(5) Thickness and Hardness of the Sponge
The thicker and softer the sponge, the more the pimples will sink into the sponge when the ball is hit, and the more pimples will be able to touch the ball to generate spin. The sponge will also help catapult the ball back from the bat, adding some speed to the ball. Long pimpled rubbers without sponge will tend not to have this catapult effect, and will be slower than their sponge counterparts.(6) Speed of the Rubber
The faster the overall rubber, the less time the ball will stay on the rubber and the less opportunity to spin the ball. I think that there have been studies done that indicate that the speed of the rubber does not affect the dwell time, but this is my gut feel about the effect of rubber speed.(7) Speed Glue
Speed glue softens the sponge, allowing the pimples to sink into the sponge and allowing more pimples to touch the ball, as in (5) above. It also increases the catapult effect, increasing the speed of the return.(8) The Type of Stroke Used
The type of stroke used is very important with long pimpled rubber, much more so than for anti-spin rubbers. I don't think I can do this factor justice in a short paragraph, so I'll deal with it later in the article on a page of its own.(9) Speed and Bounce of the Return
The effect of the long pimples on the spin of the ball is not the only problem that you will face. Compared to a stroke with an ordinary rubber, the amount of speed on the ball will be less with the same stroke made by an long pimpled rubber. A thicker, harder sponge will tend to return the ball faster, but it will still not be anywhere near as fast as a normal rubber. A speed-glued long pimpled rubber might just about get there, though. In addition, the bounce of the ball off the table will also be different, due to the difference in spin and speed applied by the long pimpled rubber.All of these factors will affect the amount that your opponent can change your spin. Bear in mind that if you spin the ball and your opponent does not change your spin, the ball will keep spinning in the same way but it's overall motion will be in the other direction, so if you hit a topspin it will come back to you as backspin, and if you hit a backspin it will come back to you as topspin. This is true regardless of what rubber your opponent is using, it is just easier to do with long pimples. (Think of a chopper chopping a loop, for example. The spin on the ball is always in the same direction, but it is coming to the chopper as topspin, and to the looper as backspin.)
