Suggestion #4: Send It Back
Not only are most short pips relatively unaffected by the spin put on the ball by an opponent, they are also quite good at sending that spin straight back at him. As part of my research for this article (yes, I do do research from time to time!), I was watching a DVD of Peter Karlsson of Sweden play He Zhi Wen of Spain in the 2005 World Championships. It was quite interesting to watch Karlsson serving the ball with heavy sidespin, only to have He Zhi Wen touch the ball back without trying to spin it himself, just allowing Karlsson's spin to keep going. The ball would often bounce sideways on Karlsson's side of the table, making life difficult for the Swede. Most inverted rubber players seem to kill the spin when returning serve in contrast, or put their own spin on the ball, so the ball rarely jumps sideways like that on the return of serve. A shot that looked so simple by He Zhi Wen actually became very effective.Suggestion #5: Give It Out
When serving, remember that your short pips can still impart a meaningful amount of spin. It's the deception and placement that are more important than just the sheer spinniness of the serve. Again, going back to He Zhi Wen vs Karlsson, He Zhi Wen was giving Karlsson all sorts of trouble with his service, using a variety of long spinny serves and short angled serves to great effect.So don't just tap the ball over the table when serving - make the most of your opening shot.
Suggestion #6: Fire Up the Footwork
In order to be able to play close to the table for maximum effect, you need to have your feet firing on all four (two?) cylinders. Getting to the ball on the rise or at the top of the bounce requires fast reactions and smooth footwork, so get up on the balls of your feet and get moving. Happy feet! Happy feet!Suggestion #7: What's Your Angle?
As mentioned earlier, the short pips rubber is less likely to be affected by spin from the opponent. The flipside of this is that it is also less able to impart spin. This means that your racket angle when hitting needs to be more precise than the average inverted rubber player. So short pips will suit the player who can execute the same stroke over and over again.Think of it this way - the inverted rubber user is more affected by spin, and will have to use a wider variety of racket angles to hit the ball on the table. But he also has the ability to put more spin on the ball himself to counteract the opponent's spin. If he can put enough spin on the ball, he can be slightly incorrect with his racket angle and still land the shot on the table, as his heavy spin will bring the ball down safely.
The short pips player, on the other hand, is less affected by his opponent's spin. He doesn't need as many racket angles as an inverted player. But he had better get that angle correct, because he cannot spin the ball heavily to make up for any errors. He has a narrower margin of error with racket angles, but he also has less angles to worry about.
Suggestion #8: Keep the Change
You may want to use your short pips in tandem with an inverted rubber or long pips on the other side, to provide extra variation. Penholders may not need to bother or want the extra weight of an inverted rubber on the backside, but I would think that a long pips with no sponge would not be a bad idea for the occasional surprise.Most good shakehander shortpips players seem to use inverted on the forehand and the short pimples on the backhand, and don't seem to twiddle much at all, if ever. As a twiddling defender, I would think that the odd twiddle wouldn't hurt them that much, but seeing as most of the better players are attackers, perhaps they are looking to force mistakes via their power rather than their deception. One notable exception was Teng Yi of China, who would often twiddle the bat for his service - although he did use the short pips on the forehand instead!
Conclusion
That's about it from me on the subject of short pimples. I hope it's helpful to those of you out there who are looking to play a bit better with those short pips you bought. And remember, if you have any suggestions to make, or know of a good article about using short pips, please email me or post in the forum and I'll add your tips or link to the page so everyone can learn from it.Return to Table Tennis - Basic Concepts
