Question about Short Pips & sponge thickness

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   Sorry if this has been repeated but last night on a whim i glued a sheet of 802 which what looks to be on a 1.0 sponge on my clipper penhold blade. I got the rubber from a buddy quite a while ago. Wonder if it's a custom glue job because it's hard to find 80-2 in this thin of a sponge. Previously I had been using 802-40 on a 2.0 air super soft sponge I got from Cole. I like it. 
I was surprised when hitting on the robot that the speed of the balls appeared to be about the same between the two.

So that leads me to my question. Since you're more flat hitting & driving, is the speed of the ball based more on your swing and speed of the blade?

Does more sponge simply up your ability to spin the ball? If that's all it does then I really don't need that for me. 

I have tested out for a long time trying to hit more with my LP with sponge when I twiddle so I'm accustomed to attacking with low grip. I didn't mind the 802 in 1.0 at all. It felt a little more crisp and the speed was there. I can only assume the balls would be more disturbing for my opponents. I should say I did have the robot firing out the balls at a decent pace so part of my speed could have been simply feeding off the robot. Perhaps the robot shooting off at slow speeds would make it harder for me as I'd have to be the one generating the force.

What do you guys think about sponge in how it relates to speed for short pips? Does it matter all that much?

Thanks.

Edited by suds79 - 10/26/2016 at 10:15am