In Depth - Why You Shouldn't Be Using Long Pimples
While the brotherhood of long pimpled players is always happy to have new members, it may be better for your table tennis career if you are thinking of using long pimpled rubbers for any of the reasons below.Lack of Fitness
If simple lack of fitness is preventing you from playing your best table tennis, then you owe it to yourself to get fitter and play your natural style. You'll be a better player in the long run than if you stay unfit and try to play a style that compensates for your laziness, but hurts the rest of your natural game.
Flaws in Your Technique
This is probably one of the most touchy subjects when the topic of long pimples is discussed, and I'm pretty 50/50 about it myself. It seems these days that anybody who uses long pimples to cover a weak shot with normal rubber, such as a poor backhand, is instantly dismissed as a craven coward, too scared to be a man and learn how to play properly. While I agree that a player should do all he can to improve his technique to get rid of weaknesses first, I also feel that if you have worked hard for years on improving your flaws (i.e. you have gotten coaching and trained hard) and they stubbornly remain, then you should feel OK about putting some long pimples on your bat and seeing whether your game improves. After all, there is nothing sacred about playing with normal rubbers - maybe your 'flaw' with normal rubber will be a strength with long pimples!
Inability to Read Spin
If you have problems reading spin, and think that long pimples will help you, you are both right and wrong. Some types of long pimples will help you ignore the spin on the ball to a large extent. The problem is that unless you are going to use the long pimples on both sides of your bat, there is no way known that you are going to be able to twiddle your bat around fast enough to cover both forehand and backhand with the long pimples whenever you want. Sooner or later you will be forced to hit a shot with the normal side when you don't want to, and you will have to read the spin on the ball. Using long pimples to help you ignore the spin will only make your ability to read the spin get worse, and you'll make a mess of those balls you are forced to hit with the normal rubber. Concentrate on improving your ablity to read spin instead - you'll get further.
Hoping for Easy Points
Those players looking to use long pimples to win easy points are going to be disappointed sooner or later. At the beginner's level, you will win a number of points simply because your opponent doesn't know how the long pimples work. At the intermediate level, your opponent will have a fair idea about how long pimples work, but you may still get a couple of easy points just from the difference in speed and bounce affecting your opponent's timing. You can also get an extra few points from twiddling regularly and taking advantage of the fact that your opponent won't notice or won't react to the different side fast enough.
But as you go to the advanced levels, forget it. Your opponent will know how your long pimples work, and he will notice which side of you bat you have used and adjust accordingly. The slower speed of the long pimples can actually work against you, as your opponent's rhythm won't be affected and he will use the extra time to set up for more powerful shots. There are still ways to get points using the long pimples, but none of them are the cheap fixes you were getting at the lower levels. You'll have to work just as hard, if not harder, to earn your points against advanced players. And at the pro level, just forget it. Who's the last professional you saw casually standing there at the table, twiddling his bat and winning effortless points? The professional long pimple players are the Energizer Bunnies of the table tennis world, bounding back, forward, and sideways in their quest to earn a point. Cheap points - fuggeddaboutit!
Conclusion
Having made my case for why you should or shouldn't be using long pimples on your table tennis bat, feel free to ignore all the above advice. After all, the main rule should be this: "Do you have more fun using long pimples or not?". Unless you are going to make table tennis your career, this simple question is probably the best rule of thumb to go by. But if you are anything like me, you generally have more fun when you win (!), and a bit of careful thought about the above issues may help you to choose the right path when deciding what table tennis rubbers and style are right for you.If you have decided that long pimples are for you, congratulations! Just let me ring the bell to signal another convert.