Long Pips, Short Pips, Choppers: How to Handle "Odd" Styles
Unusual styles beat you through unfamiliarity, not superior technique. This article breaks down the spin rules and the routines for long pips, short pips and choppers, with a two-minute scouting checklist for the start of a match.
Every club has at least one “odd-ball” player — long pips, short pips, a chopper. Most people who lose to them share one feeling: they lost without understanding it, and never even saw where the ball went.
Let’s be clear about one thing first: the advantage of these styles is built on being uncommon, not on absolute skill. They beat you with your unfamiliarity with the spin rules, so the way to crack them is fixed too — understand the principle first, then use targeted routines, and finally build up adaptation by playing them often.
Long Pips: The Spin Is Reversed
Long pips have thin, long pimples that bend on contact and spring back, creating reversed spin: you loop topspin in and it comes back as backspin; you push backspin and it returns as topspin or no-spin. Long pips do not generate strong spin of their own — they just hand your own spin back to you.
| Your shot | Long-pips return | What you should do |
|---|---|---|
| Loop topspin | A sinking “fake backspin” that nets easily | Do not panic; the ball is actually no-spin — loop again or drive it |
| Push backspin | Topspin or no-spin, popping up easily | This is your chance ball; get ready to smash |
| Serve heavy sidespin | The return floats and is hard to read | Switch to a slow, long no-spin serve |
A few hard rules against long pips: attack more, push less — the more you push, the more you fall into their rhythm; keep your returns long so they cannot borrow force inside the table; and attack the inverted side rather than the long-pips side whenever you can, since a twiddler’s inverted-rubber ball carries normal spin.
Do not serve heavy spin into long pips: a spun ball is exactly what they borrow, so send a slow, long no-spin ball to the baseline, and they can only loft it weakly back — that is your chance to smash outright.
Choppers: A War of Patience
A chopper stands far back and chops heavy, wearing you down with backspin and changes of pace. The order for beating a chopper is fixed:
- Looping backspin is the basic skill. The whole match is looping backspin, a double test of stamina and stroke stability. If you cannot loop backspin, forget the rest.
- Move him around. Never let him set and chop: alternate loops to the two corners and slip in a short push, sending him front, back and sideways. Chopping on the move is always worse.
- Vary pace and spin. Alternate heavy and light spin, soft loops and hard ones. Keep him guessing; guess wrong and he sends up a high ball.
- Take the chance. When the return sits up or slows down, smash decisively. No mercy.
The biggest enemy is your own impatience: a chopper is waiting for you to try to kill it in one shot. Stay patient and drag the rally into your tempo.
Short Pips and Inverted Fast Attack: Quick, but Afraid of Spin
Short-pips and inverted fast-attack players stand close and hit early, pressing you with speed. Three answers: slow the tempo with short pushes and long pushes, denying them the fast ball; serve heavy backspin and loop more, since pimpled rubber tolerates heavy spin far less than inverted; and aim at the middle and the body, the shot fast attackers handle most awkwardly.
The Two-Minute Scouting Checklist
Against a player you do not know, do not rush to win the first few points — use them to scout:
- What rubbers does he use? Which side is long pips or short pips, which is inverted?
- Is he afraid of spin? Serve one heavy backspin and one no-spin and compare how much the return quality drops.
- Which is his weaker hand side? How does he handle the short game?
- Where does he score most? — That is the direction your position has to cover.
Once you have scouted, the tactics appear on their own. Stick with what works; do not switch to a new plan every three minutes.
Three Traps to Avoid
- Out-weirding a weird style. If you also start improvising, you play right into their hands — they have more experience than you.
- Being in a hurry to kill in one shot. Choppers and long pips both thrive on wearing down impatient players.
- Panicking after losing one game. Losing the first game as a scouting game is normal; the real match starts in the second.
Further Reading
- The Forehand Loop, Fully Broken Down — the first basic skill for beating a chopper
- Three Knives of the Short Game — short and long pushes are the foundation for controlling odd styles
- Receiving: Three Reading Signals — reading spin is the prerequisite for handling every strange ball
- Choosing Rubbers: Tacky, Grippy and Pimpled — understanding your opponent’s weapon starts with understanding the gear
In one line: an odd style is just an unfamiliar normal style — understand the spin rules, scout for two minutes at the start, and the mysterious opponent is revealed as an ordinary player.