Different Types of Table Tennis Rubbers

Layla Sun (Translated by Kyra Tsen)

Do you know there are several types of table tennis rubber?

Rubber is the surface that comes in contact with the ball, hence the properties of your rubber and your opponent's rubber are critical to the way we hit the ball. In this article, we will introduce the characteristics of different rubber types, including tips on how to play against them. Generally, there are five main types of rubber sheets: Inverted Rubber, Short Pips, Medium Pips, Long Pips, and Anti-spin. For the sake of simplicity, we will not discuss other variants in this article (e.g., some rubbers that are in between medium pips and short/long pips). Finally, I will provide a simple way to quickly distinguish three different pimpled rubbers. Hopefully you will have a preliminary understanding of different rubbers after reading this article.

Characteristics of Different Rubber Types

Inverted Rubber

Inverted rubber is also commonly referred to as “Pimples-in Rubber”, “Smooth Rubber” or “Reverse Rubber”. An inverted rubber is usually composed of two layers: underneath is a layer of sponge with rubber pimples facing towards it, and on the surface is a layer of smooth top sheet rubber. It is by far the most popular type of rubber.

Inverted Rubber Characteristics:

1. Top sheets have some degree of grip or stickiness

2. Can provide high degree of friction

3. Able to generate tremendous spin

4. Provides easy control over shots

P.S. Inverted rubber is the most versatile type of rubber which comes in various forms. It is great for all styles of play, from the all-round attacker, mid-distance aggressive looper, close-to-the-table defender, to the most defensive minded chopper.

🔔Notes:

The versatility of the inverted rubber allows an extensive variety of stroke play. Choosing a rubber from a variety of properties and combinations of spin, speed, control, power, etc., really depends on individual preferences. Table tennis is a complicated sport full of variety and different playing styles, which also makes it unique and interesting.

2021 Qatar Open Women's Singles Semifinal

Inverted Rubber Playing Style

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Short Pips

Short pips rubber, also known as “short pimples-out rubber”, has an uneven surface and usually has a layer of sponge underneath.

Short Pips Characteristics:

1. Pimple length 0.8 to 1.0 mm

2. Provide more control than other pimpled rubbers

3. Highly responsive

4. Effective use of the blade and the sponge to increase speed and power

5. Difficult to generate spin compared with inverted rubber due to reduced grip of short pips rubber

P.S. Short pips were mainly used by Chinese traditional penholder who play fast and close to the table.

🔔Notes:

Generally, short pips rubber provides less power on the backhand. While inverted rubbers are good for looping, short pips are great for smashing. However, a fast and powerful smash also requires higher precision. The best strategy against short pimples is to vary the pace and spin. It is also relatively difficult for short pips to return heavy spins. When a short pips opponent produces a ball that looks quick, you should not match your opponent's rhythm, but rather counter your opponent's rhythm. Generate sufficient spin and power to force your opponent to adapt to your spin. As long as the opponent's rhythm is disrupted, he/she will be less consistent and more likely to make mistakes.

Liu Guoliang - Short Pips on Forehand, Chinese Penholder

Short Pips Playing Style - World Champion Liu Guoliang

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Medium Pips

Medium pips, as the name implies, is a rubber with pimple properties somewhere in between short and long pips. Taking some of the characteristics of the two pimple rubber types makes it quite an unpredictable rubber that is both difficult to play with and difficult to play against.

Medium Pips Characteristics:

1. The appearance can be difficult to distinguish from short pips, but it tends to be softer and more flexible than short pips.

2. Suitable for offensive style as the ball returns faster after contacting the medium pips.

3. Better control of the ball when playing against heavy spin, and the ball returned by medium pips will drop slightly.

4. The main disadvantage is that it is difficult to generate spin. When returning the ball softly, it becomes less stable than short pips and returns inconsistent shots - sometimes it's a floating ball, and sometimes the ball drops into the net.

🔔Notes:

Speaking more generally... Most of the time, you will be facing dead balls or floating balls with drastically less spin when playing against medium pips. Make sure your body and center of gravity remain stable during your strike. Keep in mind, if your opponent pushes the ball, it will come back with no spin. Your response should be to play a drive as you would returning a topspin with nearly no spin. However, if they play a chop block or a flat block against your loop, it can reverse the spin so it returns with backspin or with float. Many players lose their rhythm against medium pips. It’s quite annoying, isn't it? If you have ever played against a medium pips player, you may immediately recall this awkward feeling.

