How to Beat a Long Pips Player Who Switches Grip Mid-Rally
This is a brand-new, technique-focused column. It takes the form of a Q&A. The expert respondents are two former Chinese national team players — now veteran coaches — who prefer to stay anonymous. They just want a quiet life and a good night’s sleep.
Sharing these technical insights feels genuinely worthwhile, and this column — “Peak Performance” — was born from that spirit.
Dealing with Long Pips Players Who Switch Grip
Q: Are there tactics that actually work against a player who flips their paddle to use the long pips side?
Serve a slow, pure backspin long ball to their backhand baseline — no sidespin, just backspin. As long as they don’t step around to loop it with their forehand, they’ll typically return it with a dead, no-spin ball off the long pips. Your next ball: blast a loop. The same logic applies when receiving: just push long (soft backspin) to their baseline, let them block it back with the long pips, then loop hard.
(Side note from me: This advice is clearly best suited for players around 1800+ rating. If you can’t pull off that loop, try pushing back with a powered backhand push — or for shakehand players, a flat hit down the line to their forehand. Speed is everything.)
If your topspin-over-backspin loop is solid, you can also try serving short sidespin-backspin (more side, less back) to their forehand side. If they return it with inverted rubber, they’ll often push it back long — a ball you can attack. (If they receive with long pips instead, the side rotation tends to eat them up. If that doesn’t work, go back to pure backspin long balls. Don’t make it too spinny either.)
Building a Balanced Two-Wing Game
Q: I always rely on my forehand loop, even stepping around to use my forehand. How do I develop a more balanced two-wing game?
One big reason is probably that your opponents are too weak — they can’t handle your forehand loop. But once someone can defend it properly, push you to a wide angle, and make you run to retrieve, you’ll naturally stop stepping around so much. Find opponents with better defense, and you’ll organically start incorporating your backhand, realizing you need speed of transition and two-wing looping to win.
At the same time, you have to deliberately force yourself to initiate with your backhand and build those patterns in practice.
Staying Sharp When You’re Ahead
Q: When I’m leading in a game I fall apart and can’t figure out how to score. What should I do?
First, try a serve you haven’t used much in that match — even if it’s not your best. It might catch your opponent off guard.
Second, don’t demand too-high quality on every shot. Focus on angles and just getting the ball on the table with intention.
Third, if your opponent gets impatient or anxious, slow things down — receive more deliberately and serve slower.
Fourth, change your hitting rhythm. Let your opponent make the mistakes.