What are these long pip rubbers???

[anjoooo]

So I was watching Adam Bobrow's latest video where he takes on a army of players in Indonesia where it seemed like half of the players were using these incredibly weird and long pimple rubbers. In the video he says they are "homemade rubbers". Are they really homemade?? Is there a cottage industry of illegal long pip rubbers in Indonesia that is producing rubbers for the local players?

Bonus question: what would it be like to play against these rubbers? I play against long pips fairly often but I've never come up against rubbers like these!

Here's the video and timestamp of an example of the long pips:

 

[Gozo Aruna]

I believe the word homemade is less accurate. Home modification is more appropriate.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

home made rubbers...

hm.. some of the rubbers do have ITTF logo on.
Think its just one of the clickbait words.

One could find non approved ITTF rubbers in the market, mostly Chinese brands.
Very difficult to find a big range though.

For amateur side of the sport, it is okay to use non approved equipment, since they don't play sanctioned tournaments.
It is like those guys at the park playing 3 on 3 basketball. No FIBA rules involved
No ideal why everything in table tennis - needs to follow rules.
Some guys like to play with 50mm balls for example. Its fun

 

[Draycott old man]

I would love to get a sheet of those pimples!!! I wonder if they are easy to play with??? As I don't play league matches it would be fun to try them out !!!

 

[JJ Ng]

I doubt those rubbers are "home made" or "modified at home." I mean some of those long pips, the pips are so long and so squeezed together. You cannot make that at home. What, you are going to buy a legal long pip rubber and then add another one mm to each of those pips to make it illegally long? that will take ages!

I agree with another poster who says that some manufacturers in China probably produce those long pips that are specifically not ITTF approved and these players do not play in tournaments.

I have mixed feelings about these illegal long pips. I mean, on one hand it will be fun to get your hands on one and fool around, or play against one of those rubbers. But table tennis is hard as it is. You add illegally long long pips, then balls are going to pop up (or down into the net) everywhere. Then what is the fun of it? Both for the player using these long pips and for players playing against these long pips.

Table tennis is not about beating the person in front of you. It is about having fun together. Keep the balls on the table with occasional long rallies. That's fun. That's enjoyable. It is not pulling out some long pips and drop the ball dead and win a point in less than two strokes.

 

[Gozo Aruna]

I doubt those rubbers are "home made" or "modified at home." I mean some of those long pips, the pips are so long and so squeezed together. You cannot make that at home. What, you are going to buy a legal long pip rubber and then add another one mm to each of those pips to make it illegally long? that will take ages!

I agree with another poster who says that some manufacturers in China probably produce those long pips that are specifically not ITTF approved and these players do not play in tournaments.

I have mixed feelings about these illegal long pips. I mean, on one hand it will be fun to get your hands on one and fool around, or play against one of those rubbers. But table tennis is hard as it is. You add illegally long long pips, then balls are going to pop up (or down into the net) everywhere. Then what is the fun of it? Both for the player using these long pips and for players playing against these long pips.

Table tennis is not about beating the person in front of you. It is about having fun together. Keep the balls on the table with occasional long rallies. That's fun. That's enjoyable. It is not pulling out some long pips and drop the ball dead and win a point in less than two strokes.

I wrote about this a little while back. I have an elderly player using pips and winning against inverted often that is until one day she meet and play another long pips and the whole match was a total borefest and train wreck. One serve and the point ends for both side. 100% no rally at all. I cannot see any fun at all at that and was a total put-off!

p/s I wonder how would a match between Ni Xia Lian versus Manika Batra look like? ( Both are long-pips blocker stylist )

 

[lodro]

Table tennis is not about beating the person in front of you. It is about having fun together.

I do agree with this but unfortunately in both clubs i now play most players believe it is not TT
if one does not furiously tries to win.

 

[igorponger]

Yes, textile underlayer is a great virtue. We have just got lp special edition with an ultra slim textile sheet underneath, so good it is, so fine.

 

[brokenball]

Making all those pimples requires a mold. It also requires an injection molding machine. None are cheap so I doubt the LPs are "home made". It the LP is being used for push blocking, then putting the LP under a UV lamp will help "cure" the pips. That is make them harder and less grippy. The grip or spin of LPs changes depending on if the pips are bent.

 

[igorponger]

Yes, it is now available from Shopee lndonesian branch. Ask for help from locals.
Be happy.

 

[brokenball]

I saw that post that was deleted.
I play with LPs from time to time.
If you want "fricitonless" push blocking LPs, the UV trick works well. The LPs are "done" when they start to smell. If you over "cook" them the pips become brittle.
The length of the pips doesn't make any difference. Minimizing the surface area and making the pip close to brittle is what reduce friction. "Frictionless" anti rubber is close to brittle. I know that it will wrinkle when it is removed and be ruined.
Increasing spacing reduces the surface area thus reducing friction.

