Should I change to short pips?

Hello everyone first I wanted them to be charitable and really help me with that decision. second, my goal in the sport now is not to be a professional anymore, my goal now is reach the first division of my state and participate on National Championships. I started working 7 hours a day to earn my money. and I saw that I can't dedicate my life to table tennis, I also have other goals like becoming a coach for goalkeepers. I joined a club and am training there twice a week with one hour sessions. With the situation of the pandemic, I still cannot go to play more days or train with partners in the free area of ​​the club, which is open every week, apart from the cost of buses that I cannot go to the club every day. I am training at home too, I will see with my teachers if they make a personalized menu for sessions of 2 to 4 hours every day at home while the school doesn't come back. let's get straight to the point, I'm playing with two Palio CJ8000 Biotech 39-41, the one on the forehand has a cream sponge and it seems to be more drawn to the 41 and the one on the backhand is light orange and it looks like 39. I am a penholder. I don't have video of matches, I'll try to record this week, but the point is: I'm not feeling so good when playing inverted. my topspin forehand technique is good (many people see my techinique vídeo, now is totally diferente, i'm not doind a smash with spin. I really focus on body control, speed and spin. now its really a forehand topspin), my loop is good and consistent but I don’t use it as much. I learned rpb, improved tpb, changed bad habits. but I still have in my head the incredible style of the pips, attacking close to the table and fast. i really want to switch to short pimples but i don't know what to do, i already talked to my teachers, they gave their opinion that they don't like pins very much and that the choice has to be mine. I came to ask for help from you who have more experience than me ...
About the style I wanted to play: Wang Zeng Yi.

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In my opinion, assuming shakehand, the use of short pips tends to give you fewer options unless you decide to also use it defensively. With advent of plastic balls you can counter and attack off the bounce more effectively. It would be wiser to explore how you can be more aggressive with inverted than to switch to short pips. For example, you would have to switch to the inverted side or risk a weak return if you have to loop a low long underspin.

Try it and see how you like it. You can always switch around since it's usually possible to find affordable TT gear.
 
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The transition to short pips is not for covering a weakness. It should match and benefit your style of playing.

If you dont use agressive strokes in matches with inverted rubbers, you wont be able to do it with short pimples. And short pimples game without agressive components isnt really going to work - unless you are a defender.

In general short pimples need a shorter stroke, better footwork and better timing than inverted rubbers. And you need to be able to controll the force you apply tl the ball. Faster isnt always better.

In general one could say, short pimples benefit you if your strokes are short and flat with inverted and lack some spin. If your are just missing the power in your topspin or miss the confidence to use topspin strokes in matches, short pimples wont help you - most likely it will hurt your game and give you less options.
 
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Just give it a shot and see if you like it.
  • Make sure to train your legs and footwork because you will really have to run if you want to be effective.
  • Your mentality has to be: smash everything - within reason of course

Maybe you'll get frustrated and quit after 6 months. Or maybe you'll stubbornly stick to it for 10 years despite watching everyone around you develop crazy spins, simply because there's nothing quite as satisfying as the clicking of pips when you put the ball away.


 
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You will need to decide on the strategy before you buy the short pips. Do you want some spin capability (e.g. like Rakza PO or TSP SpinPips) or do you want to have a big difference between the two rubbers (like TSP Spectol, Nittaku Moristo SP, Yinhe Pluto)? I think this link sums it up:
https://blog.tabletennis11.com/short-pips-advantages-and-disadvantages
Also if you want to defend with short pips too fast a blade doesn't work either.
 
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You will need to decide on the strategy before you buy the short pips. Do you want some spin capability (e.g. like Rakza PO or TSP SpinPips) or do you want to have a big difference between the two rubbers (like TSP Spectol, Nittaku Moristo SP, Yinhe Pluto)? I think this link sums it up:
https://blog.tabletennis11.com/short-pips-advantages-and-disadvantages
Also if you want to defend with short pips too fast a blade doesn't work either.
I'm thinking buy the classic SPs, the RITC 802 Mystery III

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proably easier if you have a natural tendency to smash/flathit or/and you are good at smash/flathit.

If you will find it more fun and work harder tho, it can be a good reason to change.

Will probaly be more difficult since your coaches do not like pips, which is basically the same as that they do not know how to play with them.

Better to start with a short pimple with more grip. Also need to look into what blade you have at the moment.
 
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What usually happens is people take a bit of time to adjust. That time varies. They figure out how to play, some new tricks, strategies to suit the SP. They also learn what they can't do anymore. At the end they are comfortable. And their new level is.....

Exactly what it was before (or would have been if they hadn't switched).

So then the only real question becomes is it more fun to play the new way or the old way? A totally personal choice.

Should you try it? Why not? You might be the exception.
 
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What usually happens is people take a bit of time to adjust. That time varies. They figure out how to play, some new tricks, strategies to suit the SP. They also learn what they can't do anymore. At the end they are comfortable. And their new level is.....

Exactly what it was before (or would have been if they hadn't switched).

So then the only real question becomes is it more fun to play the new way or the old way? A totally personal choice.

Should you try it? Why not? You might be the exception.
about the fun, the new way of course, i love the short pips style, i really smile when i see shots of He Zhi Wen and Mattias Falck.

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What usually happens is people take a bit of time to adjust. That time varies. They figure out how to play, some new tricks, strategies to suit the SP. They also learn what they can't do anymore. At the end they are comfortable. And their new level is.....

Exactly what it was before (or would have been if they hadn't switched).

So then the only real question becomes is it more fun to play the new way or the old way? A totally personal choice.

Should you try it? Why not? You might be the exception.

This was exactly my experience. It took about a year to play the same level with SP bh. But I enjoy it a lot more so I am very happy to have switched.
 
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Never hurts to try. 802/802-40 on a clipperoid-type blade shouldn't set you back too much. Yinhe 437 is fine, Palio makes even cheaper versions.
 
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If you want to get fun. Do whatever you like. Only YOU know what YOU want. I have a few experienced Pips players in my club, and all of them say that it is hard to win consistently on a very high level. But all of them manage to get some titles.

About the style I wanted to play: Wang Zeng Yi.
He is quite successful in Polish Superleague. He also made few tutorials on YouTube, they are in Polish though.

Whatever you do, have fun.
 
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I found it a lot of fun to play short pips backhand after I switched from a more spinny rubber (Rakza PO) to a less spinny rubber (Nittaku Moristo SP). I also spent about 6 months learning to twiddle (change rubber for FH or BH) consistently but only use it for serves now (like e.g. Mattias Falck). So the immediate positive is (if you have sufficient time to practice the strokes) that you have 2x the serve options which can confuse your opponent. I am not twiddling during play since I stay at the table and there isn't sufficient time there. I have started to implement more of the "creative" shot options like Mima Ito is using (e.g. spin, flip, various fruits) with the pips.
Another advantage is that you can return heavy spin serves pretty easily with the pips and return the heavy spin to the other person to deal with. For this to work you need to have a sufficiently good footwork to play the backhand on the (moderate) forehand side if needed.
I think for me to get good at it I did need robot training for several hours/day for a couple of months.
So IMHO, it's worth trying if you want to go for fast footwork (good for loosing weight) and tricky shots against physically stronger players.
 
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