Sound familiar? I think we all have heard a fellow table tennis player say this at one time or another. I'm not going to get into why I think they should be allowed and even encouraged, that's a topic for another article. Suffice to say that anti-spin and long pimples don't look like disappearing soon, and although there may not be many players in the World's Top 100 Men using anti-spin or long pimples, I'm willing to bet that you, dear reader, are not in such elite company either or else you probably wouldn't be interested in hearing my views on how to play against these 'funny' or 'junk' rubbers. I've covered anti-spin in an another article, now it's the long pimpled rubbers turn.
(Note: This guide is more to do with the theory behind how long pimples work. I'll be giving specific tips on how to play against different types of long pimple users in separate articles.)
So take a deep breath, gird up your loins and read on...
- What is Long Pimpled Rubber? Why Do People Use Long Pimpled Rubber?
- How do Long Pimples Work in Theory?
- How do Long Pimples Work in Practice?
- What Happens When You Topspin?
- What Happens When I Backspin?
Conclusion
If you are still with me after all that heavy going, congratulations! Now go back and read it again to make sure it all makes sense. Then go out and find a long pimples player and try it out.In a nutshell, there are 4 basic rules that you must remember:
1. What Did You Just Do to the Ball?
It is important to keep track of what the last stroke you played was - chop or topspin? If you chopped the ball, your opponent will only be able to use his long pimples to give you a return that ranges from float to heavy topspin. Similarly, if you loop the ball, your opponent can only use the long pimples to give you a return that varies from float to heavy backspin. Remember, the range of possible returns is wider with long pimples than for anti-spin.
2. What Stroke Did Your Opponent Play?
If he plays the opposite stroke to you (ie chop against topspin), he will be able to float the ball or put heavy spin on the ball by accentuating your original spin. If he plays the same stroke as you, the ball is likely to be lightly spun but the opposite type (ie his topspin stroke from your topspin will give slight backspin), or a float ball.
3. What Side of the Bat Did He Use?
Remember, all of the above assumes that your opponent actually hit the ball with the long pimpled side. All bets are off if your opponent twiddles the bat and uses the conventional side when you are not looking!
4. What Type of Contact did He Make?
This is more important for long pimples than for anti-spin, which has much less ability to change the spin on the ball. Remember, the advanced long pimples player will assume that you know how to adjust to his long pimples, and he will be trying to both vary and hide the type of contact he makes, in the hope that you will play the right type of shot to the wrong type of ball.
When in Doubt, What Do I Do?
Sooner or later, it's going to happen. Your long pimples using opponent hits the ball and you don't remember what spin you put on the ball, or you didn't notice what side your opponent used. Or even worse, you don't know what type of contact he made with the ball. What is your best course of action? The way I see it, you still have the same two choices that you had against anti-spin rubber:
- My own personal recommendation is to hit the ball slowly but put as heavy a spin on the ball as possible, based on the theory that if you heavily spin the ball you will have a better chance of overriding whatever spin is on the ball already, and the slowness of the shot will give you a large area of table to land the ball on.
- Other players I know like to hit the ball as fast and flat as they can, working on the principle that if you pick a specific spot on the table and aim for it, hitting quickly and flat should help kill the spin on the ball and it will hopefully go in a straight line towards where you have aimed.
Which theory works best for you? - try it out and see!
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