anti spin of long pimple rubbers, they have pimples but they are smooth and not grippy.

Short Pimples.
A surface that has short pimples on it and this rubber does have a sponge, it can be used for both offensive and defensive play but does not generate alot of spin of its own.

Did I miss any?

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Frame: Nittaku Violin
FH: Joola Energy 2.0
BH: Bty Solcion 2.1

Medium long pimples: faster than long pimples, not so disturbing but beter for attack and block. Diturbing in block because the ball falls more quickly than with an inverted rubber.

Short pimples whithout sponge:
Not really used except for the hardbat fans. Some are autorised for all championship. Quite strange to play, very depending on the blade, can be fast or slow, mainly to play close to the table choping or blocking. They give some spin except the Friendship Dr Evil which is like an antispin.

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Blade : Tibhar COS3
Forehand: Moon Pro 2.0
Backhand: Neubauer Desperado Ox
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http://www.diabolosyl.net (my own site)
http://www.tennis-de-table.com (biggest forum in France)

I would maybe also add something for the Antispin:
May be slow as a Joola Toni hold or faster as a Juic Neo Anti.

And fot he long pimples frictionless: some look like a grippy one but are treated to stay smooth. They are mainly used close to the table.

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Blade : Tibhar COS3
Forehand: Moon Pro 2.0
Backhand: Neubauer Desperado Ox
****
http://www.diabolosyl.net (my own site)
http://www.tennis-de-table.com (biggest forum in France)

For Short Pimples, I would tend to suggest, in respect to spin :

- You can get a lot of chop
- You don't get much topspin
- You get lots of lateral movement (drift) but not all that much sidespin.

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First things first, but not neccessarily in that order.

Well, as regards short pips, maybe this depends on the kind of rubber you use. With my favourite, Friendship 802 (2.0 mm), on a not too fast blade, I can get enough topspin to see the ball curve to the table, even with very fast strokes. You need to hit out with a closed blade (about 45 degrees) and with venom, as the Chinese would put it, accellerating agressively towards the ball. I don't know how it would be with a fast blade.

Meanwhile, as a result of reading this forum (on short pips) I've changed to 1.5 mm, Friendship 802 again. It gives great control, a bit less speed, but I haven't noticed a difference in the ability to impart spin.

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Without opponent, no match.

I read in other topic saying that players choose pips rubber for its less sensitivity character against opponent's spin, but most topics here tend to cover only the "advantages" of long-pips i.e. spin reversal and deception etc.

I was wondering if there's good thing in short pips that is not there in long-pips and inverted rubber that makes it as favorite rubber for some players.

I'm sure some of the short pip experts here can explain it better, but basically short pips are much easier to attack with than with long pimples. Their sensitivity to incoming spin is somewhere between inverted and long pimples.

Short pimple offer good control, are great for hitting through the spin and blocking, and can generate a moderate amount of spin too.

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Servio, good idea for a new topic.

You could add Friction Long Pips as they have a totally different effect and ability to handle/manipulate spins with the correct strokes.
Maybe you could mention that the inverted surface has the ability to handle any kind of shot if hit with the correct stroke. "The correct stroke" those are the operative words - a whole lot of factors to consider before striking the ball.

New Playa, (sounds like a pimp name I just gave ya) A lot of good Short Pips players use them for a game based on speed and direction. Usually they are aggressive hitters who park themselves close to the table to further minimize reaction time to counter their drives, which can carry significant speed and be difficult to judge and get into position - there just isn't enough time. They seem to be able to drive your spinny pushes right by you like it is nothing. In the US, Gao, Jun is a PO hitter with Heather Wang a few hundred rating points behind.

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Thanks for explanations.

Just try to clarify your point Der_Echte:

did you say that SP is good to use if I want to drive / smash backspin push / chop ? I know this is hard to do but possible, are u saying this is easier to do with SP compared to normal inverted rubber ?

I also see most players use pips rubber on their backhand side, is there any special reason that they're best for backhand rubber ?

SP are good for hitting, that is drives. The SP do react to spin, but to a lesser degree. The SP can be FAST! That is why some hitters like to use them to finish points with strong drives or smashes. These guys hit right close to the table to give you less time to react - unless you predict right and setup, it usually goes by you. I have had opponents w/SP smash some of my pushes that were only slightly over the net, like 3-5 cm. A good SP player really pisses me off as it is harder for me to setup my offence against them. I have to jam them or put the ball where they do not expect it to get back an attackable ball to finish. That is usually real hard to do against the good ones as they also have good anticipation and footwork.

About pushing and chopping... Yeah, you can do that too, but not nearly as good as a soft defensive inverted rubber. Heck, some guys with friction LP can give back a mean chop. I used to play against a Kurdish guy who used OX SP and just lightly chopped all day. It took me a few months to learn a good loop against bottom spin before I could consistantly defeat him.

About SP only on the BH... I haven't seen that too much at the intermediate and advanced levels. The SP players who use only one sheet of SP use it on their FH. One of my LP partners uses SP on FH and frictionless LP on the BH. Some also have SP on both sides. The only time I have seen SP on the BH only was a 1200 player who thought it was easier to return serves with it, he rarely attacked BH. If I had the skills or the desire to use SP, I would definately use it on the FH.

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

I agree, Speedplay, that you see it more often on Bh at the lower levels. Not that an advanced player might try it on BH, but their all round games is good enough to use it on the FH.

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Servio

thanks for the rubber guide.
I had a query. You say anti-spin rubbers are entirely smooth (unlike inverted). So what is the difference between an anti-spin rubber and just a really crap rubber that has been worn down over the years and which has lost all of its tackiness and grip?

I have one which has less grip than roller blading on ice. I couldn't use it to spin the ball to save my life. Does this mean that this rubber has now become a state-of-the-art anti-spin rubber???

Cheers mate

Poor Knight

Servio is inactive now, but I'll answer your question. Anti usually has a peculiar, almost waxy feeling surface. It's very different from just dead rubber (you can't imagine how anti feels until you've actually tried it). It's usually very good for chopping and sailing no spin balls, but is generally pretty limited otherwise. It can be useful in conjunction with a very tacky rubber on the opposite side, where you hammer away with heavy spin shots, then quickly twiddle, throw a shot that looks like heavy spin from the anti, but actually is dead, and they either send the ball into the net or pop it up. It's lost popularity to long pips ever since the two color rule. It's still very good for defense and fake shots, however, and I think much more controllable than long pips.

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