Tactics against short pips penholder

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I’m struggling against a middle aged traditional penholder using short pips. His athleticism is decent because he is able to make quite a few step around forehand shots.

I’m a typical two wing looper 1700~ rating. Any basic suggestions? Which serves/placement should I avoid? Which should I use? Other ideas? Part of it is getting used to the pace on the ball, but he has too many opportunities to smash against me or do a weird penhold short pip flick thing again me.
 
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I would say play a lot into wide forehand and wide backhand. Traditional penhold is very strong when you aim at the body because he doesn't really have a "switch point". But wide forehand isn't as easy and wide BH really hard for a penholder, especially traditional.

Don't be afraid of his FH but better play it really wide and not into the middle
 
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I would say play a lot into wide forehand and wide backhand. Traditional penhold is very strong when you aim at the body because he doesn't really have a "switch point". But wide forehand isn't as easy and wide BH really hard for a penholder, especially traditional.

Don't be afraid of his FH but better play it really wide and not into the middle

I do not have the good fortune to meet a JPen Short Pips player as there are no such player in my club, hence will play short be a counter to this type of player? I mean, these player usually rely on blocking with placement against topspin, hence if one were to continuously give soft short ball, will it be a good counter?

 
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Brian,

If the dude is 2200 and your are 1700, then there are a lot of things going on where dude is simply better.

If the dude is closer to your level, then there are reasons why dude's level is near your level and it is your mission to discover the things that make it so.

What you seem to be describing is you are playing into dude's strong points and practiced ssequences. Could also be he is giving you balls from his SP that you are not comfortable with. (I know I am not comfortable playing fast shots close to table that have little spin) He might be controlling your services (or you not doing well on serve) and he is likely dictating the kind of point with his serve.

You need to try different things in the discovery process that you might or might not be able to do. One thing right not that you can put into play is to serve short with initially heavy spin and vary to light. If he is near your level, he will not be consistent in aggressively returning these... PLUS, also perhaps a better thing, is that he is likely to give you slower balls with light spin - those are much easier and familiar for you in all likelihood.

You could try to serve side under deep on endline both slow and fast curving right into the middle. Later, after you establish your heavy spin, you can go dead and low and tight, or dead into him.

On serve receive, if he is going fast and deep varying from side under to side to side top and you are not good receiving fast/deep serves, then you will play much lower level vs him - he is setting up the kind of rally he wants and you may be making it easy for him. If you have not learned how to get to the bounce with a light grip and do a tiny go through the ball, now is a good time to practice through lost points.

One bailout emergency adjustment would be to take a half step right when he serves either left or right and get the ball coming to your wing where you can be consistent in returning with underspin deep. Some SP hitters, especially those with real old rubbers and LOVE to play with a slippery ball (old BTY G40+) simply thrive on hitting through underspin.

When SP can hit through spin, what is left to you is to be able to block near the bounce with direction control to middle or a wide angle. This is a good opportunity to practice getting to the bounce with a loose grip and take the ball on the rise below net level. Once you can start doing that, SP dude realizes you disarmed perhaps his best shot and might not have much else left to fight with (if he is near your level)
 
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Hmm, seems like you don't like being on the receiving end of an aggressive player.

Keep your returns low. Aim for the net.

Slow spinny loops work great, again keep it low.

Long backspin serves: a lot of pips players train to loop them with decent quality, but still nowhere near as dangerous as normal players. Rip the cr@p out of whatever you get back.

Everyone steps around, not everyone can get back to the wide forehand after.
 
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- play towards corners, hard to go around then
- more against backhand, hard to get power with traditional backhand
- long serves and pushes are difficult with pips
- slower strokes. Easier when you get some speed as pips player
- probably most important: variation in placement and tempo. Variation in tempo is probably the most difficult for a pips player. Need so much better timing with short pips compared with inverted. With inverted you can do okey strokes when you stand wrong. Not so well with pips.
 
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I would say play a lot into wide forehand and wide backhand. Traditional penhold is very strong when you aim at the body because he doesn't really have a "switch point". But wide forehand isn't as easy and wide BH really hard for a penholder, especially traditional.

Don't be afraid of his FH but better play it really wide and not into the middle

Sounds like very good advice. I second that especially into the wide BH. FH side is very very dangerous if the player is advanced.

 
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I’m struggling against a middle aged traditional penholder using short pips. His athleticism is decent because he is able to make quite a few step around forehand shots.

I’m a typical two wing looper 1700~ rating. Any basic suggestions? Which serves/placement should I avoid? Which should I use? Other ideas? Part of it is getting used to the pace on the ball, but he has too many opportunities to smash against me or do a weird penhold short pip flick thing again me.

Hi Bryan
I like the idea of serving wide to one wing and then go down the other, but it might be useful to resurrect your blocking skills as your profile as a 2 winged wannabe looper is just meat and drink to a stronger short pips player, your style is giving him time and he is taking away your time. Its worth remembering its the table game - the strokes played over the table which decide most of the points. So improve
your
SErve
return
push
block
with emphasis on learning to control opponent with accurate placement

However If the rating difference is 1700/2200 you need to up a couple of levels for you in the short term, to change the result.
Whenever I have been in your situation I have always welcomed it because you have a playing partner who will force you to improve.
I would just be glad to be playing him, you should be able to learn a lot. I think you should get to know him, buy him a beer and ask his advice,

good luck

 
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I want to learn how to play Jpen. Unfortunately, no coaching. If I do, should I play with short pips or smooth runber. I’m only about 1100 and may reboot my game
 

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mil

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Smooth ESN rubber - JPen is ment for speed looping and smashing, the hitting area is too small for variable short pips play
 
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Watch how people play against He Zhi W en.
One of my practice partners plays with SP on his c-pen. He is better than me but I am catching up. Actually, adapting is a better word. I try to keep the ball low since he can't loop effectively with the SP. Keeping the ball low forces him to hit the ball up to get it over the net and it must not be fast, or it will go off the table.
 
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