I also have to say, a person who is good with Pips, and develops the skills of really using the tool, I admire them.
Twiddling the bat in itself is challenging. I practice it even though I play smooth on both sides. It is not easy to get really good at that. But then when you twiddle, you have to be used to two different feelings and two different ways of playing: both at the same time. I know, if I use my blade and then I use someone else's to feel their set-up, it takes me a few hits to get used to the change in blade and rubber. How different the pips feel from the smooth side would be a huge adjustment. So it is almost like being used to two setups at once. And there is more to pips than the fact that they make it easier to return spins without needing to adjust as much. How the pips player contacts the ball determines whether the tip of the pips contact the ball, or the side of the pips which will change the spin they give. Getting the pips to bend to add spin to what is coming to you, or change it adds a cool element to the technique of a better pips player.
Also, all the pips players I know who are decent will receive serves and different spins with either side (their pips or their smooth side). Which, to me, means two things. 1) They have the technique to receive spin with either side. 2) You have to think. And if I play a pips player and they are only receiving serves with their pips, there is not way they are going to get away with that. That makes it so easy to set yourself up. All I have to do is give them a serve that will give me the spin I want to return, and I will kill it. I have played people who tried that and they were not too happy about the fact that they could not get points off my serve. But that is not a good pips player and a good pips player is really still a good player.
So I think it is unfortunate when someone undervalues long pips. They get called Junk Rubber, but in the 50's Smooth was called Junk rubber and if you want to think that way, perhaps we should all go back to hard bat! I have heard that one also.
Regardless of what equipment you use, the good players are good. And a good player can use anything and play against anything.