Chopping LPs work best with longer LPs but not too long. I think there is an optimal length to width. Choppers try at add spin to the ball with their tangential chop. This bends the pips which exposes more surface area for more friction. Chopping pips should be bendable, not almost "brittle" still like push blocking LPs. If you go to OOAK you will sometimes people mention side swiping to control the ball better. Side swiping bends the pips and causes the ball to rotate so it doesn't float like a "knuckle ball" does. Actually and tangential motion when striking the ball with bendable pips will cause spin. I have found when hitting with my pips I must hit through the ball so I don't put any spin on the ball or it will curve and sometime not land on the table.
I have two Firewall+ with Giant Dragon Talon 0X on them for push blocking and one Donic Defplay Senso V3 with 1.4mm TSP Curl P-1r for chopping. The two setups are completely different although I can push block a little with the chopping paddle if I block off the bounce and push through the ball in an effort not to bend the pips to minimize friction.

There are MPs and some SPs like 799 or 802-1 with relatively small pips or small pip density. If I UV treated these they would become almost frictionless too.

What I don't like about my Firewall+ with GD Talon 0X is there is NO sponge to absorb energy. Hard fast loops will often bounce long off the table if I don't use "soft hands" You don't want a sponge because it less the ball sink in a bit and it bends the pips. What I would like some company to do is to put the LP on a hard but dead sponge. The hard sponge would not let the ball sink in too far and because it is dead it would not return much energy. I have a Chinese anti call Giant Dragon Guard. It is not frictionless, it just has a harder dead sponge. You can push on the top sheet and still see your finger print so you know the sponge it returning little energy to the ball. This is the kind of sponge I would like to see someone try on a LP. I just haven't looked for dead sponges. I think 1mm is thick enough since "bottoming out" is not an issue. The hard sponge would help but the next problem is that incoming fast spinny loops will bend the pips if I just block and this causes friction with will also cause the ball to bounce high.

 

[brokenball]

I don't mean to be rude honestly but is this the right thread for trying to educate pips /anti users on various social rubbers on ITTF LARC that are totally useless in the 40+ plastic ball era ?

I answer some of your question that were on your deleted thread.

 

[JJ Ng]

I saw that post that was deleted.
I play with LPs from time to time.
If you want "fricitonless" push blocking LPs, the UV trick works well. The LPs are "done" when they start to smell. If you over "cook" them the pips become brittle.
The length of the pips doesn't make any difference. Minimizing the surface area and making the pip close to brittle is what reduce friction. "Frictionless" anti rubber is close to brittle. I know that it will wrinkle when it is removed and be ruined.
Increasing spacing reduces the surface area thus reducing friction.

Chopping LPs work best with longer LPs but not too long. I think there is an optimal length to width. Choppers try at add spin to the ball with their tangential chop. This bends the pips which exposes more surface area for more friction. Chopping pips should be bendable, not almost "brittle" still like push blocking LPs. If you go to OOAK you will sometimes people mention side swiping to control the ball better. Side swiping bends the pips and causes the ball to rotate so it doesn't float like a "knuckle ball" does. Actually and tangential motion when striking the ball with bendable pips will cause spin. I have found when hitting with my pips I must hit through the ball so I don't put any spin on the ball or it will curve and sometime not land on the table.
I have two Firewall+ with Giant Dragon Talon 0X on them for push blocking and one Donic Defplay Senso V3 with 1.4mm TSP Curl P-1r for chopping. The two setups are completely different although I can push block a little with the chopping paddle if I block off the bounce and push through the ball in an effort not to bend the pips to minimize friction.

There are MPs and some SPs like 799 or 802-1 with relatively small pips or small pip density. If I UV treated these they would become almost frictionless too.

What I don't like about my Firewall+ with GD Talon 0X is there is NO sponge to absorb energy. Hard fast loops will often bounce long off the table if I don't use "soft hands" You don't want a sponge because it less the ball sink in a bit and it bends the pips. What I would like some company to do is to put the LP on a hard but dead sponge. The hard sponge would not let the ball sink in too far and because it is dead it would not return much energy. I have a Chinese anti call Giant Dragon Guard. It is not frictionless, it just has a harder dead sponge. You can push on the top sheet and still see your finger print so you know the sponge it returning little energy to the ball. This is the kind of sponge I would like to see someone try on a LP. I just haven't looked for dead sponges. I think 1mm is thick enough since "bottoming out" is not an issue. The hard sponge would help but the next problem is that incoming fast spinny loops will bend the pips if I just block and this causes friction with will also cause the ball to bounce high.

Wow, it is both an art and a science! I have a couple sheets of friendship long pips and DHS long pips I want to play with. I will have reference this post later. and probably watch some YouTube videos.

 

[ericd937]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what the heck are high aspect ratio long pips?