OOAK Table Tennis Forum

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I'm a relative chopping neophyte. I chop with OX LP. I think I do OK with it overall however...........

As I've developed a chopping stroke that works with OX the stroke really doesn't translate to sponge.

Chopping with OX really isn't that hard because it really doesn't involve much more than getting the rubber on the ball. (Oversimplification for the sake of brevity)

When I chop with sponge I seem to kill the spin. My chops are much heavier with OX. In fact my entire LP game...from pushing to blocking to chopping...is neutered using sponge. I get destroyed when I use sponge LP. (In fairness, I haven't stuck with the sponge. Each time I try sponge it turns into a disaster and I quickly set it aside)

What are the possible issues? What am I missing?

And side question: I use a fair amount of wrist when I chop (depending on the situation.) I was told by a Joo-style player (who is around 2100) that I shouldn't be using my wrist....
but that doesn't seem right to me ( or natural)

When you chop with sponged LP, you have to really make sure you are chopping down to add the back spin to the ball. If you dont, the extra dwell time is just eating up spin (instead of using this extra time to add to it).

With OX, the dwell time is so much shorter that as long as your blade is chopping down at the moment of impact, you will more or else get the desired effect of backspin (this is why you can do this with your wrist). Also, as you put it "Chopping with OX really isn't that hard because it really doesn't involve much more than getting the rubber on the ball" makes it sound like you are relying completely on the passive reversal you get from the OX pips vs adding spin to the ball via your chop.

It sounds like improving your chopping technique would improve your chopping in both OX and sponge LP. (for a basic idea you can try to start your stroke closer to your shoulder and finish a little lower, its critical to get your blade back up in ready position when elongating your stroke. You should see more back spin in both OX and Sponged) I am sure you can find some vids here on ooak or youtube.

Similar to how your chopping suffered with sponge, your table play technique also has to be in very good form to be able to have the same kind of control. For now I am still using OX learning everything I can before I make the switch back to sponged LP.

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VKM
Tenergy 05 2.1
Feint Long III .5

Excellent response townhousecrackers!

Yes I agree... if you're not chopping down faster than the spin on the ball with OX LPs, you're not generating as much backspin as you can, nor will you experience the high control that the LP offers against loops. Same thing with a thin sponge.

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I'm 90 percent sure I'm not using proper form but chopping with OX isn't a problem for me.

Maybe I'm simply not fast enough when using the sponge.

The fact you were not getting much backspin with the sponged LP tend to indicate you're not brushing quite fast enough. When you do brush faster, you might find the OX more effective too.

I find that I didn't need much adjustment in stroke with or without sponge.

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Different LPs and sponges collaborate with your technique in different ways. You may genereate tons of back spin with one setup and with your present technique, only to find that if you do the exact same stroke with another setup the back spin is a lot less. It has to do with how the pimples bend and snap back within your stroke and how that effects the ball. It also has to to with bat angle and even how you hold hour bat (with hande face downward or to your body) when chopping.
Just experiment with difterent techniques and find one that suits you, one that feels safe and controlled.
The amount of spin is not the key. It is length, height and placement of the ball and how your opponent manage to read the spin.

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Getting better - health and game | Def-attack's attempts to find balance between defence/attack

This is so true!

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Maybe it is not the right combination of sponge pimple and blade.
Maybe it is a technique problem.

In any case you should use wrist to add more spin to the ball. Usually more wrist more spin, less wrist less spin. Of course it also depends of the speed of the stroke. But if you want to play a ball without spin you just stop the wrist.

For technique problem I can imagine that you hit the ball too central. This can work for OX pimples and generate some spin.
For sponged pimples try to hit the ball more tangential, it is more like "going around the ball". Maybe this helps you to generate more spin.

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Werner Schlager Academy - Table Tennis School in Vienna, Austria:
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Coach at WSA and modern defender.
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BTY T05 (2,1mm) - BTY Joo Se Hyuk, straight - TSP Curl P4 (1,5)

most defender not use wrist when chop (except Gionis)

you feel confortable with ox because y newby and cant ply with sponge, sponge not kill the spin if you have the right chop motion, in fact the sponge give the abbility that you can generate more spin, and vary the spin, y can confuse the enemy very well.

with ox: always the same spin, slow chop, high chop.

yes ox is better for block, for you, because you do not know how read the spin yet