Is short pips answer to receiving serves?

[FrenchFrog33]

If I could receive serves properly, my rating would be about 300-500 points higher.
Would short pips on bh help? Or is there a tutorial that would help improve returns?

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

If I could receive serves properly, my rating would be about 300-500 points higher.

if you 0, then to 300-500, sure, maybe even 1000
if you 1000, maybe
if you 2000, no ways.

Would short pips on bh help?

default answer no

Or is there a tutorial that would help improve returns?

yes, coaches for starters

 

[Topspinslinger]

Train your own serve, You'll learn from your own experience.
Once you have training partners who are also hyped about service and receive you'll improve the fastest

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

Sp do not resist spin enough to make a dent in ones (lack of) receive ability imo. You need to hug the table to take the ball early and cannot rely on the topsheet to grab the ball when you need to spin it, the margin for error over the net is tighter than with smooth. But in exchange you do not need to use as many different blade angles to receive different serves and you don't need as strong a wrist/forearm movement to hit with speed. If you want easy serve returns you have to look at lp or anti

 

[Brs]

If I could receive serves properly, my rating would be about 300-500 points higher.
Would short pips on bh help? Or is there a tutorial that would help improve returns?

No, you will just lose to different serves with short pips.

There is not a tutorial. Either a coach as mentioned. Or if coach is not available/affordable, find a training partner who is willing to practice his serve. And you practice receive. Please buy a box of 100 balls or smth for this, don't be the idiots who do one-ball-multiball.

 

[NetProphet]

If I could receive serves properly, my rating would be about 300-500 points higher.
Would short pips on bh help? Or is there a tutorial that would help improve returns?

If you learn how to receive serves and deal with incoming spin using regular inverted rubbers then your level will go up even more that what you estimate. 😉

Pips is definitely one possible answer and it's a good idea to use pips for a little while anyway because understanding how to use them also helps you when you have to okay against them but they aren't the full solution. Learning to master them across different aspects of the game is still going to be a challenge ...

Remember, if someone beats you easily with pips, then learning to play against pips isn't going to magically help you beat them. You have to also consider their skill level and if they're just hundreds of points (rating) better than you then they're just better, it's not just the pips.

 

[Kazama]

When I serve to receivers with long or short pips they tend to miss as many receives as inverted players.

 

[Brs]

I note your dignics 09c BH rubber. If you struggle to receive serve successfully with bh, allow me to respectfully suggest that a $90 rubber may not be what you need at the present moment. I use SP backhand myself, so not the best to advise. But maybe something in the G1/barracuda/rozena/glayzer/hexer category might be easier to use rn.

 

[Amayzde]

Dont take the ball too early. Take more spinny serves on the descend. This makes the spin less strong.

Contact straight serves (straight backspin, topspin or no spin on the front. Contact sidespin serves on the side.

 

[ViperTableTennis]

If I could receive serves properly, my rating would be about 300-500 points higher.
Would short pips on bh help? Or is there a tutorial that would help improve returns?

You're not factoring in the likely trade-off; the SP's might well improve your serve receive, but they'll also change other aspects of your game, and not necessarily in a good way. What you gain in serve receive, you might lose in backhand rally shots, for example, meaning that you wont gain those 300-500 points after all. In fact, you might end up losing points! ?But there's only one way to find out whether SP's will be a good move for you, and that's to give them a go.

 

[blahness]

Lol antispin is what you want if you want easy af receives. I barely make mistakes receiving, but if I wanted to add quality (read:attack) then it is as risky as inverted imo.

 

[pingpongpaddy]

As somebody who has used:-
sp
anti
LP
inverted

I would say that it is study of service and receive, and constant practice, that is most important in having a good receive.
m
My Service and Receive were probably the strongest parts of my game. As well as being able to "Read" the opponents serve, its also important to have consistent methods of returning serves so that you will be able to use topspin or backspin at need in returning effectively
good luck

 

[Brs]

You're not factoring in the likely trade-off; the SP's might well improve your serve receive, but they'll also change other aspects of your game, and not necessarily in a good way. What you gain in serve receive, you might lose in backhand rally shots, for example, meaning that you wont gain those 300-500 points after all. In fact, you might end up losing points! ?But there's only one way to find out whether SP's will be a good move for you, and that's to give them a go.

In my experience after quite a short time he would play the same level with SP.

Like you say, some things would improve and others weaken due to the material. But he would soon learn that anticipation, tactics, mental strength, movement, fitness, touch, experience, and maybe some other things come together to set someone's playing level.

