(Long) Pips or Anti which one should you choose ?

[Punch Blocker]

1. If you are an away from the table chopper, your only choice can be long pips. Anti may have been initially successful for chopping in the 70’s but in modern time anti for chopping is a joke This despite the fact that there is not a single High Aspect Ratio super long pips is available yet for high level choppers. Only rubber that comes close is Magic 77 from China but since the pip tops are not rough enough and pips are not a tough flexible enough , Magic 77 is only qualifies as all around long pips, There are zero long pips available for choppers in the 40+ plastic ball era thanks to 7 rule & regulation changes by ITTF since 1983 to exterminate the choppers. All the long pips on ITTF’s LARC such as Feint Long 3 are pure garbage in the context of the 40+ ball

2. If you are a close to the table blocking style player who can also attack a lot, certain anti rubbers can be better in your case than frictionless type long pips because LPs are in this mode are the hardest to learn to use. But if you are an older player who cannot attack much due to physical limitations of in general slowing down on certain motor skills , reflexes etc, then LPs may be a better choice than anti. But keep in mind that all new antis may not be really antis because ITTF says a rubber can be classified as an anti based on manufacturer “demand” as ITTF puts it.

3. This whole section is based on the traditional definition of short pips but of late the trend seems to make short pips behave like long pips by manipulating the 7or 8 parameters of pip deign just as marketing gimmick. Last but not least don’t ever use short pips as a secondary weakside rubber (usually backhand). Short pips are ONLY meant for the best natural born tabletennis players with lightening reflexes & feel for the ball to be used as a primary side attacking aggressive block & smash style of play. Blocking type long pips are a far better choice for close to the table players as a weakside rubber. At worst use some medium pips and never short pips. The worst problem with short pips (especially at lower amateur levels) is return of serve which is an absolute joke since the opponent can attack it the best better than any type of rubber. Even if you are not using the most disruptive long pips and just us a medium pips (which is usually called a type of long pips) , this scares lot of pip hating robotNazis & make them play tentative (again at lower levels). (But then again on the flipside if you are an honorary looper who worries more about what your robotNazi opponent would think & want to be more accepted by them just because you use short pips and not long pips, then this whole discussion with you is a total waste of time) And even a chopping spinny inverted rubber such as Tackspeed 2000 is better than a short pips rubber. Aggressive blocks with any type of long pips are better than short pips when used in the secondary weakside mode. I am using weakside & strongside (or primary side & secondary side) mostly in the context of (mostly lower level) amateur players. Mima Ito quite possibly may be using the wrong rubber by not using something like Deng Yaping did based on many factors. As for as chopping with short pips away from the table goes that is an even bigger joke because players who do not understand the basic mechanics of how long pips work in comparison with short pips seem to be under the delusion (or had been brainwashed into believing or under the delusion because short pips seems easier to use and learn than long pips) they can vary spin better with short pips than long pips. In the hands of a pro like Ding Song or Hou Ying Chao yes they are magicians they can do “almost” anything but most low level hackers are under the delusion that they can do it just because Ding Song or Hou Ying Chao can do it. So get a clue & get a life. Limit your psychosis of being Mima Ito or Hou Ying Chao to the fantasy level. It is not reality.

Of course these are always exception to above general guidelines And in the final analysis players will resort to what they feel comfortable & throw all logic out the window or for many other irrational reasons such as peer pressure or vanity (of trying to be a two winded looper to fit in)