r jeurninck

In general short pips shouldn't be confusing at all. The biggest mistake an
opponent can make here is that he expects a lot of spin after a
chopping/looping return with the pips, while the ammount of spin the pips
can produce is very low. Compared with long pips, the short pips are
predictable.

Long pips (as curl-p1) give different results on different strokes. Normally
a blocked top spin should return a small amount of the opposite spin (back
spin), this because the surface of most long pips are smooth.
A chopping return on a top sping ball can give big amounts of spin because
most long pips have sticky side-surfaces which, together with the bending of
the pips, seriously increase the spin compared with a regular sticky rubber.

The best way to play against long pips is by starting with a slow controlled
top spin. In case your opponent returns with a chopped stroke from the long
pips you know for sure that this one contains some amount of back spin. This
allows you to play your second spin more aggresively.
Note that after each top spin ball, the amount of back spin in your
opponents' return will increase

Roger