Playing Against Long Pimples - What Happens When You Backspin the Ball?

The examples shown below are assuming that your opponent is using a long pimpled rubber with medium speed, and reasonably flexible pimples that have some grip. As the pimples get stiffer and their grip becomes less, the more they will play like anti-spin, which I have already explained. The grippier and more flexible the pimples are, the more pronounced their effects mentioned below will be. Again, this will vary for each type of long pimples, as they all have slightly different characteristics.

Here are a few example scenarios and an explanation of what will happen:

(A) Your Backspin to His Topspin Style Stroke

1. You hit a heavy backspin ball. Your opponent hits the ball with a topspin style stroke and brushes the ball rather than flat hitting it. Now the pimples will tend to bend in the same direction (the opposite to the direction the bat is moving), so when they spring back they will increase the spin on the ball. The ball should come back with a heavy topspin. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return will have heavy topspin. So in theory, you actually should hit a good shot. But remember the advanced deception we talked about previously.

2. You hit a heavy backspin ball. Your opponent hits the ball with a flat, non-brushing contact. The long pimples will tend to bend in all directions, gripping the ball in a pincer-like effect, before rebounding to their original positions. This will tend to kill the spin on the ball, so the ball should come back to you fairly quickly and with little or no topspin. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return will have heavy topspin. Your bat angle will be incorrect, and the ball will go into the net.

(B) Your Backspin to His Chop Style Stroke

1. You hit a heavy backspin stroke. Your opponent hits the ball with a backspin style stroke and with flat, non-brushing contact. The long pimples will bend in many directions and grip the ball, thus tending to kill the spin as they all spring back into position. The ball will come back to you fairly quickly and with float or a little topspin. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return will have float or a little backspin. Your bat angle will be incorrect, and the ball will be likely to go into the net.

2. You hit a heavy backspin stroke. Your opponent hits the ball with a backspin style stroke and brushes the ball rather than flat hitting it. Now the pimples will tend to bend in the same direction (the opposite to the direction the bat is moving), so when they spring back they will reduce the spin on the ball. The ball will come back to your with a little backspin. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return will have medium to heavy backspin. Your bat angle will be incorrect, and the ball will 'pop up' into the air.

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