There are additional confusing factors.
For example my understanding is that manufacturers can request ITTF to classify a rubber as anti type. There are no defined parameter for a rubber to be called an anti rubber. Especially for he most important parameter called COF (Coefficient of Friction) . There is minimum requirement of 0.5 for COF for pips rubbers but there is no such definition for anti rubbers.
It is seven more confusing for pips rubbers. For instance some rubbers that are actually slim pips rubbers such as Victas Curl P2 or Butterfly Magnitude behave more like slim pips but they are listed as wide pips on
(click link >) ITTF LARC . If I am not mistaken both these rubbers were listed as slim pips on the ITTF LARC about 10 or 15 years ago.
Also , the maximum allowed pip length is the same (2.05 mm) for any and all pips.
But manufacturers have been designing wide pips to behave like slim pips but getting them listed as wide pips on the
(click link >) ITTF LARC . This is done as a marketing gimmick to sell more rubbers. Because lot of clueless players are led to believe that wide pips can be a chopping rubber.
But keep in min that the two most primary defining parameters for wide pips are its short length & higher stiffness compared to slim flex pips.
But manufacturers have modified one or both of these parameters to make wide pips act like slim pips to sell more rubbers to clueless players who fantasize about being wide pips choppers.
But in all fairness to ITTF and manufacturers , they cannot be blamed 100% because pip flexibility and pip stiffness are only two of the
(click link >) 17 or so pip design parameters and they all work together to define a given rubber. This is also why learning to play using slim pips is much harder than learning to use anti or wide pips. This is also why many players become
(click link >) Honorary loopers when you combine the above factors with fear of social rejection by the
(click link >) robotNazis , who rule the table tennis world by turning into a pathetic schrade of top spin only (Olympic) table tennis