Retiring the Pips

If and when I get to play more, I know some of my opponents will be pleased to know I’m no longer using pips. I wouldn’t blame you if you said, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Equipment junkies can change their minds at any moment, and I am most assuredly an equipment junkie. But, I have purged my home of all short, medium, and long pips (I do have a hard bat paddle, just in case.) The pips you see in the picture have been ripped off, stomped on, burned, and buried in a secret location. I had a good run as a pips player. It was educational. I don’t fear playing against pips. I played with pips so long that my style of play was affected by my equipment choice. My playing style won’t change. It’s far easier to change equipment than it is to change the way you play. I’m still a combination racket player. The pips have been replaced with anti. 

While long pips are typically more deceptive than anti- spin, a good anti can be easier to use. I’m finding I feel the ball better. One of the things that makes pips deceptive is that they bend on impact. The fact that pips bend, makes shots less controllable. Even short pips can be tricky to use, due to the decreased surface area of the rubber that touches the ball.  The anti- spin rubber I use can be played with strokes that are more similar to conventional strokes.  I’ve already written several posts about my experiences with anti-spin. Clearly, I’ve been gravitating towards anti. I’ve known more players that went the other direction, and gave up on anti, and went to long pips. It took me a while to find an anti that I really liked. I’m using Spinlord Gigant II. Don’t try the original Gigant. It’s so slow, that it’s hard to even get the ball over the net.

My expectation is that some of the players who whined about playing against pips, will eventually be whining about playing against anti. The anti is a pretty big contrast to my faster side. Another advantage that anti has over pips is that the anti can potentially last forever. There won’t be any broken pips to worry about, and it can’t lose it’s grip, because it doesn’t have much. I’ve gone through a ton of pips over the years, and I’m sure I’ll still be buying equipment in the future. But, I’m done with pips, so you can all quit complaining.