Etiquette of mystery pips
Discussion
Douglas Hill Asked 11 years ago
This is a hypothetical question -- the situation hasn't come up.
Suppose I'm about to play my first opponent in a tournament, and examine his rubber. The red side is conventional inverted rubber, the black side is some kind of pips, of a brand I'm unfamiliar with. In the warm-up, we hit forehand to forehand and he uses the red side. Then we hit backhand to backhand, and he uses the red side again. It appears that he doesn't want me to get a preview of what those mysterious pips do!
Normally in the brief warmup before a match we exchange forehand to forehand (assuming both players have the same handedness), then backhand to backhand, then begin play. In this case am I justified in mixing up my shots, left and right, to try to force my opponent to use the black side, so I can get a feel for the effect of that rubber?
What are the rules and etiquette for warmup?
Alois Rosario Answered 11 years ago
Hi Douglas,
There are no rules of the warm up but the etiquette is to hit 1 minutes on the forehand diagonal and one minute on the backhand diagonal. It is common for pips players to use their forehand rubber when hitting on the backhand diagonal. It is difficult to get the ball to their pips side in the warm up but sending a fe balls astray can work.
Thoughts on this question
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Ji-Soo Woo Posted 11 years ago
I use LP on my BH, and I also twiddle during warm up to hit my BH with the FH rubber. I guess some players do do this to hide their LP, but I do it because you generally counter hit during warm up and I can't counter hit with an LP. If I try to counter hit, I either miss the shot or, if I get it in, the opponent misses the return, so we spend most of our warm up time chasing the ball on the floor.
Douglas Hill Posted 11 years ago
Makes sense. Thanks for the perspective.
Ji-Soo Woo Posted 11 years ago
Actually, nowadays, I have started twiddling on my BH during warm up. So hit one with inverted, one with LP, one with inverted etc... this works better for me because I get to warm up my twiddling and also to play both rubbers on my BH.
bertus bertus Posted 11 years ago
You can always ask the opponent to hit a few balls with LP. Most of the players do so and if they don't, then you will find out quickly during the match how the rubber behave. You kind a know what to expect from LP rubbers anyway.
Regards,
Bertus
Tim Stephens Posted 11 years ago
True Bertus! Thus, the LP advantage.
The best thing to do is to find a pips player at the club to practice against.
TheLittleYellowBouncing Ball Posted 11 years ago
The warm is for"Warming up" NOT for getting used to each others shots. Asking some one to use their pimples in a warm up would be like asking your opponant to show you their spinniest loop or best serve just so you can get used to it.
Douglas Hill Posted 11 years ago
I beg to differ, TheLittleYellowBouncingBall. Discovering what equipment each other is using is part of a fair contest. If I can't determine its physical properties by visual inspection, it seems to me legitimate to ask to see how the ball reacts to it. bertus bertus says it doesn't make much difference in this case: LP is LP, regardless of the claims of rubber makers. But it still seems to me essentially different than asking to see someone's strokes.