The first question people ask when they find out about table tennis rubber with pips is whether it is worth trying on their own rackets for a while. The answer to that question, of course, is a resounding yes. When advancing as a player and getting beyond beginner status, it’s important to experiment with table tennis rubber of several different brands, sizes, and even pip styles.
So let’s go through some basic questions and answers about pips that will hopefully be of use.
Will pips improve my game?
This question is impossible to answer in a general way, but we can look at the types of players that have the best chance of finding success with table tennis rubber with pips. With short pips, it may or may not make a difference to an average players game. Playing with long pips can work best with players who are more defensive than offensive, however even the best players can make the ball really fly with any kind of pips. Short pips can be a good way to better control when receiving a serve or to negate some spin, however can also be used aggressively. Long pips can really take the spin out of a ball.
I have seen one danger in experimenting with pips on table tennis rubber, and that is that affecting the spin on the ball can give a player huge advantages when playing intermediate players or players unaccustomed to that style. Therefore, initially, when a player uses pips, there may be a false sense of improvement. It may actually just be that players at that particular level are susceptible to the way the pips affect the ball, but doesn’t show any actual improvement.
If this false sense of improvement leads players to think they are better when actually their skills have not changed, it can have an affect on a player’s later progress. Many intermediate level players seem to have peaked thanks to their use of pips, but at the same time limited themselves by not continuing to learn the fine points of the game and other table tennis basic and intermediate skills because of that success. Players may peak at high intermediate, but end up unable to overcome players at the next level for whom a racket with long or short pips is just par for the course. Advanced players know how to deal with spin and the lack thereof, and so players, whether using pips or not, really need to have their basic skills in order to advance.
In conclusion, by all means try table tennis rubber with pips, try long pips, short pips, intermediate pips, and a variety of brands, however please don’t let yourself rely on the racket for your wins. Continue to work your basics, footwork, and all the other necessary pieces so that when you meet an opponent who’s ready for pips, you’ll be ready to get the win with superior skills in addition to apropos equipment.