After two or three months you learn how to use the new rubber. And all your other skills are still the same, so you play to the same rating.

 

[pong99]

If I could receive serves properly, my rating would be about 300-500 points higher.
Would short pips on bh help? Or is there a tutorial that would help improve returns?

You have in the past, posted threads about how you are stuck at a level and asked how to get better. You got tons of advise, what have you tried? What has worked/not worked?

I just got back from the club today where I did serve/receive practice with a regular practice partner. We do this every time we practice. There's no shortcut to getting better at any part of the game.

Pay for lessons. Stop asking hobby players like us on this board to coach someone we have never seen play. Your sig says inner ALC + D09, that's almost $400 worth of racket. If you can afford that, get a real coach.

Ditch the D09 for a couple of sheets of H3 and you will likely receive serve much better.

 

[JJ Ng]

Lol antispin is what you want if you want easy af receives. I barely make mistakes receiving, but if I wanted to add quality (read:attack) then it is as risky as inverted imo.

Agree. When I read the question, anti came in my mind (not short pips).

A few comments:

1) I agree that the OP might benefit from switching from D09c to commercial orange sponge hurricane which can be had for about $20-$22 USD per sheet. H3 is as tacky as D09c but without the bounciness and better in the short games (i.e. returning serves).

2) I agree with getting a coach as well. Or get someone from the club to explain spins to you well. I am always confused by rubber reviews such as Tenergy 80 is "less spin sensitive" than Tenergy 05. After all, both T80 and T05 respond to spin (they are both inverted rubbers after all) so you still have to read the spin if you want to return a serve with any quality on it. Maybe in the 40+mm plastic ball era, if you are not sure what spin is on the ball, just whack it like it is no spin? I can see how that strategy might work for some people.

3) I have always said, it might be easy to see someone else using a non-conventional rubber (such as anti, LP's, SP's and medium pips) but you don't know how much work that person has put on it. I used to play penhold and tried long pips and medium pips on my backhand for extended period of time. During that period, I was playing Jpen so I still used inverted rubber like 95% of the time but would occasionally return serves or push with LP's/medium pips to confuse the opponent. I can tell you, it is not easy to use LP's or medium pips well. If you cannot read spin, you can easily pop the ball up for an easy kill from your opponent (you still need to read spin somewhat even if you use LP's or medium pips). If you really want to switch, just be prepared that your rating will drop for about 3-6 months in the adjustment period. If you are willing to take that risk, then switch to a non-conventional rubber could be a good idea.

I am playing double inverted shakehand right now because I have a feeling that I have not reached my peak rating. Once physically I am on the decline with joint pains everywhere, then yeah, I will probably slap either SP's/LP's/anti on the backhand side (at the moment, I am leaning toward anti's). Right now, I am also playing mostly with friends at the club so pulling up anything that is not double inverted will ruin the fun so I am sticking with double inverted for now.

 

[blahness]

Agree. When I read the question, anti came in my mind (not short pips).

A few comments:

1) I agree that the OP might benefit from switching from D09c to commercial orange sponge hurricane which can be had for about $20-$22 USD per sheet. H3 is as tacky as D09c but without the bounciness and better in the short games (i.e. returning serves).

2) I agree with getting a coach as well. Or get someone from the club to explain spins to you well. I am always confused by rubber reviews such as Tenergy 80 is "less spin sensitive" than Tenergy 05. After all, both T80 and T05 respond to spin (they are both inverted rubbers after all) so you still have to read the spin if you want to return a serve with any quality on it. Maybe in the 40+mm plastic ball era, if you are not sure what spin is on the ball, just whack it like it is no spin? I can see how that strategy might work for some people.

3) I have always said, it might be easy to see someone else using a non-conventional rubber (such as anti, LP's, SP's and medium pips) but you don't know how much work that person has put on it. I used to play penhold and tried long pips and medium pips on my backhand for extended period of time. During that period, I was playing Jpen so I still used inverted rubber like 95% of the time but would occasionally return serves or push with LP's/medium pips to confuse the opponent. I can tell you, it is not easy to use LP's or medium pips well. If you cannot read spin, you can easily pop the ball up for an easy kill from your opponent (you still need to read spin somewhat even if you use LP's or medium pips). If you really want to switch, just be prepared that your rating will drop for about 3-6 months in the adjustment period. If you are willing to take that risk, then switch to a non-conventional rubber could be a good idea.

