Ethics of knocking up before match

ian owen Asked 3 days ago

Hi,

Last week I played a guy with pips on the BH and inverted on the FH (same set up as me). Before the match we warmed up. We played FH to FH, then when it was the BH's he used the same FH inverted rubber on the BH instead of the pips.

My understanding of the rules is that, although this is not illegal, it is considered unethical and borderline sportsmanship, as he got some experience of my pimple rubber, but this was not reciprocated. My question is, am I correct in my understanding?

During the match he played with inverted on the FH with pips on the BH.

Alois Rosario Answered 2 days ago

Hi Owen,

That can be a frustrating situation but he is well within his rights to warm up with the Inverted rubber on both sides.

I think you can also think of it as them not getting used to their pimple side in the warm up.  While it may not effect them as much as it effects you it will still be somewhat detrimental to their warm up.

What you can do is just hit the ball anywhere on the table and almost force them to hit with the pimples at least a couple of times.  There is no rule to say that you have to warm up on the two diagonals either.

Ideally you will have the opportunity to warm up with someone with similar rubbers before the match.  If not make sure you take the first few points to allow yourself to adjust to their rubbers.  Try to find out as much as you can and try not to get too frustrated with the situation.