From Greg Letts,
Your Guide to Table Tennis / Ping-Pong.
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What Happens When You Topspin - The Short Version

As Carl Danner was nice enough to point out in my article about how to play against antispin rubbers, the short version for both topspin and backspin against antispin is as follows - "Basically, antispin continues the spin already on the ball, so you get (effectively) back the opposite of what you have hit -- only slightly less intense, as you noted." This still holds true for long pimples, but with a couple of important points to be aware of.

Long Pimples vs Antispin - What's the Difference?

Antispin, long pimples, whatever! They're both funny rubbers - how different can they be? Very different, young Jedi. Now pay attention and I'll explain why you can't always treat antispin and long pimples in exactly the same way. Note that the stiffer the pimples, and the less friction on the pimple tops and sides, the more the long pimples will tend to act like antispin. But as the grip of the pimple tops and sides increases, and the more the pimples tend to bend, the more important the two factors mentioned below become.

• Reason 1: Long Pimples CAN kill the spin on the ball.

• Reason 2: Long Pimples can dramatically INCREASE the spin on the ball.

These are the main two reasons long pimples cannot be treated in the same manner as antispin. Ignore them at your peril.

What Happens When You Topspin? - The Long Version

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.

(A) Your Topspin to Your Opponent's Topspin Style Stroke.

1. You hit a heavy topspin ball. Your opponent hits the ball with a topspin 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 backspin. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return would have no spin or a little topspin. Your bat angle will be incorrect, and the ball will go into the net.

2. You hit a heavy topspin ball. Your opponent hits the ball with a topspin style stroke and brushes the ball rather than flat hitting it. The pimples will tend to bend in the opposite direction to the way your opponent's bat is moving, which means that as they spring back they will work to decrease the amount of spin on the ball. The ball should come back to you as a light backspin to a very light topspin, depending on the amount of grip and bend of the pimples. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return would have medium to heavy topspin. Your bat angle will be incorrect, and the ball will bounce on your side of the table.

(B) Your Topspin to Your Opponent's Chop Style Stroke

1. You hit a heavy topspin stroke. Your opponent hits the ball with a backspin style stroke and with 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 backspin. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return would have little or no backspin. So in theory, you actually should hit a good shot. We'll come back to this point later.

2. You hit a heavy topspin ball. 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 increase the spin on the ball. The ball should come back with a very heavy backspin. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return will have medium backspin. Your bat angle will be incorrect, and the ball will go into the net.