I am playing double inverted shakehand right now because I have a feeling that I have not reached my peak rating. Once physically I am on the decline with joint pains everywhere, then yeah, I will probably slap either SP's/LP's/anti on the backhand side (at the moment, I am leaning toward anti's). Right now, I am also playing mostly with friends at the club so pulling up anything that is not double inverted will ruin the fun so I am sticking with double inverted for now.

Yes spin reading is crucial regardless, but with anti i only need to have a rough guess as compared to a highly precise read if I were to use inverted. The really hard part is chopping and chopblock which is a foreign concept for most inverted players but it is just yet another skill to acquire. I survived against heavy topspin just using anti countering which is almost the same stroke as an inverted block/counter.

For me, I really only needed a few sessions before I exceeded my previous level with 2x inverted, and my practice time was almost nonexistent lol.

 

[JJ Ng]

Yes spin reading is crucial regardless, but with anti i only need to have a rough guess as compared to a highly precise read if I were to use inverted. The really hard part is chopping and chopblock which is a foreign concept for most inverted players but it is just yet another skill to acquire. I survived against heavy topspin just using anti countering which is almost the same stroke as an inverted block/counter.

For me, I really only needed a few sessions before I exceeded my previous level with 2x inverted, and my practice time was almost nonexistent lol.

That is great! Maybe your strokes fit in very well with anti rubber naturally? I am a big proponent that the type of equipment you use should fit in with your natural strokes. So that might be the case here.

If I were to switch to anti on my BH side, I would need to be prepared for a rating drop for 3-6 months for sure!

 

[FrenchFrog33]

Agree. When I read the question, anti came in my mind (not short pips).

A few comments:

1) I agree that the OP might benefit from switching from D09c to commercial orange sponge hurricane which can be had for about $20-$22 USD per sheet. H3 is as tacky as D09c but without the bounciness and better in the short games (i.e. returning serves).

2) I agree with getting a coach as well. Or get someone from the club to explain spins to you well. I am always confused by rubber reviews such as Tenergy 80 is "less spin sensitive" than Tenergy 05. After all, both T80 and T05 respond to spin (they are both inverted rubbers after all) so you still have to read the spin if you want to return a serve with any quality on it. Maybe in the 40+mm plastic ball era, if you are not sure what spin is on the ball, just whack it like it is no spin? I can see how that strategy might work for some people.

3) I have always said, it might be easy to see someone else using a non-conventional rubber (such as anti, LP's, SP's and medium pips) but you don't know how much work that person has put on it. I used to play penhold and tried long pips and medium pips on my backhand for extended period of time. During that period, I was playing Jpen so I still used inverted rubber like 95% of the time but would occasionally return serves or push with LP's/medium pips to confuse the opponent. I can tell you, it is not easy to use LP's or medium pips well. If you cannot read spin, you can easily pop the ball up for an easy kill from your opponent (you still need to read spin somewhat even if you use LP's or medium pips). If you really want to switch, just be prepared that your rating will drop for about 3-6 months in the adjustment period. If you are willing to take that risk, then switch to a non-conventional rubber could be a good idea.

I am playing double inverted shakehand right now because I have a feeling that I have not reached my peak rating. Once physically I am on the decline with joint pains everywhere, then yeah, I will probably slap either SP's/LP's/anti on the backhand side (at the moment, I am leaning toward anti's). Right now, I am also playing mostly with friends at the club so pulling up anything that is not double inverted will ruin the fun so I am sticking with double inverted for now.

Is that Hurricane 3 Neo?

 

[pingpongpaddy]

A bit more detail:
The thing is, you can't be a good receiver unless you have a very good understanding of the why, where, and how of what the server is trying to do, in terms of spin, placement, and how he percieves the intentions and stance of the receiver. In other words you need to have general expertise in competitive table tennis.
In your over the table strokes, you need to be able to play, pushes, soft flips and drop shots consistently, such that when you make an error the error is providing you feed back so that you know how to adjust to get it right next time. If you have poor footwork and so return while off balance, or perhaps you constantly experiment too much resulting in poor feedback.
As Tony says a good coach can help a lot.

 

[Jslick89]

Best way to improve your serve is to gain experience. Have your partner give you the same serve over and over until you can get a good feeling for the serve. Then move on to the next serve. It is going to take thousands of repetitions and many months to improve your serve return.

Another thing, you are probably out of position in most of your serve return. There are a lot of videos on youtube that show the proper mechanics you should be doing to prepare for each and every serve. Essentially, you are going to start with a couple small steps while your opponent tosses up the ball, and then once you see the first bounce, you make your final adjustment step. this is how you will be in optimal position to return the serve, giving you the best check to make a quality return.