As we discussed with antispin rubbers, there are several factors involved in how a particular long pimpled rubber works. Each long-pimpled rubber uses these factors differently, which is why no two long-pimpled rubbers play exactly the same way. The factors involved are listed below. Please keep in mind that this is my theory about long pimples, so I'm not claiming to be the last word on the subject.

Please keep in mind that in the items discussed below, the amount of spin we are talking about is much less than for inverted rubbers, but it is still significant.

(1) Amount of Grip of the Top of the Pimples.

All long pimpled rubbers have much less grip than normal rubbers, but this does not mean that they all have no grip. There is actually quite a difference in grips between different long-pimpled rubbers. The more grip they have, the more the player will be able to change the spin that you have put on the ball. Some long pimples have smooth, almost glassy pimple tops that do not grip the ball at all, while others have rougher pimple tops that will grip more, and yet others have a smooth pimple top that grips.

(2) Amount of Grip of the Sides of the Pimples

The sides of the pimples can vary in the same way as the tops, with similar effects. Bear in mind that the sides do not have to be the same as the tops! The importance of this fact will be clearer after reading the next point below.

(3) Softness of the Pimples

The softer the pimples, the more they will tend to bend when the ball is hit, and the more the sides of the pimples will be able to touch and affect the ball. Stiff pimples will require more force before they bend, but once they do, they may bend quite a lot! A player using softer pimples will be able to produce more spin variation that a player using stiff pimples, provided that the sides of the pimples have some grip.

(4) Width, Density, and Shape of the Pimples

The wider the pimples, the less they will tend to bend, and thus the less the sides of the pimples will touch the ball. The more dense the pimples, the more contact can be made with the ball and the more the rubber will be able to affect the spin. The shape of the pimples is a bit more difficult to figure out. Most pimples are the same width at the bottom and the top, but not all. The pimples that I used to use were actually narrow at the bottom and wide at the top, like a funnel or ice cream cone. I believe that this tends to make the tops of the pimples get more contact with the ball while the sides of the pimples get less. Whether this is true, and whether it is even a significant difference is open to debate (I liked them though!). I assume the reverse would be true for a long pimpled rubber with a wide base and narrow top.

(5) Thickness and Hardness of the Sponge

The thicker and softer the sponge, the more the pimples will sink into the sponge when the ball is hit, and the more pimples will be able to touch the ball to generate spin. The sponge will also help catapult the ball back from the bat, adding some speed to the ball. Long pimpled rubbers without sponge will tend not to have this catapult effect, and will be slower than their sponge counterparts.

(6) Speed of the Rubber

The faster the overall rubber, the less time the ball will stay on the rubber and the less opportunity to spin the ball. I think that there have been studies done that indicate that the speed of the rubber does not affect the dwell time, but this is my gut feel about the effect of rubber speed.

(7) Speed Glue

Speed glue softens the sponge, allowing the pimples to sink into the sponge and allowing more pimples to touch the ball, as in (5) above. It also increases the catapult effect, increasing the speed of the return.

(8) The Type of Stroke Used

The type of stroke used is very important with long pimpled rubber, much more so than for anti-spin rubbers. I don't think I can do this factor justice in a short paragraph, so I'll deal with it later in the article on a page of its own.

(9) Speed and Bounce of the Return

The effect of the long pimples on the spin of the ball is not the only problem that you will face. Compared to a stroke with an ordinary rubber, the amount of speed on the ball will be less with the same stroke made by an long pimpled rubber. A thicker, harder sponge will tend to return the ball faster, but it will still not be anywhere near as fast as a normal rubber. A speed-glued long pimpled rubber might just about get there, though. In addition, the bounce of the ball off the table will also be different, due to the difference in spin and speed applied by the long pimpled rubber.

All of these factors will affect the amount that your opponent can change your spin. Bear in mind that if you spin the ball and your opponent does not change your spin, the ball will keep spinning in the same way but it's overall motion will be in the other direction, so if you hit a topspin it will come back to you as backspin, and if you hit a backspin it will come back to you as topspin. This is true regardless of what rubber your opponent is using, it is just easier to do with long pimples. (Think of a chopper chopping a loop, for example. The spin on the ball is always in the same direction, but it is coming to the chopper as topspin, and to the looper as backspin.)

Next: How Do Long Pimples Work in Practice?

The Short Version

As Carl Danner was nice enough to point out in my article on anti-spin rubbers, the short version for both topspin and backspin with anti-spin is as follows - "Basically, anti-spin continues the spin already on the ball, so you get (effectively) back the opposite of what you have hit -- only slightly less intense, as you noted." This still holds true for long pimples, but with a couple of important points to be aware of.

Long Pimples vs Anti-spin - What's the Difference?

"Anti-spin, long pimples, whatever! They're both funny rubbers - how different can they be?" Very different, young Jedi. Now pay attention and I'll explain why you can't always treat anti-spin and long pimples in exactly the same way. Note that the stiffer the pimples, and the less friction on the pimple tops and sides, the more the long-pimples will tend to act like anti-spin. But as the grip of the pimple tops and sides increases, and the more the pimples tend to bend, the more important the two factors mentioned below become.

