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Last updated: August 25, 2023
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Short pips rubber, also known as short pimples rubber, is a fast-growing trend in table tennis, especially among aggressive players. Its main catch is that it has all the characteristics of a grippy inverted rubber with a reduced amount of spin. It can help you generate a good amount of spin as well as neutralize it. With so many models on the market, it can be hard to choose one that meets all of your needs. In this article, we have rounded up the 6 best short pips rubbers to help you choose the right one.
Some of the critical features we considered in our reviews include durability, sponge thickness, pip hardness, speed, spin, and control. The pips’ quality, performance, and longevity are dependent on these features. With these in mind, the [firsy_product] became our Editor’s Choice.
"A high-tech rubber with an improved rubber sheet that produces a great pips-out effect, an impressive speed, and spin suitable for the pips-out attacker."
This is like the holy grail of short pips. It is popular among various players, both professionals, and beginners, like the famous He Zhi Wen. The Friendship 802-40 has a 2.2mm thick sponge, which offers the perfect speed for attacking. It is softer in texture and super-elastic, thus easy and fun to use. The pips comes in 2 colors, red or black, so you can choose what works for you.
The Friendship 802-40 pips tops our list because it is the best for an offensive player. With a speed of 12 and a spin of 10, an offensive player can attack efficiently.
Clearly, the Friendship 802-40 is ideal for the offensive player. It is built with the ultimate speed for a solid attack. It is also perfect for anyone looking for a professional short pips with a reasonable price point.
What do we love it for?
The first impressive thing about the Friendship 802-40 pips is its color options. Not all brands think of users' color preferences. We also loved its soft texture and super elastic feel, making it comfortable to use for long periods. The short pips also offers excellent value for money, which is a huge plus for many people.
What were we disappointed with?
Although the 729 Friendship 802-40 Mystery III Table Tennis Rubber is sold as a versatile option for both offensive and defensive players, it is better suited for offensive players. We realized it can attack efficiently but is pretty sensitive to an incoming spin. This means it works best if used on the forehand side.
The Moristo Sp is another popular option. It is a top preference for table tennis professional players like the young Japanese Super-star Mima Ito. The pips comes in a low, horizontal, conical shape. It has 2 sponge thickness options; maximum (1.8mm) and middle (1.5mm), so you can pick one that meets your spin needs.
The NITTAKU Moristo Sp Pimples out Table Tennis Rubber stands out with its white, small pored, and super soft sponge that offers high-tension performance. It also has a great elastic feel that facilitates a swift attack and an amazing block. The speed is also fantastic and sufficient for an efficient attack.
All considered, the Moristo Sp is best suited for any player that needs to improve their game close to the table. It offers a good spin, not as good as that of inverted rubber, but good enough for an attacking player.
What are its best features?
We noticed that the NITTAKU Moristo Sp Pimples out Table Tennis Rubber with thing sponge makes a flatter trajectory than most short pips rubbers, thus perfect for a flat attack. The thick rubber is great for all kinds of attacks, including; a flat attack, a counterattack, against a chop, and when chopping against a topspin attack.
What could be improved?
Although the thin sponge rubber is perfect for a flat attack, it offers less control against a heavy topspin. We also noticed it offers insufficient power against a chop and very poor control in chopping against a topspin. If you are a professional player, you'd be better off with the thick sponge rubber.
Yasaka Rakza is a Japanese brand popular for their top quality and reliable rubbers. The PO pimple is a fast and medium-hard rubber that offers a great grip for a ball and has better control than most rubbers within its range.
The most unique thing about the Yasaka Rakza PO pimple is the natural gum on the top sheet. It is more natural than the ones on most models. This reduces the catapult effect that most rubbers produce. This makes it ideal for non-professional players and beginners.
Overall, the Yasaka Rakza PO pimple is a fantastic choice for any player that blocks, hits, and drives the ball close to the table. It provides a powerful spin sufficient for an offensive style. It is also reasonably priced for a professional short pips.
What stands out?
Besides the 2 color options and the fact that the great Mattias Falck uses the Yasaka Rakza PO pimple, we loved that the short pips has a reduced catapult effect and is ideal for both novices and professionals. We also liked how easy it is to use the forehand drive, forehand topspin, and the smash moves.
What cons did we manage to find?
It is hard to complain about the Yasaka Rakza PO pimple because it has very few downsides worth mentioning. One, if you are looking to improve your block or hit far from the table, then you may want to look elsewhere. Also, its speed, spin, and control are relatively lower for an offensive stroke compared to what other models have to offer.
