OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Looking to try a shortpip on the bh to replace my half-long. I want something to attack the serves, block and counter attack. Only sp I've tried was 802-40 on gp3, but on my fh ages ago and can't recall if it would be a good bh pip - maybe in 1mm. Anyone got any suggestions?

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Yasaka Dynamix 17
Tibhar Q 50
Butterfly Raystorm

How different do you want it to be from the half-long? Are you just looking for more offensive potential? If you still want a little sink effect, I like galaxy pluto and friendship 799. They have good control and would be a little closer to the medium length pips that you're used to while still being better for attacks. If you want something completely different (fast, spinny) than I can't really help you too much because I've really only tried defensively oriented short pips extensively.

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I liked the 802-40 in 2.0 mm sponge, it gave some very nice attacking possibilities. Another favorite of mine is the Tibhar Speedy Soft D-Tec S. It's a mouthful to say, but it's a very effective short pip.

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"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

The halflong is too block orientated for me. I'm looking for something that is much more offensive, but can still block with a no spin ball. I've been changing my game a lot from LP to medium now to short. I'm trying to be much more aggressive, and I'd like something spinny that can attack with more venom

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Yasaka Dynamix 17
Tibhar Q 50
Butterfly Raystorm

How did that handle on the bh?? I really can't remember much about it. 2mm sounds really quick for the bh!

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Yasaka Dynamix 17
Tibhar Q 50
Butterfly Raystorm

I would go with the 802-40 on max sponge. It is slow compared to my primary rubbers. I twiddle with it alot and just the different speed and spin from my primary can cause errors. I have no trouble blocking real hard loops with it. It is spinny enough that I can use it for effective serving also.

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Shakehand, left handed.
Blade, Yinhe, W-1
Forhand, H-3 National
Backhand, Sriver FX Max

Hookshot is right on with his assessment. You can get that rubber in a thicker sponge and still have some really good control with it. And once you get the right angle for blocking, it does that very effectively as well.

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"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

You should also consider Raystorm max. It is the best stuff I have ever used on my backhand. I attack better with it than I ever did with inverted, or any other short pips, and I have tried lots of different sp rubbers. Raystorm also give you the capability on occasion of generating very heavy spin. My next favorite is 802-40, quite similar to Raystorm, but the pips themselves are a little bit harder. If they were to stop making Raystorm, I would use 8024-40. Neither will give you too much of a deadball effect, though. If that is really important to you, go with Spectol.

I strongly recommend Max thickness for attacking shakehands players using sp on backhand. Paradoxically, it provides much more control.

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

I should elaborate on the control issue of max vs 1.5 rubber. I played with Raystorm max thickness on my backhand for over a year, and liked it. However, on the advice of some posts here, I decided to try 1.5 mm. Two things I noticed immediately -- the 1.5 mm felt good, felt very controlled, but over time I noticed that I tended to block a lot of loops into the net and my backhand attacks lacked some of the penetration they had before. To compensate I had to swing harder and as a result I found myself tending to rush, as timing suddenly became more of an issue. The rubber wasn't doing as much of the work. I kept with it for a month, and at the end was more wild, not less! The only thing I noticed that was better with 1.5 was a slight increase in feel on return of serves, every other aspect of my backhand had declined in effectiveness. Switched back to the max thickness, and literally, within about 20 minutes, everything was back to normal. My block was back, very nasty, especially going down the line into my right-handed opponents forehand corner, and I was hitting more clear winners with my bakchand cross-court. The ball was just enough faster that it got through before my opponents could prepare My stroke was shorter and more compact and much more consistent. Most top shakehand players who use sp on backhand use max thickness, generally they prefer softer sponges. I have also tried 1.8, it was about the same as 1.5.

It is a completely different story for penholders who use short pips. Their demands are quite different indeed. Thinner and harder may well work better for that style.

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

One other thing, I trained in China for awhile at one of the provincial team training centers, and found lots of professional women players using sp on backhand. Invariably they used max thickness. The most popular rubbers were (in order) 802-40, Spectol, and Raystorm.

Only saw one male player using sp on backhand; generally the guys were so strong and so quick that they could just blast through pips. The one guy I did see was really really good -- about 2700 by USA ratings -- but he was so quick he didn't seem to hit his backhand very often, his footwork was kind of like some of the Korean players. Among the women, though, it was definitely effective, and some of those girls taught be a lot about how to play with sp. They worked with me a lot on keeping my hands higher in ready position.

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

I really like Spectol from the short session I got to play with it. It could do everything nicely.

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Jpen: Galaxy 982 juniper 8mm- Darker Provine Tension-50 2.2 or Tibhar Torpedo Soft 2.2
Shake OFF: Galaxy T8 ST- FH: Darker PT-50 2.2, BH: Juic Varites 1.5
Shake DEF: modified Joo- FH: Reactor Corbor 2.2, BH: Globe 979 1.5

Thanks for all the really useful info guys. I'll order a couple of sheets of 802-40 (I see japsko now has soft, soft pro, soft china) and a sheet of raystorm all in 2.2

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Yasaka Dynamix 17
Tibhar Q 50
Butterfly Raystorm

the 'high hands' advice is great and is something I'm fighting with. having spent so much time with LP where you are constantly taking the ball very early, my hands are too low and it is really messing with my transition from fh to bh. I've also changed my ready stance to be more open to favour the fh. With the hand higher, the bh attack is much quicker.

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Yasaka Dynamix 17
Tibhar Q 50
Butterfly Raystorm

If you are going from Half Long I think you'll find Raystorm and 802-40 very different. If you were going from an inverted rubber I'd think you'd be fine, but from half-long I like the initial suggestion of 799. It's cheap too.

If you order one sheet of 799 and one of 802-40 you'll have a much better idea of what you like. Raystorm is much more expensive and not all that different from 802-40 in performance. I'd get them in 2.0 or 1.8 soft sponge. You can always go thicker later, but 2.2 is a big step from a 1.0 or 1.5 sheet of Half Long

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-- Andrew

Spintech All Around Penhold blade
Spinlord Keiler II 1.5 black
Nittaku FastArc G1 red

729 all around blade
Tibhar Grass D-Tec S Red
Nittaku FastArc G1 black

Hi Andrew, I hoped you'd chip in. Have you seen halflong? Its pips are 'only' 1.2mm and quite broad, plays very much like a sp. I've got a sheet of 802-1, 802-40 and 799 on there way to try

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Yasaka Dynamix 17
Tibhar Q 50
Butterfly Raystorm