Reason 1: Long Pimples CAN kill the spin on the ball.

OK, so the purists will argue that this is not exactly true. But take it from me, an experienced long pimples player can take your spinny loop drive and float it back with very little spin, or at the very least much less spin than you think will be on the ball. How does this work? Imagine the table tennis ball that you have looped going spinning into the long pimples of your opponent. (See Figure 1) If he meets the ball with a relatively flat stroke, the pimples on his bat will tend to bend in all sorts of directions, and then spring back. (See Figure 2) If the tops and sides of the pimples are grippy enough, and if the pimples are flexible enough, they can greatly reduce the amount of spin on the ball, as all the pimple tops and sides will grip the ball and attempt to give it different spins, which will tend to cancel each other out, as well as helping to reduce the original spin on the ball. (See Figure 3) Many players don't think that this is really possible. But keep in mind that with normal rubber, part of the reason you can spin the ball is because there is plenty of grippy contact between the table tennis ball and the topsheet of the rubber. So if the long pimples have grippy pimple tops and pimple sides, then when the pimples bend there can actually be a lot of rubber contacting the ball. Borrow a friend's pimpled rubber sometime and press the ball into the surface, and watch how the pimples bend and how the amount of contact with the ball dramatically increases.	Figure 1
	Figure 2
	Figure 3

Reason 2: Long Pimples can dramatically INCREASE the spin on the ball.

Figure 1	"What? You just said that the pimples can kill the spin on the ball! How can they increase the spin as well? It doesn't make sense!" Rest assured, dear reader, it does make sense and it can happen. Here's why: Imagine, once again, that you have looped the ball to your opponent. Your opponent hits the ball with his long pimples, and at the moment of contact, he brushes the ball in the same direction as the spin (ie the ball is spinning forward down towards the floor, and the opponent is also hitting from high to low, down towards the floor). So the pimples are now going in the same direction as the spin on the ball. (I'll try to add a suitable picture for this explanation later, for the moment your imagination will have to do)(Note: Pictures added. GL 2nd March 2005). If the pimple tops and sides are grippy enough, and the pimples are flexible enough, they will have a lot of contact with the ball and thus will be able to add to the spin on the ball, making your opponent's reply a very heavy backspin ball.
Figure 2
Figure 3

These are the main two reasons long pimples cannot be treated in the same manner as anti-spin. Ignore them at your peril.

What happens when I topspin? - The Long Version

The examples shown below are assuming that your opponent is using a long pimpled rubber with medium speed, and reasonably flexible pimples that have some grip. As the pimples get stiffer and their grip becomes less, the more they will play like anti-spin, which I have already explained. The grippier and more flexible the pimples are, the more pronounced their effects mentioned below will be. Again, this will vary for each type of long pimples, as they all have slightly different characteristics.

(A) Your topspin to your opponent's topspin style stroke.

1. You hit a heavy topspin ball. Your opponent hits the ball with a topspin style stroke and with flat, non-brushing contact. The long pimples will bend in many directions and grip the ball, thus tending to kill the spin as they all spring back into position. The ball will come back to you fairly quickly and with float or a little backspin. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return would have no spin or a little topspin. Your bat angle will be incorrect, and the ball will go into the net.
2. You hit a heavy topspin ball. Your opponent hits the ball with a topspin style stroke and brushes the ball rather than flat hitting it. The pimples will tend to bend in the opposite direction to the way your opponent's bat is moving, which means that as they spring back they will work to decrease the amount of spin on the ball. The ball should come back to you as a light backspin to a very light topspin, depending on the amount of grip and bend of the pimples. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return would have medium to heavy topspin. Your bat angle will be incorrect, and the ball will bounce on your side of the table.

(B) Your topspin to your opponent's chop style stroke

1. You hit a heavy topspin stroke. Your opponent hits the ball with a backspin style stroke and with flat, non-brushing contact. The long pimples will tend to bend in all directions, gripping the ball in a pincer-like effect, before rebounding to their original positions. This will tend to kill the spin on the ball, so the ball should come back to you fairly quickly and with little or no backspin. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return would have little or no backspin. So in theory, you actually should hit a good shot. We'll come back to this point later.
2. You hit a heavy topspin ball. Your opponent hits the ball with a backspin style stroke and brushes the ball rather than flat hitting it. Now the pimples will tend to bend in the same direction (the opposite to the direction the bat is moving), so when they spring back they will increase the spin on the ball. The ball should come back with a very heavy backspin. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return will have medium backspin. Your bat angle will be incorrect, and the ball will go into the net.