The TSP spectol is one of the rare hard and fast short pips out there. It comes in either red or black and has 2 sponge thickness options as well. You can go with the 1.7mm or the 1.9mm sponge. The pips is highly preferred by professionals for its unmatched top speed.
The TSP spectol has a hard sponge combined with the rubber allowing the player to make hard and fast shots. The surface also offers a flat ball bounce. What’s more, the rubber offers excellent control allowing the player to make the most accurate shots. Another reason why professionals like the TSP spectol is because it has a unique spin that creates difficulty for the opponent.
The TSP spectol is ideal for professional players or anyone looking to improve their game to a professional level. Its speed is unmatched, and its surface offers great control for the most precise shots.
What makes it stand out?
We liked the TSP spectol’s ability to create difficulty for the opponent with its impressive speed and unique type of spin. We also loved how easy it is to block and control the opponent’s spin shots. Moreover, you can play all kinds of strokes harder and faster without any difficulty.
Which disadvantages must you keep in mind?
There is very little room for improvement on the TSP spectol. The only issue would be that it is not the best option for non-professionals or beginners. A beginner would find it too fast. Also, we were not very impressed with its spin. It is sold as unique, but it’s not the best in the market, especially for a professional model, but it is sufficient for all kinds of strokes.
DHS is a Chinese brand steadily gaining notoriety for its high-quality rubbers. The DHS C7 is no exception. It comes in 2 colors, red and black, and has specially shaped short pimples. Its speed, spin, and control are pretty decent for defense, loop, and spin playing.
The DHS C7 Short Pips Out Table Tennis Rubber distinguishes itself from its peers with its unique hard sponge and highly elastic rubber combination. The robust combination allows the player to chop defense effectively far from the table as well as counterattack unexpectedly.
Clearly, the DHS C7 is meant for defense players. It is also built for those surprising counterattacks, but if you are looking to make solid attacks, you better look elsewhere. The short pips is also ideal for anyone who loves to get a good pennyworth.
What do we love it for?
The DHS C7 Short Pips Out Table Tennis Rubber sure does live up to its promise of double happiness. Any defense player will enjoy using it. We also notice its hard sponge gives it impressive speed, spin, and control for the occasional surprising offensive strokes. We also loved that DHS offers color options for this model.
What were we disappointed with?
The short pips’ hard sponge can be a hit or miss. It’s a miss because it can be hard to hit for a proper offensive attack. We also noticed its throw is too low and its control very difficult to use when attacking. On the flip side, if you manage to attack with the pips, your opponent will find it really hard to return your shot.
Victas is a renowned brand, founded by the famous TSP president, Koji Matsushita. He was once a world class defensive player, ad he strives to produce the best quality products for both the offensive and defensive players. The brand combines Japanese know-how and German excellence in making their products, hence the high-tech Victas VO > 102 Short Pips Tennis Rubber. The short pips comes in red or black and has medium hardness. Compared to its sister rubber, the VO-102 has a slightly larger pimple and is faster.
The Victas VO > 102 Short Pips Tennis Rubber is loved by many because it is soft and pretty spinny. Its high-tech design is meant to hit, spin, and block like an inverted rubber giving you a hard and solid feel without much sinking. The design is optimized to enable you to create effective spin variations as well as provide great control and direct ball feedback. The high energy tension technology combined with an elastic sponge and a pips-out top rubber sheet offer the best playing characteristics suitable for both beginners and top professional players. In a nutshell, the Victas VO > 102 Short Pips Tennis Rubber is the ultimate transit bridge to your goal if you have been dying to try out a pimples rubber.
What makes it special?
We love how the geometry of the short pips is optimized to offer top speed and variable spins. We also liked the amount of control and direct ball feedback the short pips give, thanks to the newly improved design.
What cons did we find?
We thought the short pips lacked a few characteristics of a traditional short pips an was more of an inverted rubber.
Things to Consider
With all the options on the market, choosing the best suitable short pimpled rubber for yourself can be a daunting process. It would be much harder if you know nothing about short pimpled rubbers. This buying guide has all the hints and pro tips for buying the best short pips rubber, whether you are a beginner or a professional player.
Benefits of Short Pips Rubber
Short pips rubbers come with a lot of pros, including:
Short pips rubbers have a decent amount of spin and are versatile for both offensive and defensive playing styles.
Best for Transitioning from Grippy Inverted Rubbers
Short pips rubbers have all the characteristics that a grippy inverted rubber
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has, except it has a reduced amount of spin.
