Chopping Using Normal Rubber
Table Tennis Strokes and Technique
Last updated 5 years ago
Jack Tan Asked 5 years ago
I was thinking of developing a chopper/attacker style and practiced quite a bit of chopping (with reference from your videos (: ), however I realised that it is almost impossible to chop fast balls. Specifically forehand loops which are loaded with topspin. I have tried waiting for the ball's spin and speed to dissipate, but the topspin drags the ball down too quickly. I have also tried chopping with a more vertical stroke as shown in your video, but the ball still jumps up too high.
Questions:
Is it actually possible to chop fast, topspin loops with normal rubber?
Do I need to get pimple rubber to be able to chop properly?
Alois Rosario Answered 5 years ago
Hi Jack,
It is possible to chop a fast topspin wth normal rubber. It does require a lot of practice and touch.
The vertical stroke is a start, then think about relaxing your hand to absorb the speed and even think about the stroke going a little backwards, to get the ball to drop onto the table.
If you try this for a while and can't het the feel for it then maybe a switch to long pimples is the way to go.
Thoughts on this question
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D K Posted 5 years ago
What equipment do you use,Jack?
If you use an offensive setup,the chopping especially on backhand can become really troublesome.
Persona lexperience.
Jack Tan Posted 5 years ago
Thanks coach!
@D K
I'm using Rakza 7(2.0mm)[FH] + Rakza X(2.0mm)[BH] + Yinhe Uranus-3(OFF). Yes, I'm actually having quite a hard time chopping with my backhand especially since Rakza X is a tensor rubber. It'll take a while to get it right.
D K Posted 5 years ago
I have experience with chopping with Rakzas,preferably 7 and 7Soft, and I can say that even with slower blades they are difficult to chop with at backhand if you do not have really good touch,spinreading ability and fast reactions .
I have no experience with Uranus,however I used to play with YinHe Galaxy T-9 BalsaCarbon.
I havent twiddled back then too much as I was not able to handle the dusty feel and the speed when it came to inverted backhand chop.
Most of them is my inability,some balls are really hard to chop no matter how spin-sensitive your rubbers are,if we are talking about backhand.
D K Posted 5 years ago
Well the first line majorly applies to majority of OFF-to-ALL inverted rubbers.
Jack Tan Posted 5 years ago
Thanks for the knowledge!
D K Posted 5 years ago
Today,just curious,I tested against powerful lefthander chopping on backhand with my ALL inverted rubber.
On my backhand,a chop is my best stroke so far,however I had issue keeping it low,although it had a really big spin.
So again,you must have extreme touch and reactions.
Rohan Keogh Posted 5 years ago
I use Rakza X on my FH on an ALL/OFF balsa core blade and find FH chopping difficult with it. On my other, similar blade I have Victas 401 on both sides and find the chopping much more consistent. Obviously some of the issue is technique but I suspect the Rakza X just isn't the best rubber for chopping, especially on a faster blade. I wonder if it would be a different story on a more defensive blade.
D K Posted 5 years ago
Not sure with RakzaX Rohan,as I tested 7,7soft and 9 respectively. I tested RakzaX only once and for a short time,long ago.
I have experience with Rakza7Soft and Rakza7 on carbon blade,balsa blade,and also allwood blade.
You are right that light and lively balsas are not really good for chopping,they are too light and that speeds them up a bit.
I know 7 series on all types of blades,varying from topspeed Ma Lin Extra offensive (OFF+,Carbon) through YinHe Galaxy series (BalsaCarbon,OFF),Joola Eagle (OFF,Balsa),Victas Koji Matsushita (ALL,allwood) to Donic Defplay Senso (DEF-,balsa).
In combination with slow blades,Rakza7 is actually quite good for chopping on FH,you must only get some depth.
The Victas mentioned is the best chop+minor offense rubber I have tried so far.
Note that I have tested Tackiness series and STiga chop&drive as well.
But they were too defensive.
Thus,Jack,if yo uwant to go with both loop and chop with each side,I would give my trust to TSP Victas.
They are the specialists in this field,they are the holy grail of modern defense. I have experience with most of TSP longpips too,and I have knowledge about two Victas rubbers.
Or there should be also options from Dr Neubauer or Der Materialspezialist.
Those two brands are specialized in heavy reversal antispins,longpips,shortpips and various junks like this,however,they make a few inverted rubbers as well.
I have no experience on them though.....
What I am sure about them is that they are focused to offensive junk game.
Jack Tan Posted 5 years ago
I experimented with my chopping recently and found out that chopping backwards does work. Instead of starting at my right ear and ending at my left knee(FH), I tried starting at my forehead and ending behind my right knee and it works. For BH, I start at my forehead and end behind my left knee. The stroke looks and feels a little awkward, but it works quite well in terms of practicality.
D K Posted 5 years ago
Jack...the backward movement during chop is a bit..emergency option.
In my opinion your stroke should not go backwards,but YOU YOURSELF should go backwards.
It all seems to me that you are too close to the table and you are contacting the ball too high. Whether you are starting at forehead or ear does not really matter,it is just a small adjustment I guess...
What is important is the contact point.
Where is the bat when you are contacting the ball on both sides?
Also,never end with your bat behind your right knee when using forehand chop (I assume you are a right hander) or left knee in case of backhand chop.
This harshly limits the swing.
This is only useful with loose,I mean LOOOSE arm when you need to absorb an extreme amount of spin and power together in an emergency situation.
But dont confuse it with chop.
That is not chop.
It is a takeoff stroke. It creates a bit of backspin,but rather keeps some of the original spin of a powerful loop that came in....
A completely vertical stroke is an extreme,all chops should be more or less opened.
Although I admit that many times the strokes look vertical,they are a bit opened.
If you feel the ball is popping too far and high when you end up in front of the knee,think about turning.
You should have your right foot (BH)/left foot (FH) respectively more forward when chopping.
This way,you create a blank space for your swing.
That is the more important the faster your bat is.
This way you gain so called "depth" of the stroke and also you are getting a bit backwards.
Gaining "depth" in theory means that you can .... how to explain it..... I would say,that you can use your weight to "push down" and basically absorb some of the power too.
Rohan Keogh Posted 5 years ago
Good explanation DK. Thanks.
D K Posted 5 years ago
Thank you :)
I did not think it would be too useful
D K Posted 5 years ago
Jack,I have done some research on Uranus blade.
I was mistaken when I thought it is a balsa blade with topspeed.
It is slower than I thought,however,still OFF blade.
Heavy. That is better for chopping,since light blades tend to have short dwell time.
Allwood. That is also good,carbon blades may have bigger control but defenders rarely use carbon to defend.
I do not know your attack-defense ratio though.