Short Pimple and Spin Reversal

Ilia Minkin Asked 9 years ago

Hi Alois,

I recently played with a guy with a very old racket. His forehand had a kind of pimple rubber, probably short pimples. On warm-up, he asked me to block his forehand attacks. Then miracles started to happen. When he played slowly against topspin, his rubber reversed spin so I had to push it back, but once he increased pace of his shots, he created his own topspin that I could block. How to play against this rubber and read the reversal? I found little to no information about this on the internet. 

Alois Rosario Answered 9 years ago

Hi Ilia,

It may have been that when he was hitting the ball faster he was able to generate a little topspin on the ball because of the faster brushing action.  When he hit it slower the ball felt like it was reversing.  It was probably a really flat ball that would have felt like backspin.