Short pimples game style

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I recently posted about changing my game style to attack/defence with inverted rubber. I went to my local club with this in mind but accidently came across Stiga Radical and tried it out on my B/H. I chopped mainly with it but when the ball was up It was easy enough to hit as well. I have read a lot about certain stigma regarding using pimples and that only players with poor technique use it. The rubber seems to suit me as I have good hard bat skills and really like the idea of defence followed by attack. I didn't really know anything about pimples and the difference between short and long but I am beginning to understand them. My opinion is yes some players resort to playing with pimples if they lack skill but they will only beat average players who don't think on the table enough, but really skilful players use pimples as well and mainly because it suits their style and techniques.
Any discussion would be welcome
 
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I suppose this topic has been discussed a number of times. Personally I don't think that many people resort to long pimples because they've failed in other areas of the game. Thats what inverted playing moaners will want you to believe. People usually play with pimples because it matches the style they want to play. For me, ever since I started tt, a chopping motion felt way more natural than a drive or looping motion on the backhand, so eventually long pips were the obvious choice. I never said to myself hey this is going to be any easy way to win points with little effort! There should be no stigma with long pips, they were around a lot longer than inverted. I often think - which surface comes closest to how balls usually contact surfaces - and that's anti spin and long pimples. If you bounce a tennis ball against a wall, the wall doesn't grip the ball so hard that it changes its spin orientation! If anything inverted rubbers are the most unusual as they act so differently to real life situations. So if you want to chop, long pips are your best bet and screw anyone who complains about them.


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i may be wrong but i think martin uses s/p on both wings.i believe it is dr evil in ox.
Robbo i really think you have to try everything to be honest.i have pimples on my forehand and like to drive through with them .Im experimenting with them on my b/h and want to hit good loops.i also chop.ive actually gone from a fastish set up to wanting huge amounts of control.i like to drive through my strokes as like you i am a tennis player.
 
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Hah is that a joke? If so good one. There is a thread that was probably alive even yesterday, called 'looping with lp's' - where I debated that you usually can't loop with long pimples against topspin and went into quite a bit of detail but was largely ignored. You can read it there if you so please ... Greg Letts who is google searchable explains far better how long pips work. Anyway, driving and chopping with long pimples which you say you do makes way more sense! If you want to loop play with inverted rubbers


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Cool. Other peeps raised the point that long pimples come in a lot of varieties and that there may be a long pimple rubber with the ability to loop topspin (though I still doubt it) - but if you want a clear cut answer - no they can't. Also in case you don't know most modern defenders will have long pimples on bh and inv on forehand - but whatever works for you


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grass ultra ox-i tried this on a defence bat.i didnt give it enough time and will try it again .whats the best l/p for keeping the ball very low on the return please.i can see me enjoying l/p on the b/h and dr evil ox on the f/h-time will tell:cool:
 
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I feel like I have tried everything ha ha..I am deffo going to stick with Sps for a good while as I practiced today with a guy with a lot of knowledge on the game and we did a drill where he looped, I chopped and then came in and drove the ball on the 4th shot. He even showed me how to play a topspin B/H which I didn't think was possible with Sps. This style seems to work for my style so hopefully results will come after a good Summers practice! The focus is also improving the F/H!!
 
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I played a heavy spin game with alot of focus on my serve mixed with block/distance play for like 20 years. Basically went for easy points and being safe when not attacking with heavy spin and had never really focused on powershots. Then I got some problems with my shoulder and had rehab for a couple of years, did a comeback after the surgery last summer and played really well. Got injured again and went for short pips in fh to be able to continue playing table tennis.

Now the season is over and the result is that I won more games in the swedish 2nd division with short pips in fh even with only 1 month training then under the period before that. I wouldn't say I lack skills but with only a little practice the short pips in fh still worked. The short pips gave me some other options then before mainly because my fh never was my best side and because that I think people prefered to NOT play towards the "odd" equipment, resulting in that they instead played down versus my stronger bh. So even with changing from inverted to short pips I still have the same gameplan as before, just without being spin oriented from fh (serves fh and twiddles the short pips to fh). I can't loop with the short pips, just lift it a bit but maybe I just need to practice (no I don't think I can learn looping with long pimples;)). I would say that long pips would never work in my case because I wouldn't be able to follow up my serve (still want those "easy" points). Now I can attack with heavy spin with bh or sometimes even kill the ball with my fh, which I almost never could before with my sucky inverted fh.

Just think I was mainly lucky that the short pips in fh suited both my old gameplan and the injury so well. Would really suck to stop playing the best sport in the world:(
 
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says Aging is a killer
Disregarding choppers, most LP/anti players primarily block the ball with the hope that their opponents will misjudge the ball and misshit. The LP rubbers are designed for that purpose. That's why they are called 'Frustration' etc. and that's why inverted players are so dismissive of them.
SP rubbers are different. They do not cause as many mistakes as the users tend to be 'normal' in their play. Eg playing an opponent recently, I did not realise he had SP until almost the 3rd game. But having said that, the newer SP rubbers can be nasty. I played with Degu for a while and the vast majority of my first time BH hits were winners as opponents just could not read the 'dip' on the incoming ball.
BTW, Martin Gunn is a hardbat player today, but his style never really changed from when he was a UK top30 power hitting inverted player. He now stands closer to the table so that the ball may be flatter but travels just as fast. Don't read too much into that video. There's a big difference in player experience.
 
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