Generate a Good Amount of Spin
Compared to other pimpled rubbers. Short pips rubbers have a pretty decent amount of spin.
Can Neutralize a Spin
Besides generating a good amount of spin, a short pips rubber can neutralize a spin with the hitting or punching action.
Versatile
Short pips rubbers are designed to be versatile for both offensive and defensive players. Offensive players Matthias Falck can hit through and smash the opponent’s topspin. Defensive players can use short pips to chop defensively.
How to Pick the Best Sort Pips Rubber
Here are some of the crucial aspects to consider when choosing a short pips rubber:
Sponge Thickness
Sponge thickness varies across different models. Some models have two options when it comes to sponge thickness. This is perfect for anyone who wants to enjoy top quality from a brand but still be able to get a rubber that suits their skill level. The minimum sponge thickness for most short pips is 1.0mm, while the maximum is 2.2mm. Anything above 2.2mm would be an inverted rubber.
If you are new to short pips, you should use the standard 1.5mm rubber until you have a good feel for it. When you get comfortable using the basic default thickness, you can adjust according to your playing style
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. You can move up to 1.7mm, which works wonders as it can do just about anything and is slightly faster.
Speed, Spin, Control
This is a critical aspect to consider. The speed, the ability to change spin and control will determine the kind of game you will bring on. Most short pips offer excellent control and decent speed, perfect for intermediate and professional players. The control that short pips offer is ideal for a player that plays close to the table and needs some control and variation in their game.
The speed they offer is great for attacking, blocking, and precise placement of the ball. They also offer great spin variation, perfect for forehand and backhand drives. Some models have a fast speed and a lower spin or control, like the TSP Spectol Speed Sponge Short Pips. You have to be keen on picking what suits your playing style. A decent speed is anything between 10 and 12, a good spin is anything between 7 and 10, and excellent control is anything between 6 and 10.
Pip Hardness
A medium-hard sponge short pips offers a better feel compared to a soft sponge as it allows you to roll and return serve better. Harder sponges are more linear and feel cleaner on most strokes.
On the flip side, softer sponges are bouncier when blocking and faster with topspins. To be on the safe side, go for a short pip with a very hard top-sheet and a soft sponge. It will feel much harder and direct than a hard sponge with a soft top-sheet. If you are just getting started, be sure to avoid the very soft pips as it may feel very unbalanced in the beginning.
Durability
There are varying observations about the durability of different types of rubber. With short pips, the hardbat seems to be almost everyone’s inclination. It offers great longevity and performance. Non-spinny short pips are also believed to last longer than their very spinny counterparts.
Go all the way for a high-quality short pips from a top brand that promises great longevity like the NITTAKU Moristo Sp table tennis rubber
Price
Prices vary across brands and models. Short pips are generally affordable. There are models as low priced as 18 dollars, like the popular 729 Friendship 802-40 Mystery III table tennis rubber. Others like the premium NITTAKU Moristo Sp rubber go for up to 80 dollars. Get one that offers excellent value for money with decent features.
Short pips rubber is an inverted sheet of rubber turned upside down. The spaces between the pimples is meant to take some of your opponent’s spin-off the ball so that you can aggressively attack their shots.
The first thing you need to do is stay close to the table. Next, get the rally to open as soon as possible by starting with no spin and topspin serves. Use placement during the rally with your backhand and apply speed to outpace and cut down your opponent’s time. Force a weak stroke with your place, then apply some speed on your backhand before attacking with your forehand.
If you use a spin on your forehand, your opponent will find it hard to adjust.
Our Verdict
Short pips rubbers are steadily gaining notoriety in the table tennis world. As a beginner or a professional player, you are going to need one at some point. With all the options available, it can be hard to choose one that suits your playing style and budget. Our list of products has something for everyone, from the professional to the player who values a good pennyworth.
For example, our best overall choice, the Friendship 802-40 Mystery III table tennis rubber, is the ultimate short pip you can get as an offensive player. It has fantastic speed for a solid and effective attack. It also offers an amazing value for money. Our second option, the NITTAKU Moristo Sp table tennis rubber, stands out for its premium super-elastic and high-tension performance.
The YASAKA Rakza PO Pimple Out Table Tennis Rubber is our third pick because of its natural gum on the top sheet. This will reduce the catapult effect that most rubbers produce, making it ideal for non-professional players and beginners and one of the best short pips rubbers.
References
1.
Inverted Table Tennis Rubbers: ESN vs Chinese Rubbers vs Tenergy - Megaspin
Lowest prices on table tennis tables, table tennis robots, and table tennis equipment.