Weekly Training Update - 11/07.2026

 Hi, fans of table tennis.  I'm going to post updates here about my weekly training schedule, noting the new serves, footwork exercises and regular and irregular exercises that I'm focussing on presently.  I'm also going to review the materials I'm presently using which will hopefully help anyone out there who's interested in or curious about these matters.

Frank, Brendan and Paul win the Ormeau TTC masters team championship 

This week I officially gave up interest in short pimples which I thought would offer a contrast on my backhand.  I gradually discovered that my backhand is actually spinnier than my forehand and short pimples definitely not for me although I am beginning to explore it as a possible forehand rubber.  I have used:

Donic Baxster 1.8mm sponge

Andro Blowfish 2.00 sponge

Andro Blowfish 1.8mm sponge

Nittaku Moristo SP 1.8mm sponge

The ideal blade for SP is a 7 ply wood and the optimum sponge thickness 1.8mm.  1.5mm doesn't work on a carbon because the rubber bottoms out, hits the carbon and flys off uncontrollably.  1.5mm would only work on a wood but 1.8mm is a better thickness for a player with an attacking style.  2.00mm is too thick and the rubber begins to behave very like an inverted rubber at this thickness.  But short pimples work in the range of 1.5mm to MAX because its an offensive style rubber.

John and Paul winners of County Antrim Table Tennis doubles and runners up in the cup

The Donic Baxster is somewhere between a short and a medium pimple on a medium sponge.  Its a hard rubber to control and its character is fast and attacking with a significant sink effect.  When blocking or punching against topspin, the rubber absorbs the spin and sends a dead ball back which literally sinks to the ground.  Andro Blowfish is similar to the Donic but it has a soft rather than a medium sponge so its a bit easier to control.  Neither rubber offers much disruption if played too passively, if played aggressively the disruption on offer happens quickly and will offer challenges to topspin oriented players.  The Nittaku Moristo SP has a vertical pips arrangement unlike the other two which are horizontal.  Generally speaking, the horizontal arrangement is good for spinning and the vertical is good for flat hitting.    This is the rubber of Japanese star Mima Ito who apparently uses it on a MAX sponge.  Its good for a range of short pimples shots including blocks, chop blocks, chiquitas, flicks, punches and flat drives.  It can also be used for looping against backspin but the shot is much harder than with inverted.  I've more or less given up on short pimples for the moment but I would like to try Dr Neubauer's rubber Killer, a short pimple with a pronounced disruptive effect, and also Spinlord's Waran and Degu which are popular and reasonably priced.  Waran is another attacking style short pimple whereas Degu offers more control for defensive blocks and chop blocks.   More defenders are now using short pimples on the backhand because they offer a more flexible set up than long pimples.  They can chop and attack too, the difference is that the short pimples offer less spin but more control.

I began to wonder if using short pimples helps us to develop or faciliate spin?  When I started using sp on my BH it wasn't spinny but now I find spinning, flicking and loop drives on my BH easy.  Maybe using different rubbers helps us to develop 'feeling'?  

The Masters trophy 

This week I've been working on backhand flicks, banana flicks, reverse pendulum service and placement.  The banana flick is a modern shot designed to cancel the effects of the pendulum service, enabling the receiver to apply both topspin and sidespin.  Then I practised the reverse pendulum service which is a highly disruptive service served short into the opponents forehand or longer into the backhand.  Its the hardest service to master and the banana flick is also an advanced shot which requires dedication to understand and harness.  If you can do both, then you'll have a formidable game.

Winner of 3rd division, Birmingham Table Tennis Academy