What Is the "Absorb-Short"? How to Handle Short-Pips Players?
This is a brand-new, technique-focused column in a question-and-answer format. The mystery figures answering are two former national team members, both now veteran coaches. So the “Reaching the Summit” column was born.
Please explain the essentials of the “absorb-short” — how to drop short when the opponent lobs a high ball back?
The absorb-short is generally used when the opponent lobs a high flat ball back from far table. The return must have weak spin, landing in the middle of our table or near the net. Then we prepare to drop it short. The key: you must borrow pace, the rising-phase force of the return. Because the incoming arc is fairly high with big rebound, generally borrow pace near the net at about 30 centimeters height. By then the ball has some height, has bounced up 30 centimeters, and its continued upward momentum is not so strong. If the opponent’s return is at the middle of our table, you can borrow pace when the ball has bounced about 15 centimeters. Absorbing short right at the bounce point — most people cannot, because the rebound force is still big then, easily erring. One, adjust the borrowing-pace height by your blade’s and rubber’s elasticity. Two, adjust the bat angle. Three, the body’s center must go up. The upper arm and elbow vertical down, forearm, wrist and fingers relaxed. The absorb-short is leaning in to absorb, not purely reaching with the hand. Four, use the center of gravity to borrow pace and absorb short, with finger fine-tuning. If the opponent’s lob has strong topspin, the borrowing height barely changes, but when receiving, lean the body’s center toward the playing hand, appropriately tilting toward it, to unload pace and spin and shorten the return distance.
Against short-pips players, what serves are good?
Average-level short pips and pips-out struggle with long underspin. Serve a long underspin over; the weaker pushes one, the stronger lifts it. Both returns have relatively weak spin, and you can counterattack. If you serve mainly topspin and sidespin, short pips can directly flick you, with stronger threat. If you serve short, pips rubber is relatively insensitive to near-net underspin. The opponent push-jamming underspin back, fast, makes you uncomfortable too. So I basically advise serving mainly fast long underspin, making the opponent back off to loop or lift, then you counter-loop or counter-rip. The ball you serve — low, spinny, fast — when the opponent’s short pips receives it, the return is basically a chance. Then you must move in and rip, not wait for the descending phase. On the descent, you are forced to only hang one, and the opponent flicks the next. After a few fast long underspins, the opponent notices this serve and deliberately backs off. Then mix in some short balls to the forehand and backhand. Then they cannot seize the contact point, only short-touch, and your chance comes.
I am penhold with backhand short pips, reverse-backhand. I find backhand high balls hard to handle — maybe too anxious, always waiting until the ball reaches a comfortable spot to fire hard and flick.
Short pips need to borrow pace, the rising-phase force. For a backhand-side high point, it is actually harder to kill. Better, on the ball’s rising phase, when above the net, quickly flick an angle. No need to kill the opponent with power. This way the difficulty is small, but the killing power is not. Because the return is fast, the opponent has much less prep time. Plus short pips’ speed is fast and a bit heavy, so when under-prepared, the opponent can only lob.