OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Alright, so I ordered a sheet of Black 1.3 Nittaku best anti. I'll be trying it for chopping (and maybe some other strokes) and be keeping you all updated on my results! I'll be comparing it to reflectoid in black (not sure of thickness). It has arrived, but I ran out of glue, so I haven;t glued it up yet.

Appearance out of package: Very smooth and not grippy compared to the reflectoid! Somewhat shiny, and the sponge is pretty soft/dead feeling, like reflectoid. High quality packaging (this is my first Japanese rubber. I'm impressed by the packaging AND the quality of English typing! Not perfect, but better than 729's!)

Tomorrow, I will hopefully get to hit around with it against some people at my college. They aren't too bad of recreational players. Most of them know what spin is. A few have taken a couple games off me.

Tuesday, I'll get to try it against the club people!

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Happy Holidays 'round the world!

Alright, so I've glued it up (using rubber cement...my favorite! Glues it nicely and comes off without a splinter. the fumes go away in a day or two as well).

I took the paddle out to my yard and chopped a little bit, just tossing it up in the air. Compared to my forehand rubber (LKT rapid sound), the throw is SUPER LOW! This might take a little to get used to on the table, but will also probably help my control when chopping....we shall see tomorrow...

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Happy Holidays 'round the world!

Hey Gr:

How does a slick anti compare with your reflectoid for chopping? I can only assume that the reflectoid is a little more high throw because it is very sticky/tacky. Is it easier to chop with than the reflectoid?

Also is it easier to block with the best anti at the table. I play closer to the table and like to block and push, do you think anti is better than ox lp? I have tried the Beast and it is super slow as well, the ball hardly bounces off the rubber...

Thanks.

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A big bag full of blades and long pimples, donuts and coffee!

Don't know much about lp OX. Or lp in general. I CAN say (I played with it today) that chopping with the best anti was MUCH easier than with the reflectoid.

Best Anti:

Chopping: Very easy....almost like the table was a magnet; I kept chopping stuff that would go off the end with the reflectoid, but it landed nice and deep. The low throw kept my chops from being so high. Surprisingly, I was able to generate some ok spin on chops when I really tried to dig in.

Pushing: Same difficulty as with reflectoid, though creating different spin.

Blocking: Easiest, but not most effective unless their ball is spinny, thing in the world.

Flicking: VERY difficult. the low throw and low spin made hitting and flicking very difficult. I'll have to get used to this.

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Happy Holidays 'round the world!

ok, so I've played against the club players tonight.

Chopping is still easy.

Playing with the anti is more physically demanding, because i have to move to hit with my FH more. Whew! It was a workout!

My biggest problem is returning pushes; I can return them no problem, but they are always a relatively easy ball to attack unless I get REALLY good placement.

Any anti players wanna chime in on how they deal with pushes to the anti?

I didn't have too much of a problem against looping.

All in all, I like the anti so far.

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Happy Holidays 'round the world!

I have the same problem you are describing with some sheets of long pips. Especially in ox because its way more predictable than with sponge. A side swipe stroke would probably do the trick for a safe return. If it has enough chop you may be able to hit it and have enough spin reversal to hit the end of the table.

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-Teddy

I'll try those!

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Happy Holidays 'round the world!

the Gamer:

It depends on the slickness/degree of friction of the anti. Check if you are capable of making enough spin on your own by giving the ball a firm sidespin stroke while bouncing it upwards, then catching it with your inverted rubber; if it goes off sideways with reasonable speed, your anti does have enough friction to vary your response to pushes in the following ways:

1. Push back with venomous wrist action, placing deep; this will cause the ball to have enough backspin to force the opponent to loop with an arc (which you can re-loop aggressively with the inverted, or chop making heavy backspin with the anti) or to push again.
2. Push back without much wrist-action, but some, placing half-long or short; this will produce a nearly dead ball and possibly a pop-up by your opponent if he decides to push again; you will of course kill the pop-up.
3. "Loop" back with the anti, holding the blade nearly vertical and using good wrist-action, placing the ball deep (preferably cutting a sideline); this way you will produce much topspin and a quickly descending ball. Aim well, and /or make it fast (you can hit with a lot of force doing this).
4. Punch with an opened blade (not too open), placing half-long or short; you will press the ball with a little topspin over the net; the opponent will find it hard to judge the amount of spin.
5. Do the same, pulling the blade sidewards as well; it will have the same result as 4. but make both spin and placement hard to read for the opponent.

Vary your returns; but always try to know what the opponent will do: if you place short/half-long he is probably going to push, if you go deep he will likely attack. Use his return effectively with your anti. Always block or (better) chop a loop, or use the inverted to re-loop. If his push is awkardly half-long or short, don't try to win the point by 3, but go for 1 or 2 if the ball is low, or 4 or 5 if it is higher; but if it is long or nearly long, go for 3.

And don't mind your opponent attacking a weak ball of yours! You will know you have played it, so you will be able to anticipate his return to your "error"; catch his attack with your anti, either blocking or chopping - it is made for that! Be confident that you will be able to stay in the rally this way! The best anti-players beg their opponents to attack and may play a "weak" ball on purpose to get the opponent to loop with much spin and speed, so they will be able to turn that against them with the anti...

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Without opponent, no match.