Really Nasty table tennis Tricks


This are tricks and cheats I have seen or read about. Some players have shared with me his dirty tricks: Credit go to all of you - you know who you are (I can't give names on this :).

1 - Illegal glues:
I think this is a thing that happens mostly in the USA. A lot of glues can be used to get tons of extra spin and speed by regluing, being some of those glues for other purposes than TT playing. Note that TT glues are somehow a health hazard, but most of this illegal glues are MUCH more dangerous.

2 - Microwaving rubbers:
Get a long pips rubber, put it in a microwaver, and fry it. Now the rubber is dead (has lost its grip), and it's playing characteristics have changed: It can produce even much less spin, and is much less affected by it. It could be very effective as a chopping rubber or as a blocking/hitting rubber, depending on its characteristics. Leave a rubber exposed to the sun for a long time and you'll get the same effect. Inverted can be turned dead, as an antispin (with high spin reversal) rubber by this process too.

3 - Very old, used rubbers:
Inverted rubbers loose it's grip with time, dirt and use. Very used rubbers play closer to antispin (can produce less spin, and are less affected by it) when they are as old as (let's say) 15 years. The older, the more dead they are.

4 - Loosely attached rubbers to the blade:
When attaching a long pips rubber to the blade, glue only the border (apply glue only on a strip of 1-2 cm wide following the border) of the rubber, so the center of it is somewhat loose. This would make the rubber more unpredictable. It's even easy to do if you use glue sheets: Just attach the glue sheet to the blade, being previously cut off it's center as in an adhesive 'o', and then add the rubber.

5 - Hot steaming rubbers:
You can warm up with an steam iron your long pips just before play, in order to make them very soft. This would make your rubber more unpredictable or spin reversing.


6 - Illegal rubbers disguised as legal ones:
Get a Feint Long and a Feint Long II of the same sponge thickness. Glue the Feint Long to the blade without the brand name (cut it off). Then attach (only!) the Feint Long II logo and brand name to the blade, as if it was the original logo of the rubber. It could pass most inspections if it's well done: they never check things like that.

7 - Clean rubbers with stuff that changes its properties:
Use some aggressive product (instead of a TT rubber cleaner) to clean your rubbers: it will remove stickiness or grip from your rubbers. Turn Stiga Mendo into a dead anti. This process can change rubber's color.

8 - Playing with long pips sheets that have lost a lot of its pimples:
When pimples start falling, there is nothing to worry about. It's when a rubber has lost a lot if its pimples that it really changes its properties. That will make the rubber unpredictable, even to the user: as the ball contacts less pips, they suffer greater stress than normal and start kinking. Also the ball will hit sometimes the base top sheet under the pimples, and sometimes the top of the pimples. This is really unpredictable, but loses lots of control.

9 - Standard cheating:
Making up nets or edges, miss-awarding points, etc... No further explanation is needed.

10 - Wet ball serves:
Clean your sweaty neck or face with your free hand. Grab the ball and serve a soaked ball. Watch your opponent miss his return.

11 - Racket switching in secret:
Change your racket without notifying your opponent during or in-between matches: This is a classic for desperado anti players who keep changing its anti side.

12 - Warm-up so your opponent thinks you play different than you do:
I think is stupid warming up time like this, except if you have already warmed up, though.

13 - Contacting the ball with anything but the rubbers:
You can do that using any part of the racket and the racket hand (up to your wrist) (fingers, nails, racket handle, back or palm of the hand). I think that there are Chinese pips out players that can serve consistently just with the bottom of the rubber, where the brand name appears and there are no pips, using it somehow as inverted. This is absolutely legal, and is more a skill than a trick.

14 - Mind games:
Thrash talk/Cho! before/after every point, do annoying noises or routines when you score (snap fingers, make noises with your tongue, ...): You probably knew this one. This can work against you if you screw your own concentration while trying to screw your opponent's.

15 - Finger spin serves:
Toss the ball making it spin with your fingers. It's not really effective unless you do it very heavy (thus very clearly), in which case you'll be called for an illegal serve.

16 - Mask edges:
Foot stomp to cover the noise made by your opponent's edge ball: You can say with your head high it was out.

17 - Antispin breath:
Breath strongly for some time on your spiny rubber until its surface it's very wet. You got an antispin rubber now: Use this for serve reception, pushing spiny serves, which will come up with reversed spin. After that first push, you can (quickly) clean your still wet rubber with your clothes to 'recover' his normal behavior. Use this also when serving, to serve no spin.



Note that you shouldn't do any of the things mentioned here unless you want to CHEAT. I'm just providing you with the info. Information can't be bad by itself.
Also note that all this tricks are NOTHING in comparison to the AVERAGE serves you see when you go to a tournament, which are highly illegal.