Definition: In table tennis, topsheet spin is an informal term used by players to describe how spin is produced by a rubber with a very grippy or tacky topsheet. These topsheets are usually placed on hard sponge, which means that the ball will not sink very far into the sponge on contact, which minimizes the amount that the topsheet can wrap around the ball. So more of the spin is produced by the stickiness of the topsheet, rather than the wrapping effect of the ball sinking into the sponge.
Rubbers that use less grippy topsheets and softer sponges are said to produce more mechanical spin instead of topsheet spin.
