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I am a pickleball player and hear a lot about side spin in ping pong tennis but not much in pickleball
I was wondering what side spin even really is

Side spin is one of the 4 major types of spin in racket sports
1. Top spin (or over spin) > Ball spins towards the opponent as it travels towards him / her / them . The spin direction is the same as ball travel direction. Ball contact is made at a tangential angle sort of brushing the ball (The extreme version of top spin is called looping where you create excessive top spin). Ball travel direction has an arcing angle & not in a straight line
2. Top spin (or over spin) > Ball spins towards you (the striker of the ball) opponent as it travels towards him / her / them. The spin direction is opposite of ball travel direction. Ball contact is made at a tangential angle, sort of brushing the ball (called slicing or chopping) . Ball travel direction could be close to a straight line similar to No spin (See item 3 below)
3. No spin: Ball has no spin. Ball contact by the paddle is made at the most vertical angle Ball travels in straight line without any spin . Takes minimum time to reach your opponent thus giving them less time to react. There is no such thing as pure no spin
4. Last but by no means the least type of spin is the fourth type, the side spin. There no such thing as pure side spin because side spin usually gets combines with either top spin or back spin. This is what makes spins in table tennis so complex. Side spin is the least exploited & most neglected spin mostly by amateurs other than in serves, though amateurs can benefit a lot more from side spins than pro players, if amateurs used side sins more during rallies. When the ball has side spin it will break towards either towards the right or left of the opponent while also traveling forward. Most amateurs over focus on training on top spin , essentially wasting time. Why ? Because at the amateur level , though top spin is the most dominant style of play, it is not that useful for amateurs as it can be for pros because most opponents know how to play against top spins, as every one else is training for it all the time LOL. Whereas the side spins if used more can make both your tops spins & back spins lot more lethal especially lost more at the amateur level than the pro level

You read more about spins & side spins in table tennis at the website below

Tactical TableTennis

James Z wrote: ↑April 20th, 2025, 10:45 pm You read more about spins & side spins in TableTennis at the website below

Tactical TableTennis

Fan ZhenDong 's fade loop (shown in the article in above website) is insane

Does anyone have video clips of Kim Taek Soo 's side chop block ?

That is the most vicious I have ever seen