Short Pimple and Spin Reversal

Ilia Minkin Asked 10 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 10 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.