Definition: In table tennis, spin reversal is a phrase used when describing the effect of long pimpled rubbers and antispin rubbers.
When a player hits the ball with spin (e.g. topspin), the opponent can use long pimpled rubber or antispin to hit the ball back in such a way that most of the original spin is still on the ball, even though the ball is now travelling in the opposite direction back to the first player.
The ball now appears to have backspin from the perspective of the first player, and the long pimpled rubber or antispin rubber of the opponent is said to have performed spin reversal.
Some players also call this spin continuance, in recognition of the fact that the direction of the spin on the ball actually does not change at all.
Also Known As: spin continuance
