OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Classic defense uses grippy LP so can generat own backspin.

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No more political prisoners in Catalonia.

umm... I don't think it's just cause they use grippy LPs .. It's more to do with technique..

From my own limited experience, how strong an opponent's 3rd ball is directly related towards the height of your receive. If it's too high, they get to put a lot more energy into the ball in the forward direction. The spin is a hell of a lot less important than the height. Even if the return has no-spin or even top-spin, as long as it's at or below the height of the net, the opponent can't smash it (and if they do, it's gonna be your point 9/10 times).

I think the advantage of pushing backspin with "grippy" pips is that the shot is a lot easier to control, not the marginal amount of backspin you get from them. I recently switched away from Gambler GXL to a grippy pip, and while the spin you get IS a bit more, the margins of error on a push are so much more forgiving. My consistency on the height of my pushes versus backspin are much, much better than they were with GXL. Not that I COULDNT perform that shot with GXL, but the timing, bat angle, and handspeed all had to be much more precise than with Vertical 20.

I've linked this before, but here's Joo versus Schlager from a really nice angle:


Watch when Schlager chooses to attack with speed or with spin. If the ball is low (either from a push or chop) he almost ALWAYS loops with spin, even off of a long pip push. If the ball is high, Schlager drives the ball with a ton more speed, even if the ball has a lot of backspin.

It's a matter of geometry: the closer the ball is to the height of the net, the harder it is to play a faster shot because the faster shot will have a flatter trajectory

It's quite funny to come across my own post from 6 years ago... So I guess I have been officially on the dark side for SIX years now. WOW time flies

Reading about my issues at the time .. things have definitely changed. Over the past four years I've been fortunate to be able to take lessons from one of the best chopper in the U.S.. I am not 2400 but can definitely challenge and beat 2000-2100 players. The loops I face now are 100 times better and more quality (power, spin, consistency, etc) than anything even remotely similar to what I played against when I posted this.

To answer my own question, things one needs to play against a very strong 3rd ball game:
-- Reading your opponent's serve
-- Being able to LP push low and deep; sometimes twiddle and push with inverted
-- A good receive placement is a must, not just to where the serve came from
-- Attacking long serves.. anything coming long to my FH is attacked without any hesitation. BH receive varies... mostly chop, but sometimes hit with LP, sometimes an inside out loop
-- The IN and OUT footwork is a must as well... Push at the table then step back, in a neutral stance, paddle up and ready to chop anything that's shot at you

All of the above and 100's of hours of practicing serve receive playing and training with all sorts of opponents, including my coach.

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Attackers: "All pips players are cheaters who can't loop, move, or read spin"
Me: I beg your pardon?

Not enough technique in the world able to generate backspin or topspin with frictionless LP

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No more political prisoners in Catalonia.

Close to the table a tensor rubber is preferable.Chops,pushes and side wipes are faster.The key is to mess up with their timing.Easy returns are killed.They look for the no spin ball back.

Yes, like Thibar Grass DTecs or Donic Piranja both tensor and easy to push & attack especially the first one.

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No more political prisoners in Catalonia.