An interesting playing style using the medium pips rubber~

😲🤭A Folk Master in China Playing Medium Pimple on Forehand😄

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Long Pips

Long pips are a pimpled rubber with long and thin pimples. They are mostly used by defensive players as they tend to slow down and reverse the spin on the ball upon contact.

Long Pips Characteristics:

1. The pips on the rubber are longer than 1.5 mm

2. The pips are softer, longer, and more flexible than short or medium pips

3. Hardly generate their own spin. If you use the long pips rubber to serve, it will always be a topspin or no-spin serve.

4. The amount of spin on the ball hit by a player using long pips depends on the amount of spin given by their opponent.

🔔Notes:

Interestingly, amateur players often get confused and make a lot of mistakes when playing against long pips. The unpredictability of the spin may give long pips players an advantage over opponents who have not learned to read spin. The easiest way to describe long pips rubber is that it reverses the spin on the ball, i.e., a topspin will come back as a backspin, and a backspin will come back as a topspin. If you don’t understand this mechanism of long pips rubber, you won’t be able to play against them at all!

"Overcome hardness with softness."- Deng Yaping coaching long pips skills

World and Olympic Champion Deng Yaping Coaches Long Pips Skills

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Anti-spin

Anti-spin rubber is an inverted rubber sheet with a very smooth top sheet and a “dead” sponge layer. The resulting effect is that it neutralizes and nullifies the spin produced by the opponent.

Anti-spin Characteristics:

1. Rubber with thicker top sheet and shorter pips

2. Less response and stickiness

3. Soft sponge of about 2.0 mm is often used with anti-spin rubbers

4. Nullify the effects of the opponent’s aggressive topspin

5. A ball returned by anti-spin rubber will have limited forward momentum

6. Even a heavy spinning shot returned by anti-spin rubber does not have much forward momentum

🔔Notes:

Although the anti-spin rubber is a pimples-in rubber as is inverted rubber, this type of rubber is non-tacky and slippery, so therefore has little friction. It usually has a soft and dead sponge that can absorb various incoming strikes. Today, anti-spin is comparatively rare. You can distinguish an anti-spin rubber by noticing the rubber with “anti” in its name. Or, if you sense anything abnormal with the opponent's rubber, you can directly confirm with your opponent before the game.

The rhythm changes caused by the anti-spin rubber can be very disturbing for the opponent. Generally, players who use anti-spin tend to make the ball come towards you more slowly. Therefore, when playing against it, you need to pay special attention to the changes in rhythm. is the ball often comes more slowly with force weaker than we anticipate.

If you are playing with or playing against anti-spin for the first time, you may have a similar experience: regardless of what the incoming shot is, every shot touches the anti-spin rubber "in vain". You will usually find yourself confronted with a “knuckle” ball. A very peculiar style of play in table tennis games.

Anti-spin Technique Demo

Anti-spin Technique Demo

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How do I Differentiate Pimpled Rubbers

The following is a demonstration of different types of pimpled rubbers. I quickly identify the type of pimpled rubber based on the length of the pimples and the reaction of the pimples when they are contacted.

"Short Pips"- Short pips have a short length of pimples, and you can hardly move the pips.

"Medium Pips"- Medium pips have medium-height pimples on the rubber sheet. You can move the pips with a little force.

"Long Pips"- The rubber surface of long pips is covered with thin and tall pips. The taller pips are soft, flexible, and easy to move. When you move the pips, you can feel the touch like a brush.

Many players encounter difficulty playing against different types of rubber. If you cannot distinguish rubbers, you won't be able to use the correct strategy. A common outcome is that you might even lose to an opponent whose skill is not as good as yours. Playing effectively against different rubbers requires practice and experience, and knowledge of the differences is half the battle. Learning to correctly recognize and understand rubbers is definitely an important lesson in playing table tennis!

We hope this article is useful to you, and you can enjoy playing against various types of rubbers and different styles of play! 😊