Basic Table Tennis Terminology Questions

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1. What is bottoming out? For the longest time I thought it was when I made a stroke and the ball never dug far enough into the rubber to make contact with the wood, and thus the ball would just drop as it was never propelled. But recently someone told me it happens more with thinner rubbers which made me think otherwise.

2. Drive. I thought a drive was just an extended version of a block, but someone recently told me it was just a loop with less arc. Clarification please? :)

3. Rule question. Can you call a let and refuse to hit a ball simply because they served to quickly and you weren't ready yet?

4. Rule question #2. I understand the every 6 points is a towel/water break, but as someone who occasionally during a heated game sweats quite a bit I keep a towel on one of the bars of the table I'm playing on and use it whenever the opponent is walking away to pick up the ball. Is this allowed?


Thanks for the help from all you knowledgable members!
 
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1. What is bottoming out? For the longest time I thought it was when I made a stroke and the ball never dug far enough into the rubber to make contact with the wood, and thus the ball would just drop as it was never propelled. But recently someone told me it happens more with thinner rubbers which made me think otherwise.

2. Drive. I thought a drive was just an extended version of a block, but someone recently told me it was just a loop with less arc. Clarification please? :)

3. Rule question. Can you call a let and refuse to hit a ball simply because they served to quickly and you weren't ready yet?

4. Rule question #2. I understand the every 6 points is a towel/water break, but as someone who occasionally during a heated game sweats quite a bit I keep a towel on one of the bars of the table I'm playing on and use it whenever the opponent is walking away to pick up the ball. Is this allowed?


Thanks for the help from all you knowledgable members!

For number 2, always thought a drive was more of a full out loop with as much power as you can. An example i usually think of is a third ball attack with the forehand where you use your forehand and do a very powerful loop.
For number 3, i believe so as i often see some pro players even hold their opposite hand up to let the opponent know they are not ready yet. For number 4, in tournament, i think it is forbidden to use a towel if it is not after 6 pts. Usually, in recreational play, you can use it whenever you want.
 
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1. If the sponge bottoms out it means that you hit the ball hard enough to go "through" the sponge and feel the wood. In other words, it's the opposite of what you thought.

2. A drive is a topspin shot, but with emphasis on speed. It's somewhere between a flat hit and a loop. In short, the flat hit generates no spin and aims for the highest speed possible by hitting through the ball. The drive hits also hits through the ball, but to a lesser degree than a flat hit and more so than a loop which brushes the ball to a higher extent and therefore generates more spin, but a little less speed.

3. Basically what Shiro said, but be clear hold up your hand way before the server serves. That way you can call a let if he serves while you are getting into position. If you don't, he's in the right as it's the receiver's duty to follow the tempo of the server.

4. What Shiro said :)
 
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