Inverted or short pips
Table Tennis Equipment
Last updated 8 years ago
Allen Robson Asked 8 years ago
I played my first tournament as a defender and my weakness was lack of spin and the good players are too smart. I did ok though and had one decent win. Should I try and defend with inverted rubber? I don't want to give up on this style as I'm very good at hard bat. I know I need to put the training in but I don't want to waste time. By the way the Tournament was the Ulster Open and Gavin Rumgay lost to this young German chopper called Daniel Kleinhardt who won the event. The kids play was amazing!!
thanks
Allen
Alois Rosario Answered 8 years ago
Hi Allen,
If you are just starting with the defending in tournaments you have time to experiment a little. You could try to use an inverted rubber with thin sponge. This will give you control but also allow you a bit more scope to generate your own spin as well.
It would have been good to watch Kleinhardt especially playing against Gavin. I am sure that would have inspired your chopping aspirations.
Thoughts on this question
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Allen Robson Posted 8 years ago
Thanks Alois,
Yes that makes sense and I will give that a go. It was inspiring, Kleinhardt reminded me of a top Squash player recovering to the T after every shot!
thanks again for the advice
Ji-Soo Woo Posted 8 years ago
Changing to a thin sponged defensive inverted is definitely an option. I've seen some good choppers use Tackiness Chop on their BH for example. Another option is to learn to twiddle. This way you can get the best of both worlds. If the opponent rips a strong loop, you have the advantage of pips to help return the ball with heavy backspin. If the opponent hits a soft shot, you can twiddle and still get heavy backspin on the ball with an inverted push.
Allen Robson Posted 8 years ago
Cheers Ji. Yeah this guy Kleinhardt switched like crazy but he is another level from me. I think I'll try the Tackiness Chop and just practice a lot.