articles by our google group members

[Steve Grant]

The new issue of Table Tennis History has thought-provoking articles by Albert on page 36 and Marcus on page 41.

https://issuu.com/swaythlingclub/docs/tth_may_2025?fr=sMGU2Mjg0ODkzNTQ

Steve

[AJ Scott]

Funny--I'm going thru the issue now and I see you have an article on ping-pong hotels.  I last traveled thru Japan 20 yrs. ago and, driving on the highway, I saw many a billboard for ping-pong hotels--PING-PONG HOTEL NEXT EXIT -- GREAT FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!

I dunno how many of those motels are still around, but they were everywhere in Japan decades ago

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[Marcus Allison]

I just read Albert's article about choppers. I am an all-around player, and I employ chops in my game, close to and away from the table. The size of the ball and the new ball's plastic has contributed to less spin generation. Another factor has been the lack of rubbers able to create spin. 

I don't use pips, and in my opinion the best all-round rubber to chop with was Donic's A'Conda, which was an incredible rubber. Unfortunately, Donic stopped making the rubber, and I think it's no longer considered ITTF-friendly, but take my advice, it was an incredible smooth rubber to chop with. I never liked Butterfly's Tackiness Chop; though it is highly capable of generating backspin, it's incredibly slow. Xiom made the Yanus rubber, which is also commendable, but as it ages, it dries out and doesn't generate spin. 
Andro's early Rasanter rubber was incredible, but it never came thinner than 1.5; at least with the Donic A'conda I could get it in 1.3, though the underlying pips invariably broke after about a month of play. 

So far, the best smooth rubber to chop with these days is Victas'  VS>401, which I use on my backhand. It doesn't come thinner than 1.5mm -- and it's heavy, but it's the best rubber I have ever chopped with. It enables a player to play incredible topspin and backspin shots. 

Whenever I watch table tennis highlights, sometimes I have to stifle a yawn as I watch the counter-topspins between the opponents that tend to build in velocity which, ultimately, leads to someone winning the point. Where's the intrigue? Where's the parrying? Table tennis matches often lack the momentum shifts that you find in tennis, where both players utilize chops to slow the game down to reset the game. Anecdotally, I find that the easiest way for me to win a point is to switch from parrying topspin shots to a sudden chop. Most players I encounter do not know how to respond to a chop unless they are topspinning it. 

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