An Annoying Trend (at least in my area)

The exact same trend I experience here in my area. People change and I just have to beat them. But all of them are pushblockers and while I still win I think it's messy and ugly. Completely ruining the beauty of our sport!

If you can't beat them, join them .  Growing up I was playing with SP on both sides (back in the day), and there was the trend of people using 'smooth' rubber, some even put them on both sides .  I hated it, as the spin was too much, and I could not return the spinny serve well, and those side spin loops were just killing me.  I thought to myself this is not TT, what fun was it to win points on serve, and tricky spinny loops?  I was 10 yrs old.  So I broke my piggy bank, and did tons of errands for cash to get enough money and bought myself a sheet of smooth rubber, took me months to learn to control it though. The thing I learn now though is you always loose to a better player most of the time, so suck it up and train harder .

Edited by mhnh007 - 10/11/2012 at 10:37am

For me, I always play smooth rubber players at practice but get to a tournament and over half of them use pips. I wish I had a couple to practice with, but yeah i would not want all the smooth rubber players i play with to keep switching to pips. Sometimes it sucks when the only person looping is yourself.

That is a good strategy.  A lot of times, the pips players have very good forehand drives, but weak backhands.

If they're just standing at the table doing pushblocker style, they are trying to let the funky rubber do all the work for them. If you can understand how your spin continues off their paddle, you won't have any trouble.

Well, I really love to play against long pips away from the table, if they play the  traditional game of chopping defense. Nice long ralleys and smart playing :-)

paradisoch wrote:   Am I the only one who feels this way? Any hints on dealing with this situation?

hookumsnivy wrote: You're looking at it all wrong.  Playing against pips players will help your game.  As more and more players use pips, the less and less effective they become.   It sounds like you just want to get into looping rallies or work on your kill shots.  Strategy is a huge part of this game.  Take advantage of the opportunity to play the pips players and improve your overall game.

+1

frogger wrote:  I destroy pips in any form. I humiliate them, there friends, their financial advisors, their grandmothers, their pets...I almost feel sorry for them...life is good.

Why do players complain when someone is using pips? You want to stop the trend? Learn to beat them and beat them every time.

At my club, pip players don't breed that much because they get beaten.... sometimes way too easily.

FireHorse, the reason the pip players give you trouble is that you're not used to that style of game.  You're so used to playing 1 style of game that the new style gives you trouble.  Also, you haven't had a chance to test out different strategies against pips.

Edited by hookumsnivy - 10/11/2012 at 11:22am

hookumsnivy wrote: There's a player at my club who uses long pips on his BH (he has a bunch of different paddles and experiments with different pips for fun) and he knows how to use them.  He can reverse the spin, return it with nothing, attack with them, but most importantly he knows the game - he'll move you around and exploit your weaknesses.  I have yet to beat him, but I find myself improving a little after every match.  He also twiddles to really mess w/ you.

Are you referring to George?   If so, I'd add that he typically plays penhold (sometimes shakehand), which makes his style even more interesting, as he can better cover the table with just the pips, but on the other hand, this makes it difficult for him to attack weaker balls, which can be a major weapon for combination (LP/smooth) players.

I wish we had more players at our club with unique styles/equipment around George's level and above - I can think of only two - him and Alok.

I am 100 % sure that using pips is a disadvantage. I would not recommend pips to any athletic person. Why VOLUNTARILY give up the opportunity to attack low, under the level of the net balls?? 

You have to learn to adapt that is the sport (any sport), there is no absolutes, you have to accept that plus accept losing gracefully...you can't win everytime...NO ONE can but you can improve your win:loss ratio.

Edited by The Shakehander - 10/11/2012 at 12:04pm

I don't know if any of you guys care, but I got ripped apart in a thread on another forum by a bunch of players because I grouped defensive players in one category using a catch term "junk" which some players found offensive. My intent was not to offend anyone obviously ( although I think the society is getting a bit too sensitive to different words and taking generic terms too close to heart at times), but regardless I learned my lesson and will do my best from now on to research some terms.

http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=17933&start=390#p208903

However, in the posts you'll find some interesting stuff. Most pip players do is take pride in picking a different type of game on purpose. Only in the US will you find players who want to "boost" their performance with pips. While everywhere else with a less rating based performance model, the players tend to switch to pip play for fun and strategic sense. Some really like fetching the ball instead of hitting one. To each his own sort of thing.

So I wouldn't quite discount the reason why some athletic people use pips. They can get to many more balls that then nonathletic pip players ( and be choppers away from the table instead of blockers close to the table ) and maybe even rip a few smooth forehands every once in a while. It is all about strategy and choice on how one wants to construct the points. So please don't discount the pip guys - they need to be respected ALL THE TIME! Their game is dangerous and they can adapt too! So give them credit and work hard in a match against them, that is they only way to learn to play them better!


Edited by Leshxa - 10/11/2012 at 12:08pm

assiduous wrote: I am 100 % sure that using pips is a disadvantage. I would not recommend pips to any athletic person. Why VOLUNTARILY give up the opportunity to attack low, under the level of the net balls??  I love playing against pips. I just RIP THEM OPEN. If I lose to a pips player, he is just much better than me to begin with, not pips fault. Yeah, the spin is counter intuitive at first, but once u get used to it you will LOVE those slow, generally high returns. You have all the time in the world for a comfortable position, and i love having time for a good swing.  Unless the person is old or has some physical handicaps that restrict movement there is no reason to use pips. And don't go tell me about JSH. He is an exception and he is a fantastic player to start with. I am sure he would be just as good, may be even better if when he was a kid he started developing as normal player.  The best thing to do if u don't like pips is learn to destroy them! That will discourage them :) For me.. if a play a 1900 looper i am miserable. Balls flying left and right, never have time for anything decent. If I play a 1900 piper.. i still lose at the end, but it's a long match, i usually take games, and I have initiative in every single point. Just do a long, simple, nonspiny serve to the pip and get ready for loop! Very easy and enjoyable.

Have you considered the Short pips player HE Zhi Wen? Maybe that kind of style would not be easy for you!!

to me it's just another dimension to the game. i get to work on specific tactics against many of them. if most do not know how to control their own pips, then i can easily set up look drives. if it gets into a longer rally or if they manage to block/return my loops, then it's just another way for me to work on my impact and make sure i read the spin right.