Advanced Tactics

You probably noticed that in B1 above, you were actually lucky enough to pick the right spin, even though your reasons may have been incorrect. This leads into a discussion of some of the advanced tactics used by combination bat players. As you improve, you will learn how the anti-spin or long pimpled rubbers behave. However, the quality of your opposition is likely to improve as well, and this means that their tactics will change too. At the advanced level, players can figure out very quickly how a particular anti-spin or long pimpled rubber behaves, and will not lose points by misjudging the spin from the funny rubber or by not noticing which side of the bat has been used to strike the ball. So the combination bat player will try to hide the type of contact from his opponent, so the opponent does not know whether the ball has been brushed or hit with solid contact. I'll go into this topic in more detail when I write about how to use anti-spin and long pimples, but for now, here are a couple of sample scenarios:

1. Imagine that you are an advanced player who knows how long pimples work. You loop the ball, and your opponent returns it using his long pimples. You think he has brushed the ball, but in fact he has made solid contact. Since you know how long pimples work, you think he has increased the spin, but in fact he has reduced it. Your next shot is likely to fly over the end of the table.

2. Again, imagine that you are an advanced player who knows how long pimples work. You loop the ball, and your opponent returns it using his long pimples. You think he has hit the ball solidly, but in fact he has brushed it. Since you know how long pimples work, you think he has reduced the spin, but in fact he has increased it. Your next shot is likely to hit the bottom of the net.

Ok, so much for returns from your topspin strokes. But what happens when you backspin the ball to your opponent? For all the information that matters, go to Part VI - What Happens when I Backspin?

Next: What Happens When I Backspin the Ball?

To explain how long pimples work in reality, it is probably easiest to compare them to how normal rubber works. Imagine this scenario:

You and your opponent are both using normal rubbers such as Sriver. You topspin loop the ball to your opponent, and he plays his stroke by moving his bat from near his knee to above his head, in a fairly typical topspin action. What type of speed and spin will be on the ball that is coming towards you?

Answer: The type of spin can vary all the way from a slow heavy topspin if your opponent has spun the ball without much forward motion, to a medium-fast loop with medium spin if he has spun the ball and hit through the ball about equally, to a very fast loop or drive with not very much spin if he has hit through the ball without spinning it much.

In this day and age of smooth grippy rubbers, most intermediate and advanced players will know what is happening instinctively when they are playing, and adjust accordingly. This type of topspin rally is what the many hours of training has prepared you for. It is an entirely predictable scenario - if you watch your opponent's stroke closely enough, you will know what spin and speed is on the ball coming towards you.

Now imagine that your opponent is playing with a long pimpled rubber. Once again, you topspin loop the ball to his forehand, and he uses the long pimpled side to play a stroke from his knee to his head, in a fairly typical topspin action. What type of speed and spin will be on the ball that is coming towards you?

Answer: The ball will be anywhere from a heavy backspin ball to a float ball, depending on the type of long pimples used and the type of contact made by your opponent. It will not be a topspin ball. Read on for the reasons why.

Next: Playing Against Long Pimples - What Happens When You Topspin the Ball?

The examples shown below are assuming that your opponent is using a long pimpled rubber with medium speed, and reasonably flexible pimples that have some grip. As the pimples get stiffer and their grip becomes less, the more they will play like anti-spin, which I have already explained. The grippier and more flexible the pimples are, the more pronounced their effects mentioned below will be. Again, this will vary for each type of long pimples, as they all have slightly different characteristics.

Here are a few example scenarios and an explanation of what will happen:

(A) Your Backspin to His Topspin Style Stroke

1. You hit a heavy backspin ball. Your opponent hits the ball with a topspin style stroke and brushes the ball rather than flat hitting it. Now the pimples will tend to bend in the same direction (the opposite to the direction the bat is moving), so when they spring back they will increase the spin on the ball. The ball should come back with a heavy topspin. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return will have heavy topspin. So in theory, you actually should hit a good shot. But remember the advanced deception we talked about previously.
2. You hit a heavy backspin ball. Your opponent hits the ball with a flat, non-brushing contact. The long pimples will tend to bend in all directions, gripping the ball in a pincer-like effect, before rebounding to their original positions. This will tend to kill the spin on the ball, so the ball should come back to you fairly quickly and with little or no topspin. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return will have heavy topspin. Your bat angle will be incorrect, and the ball will go into the net.

(B) Your Backspin to His Chop Style Stroke

1. You hit a heavy backspin stroke. Your opponent hits the ball with a backspin style stroke and with flat, non-brushing contact. The long pimples will bend in many directions and grip the ball, thus tending to kill the spin as they all spring back into position. The ball will come back to you fairly quickly and with float or a little topspin. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return will have float or a little backspin. Your bat angle will be incorrect, and the ball will be likely to go into the net.
2. You hit a heavy backspin stroke. Your opponent hits the ball with a backspin style stroke and brushes the ball rather than flat hitting it. Now the pimples will tend to bend in the same direction (the opposite to the direction the bat is moving), so when they spring back they will reduce the spin on the ball. The ball will come back to your with a little backspin. Why you will hit a bad stroke next - with a conventional rubber his return will have medium to heavy backspin. Your bat angle will be incorrect, and the ball will 'pop up' into the air.

Return to How To Play Against Long Pimples - Main Page for the Conclusion